Edgefest atop Rockefeller Centre, New York City

April 2011

Emily Pretorious stepped up into the open air and filled her lungs to capacity, gratefully inhaling the temporary distraction from the column of work that awaited her at her desk. She often came up here on her lunch break to escape her occupational reality a few floors down. She knew she wouldn't encounter much in the way of familiar faces up here; most of her executive colleagues shunned the blazing tourist trap that was the Top of the Rock as viciously as they avoided Monday morning water cooler banter.

Emily was atypical in that she loved watching tourists. They were the same professionals and labourers who volleyed innovative ideas and assembled useful machinery and spun intricate webs of marketing innuendo in offices around the world just like her own but here, having been transported to their vacations, they flourished like rinsed off versions of themselves, excited... innocent... refreshed. They scurried past her, flitting about with their children and sliding their arms appreciatively around the waists of their accompanying adult of choice. Here, they remember how to laugh and forget to check the time. And they are all entranced by the view.

With her turquoise plaid lunchbag dangling from her fingers, she waded through the crowd until she spotted a vacancy. She sat on the bench and plugged her Apple buds into her ears before retrieving a glass container and a fork from her bag. She began to eat her quinoa salad with dried cranberries and toasted almonds, the same one that had served as her side dish from the previous evening but had now become a very satisfying main course. As she felt the tart cranberries exploding onto her tongue, she breathed in a smile as Frank Sinatra assured her that she was all he longed for, all he worshipped and adored. Her eyes sailed along the cavalcade of visitors as she became witness to the preservation of memory after memory, secured by determined outstretched arms and repeated shutter releases.

Next, she savoured a few pieces of dark chocolate as she thought about her twin brother, Otis, who had recently returned home for a visit to celebrate their 28th birthdays. Although she missed him very much, she loved knowing that he was spreading his wings and making a name for himself in the Napa Valley, out of his urban comfort zone but firmly in his element. She chuckled as she imagined him behaving like one of these enthusiastic tourists, with every single day providing the fresh, intriguing, and stimulating series of experiences that inspires vacationers. In other words, he was doing exactly what he was meant to be doing.

She checked her watch and released a sigh as she collected the remnants of her lunch. She had consumed more than physical sustenance.. she had attained some clarity and rejuvenated her spirit, giving her the vigor she needed to get through her responsibility-laden afternoon.

(see related post: Thursday, November 11, 2010)

I had heard about something called a Screaming Tunnel years ago and always retained the understanding that I would never ever feel the need to visit a place that warranted such a title.

But luckily, the bite of the photography bug stuns my hesitation and I usually find myself sliding my fears into my back pocket while in pursuit of the picture (see August 8, 2010 entry for further proof of this)

So I was feeling adventurous one afternoon and upon the urging of my work colleagues, I made up my mind to at least drive up to this notorious limestone passageway and witness it firsthand. In all fairness, I should confess that I didn't undertake this little spelunking expedition solo; I brought my nine-year old son along with me...... because, well, you know, he had heard of it as well and was interested in seeing it and it wouldn't have been nice to go somewhere cool like that without him....... yeah.. that's why!

I had googled the route, which was much more straightforward than I'd thought, and after making the final turn in its direction, the Screaming Tunnel's existence could not have been more visible if it had been flanked with streamers and had an assembly of balloons frolicking at its entrance! I shuddered at its nearness and continued driving forward to the cul-de-sac where I paused a moment before turning around and putting my vehicle into park directly in front of it. If phase one was driving to its doorstep, phase two was walking up and knocking on its door... so to speak.

My son thought it looked cool, but was disappointed at how shallow it was. I think we had both expected that it would be a longer, darker pathway, a tunnel so deep that it escaped from the light and kept its exit eerily out of view. He jumped out and motioned for me to follow him. He expressed only a moment of hesitation at its entrance before bounding forward, calling me and reminding me that it's not so scary after all and would I get out of the jeep already!! I obliged and stepped slowly towards the looming archway. 

Earlier in the day, at the comfort of my work cubicle, I would never have thought I'd actually walk through, but here I was at the fifth hour, penetrating its infamously haunted air and walking breathlessly towards the exit! Phase three.. check! I took pictures of my vehicle from the other side as proof that I'd actually walked through and I shot several at each entrance but I shot nothing from directly inside.. because that would have required my STOPPING while inside!! But it was an interesting spot, just the sort of historical construction that I love to photograph, and it felt good to conquer my fear.. especially when I was so sure earlier that I would never be able to do it.

I have personally chosen not to delve into the legends and lore of this steadfast underpass in my blog, but if you would like to rattle your creepy bone a little bit, here is a link just for you:
http://www.ghostwalks.com/14_niagara_screamingtunnel.html

A Toronto Island Pedestrian Bridge and its Scribbled Reflection

We slide into our saucy little powerboat - ours for the next hour and a half - and stow our cameras and other necessities safely at our feet. After a noisy sprint across Toronto's inner harbour, steering comfortably clear of the airport buoys and avoiding the path of the ferries, it is now time to explore. With the throttle pulled down to a hum, we cruise the channels of the many islands that sit in awe (or is it nonchalance?) of that instantly familiar yet metamorphic urban skyline. Rows and rows of sailboats float impatiently on either side of our path, their masts growing up out of the water like stiff reeds, sulking at having to spend this refreshing afternoon suffocatingly moored to dry land. Fingers of elodea that wave to us as we float above their tall stalks become more plentiful as we make our way through the waterway, unwittingly wrapping themselves around the propeller, and only releasing upon being spun in reverse!

It is neat to see evidence of the city on these natural, unassuming land masses, with the City of Toronto's city hall logo visible on everything from Fire Station 335 to a solitary blue recycle bin, not to mention the presence of the CN Tower looking uncharacteristically out of place protruding from this most agrestic of landscapes!!

It has turned out to be a beautiful afternoon, much sunnier and dryer now than in its preceding hours. We ride along our liquid trail beneath many things: the string of red and yellow shaded seats of Centreville's Sky Ride, distinctive bridges such as the one in my photograph which I believe stretches out to Olympic Island, the occasional Porter flight, and of course, a picturesque blue sky satisfyingly accessorised with fleecy white clouds. We leave nothing in our wake but a gentle ripple, and perhaps a few cares that we really didn't need to bring back to land anyway..

Respite 

Part of the Niagara Falls, ON Skyline

The intention was to capture fireworks. During the summer in Niagara Falls, its Friday and Sunday nights are illuminated by bursts of green and red and yellow... huge gleaming chrysanthemums and corkscrews reaching out across the sky before dripping back downwards to mingle with the mist. The idea of watching  pyrotechnic paint exploding over this Everest of waterfalls has intrigued me ever since I moved here. And while I have enjoyed the show a few times, I've never ventured out to photograph it, or any fireworks display for that matter!

Doing so required only a little effort and even less patience.. it was relaxing, refreshing, enthralling.. it proved to be a wonderfully effective escape from all the little uncertainties and obscurities that so often infect my brain. Turns out all it took was a different angle, a clear focus on something totally removed from everyday challenges and contemplations. Nothing wrong with a little distraction from time to time!

The exercise taught me so much about extended exposure times and how to make them work for the subject to produce different effects. I also discovered how a flash of light, and as well a series of moving flashes of light, can create a hearty, unique image.. delightfully surprising no matter how expected the result may have been!

As it turned out, our selected location wasn't the best vantage point for freezing multi-hued explosions dancing over hotel alley. But that's okay.. some of my favourite pictures from that evening evolved without any fireworks at all! I devoured the preliminary practise photography as the lighting readjusted itself to suit the setting sun... stalks of hotels with their lucent windows and all of their architectural personalities towering over this famously picturesque but torrent waterfall.. a natural phenomenon only discernable by the ghostly flow of mist rising above its brink.

But since I have mentioned fireworks, I do have some evidence of their occurrence that evening! While I look forward to more practise in the realm of night photography, I do like the display I captured in the following shot.. the suggestion of an erupting thistle flanked by a pair of aurora borealis with a meteor shower to the right....... okay perhaps it is like cloud formations in which each viewer typically sees different creations and now you think I'm crazy for thinking I see these things!! Anyway, however you see it, it was a great experience!