Sunset at Leslie Spit

Drag to the right to reveal a twilight view.

My goal was to shoot a 360° pano at the end of the Spit, with a view of the Toronto skyline behind the Toronto Islands and the ice between the Spit and the Islands. Last week, the snow had been fresh and deep and added at least twice the usual walk time. No snow in the intervening week had me thinking that the truck traffic would have made walking easier, but I almost didn’t go because I got off to a late start, and even if walking were easier, I was still looking at about 1 1/2 hours to get to my destination from the beginning of the park. I checked the weather station to see what the predication was for the next day. Cloudy and snow flurries. Nice, but I really wanted blue sky and waters, so late or not, I hopped in the car and headed out, hoping to make it with enough light in the sky.

It’s across and to the right of this bridge that I took the above shots. In past years areas, on either side of the bridge there remained ice-free areas, making it a wonderful place for photographers to get some good images of a variety of ducks. Last week there were only about a half dozen open pools on the left side as seen above. This weekend, those open areas were frozen over. The ice wasn’t yet as thick and from a distance looked open, which I’m guessing attracted the one duck seen in the image. It flew away after realizing that it wouldn’t be able to dive for food here.

I made it! I got the shot I wanted, plus I shot a few more, including one by the lighthouse at the very end. The lighting was so pretty, how could I not? The sun was sinking below the horizon as I was heading back. There weren’t many people still walking around this far in, but a couple of photographers ran by me, towards the end, and I felt like telling them that if they wanted to catch the sunset, they were too late. It would, however, be a great time to wait for the city to awaken in night brilliance with the fading sunset orange behind it…

I had over an hour’s walk out of a very deserted and unlit (except by moonlight on snow) wilderness park, so sticking around at the end then walking back the entire way in the dark by myself…well, I imagined that the fellow was already getting a bit worried, and while I guessed that this would be the last place that folks looking for trouble would actually be hanging out, I tend to be rather prudent about my personal safety. I stuck around as late as I did because of the lighting and I gambled that I would have enough light to get out of the park before darkness fell in earnest.

As I took my first VR, a couple walked into my scene. They were in no hurry to go anywhere, I was shooting with a 10.5mm lens, so they wouldn’t take up too much real estate in my image and might even add a bit of interest, so I shot with them in it. I thought that it was an interesting sign of the times with him shooting with a DSLR and she, an iPad.

I was half right. As I got to the bridge (approximately the half-way point), it was becoming dark. But I was there, so I had to stop and take a few evening shots of one of my favourite city views. Not long after, I was walking in moonlight. I was spooked a couple of times by shadows and once the sound of a flock of Oldsqaws murmuring together offshore sounded like someone talking, but then I was in the homestretch. A few more shots of the city in its night glory, a bike with red lights whizzed by me, startling me, and 20 minutes later I was in the car. When I had parked it, cars were parked on both sides of the streets at the entrance to the park. Now, it was alone under a street light. Next time, I need to bring a buddy or do a better time of judging remaining daylight.

The lowering sun gave a rosy hue to the icy slush in the water. To the right, completely frozen cover to the lake; to the left, free.  This is the transition area between solid and liquid.

Mississauga from a distance. Its signature twisty buildings can be seen in the city’s silhouette.

The empty cormorant nests in the bare trees in silhouette against the warm colours left by the setting sun.

As darkness grew, the city lights turned on. Bare ice reflects colours as if the water were free instead of covered, while snow acts like a blanket over the rest of the frozen land.

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