Buffalo, Heim Elementary and Sandhollow Court

Some might question why I would bother to stop in Buffalo. Well, I lived there as a kid, so on the way back from Toronto, I quickly stopped by my old house, and my elementary school (from 1st to 3rd grade) and the creek I used to go to sometimes. I was surprised by how much it seemed to look the same. That, and when you have tiny legs, distances seem much further than they are. I replaced the sky in the top one with another exposure I took for it and adjusted the second image to brighting the house a little.

Niagra Falls

I went to Niagara falls a bunch of times as a kid. Coming back from Toronto, I figured I'd drive round the long way, visit the falls and Buffalo thus driving all the way around Lake Erie.Here are some photos of the Canadian side of the falls. I didn't have much time. I was on a deadline to get the rental car back so I wouldn't get charged for an extra day that I really didn't need. That kinda made the day more exciting too.The first two are panoramas I quickly stitched together (as well as cleaned up) and the last two are regular photos.

Downtown Toronto by Day

I went in search of some small art galleries, didn't find them, but I did find some really interesting buildings, a cool flea market, the watercolor society's gallery (which was great!) and some cold winds.

Gerrard Street Toronto Part 2

Walked around some shops, and grabbed some gol gappas, samosas and kashmiri chai to finish off the night.

Gerrard Street Toronto Part 1

When I was a kid, living in Buffalo, NY for a few years, my family used to go up to Gerrard Street in Toronto for some desi goodness. Since I was in Toronto, I decided to go see if it looked anything close to the way my third grade mind had remembered it. It was much smaller than I remembered. I may have grown a little. The buildings in Toronto are beautiful at night, as seen from the freeway. I didn' get a chance to photograph them at night, but I had a lot of fun on Gerrard Street. I'm sure there would have been more people if it hadn't been as cold.

Going to Toronto

Started off to Toronto, from Toledo, Ohio at 5:30am. Stopped for gas in Detroit before sunrise..creepy and stinky too. Then off to the border areas in Ontario, Canada as the sun came up.

Cleveland Campus and a Random Church

Met up with Arvindh in Cleveland and checked out a college campus. They even have a Frank Gehry building on campus. The last one is a church I saw on the way to Cleveland.

Fiery Ohio Sunsets and Value Priced Produce

Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens Part 3

Wow, this taking photos stuff is so much faster than sketching. Not as satisying though. I'll have more sketches soon.

Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens Part 2

Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens Part 1

Next we head over to the Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens. It's a huge estate open to the public. The buildings had already closed, but we had just enough time to walk around the grounds.

Lake in Ohio

We stumbled upon a store built on an estate with a huge nature preserve behind it and a cafe inside. Checked out some scenic beauty, some roosters and dessert.

Fall in Ohio

Here are some photos taken driving around Ohio, enjoying the fall colors.

Downtown Toledo Photos

Went to downtown Toledo to check out a drawing session, but it turned out the postcard I looked at was very old, and the session was no longer there. Met a few guys who were kicking back some beers at the studio location. They were nice enough to try and direct me to where they were pretty sure sessions were being held down the street. I drove down, and couldn't find it. So instead, I bring you photos from downtown Toledo...couldn't make a complete waste of the trip. I just drove around and took these. The top most water skyline is a stitch of two photos. I liked the composition with the left side fading to dark, but I also liked the nice lights and details on the far right of the other photo. A lot of the shots I took (and didn't include here) were too grainy (which is hard to see in the lcd display) or lights were too blown out (need to lower the exposure settings as I did for some of these). So, still learning lots.

Stepped outside an Iftar Party...

...and took some photos to walk off the food.

Toledo Mosque

Took some photos of the beautiful mosque my parents go to in Perrysburg, Ohio. It is inspiring to see how positively involved the local Muslim community is with the rest of the Toledo community.

Laguna Beach Photos

Went to Laguna Beach with some friends. I always love going there. Here are some reasons why, through photos I took.

Riffat Sultana at the Temple Bar

I went to see Riffat Sultana at the Temple Bar, followed by Cheb-i-Sabbah. It was great to finally see Riffat Sultana live. How rare to see a fellow Lahori at the Temple Bar. Here are some sketches I did in the dark. I put down watercolor, yellow, then red, then black marker for lines and some brown and green on top of that. I really like the way the marker worked out. I'll have to use it more often.

Drawing Club Ringmaster Part 3

The last set of sketches from this set. The top three are my favorite from the session, with the really loose third image in that image being my favorite of them. I like the idea of doing a rough and incomplete watercolor sketch, to be completed with sparing ink lines. I think it reads a lot better than most of the rest. See some of the other artists' work from the session here.

Drawing Club Ringmaster Part 2

This is the second set from this session. These were drawn on a smaller pad than the rest of the sketches from this session. It's a nice way to warm up for the somewhat larger poses on larger paper.