If there is one Door Open event in Ontario that has been consistent in my attendance is Hamilton’s. The Hamilton Doors Open event occurred over my birthday (40th) weekend. While I attended the event last year, it was a much shorter trip around the city. This year would be no different, with only three locations visited, armed with my D750 and 14-24mm lens and my trusty Mamiya m645 loaded with the 35mm lens and CineStill BwXX. My father-in-law and I went to three churches. Two familiar but not having visited in several years and one new location. St. Luke’s is a new addition to theRead More →

Out of all the Doors Open Events run across Ontario my favourite and longest attended is Doors Open Hamilton. The city knows how to do the event right with lots of buildings both public and private buying into the event and specifically allowing and even welcoming photography. My first taste of doors open had been back in 2007 and I pretty much have attended almost all of the Hamilton events missing only a few in the past decade and a bit. Plus being on the weekend closest to my birthday it has also become somewhat of a Birthday Tradition. This year I had an awesomeRead More →

My first experience with a Doors Open event took place in 2007 in Hamilton, wow, I’ve been doing these for over ten years now. I learned of it through the Urban Exploration community. And really there’s no surprise there, explorers do love getting a view of places we normally can’t. And frankly, there’s no better way to do that than legal tours. And while these days I don’t go with a big group, I still enjoy getting out to the Toronto or Hamilton event. Sometimes even both if I can work it. There was even a year I went to Guelph’s and I helped runRead More →

When it comes to Doors Open events, there’s no bigger one in Ontario that Toronto’s. With 2017 being the 150th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Toronto made it a goal to have 150 buildings on their doors open event. And what a selection there was, with lots of old favourites and plenty of new ones especially to me. I’ve visited Doors Open Toronto on many occasions, but always seem to hit up the same locations over and over again. So this year I made a point to visit many of the places I’ve never visited, or haven’t been happy with my photographs in the past. IRead More →

One of my favourite photographic events to attend are the Doors Open tours we have in Ontario. Two cities pull out the stops the first being Hamilton the second being Toronto. While of late, Hamilton has been sort of disappointing, but it has also been the one that I have attended the most. But my attendance is a little bit of a Birthday tradition for me as it always falls on the weekend closest to my birthday. Sadly this year’s event was soured a little with rain, so I only managed to get to four locations, of which I’ll be sharing three here today asRead More →

When it comes to iconic locations in the city of Hamilton within the exploration community, there is none more wildly known as the Lister Block. A steadfast icon of the decline and decay within downtown Hamilton. From my first trip in 2006 to my last trip in 2010 and into 2012 and beyond as a restored building, this post will explore three different scenes from the first trips (2006 and 2007) a chance to see the stripped-down interior in 2010 and the re-opening in 2012 at a Doors Open event we are checking out Lister Block between the Darkness and the Light. When Joseph ListerRead More →