A little photography adventure.

Ever had one of those days when a zillion things go wrong... on what should be a simple day? We all are blessed to experience such days. I, along with friend and photographer, Matt Green, on a day trip a few weeks back, had such an experience. We were doing a location scout in Sandhills Park, which, if memory serves me well, is about a 2.5 hour drive from Toronto.

We jumped into my trusty AWD Subaru Impreza, and off we went. Sunshine filled the sky. We were looking forward to a relaxing drive and time to shoot the breeze.

About half way into our trip, what seemed to be my rear right wheel starting squealing. Not a mild squeal, such as a squeal of joy, but rather a squeal that threatened to leave us stranded on a 2 lane country road in the middle of nowhere. Not very relaxing!

So we took a detour, and crept into a Subaru dealership in beautiful Hamilton. "Better safe than sorry", I said. 

I'm informed by the very helpful staff that I've a lot of rust on my brake rotors which is causing the squealing, but otherwise my Su-bee is safe to drive. "Oh", advised the mechanic, "but you should also get new tires soon, and new rotors sooner than later."

Hmmm.

So we hop back in the car, and squeal away (sorry - couldn't resist), almost two hours behind schedule.  Upon arriving at Sandhills Park, we were treated to a serious workout - those sand hills are unforgiving! All the time spent editing in front of a computer and not in the gym had caught up with me. Boy - was I out of shape! I couldn't believe I was living in the same body that had run marathons and triathlons until just a short 4 years ago.

When we had pretty much wrapped, I decided to take a trip up one more hill. Matt was happy to watch as he wisely sat comfortably below. Gasping as I reached the top, the wind had whipped up into some serious hurricane-like gusts, and it was all I could do to stand upright, hold my camera and capture some images.

My favourite hiking shoes were now soaked and filled with a combo pack of water, clay and sand. When I got back to where Matt was, I took my shoes and socks off to dry my feet, and decided to drive barefoot for the trip back - which I'm not even sure is legal? When we squealed back into Toronto, we decided to grab a bite, when I realized I had left my shoes and socks back in Sandhills Park!!

Anyway, at the end of it all we accomplished what we had set out to do. And I've now four new Bridgestone tires. My Toronto car mechanic advised my brakes are still good, and the squealing will come and go. With all the driving I do for the weddings I photograph out of the GTA, I'll be replacing my brakes in no time.

Here are some pics. I captured them as jpegs with a small Olympus point and shoot. I like the juxtaposition of windmills and nature.