Photo By MisterRed

I was super excited to be the walk leader for the first ever London Community Photo Walk. Jim Galbraith, is the head grounds keeper for the University of Western Ontario, and has been for nearly thirty years. His knowledge of each tree, time of planting and type of tree or plant it was was truly astounding.

We had a ten am start on a slightly grayish morning, with about 20 people joining in. There were a few regular Photo Walk participants, three Alumni ladies who graduated from the UWO out, as well as several new Photographers. As always the conversation was interesting, the sites we saw, the photographers and their poses truly entertaining!

The walk lasted for two hours, and as promised by Jim his walks are always good, and it never rains! The rain drops landed on the walk back to our cars. We did get an inside tour of the newly renovated and fabulous Conron Auditorium, as well as a great deal of historical facts in regard to the first building, the competition amongst the stone masons, and a ton of fascinating little bits of information just for fun! Such as the garbage collected on the hill during frosh week, the gifts and dedications that have created such amazing buildings and art and Gardens threw out the campus. The Ground of the University are for public enjoyment, this a very little known fact and we need to start walking, biking and generally going through the grounds with open eyes and enjoying all that it has to offer.

We had a great, and very informative walk through the University, I for one cannot wait to go back and capture some of the gorgeous fall colour that shall soon arrive! As part of my Garden Gates Open tour this year, Jim had registered the Beryl Ivy Garden as well as the Talbot Garden (beside the talbot theatre) If anyone had taken any shots of these two gardens I would love to post them on my shutterfly share site for all to enjoy.

Thanks again to Jim Galbraith for making our walk on the UWO property so interesting, colourful and fascinating! Thanks to all those who attended as well.

See you next time!

Donna Currie

Mr Tizzy entertained us with his patented lie on the ground photo technique and Bryan Nelson showed us his wade in the river style…..The light was beautiful and I have seen many fantastic pictures posted by walk participants….we tried to arrive at the pedestrian bridge in time for sunset but were early…..so we ended up hanging around the bridge for 20 – 30 minutes. It turned out to be a great opportunity to talk to other photo walkers and get to know each other a little better and for those who waited we were rewarded with not only some great shots of a beautiful sunset, but a gorgeous full moon as well!

My thanks to everyone who came out and I hope to see you all again at UWO on Aug 21st

Chris Baldwin

We waited for a while to see if we could capture a sunset but that also did not happen so we veered of the Seminary grounds into the beautiful old north where many photos where taken, maybe even more than on the seminary grounds. Old north was just such a beautiful place to photograph.

After wards we headed to the local hub in Old North called the bungalow where many of us were a little more than thrown off by the menu boasting such burgers as the Wild Boar and Bision burgers. However someone still tried out the Bison burger and said it was quite good. Others like myself went with the Gourmet Grilled Cheese. Needless to say not the usual type of place we end up at after a photowalk but it was still fun!

Keep your eyes peeled here for more walk reviews coming up that we have missed, like the WWPW review coming up very soon. Stay tuned!

Beginning in Watson Park, off of Wellington Road at the Thames River, we headed East along the multi-use pathways, North on Adelaide Street and then back West passing by the South Street hospital. From the moment we started at 8am until when we finished around 10am the morning fog was out and made for some great shots.

I really enjoyed this walk as it was one that I probably wouldn’t have thought of on my own. I passed the area off as being ‘boring’ and typical, but having Chris Baldwin organize the walk in this area helped me to remember that all areas of London have something to offer, and the London Photo Walk is about exploring and celebrating these areas.

On this walk I was able to find an elevated train crossing, the location to where Flagswipe Paintball moved to years ago, some abandoned buildings and other fun stuff. I even managed to find a Red Chair before the walk began.

The people that came out for this walk were great as usual and the morning couldn’t have been better for a leisurely stroll along the Thames River.

It is the “low key” walks such as this one that I find the most rewarding. I am not sure why this is the case but when I return from them I always feel like I have a better appreciation for the Photo Walk, the people who I am with and London, Ontario in general.

Remember to check out the next scheduled photo walk in the Huron Woods.

The last two Photo Walks that the London Photo Walk has put together have been in and around the University of Western Ontario. With students now gone and some flowers starting to bloom many photo walkers have been able to capture some fantastic images.

The first of these photo walks was back on May 2nd, 2010 in conjunction with Jane’s Walk London. Although only a small number of people came out for this walk (primarily due to the poor weather forecast and short notice) a good time was had by all and some interesting shots resulted.

We ended up heading into the forest behind Bresica University College, a place where I had never been before, and experienced nature it all of it’s glory right inside London, Ontario. Some hills, a few Trilliums and a whole lot of trees, this walk was a calming and peaceful one and helped each of us to get re-acquainted with mother nature.

I very much enjoyed this walk.

The second of our walks at the University was on Mother’s Day May 9th, 2010, in conjunction with PodCamp London.

Worried about the cold weather (which I did not dress properly for) and it being Mother’s Day we were unsure about who would be able to attend but we were not disappointed with the showing. Roughly 20 people showed up, many new-comers to the London Photo Walk and many came with their mothers and daughters, which was a nice sight to see.

Although we called it quits after slightly more than an hour (the cold was too much to bear for those of us who did not dress properly) everyone seemed to have a good time and get some great shots while out in the cold.

We hope to return to the University later in the year, perhaps when the weather is a little warmer, a few more flowers are out and perhaps with a tour guide.

Thanks to everyone for coming out for these past walks and stay tuned for information regarding the upcoming June walk.

One year has come and past much quicker than I ever thought it would and without a doubt I have to say that each walk we have had has been enjoyable.

A couple of weeks ago we headed out for our 1 year anniversary walk and returned to the site of the first London Photo Walk, the Old East Village.

Although the turnout may have not been as large as I thought it would be (some citing the ‘early’ start time) I have to say that I was happy to see about 15 people out, many new faces.

We toured from one end of the Village to the other, seeing what had appeared, disappeared and changed over the past year. Some new businesses are in the village, others are no longer present, but one thing we all agreed on; there was more life in the village this year than we saw last year and things are moving in a positive direction!

We had an opportunity to meet some new local photographers, meet the families of another and meet the companion (‘Mosley’) of yet another. This past walk is definite proof that the London Photo Walk isn’t about photography, rather, it’s about community and the act of getting out and celebrating the city.

One thing that should be noted is that we were invited in to the London Potters Guild to see not only the great art work that is created there on a daily basis but the fantastic building which has been restored. I was blown away by the working space that is located in the heart of the Old East Village, and upon hearing of the plans to renovate the upper portion of the building I had a smile on my face. I am glad that we went back to the village for our anniversary walk otherwise I may have never had such an easy and great opportunity to check out the guild.

May Photo Walks

Scheduled for May are two walks, both in conjunction with separate local London, Ontario events.

On May 2nd (tomorrow) we have a heritage forest walk that is in partnership with Jane’s Walk London. Check out the details of the walk here.

On May 9th our walk is being held at the University of Western Ontario in conjunction with PodCamp London. Check out the details of the walk here.

Two weeks ago the London Photo Walk took a road trip down the road to Port Stanley, Ontario. Heading out that afternoon I was happy to see that it was a generally nice day without any wind in sight.  I must admit though that I was a little ‘worried’ that because of the location (outside of London) and the winter weather that the turnout for February’s photo walk might not be that good.  Well I have to say that I was impressed.

With about 15 people turning out and a bunch of new faces, the London Photo Walk explored Port Stanley, Ontario and took some great shots.  Although the terrain was a little wetter than I had thought it would been, we went up and down the beach, walked in and around the harbour and some of us had the chance to grab a bit to eat afterwards at what appeared to be the only restaurant open in the evening, The Buccaneer.

There certainly is something that is intriguing about heading to a location that typically is visited only during the summer months and capturing the beauty of it on a nice winter’s day. Some great pictures were taken during the day and everyone I spoke to seemed to enjoy the location.

One thing I want to note is that the London Photo Walk isn’t just about walking and taking photos, its about helping those who might happen to get their pickup truck stuck on a mound of snow in a deserted parking lot where ‘luckily’ the London Photo Walk just happened to be.

Before we even started walking on that day we managed to help someone get their truck unstuck in the parking lot, then we watched him drive around the parking lot trying not to get re-stuck.  We figured we should help out as we would expect others to do the same for us.

Stay tuned for the details of the March  photo walk, we hope to have them in the next week or so.

Oh, and remember, April’s photo walk will be the 1 year anniversary of the London Photo Walk and we will be heading back into East London for our walk.

We were hoping for a little more snow in the park, and some snow on the trees but that did not stop us from going out and freezing our fingers off! We once again had a great turn out of about 20 people. No after party this time though as everyone was extremely cold and ready to head home and enjoy a nice hot cup of co-co.

Our walk this time started off with geese, yes geese, contrary to were you think they should be (in the sunny States and Mexico) they decided to stay right here in Canada. What troopers! They made for some great photo-ops and of course made for some great photo-ops with the other organizer Kevin chasing after the great pic!

Some of us went of the groomed walking trail and took to the beaten path down below near the water. Good thing no one fell in. As you may know I am prone to slipping and falling on these walks with my crazy ideas for shots!

We got to see a lof of new faces out this time as well. In fact the majority of our group this time was NEW! Thank you all for coming out! Hopefully we didnt scare the newbies off and they will be back.

Keep your eyes peeled at the top of the page for the random imports from Flick’r and in a few weeks time Kevin and I will as usual pick a few photos to highlight in the side bar. I would also like to take this time to tell you more about that sidebar. It is in no way a contest over there, each of us goes through the group and finds two shots that we feel showed off the overall feeling of the last walk. If you ever don’t want your photo there please send us and email and we will remove it right away.

Please post your photos to our Flick’r group as well so everyone can enjoy them!

We are also looking for suggestions for walk for February and any other time of the year as well. Feel free to email them to us or post in the comments below.

Hope to see you all at the next walk, and until next time keep those fingers warm and photos coming in!

For our 8th and last photo walk of 2009. We went through London’s industrial area. This area has been given a bad rap over that past few years, with many rundown buildings and not that much curb appeal. That is now a myth as all of the participants of the 8th walk will tell you.

The industrial area made for great photos, regardless of the grey skies that followed us through the walk. The area was full of colour and thankfully not full of snow being November.

We had a very good turnout with around 25ppl participating this time around. After wards we headed to Sam and Bills on Dundas across from the old McCormick factory for some well need refreshments, and few good laughs. Many of those laughs were attributed to Kevin’s friend Kyle and his NaPhoBoMo adventures:

I encourage you to take a look through the flickr group and hope to see you at future walks!

We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day (weather wise) for this past Saturday’s London Photo Walk.  Although there were some last minute changes 25 local photo walkers made it out to explore London’s Fanshawe Pioneer Village.

Although the Village is typically closed at this time of year, the London Photo Walk was lucky enough to get a private guided tour of the Village from a very kind staff member.

Learning about the heritage of the buildings and of South Western Ontario in general, those in attendance for this photo walk were treated to not only interesting architectural sights but the colours and beauty that the fall weather brings.

The Village was covered in yellow, red and orange leaves which only helped to enhance it’s natural beauty and make for almost ideal photography conditions.  Although there was a slight breeze it added to the atmosphere and helped with the creation of interesting shots.

It is without a doubt that the London Photo Walk will be returning to Fanshawe Pioneer Village when spring arrives (and again in the fall) to see the Village when it is full with activity, workers and visitors.

If you have any ideas of suggestions of where you would like to go and explore for an upcoming photo walk please share your ideas with us.

Oh, and I would be denying everyone the pleasure if I did not mention the following.  Edward Platero too the time to not only take some amazing shots at this photo walk but also put together a video which I think illustrates the beauty that we all experienced this past Saturday.  Thanks for this Edward.