Greater Toronto Area Oct. 9-13

Ann McRae

I'll be there for soccer nationals. What to shoot, where to go, day trips?

ann

photon

Welcome to Toronto!
Hello Ann --

Saw your post, and also saw that you didn't get any responses, and I didn't want to leave you hanging... I will say however that I'm nowhere near an expert on Toronto (I live an hour west), but hopefully I'll give you some ideas for things to go see. I love shooting in Toronto, as every corner has yet another great photo op.

First, I would check out the very excellent photo blog by Sam Javanrouh . He posts a daily shot from somewhere in the GTA, and also provides the location so it may give you some inspiration.

Downtown is definitely the place where everything happens. You'll want to plan to spend a good % of your shooting time down there. Most of the following suggestions are easily walkable within the downtown core, or you can get on the subway or streetcar to get you where you want to go. I wouldn't recommend driving downtown, if possible. I've put asterisks on things that you should prioritize for generic photo ops, but you will likely have your own slant depending on what you like to shoot.

Without further adieu:

• * Kensington Market / Chinatown - Great photo ops here at the open air market.
• * Queen Street West - a lot of hip shops and things to see, including City TV studios, starting from Yonge Street.
• * Nathan Phllips Square - the site of the distinctive-looking Toronto city hall
• Yonge / Dundas Square - Newly revamped square in the heart of downtown. They are very proud of the new scramble crosswalk.
• Queens Quay- shopping and marine shots from the Lake Ontario waterfront.
• Centre Island - The best place to shoot the Toronto skyline from. Nice place to walk around and have a picnic too. [Ferry info]
• * CN Tower - A must see just from the outside if you've never been to Toronto (though you can't miss it from anywhere in the city) Great views of the cityscape if it's clear. If it's foggy it won't be worth the cost to go up the elevator.
• Rogers Centre - the stadium where the Toronto Blue Jays play (even if you're not a baseball fan, it's right next to CN Tower right anyway
• Royal Ontario Museum - newly renovated with an innovative crystal structure by Michael Lee-Chin. Worth checking out even if you don't go inside the museum itself.
• Casa Loma - an urban Castle in the European style. It's a bit outside downtown, but may be worth a look.

Anyway, it's a bit of a list, and there are likely tens of more things that I left out that would be good to shoot, but it's a start. Hopefully you find it useful.

photon

Other stuff...
As for the larger GTA, there are definitely things that you'll want to consider farther from the downtown:

• Toronto City Zoo
• Niagara Falls (a 1.5 hour bus ride)
• Niagara-on-the-Lake (about the same distance; great wine tasting tours I'm told)

If you can get outside the city, the fall foliage is quite breathtaking, and should be peaking in some areas around the time you're in town. The Hamilton / Dundas area is quite nice and is reasonably close to Toronto, though there are probably fall colour opportunities closer. If in the area, Websters Falls is one of the best.

Hope this helps...

Curtis

PS. I'm originally from Edmonton -- I saw your profile and started getting homesick. Glad to have you 'out East' !

Ann McRae

Hi Curtis

Thanks! The tournament is at the soccer center in Vaughan.
I expect to be taking the kids shopping on Queen Street west. I was there with my daughter in January and agree there are neat shots there.

We have Friday until 4, most of Saturday and all of Sunday free. We will either go north to the Muskokas where my aunt lives or south to Niagra. Either way I hope to find nice fall foilage.

We are having dinner at my girlfriends in Cabbagetown Friday night but I don't think there will be shooting combined with that.

Thanks for the reply! And I can't imagine missing Edmonton, not now with winter on the doorstep!

ann

aporia

Hi Ann,

If you don't mind the potential QEW parking lot on the way to Niagara Falls, this could be a great weekend to shoot the Fall colours. There are a couple of popular craft fairs going on in the beautiful Balls Falls and Vineland area before you hit the heavy construction through St. Catharines. The historic Morning Star Mill on the Decew Falls is worth a visit in St. Catharines and Niagara on the Lake is filled with trees and lakeside beaches just down the road.

Ann McRae

aporia wrote:

Hi Ann,

If you don't mind the potential QEW parking lot on the way to Niagara Falls, this could be a great weekend to shoot the Fall colours. There are a couple of popular craft fairs going on in the beautiful Balls Falls and Vineland area before you hit the heavy construction through St. Catharines. The historic Morning Star Mill on the Decew Falls is worth a visit in St. Catharines and Niagara on the Lake is filled with trees and lakeside beaches just down the road.

Hi Tom

Thanks. I am pretty sure we will head that way on Sunday. My aunt won't be home; she is at her sons for the weekend (in Sudbury and that is too far). I appreciate the local knowledge - any chance there are some wonderful backroad alternatives to the highway?

Ann

aporia

Ann McRae wrote:

Hi Tom
. . . any chance there are some wonderful backroad alternatives to the highway?

Ann

I don't know of any back roads that would be of much help to get to Niagara Falls from Toronto, Ann. Other GTA locals may have some suggestions but the holiday weekend may give you extra traffic no matter which route you take.

If your goal is to shoot the Fall colours, there are a lot of places along the QEW to stop. Once you hit Vineland, you'll probably have a very good idea of how much traffic backup there will be for the rest of the way. Unfortunately, much of the construction through St. Catharines and into Niagara Falls limits traffic to one lane.

Ann McRae

Hey Tom

The traffic was okay on Sunday! Probably about a half hour slowdown on the way to, and really clear sailing coming home.

Beautifule day - 30C and sunny. Boy, Niagara Falls isn't the city it used to be! Hopefully I will have a few shots to share in the next few days.
ann

aporia wrote:

I don't know of any back roads that would be of much help to get to Niagara Falls from Toronto, Ann. Other GTA locals may have some suggestions but the holiday weekend may give you extra traffic no matter which route you take.

If your goal is to shoot the Fall colours, there are a lot of places along the QEW to stop. Once you hit Vineland, you'll probably have a very good idea of how much traffic backup there will be for the rest of the way. Unfortunately, much of the construction through St. Catharines and into Niagara Falls limits traffic to one lane.

photon

It's all about the shots...

Ann McRae wrote:

Hey Tom

The traffic was okay on Sunday! Probably about a half hour slowdown on the way to, and really clear sailing coming home.

Beautifule day - 30C and sunny. Boy, Niagara Falls isn't the city it used to be! Hopefully I will have a few shots to share in the next few days.
ann

Definitely looking forward to your shots, Ann... Glad you had a good time -- it was a fantastic weekend for being out of doors.