More weird houses in Toronto
It was a warm for Toronto winter day, at about 10 degrees celsius, so I took the opportunity to wander and look at and/or photograph houses that I wanted to.
First is 868 Shaw St, near Christie and Bloor. My research suggests that Garrison Creek used to be the western boundary of the city and at some point in the late 19th or early 20th century, the city buried it. I'm also told that creeks and rivers can never be completely buried. The homeowners in this area have dealt with the creek that "used to be" under their houses over the years and to varying degrees. I believe that these two houses sold for about $1.2 million last fall. I've heard the owner is tearing down the houses, so I wanted to photograph them while I could.
Click to enlarge photos.
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| 868 Shaw St., Toronto, December 9, 2015. |
Below is 128 Day Ave, near Dufferin and Rogers Rd. It is allegedly the smallest house in Toronto.
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| 128 Day Ave, Toronto, near Dufferin and St. Clair Ave. |
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| A closer view of 128 Day Ave. I can't emphasize how small this house is. The photos don't do it justice. |
Macro filters
My camera is still pretty new and I still can't bring myself to change its lens. The Sunday after I got back from Nashville, I learned of the existence of macro filters. They allow photographers to get closer to an object than they could without the filters--so like a macro lens, but without having to remove the lens, they just screw onto the front of an existing lens. They're relatively inexpensive, so I bought some. Mine came in a set, including the following filters: +1, +2 and +4. You can also stack them on top of each other to get even closer, so the magnification is +7. (It's not a mistake, btw, to use "+" instead of "x". That's how the macro filters are labelled).
See the comparisons below:
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| My camera as close as I can get to the bow without the filters. |
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| With the +1 filter on. A little closer and still in focus. |
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| The +2 filter. Honestly, I don't see much difference between this and the +1 filter. |
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| The +4 filter. Now you're talking! |
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| All the filters stacked together. Sorry this is blurry. The magnification level means that even the slightest shake registers, plus the light levels were low and I didn't feel like setting up my tripod. |
I also bought a fancy new tripod that I'm very happy with. It'll hopefully allow me to take some decent shots in my future travels.... Just a few days until I'm off again. Just as I was settling into a Toronto groove....
