North Shore Park

After the gym today I decided to drive around and see what I could find. I keep hearing about "the beaches". Supposedly a nice high-end neighbourhood in Toronto. I knew vaguely where it was, so I went on a driving mission to find it.

Being a really dull day, I was quickly uninspired to keep looking for the illusive beaches since I didn't really know what I was looking for. Turns out I didn't drive east enough. So I guess I didn't really know where it was. I did, however, stumble on the water front of Lake Ontario, which was a secondary mission. The dull foggy day made for some nice shots of the water at North Shore Park. Looks like it's popular as a dog park. Will be nice to see it in the summer.

Some sort of Lifeguard House that has a deck right over the water

There were 3 species-confused Swans doing the duck-dive when I got up to the water

We had a few fairly colds days this week, but today's temp was 5 degrees!

Click here to hear the sound of the broken ice jostling about and making chiming noises.

the colour of the rocks really pops on this dull day.

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First Toronto Snow

Well I've always been told the winters in TO are milder than Ottawa's. But obviously, most of the world's winters are milder than Ottawa's. It finally happened, snow fell on the city of Toronto today, and for a while, it was quite heavy.

Today I decided to go out and explore a couple different Goodlife Fitness Clubs. Since I'm new to the city, I needed to figure out which club made the most sense for me to go to primarily. The first club was in a large office building on Bloor, and as I found out, was not very large. The second Goodlife was just a couple blocks away from the Bloor club and was much bigger. This one will probably by my first choice, along with the rest of the city I'm sure.

On the way home I thought I'd get a picture of the light dusting of snow the DVP had on it as I crossed over the bridge in the eastbound subway car. When I was heading to the gym an hour earlier, this scene was totally whited out!

Look for more of my travels as I explore the many micro-neighbourhoods this city has!

Help-Portrait Toronto

I am so excited to be apart of this year's Help-Portrait. I was approched by some of the Toronto organizers of this project at my first CAPIC pub night that I attended last week.

Help-Portrait is a global movement of photographers using their time, gear and expertise to give back to those in need. This Saturday, November 26, a group of photographers, assistance, and I will be sharing a studio space to photograph families, many of who are new to the country. Thousands of other photographers will be doing just that around the world. It's going to be a lot of fun.

To find out more about Help-Portrait, visit their website at www.help-portrait.com

Adventures in Downtown Ottawa

www.alexlukey.com

Today I got to do something a little different than the usual real estate shoot. Todd McLaughlin of Royal LePage hired me to shoot 15 condo buildings in the downtown core. As I walked around the city, I got a chance to admire and cherish it as I prepare to move to Toronto in less than a week.

Ottawa has been home to me for the last 11 years, and 13 years in total, and although I wasn't born here, and didn't grow up here, I consider it my home town. The decision to leave wasn't an easy one, but it's always been the plan in the back of my mind. Ottawa's commercial photography market cannot compare with Toronto's, and ultimately, that is the avenue I was to pursue!

Ottawa has served me very well, however. I attended a great arts high school, Canterbury, where I took music. This is where I first really started exploring my creative side. I met some of my closest friends there and began to realize who I was as a person. After high school, and a little hiccup at University, I went on to Algonquin College for Photography. The program gave me all the technical skills I needed to fully make use of my artistic eye. Once graduated, a began building my photography business to what it is today. Over the past 5 years I have become more confident and far less shy. Ottawa allowed me to do this at my own pace. Toronto would have chewed me up and spat me out if I had moved there when I originally planned 4 years ago.

Here are some photos from today, my last day of shooting in Ottawa.

Just needed the mask and he'd be set for Halloween!

The Christmas Light Hanger: Hanging Christmas cheer for all to see!

Goodbye

Happy Halloween!

www.alexlukey.com

Yesterday evening I got to do a fun little shoot for Judy Faulkner of Faulkner Real Estate for their 2012 Calendar. A client of her's has totally decked out her place for Halloween and it looks awesome. Obviously this shoot is going to be used for the month of October in the calendar.

Scary! I've been told they are very generous with their candy when you come to the door Halloween night!

Thanks

I'd like to thank all those who purchased some of my work at the Smoke and Fire Exhibition, including those of you who bought some cards.

Stephan Carrier bought "Cream Tree" at the exhibition, which was a part of my pervious series at the Chinetown Remixed Exhibition. I hope he enjoys it in his home!

Smoke and Fire Exhibition

Well it's all over! Smoke and Fire Exhibition was a great success! Over 100 people came by to support us and enjoy our work. I'd like to thank everyone who came out. It was a lot of fun. Even made some sales! 

If anyone is interested in purchasing any of the work seen at the exhibition, you can head on over to 

www.alexlukey.com/smokeandfire

to check it out.

www.alexlukey.com/smokeandfire

Exhibition Announcement - Smoke and Fire

I am thrilled to announce that I will be hosting a joint exhibition with fellow photographer, Ryan McCosham, at my studio (Studio 77 - 77 5th Ave., Ottawa Ontario) the last weekend of September.

"Smoke and Fire" is a combination of a series of photographs of smoke, that I have been working on, and fire, which Ryan has been shooting, over the last month.

We invite everyone and anyone to stop by between 7pm-10pm on Friday, Sept 23rd, 2011 and 12pm-5pm on Saturday, Sept 24, 2011. There will be food, refreshments, and great company!

Prints will be on stretched canvas and for sale in limited editions, signed by the artist.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Here's just a taste of what to expect!

Studio 77

77 5th Ave.

Friday, Sept 23, 2011 - 7pm-10pm

Saturday, Sept 24, 2011 - 12pm-5pm

Ryan will also be exhibiting a new solo series at Shanghai Restaurant beginning in October. More details to come with that as well.