my dad has been trying to get me to take photos of his plates ever since i got my new camera. “that’s what artists have to do—they pay the bills with boring work in order to fund their creative pursuits,” he told me once while i was filming a test shot in the living room to practice my colour grading. i dismissed his statement which partially annoyed me because i considered it common knowledge, and considered myself not to be a professional artist. i’m just a kid who impulsively bought a camera.

well, the ramifications of my spontaneous purchase made themselves clear to me in my wallet, and my father’s words began to echo in my mind. seeing as i’m currently in school full time, and i’ve consequently taken a break from my dead-end grocery job, i found no other option but to take my dad up on his request. “i think i’m going to take plate photos today, what do you need me to do?” i messaged my dad, who recently abandoned me and went to china with my brother. i received a prompt reply explaining which plates needed photos and how said photos should be taken, and made plans to head downtown to my dad’s plate showroom on a cloudy tuesday. bad weather is necessary, as the overcast lighting works really well for product photography.

the day came and i got home from school around 4pm after an hour long commute on public transit, replenished myself with chicken and rice, and rushed out the door with all my gear so that i would have time to take photos before it got dark. i hopped into my dad’s mercedes glk 250 that i’ve used sparingly while he’s away because i don’t want to pay for diesel at this point and time, and decided that for some reason it was a perfect day to try reaching the showroom without using google maps on my phone. what could go wrong? 😐

the first few turns out of my neighbourhood went great, but it wasn’t until i found myself trapped inside the dead-end residential streets that surround casa loma, when i realized i had forgotten my phone at home. deciding in my heart that it was too late to go back, i continued my venture into the city during rush hour, thinking to myself: “i’m going into the city, surely there won’t be that much traffic!” in retrospect, i still believe my idea was correct; if i were to choose better streets, i would’ve be able to avoid the city traffic. however, a series of turns for the worse led me deeper into the city: down bathurst, through harbord—past queens park—onto university street— and into adelaide street!!!!

you may be asking me right now: “luke, why would you take the busiest streets in the city during rush hour?” my response would be that it was not i, but some sort of malevolent force that took over me and propelled my car into what can only be described as the tenth ring of hell. i cried out in my soul for salvation from the never-ending red lights that would only allow a couple cars passage at a time. alas, the only thing that could save me was my phone, which i had left charging by the kitchen while i ate my chicken and rice. my only option now was to disassociate and bide my time in the painfully slow current of traffic. it felt like a miracle when i pulled into the back driveway of the showroom. my voyage was complete! even after an hour of driving, there was still enough light for me to complete my task. onwards!

and so onwards i went, up the stairs, through the door, found the plates, searched for the backdrop, kept searching for the backdrop, couldn’t find the backdrop, went back to the car to see if i really did forget my phone, confirmed that i forgot the phone, grovelled in despair, searched for the backdrop again, gave up, and decided to take the photos without the backdrop on the cold hard ground of the skylit bathroom. it was terrible. i freehanded every photo and sped through my mission as fast as i could. i knew these photos would most likely be unusable anyway. whatever, i was over it. i was over everything. i had come this far—i might as well return with something, even if it wasn’t any good. with my task “complete,” i returned to my car and started the journey back.

desperately desiring to be done with the day, i tried to find my way towards bayview avenue, which i remembered to be both a scenic and quick route back home. unfortunately, i misread the car’s internal gps, and turned too early, which lead me down dundas street, across the bridge, and into the riverside neighbourhood. with no more strength inside of me, i surrendered my driving to be controlled by the force that previously led me into deep and sinister traffic. as we drove together down broadview avenue, i took a look to my left and began to wonder if this force was as evil as i once considered it to be, as it was now showing me the splendor of the city during sunset, and at once all the pain of a long and frustrating day began to melt off of my head.

the drive home continued to be controlled by sensless turns, but i had now reached a state of nirvana, where nothing could affect the joy of gazing at new scenery and beautiful houses i hadn’t seen before. it was dark when i got home, but i considered all that had transpired to be just a bad dream that i wouldn’t have to relive again. boy, how i was wrong.

part 2ish

i ended up telling my dad that the photos didn’t turn out too good, and that i’d go back the next week on another cloudy tuesday to retake them. the week came and went, and i this time i decided to take the subway down to the showroom instead. after an uneventful school day, i took the 996 wilson bus and made my way towards wilson station. the commute was very uneventful—a far cry from the week prior. everything was okay! until i walked up the king station stairs and discovered the sky was crying. womp womp. i think i’m going to break chronological order here and tell you that i took the photos and it went a little better this time but i still rushed it and didn’t notice until i got home that many of the photos were either overexposed or out of focus. i accepted defeat and messaged my dad that “i think it’s too much for me to be going all the way downtown after school on dismal days” but i really just didn’t want to have to do this all over again.

anyway, as i walked up the stairs and sought shelter from the rain i realized that i had my camera on me! i could take photos! and so i did. here is what i took, i hope you like it.

i’m a fan of focus and intentional composition, but i found some potential in this blurry shot when i was looking back on all the photos i took. stylistically, it’s very different from what i usually post, but i think the lack of focus adds some energy to the image, and there’s a pretty neat story to see. a kid dancing in the rain, the other being pulled away by their mother. cool.

it’s quite blurry, but i really like this one as well. i’ve titled it “rumpelstiltskin,” because of the shadowy lady you see walking by on the bottom right. it’s almost like she’s going to steal this little child.

the streetcar was packed and everyone was sad but this lady looked very lovely. this is a simple photo but i enjoy it a lot.

on the way home, i managed to snag this fun shot. i’ve titled this one “wedding day,” because it’s almost like those first look things they do at weddings.

i tried to be more liberal with my cropping in these photos. because i normally shoot film, i usually keep the original image ratio the same if i need to make any edits. i’ve realized that unique cropping can add a lot to the feel of the image. i hope you enjoyed this story/photography post. something a little more lighthearted after my last entry.