A Beacon Of Hope
CN Tower, located in downtown Toronto Ontario; quite possibly the staple of Canada, North America and the World. CN tower is named after the Canadian National Railroad (CN) which is one of the largest railroad companies in North America. The History of this tower is long with it starting back in 1852 as the Grand Trunk Railway serving both American and Canadian consumers on either side of the border. Going through college I picked up a lot of the technical skills for both photography and videography from Peter McKinnon in Toronto Canada. PM’s tutorials and adventurous nature showed me that that there is beauty in other areas outside the United States. Going through my studies in a very conservative political science program at Grove City College I learned how similar Canada and the United States are in both cultural and legal matters. I also became aware of how close we are when it comes to economic trade. I also learned through independent study how our relationship is unique and allows our countries to become far closer than any other country in the world. The only other time I visited Canada was right before the
pandemic when I walked across rainbow bridge to photograph Niagara Falls in a blizzard. The goal of this trip was to capture the CN tower over Lake Ontario because I was visiting some friends in Buffalo, and I had not been in Canada for about two and a half years, and I noticed that a lot of the photographers I follow on instagram are posting photos of CN tower. Needless to say, I got in the car with my former college roommate and crossed Into Canada on a Friday morning. Once we crossed the border and got to the outer portions of Toronto we stopped at Colonel Samuel Smith Park and got a series of photos with the CN tower on the lake. Even Though I arrived early afternoon I was able to get a variety of foregrounds for my subject ranging from grass and foliage to rocks and sailing ships. I am glad that the sky was partly cloudy because that offered a nice textured background behind the tower. A clear sky or a completely covered sky would not be able to offer a similar photograph and would instead be distract the viewer from my subject in the photograph (CN tower). Since the time of day was around 1-2pm a totally blue or white sky would have no special color or added detail to offer like a partly
clouded sky would in the afternoon. The added detail of rocks and boats also helped make the afternoon sky seem more palatable. I realize that the photograph would have looked way better if I arrived during sunrise but I was too lazy to get up at 3am and make the two hour drive. The results that I got were pretty good but nothing that I would necessarily print on an eight foot canvas. Walking back to my car I was able to get some banger photos of the local harbor with all the boats and Canadian flags. These photos turned out really well and some of these will be printed in the near future. I still wanted another angle of the tower knowing full well that I could really get some super professional photos if I was close enough to the observation deck..so I got back in the car and headed downtown.I mentioned before that the Canada National Railroad built the tower and today the railroad company delivers more than 250 billion Canadian dollars (193 billion US) over 20 thousand miles across Canada and The United States. An article was written comparing Union Pacific Railroad to Canada National and considered both of them as “core holdings in a long-term portfolio.”
The point being that Canada National is not just the creator of a fancy tower that gets struck by lighting pretty frequently but is also one of the largest companies that deliver goods to both the American and Canadian consumer. The tower to me is seen as a symbol of economic freedom and international commerce. When The United States separated from Britain they did so because they wanted to be able to govern themselves, and they wanted to have free trade - both international and domestic. Unlike America, Canada left Britain slowly and did not become completely independent until they adopted a constitution in 1982 (extremely late to the game). Very much like America they also wanted to be completely independent and to engage in free international and domestic commerce. Today The United States and Canada are among the most economically free countries in the world according to the Heritage Foundation. Both countries considerably depend on railroads to deliver goods to either country, and in 2021 the American Department of State said, “Nearly $1.7 billion a day in goods and services cross between us every day.”
When I arrived Downtown the blue jay traffic started entering the city and although there was a significant amount of traffic it felt a lot like Pittsburgh during rush hour right before a Baseball game. Once I figured out where to park I made my way to the HTO park west where I took a bunch of up close photos of the tower with my telephoto lens. The sky was still partly cloudy so I was able to get a nice compressed image against the clouds and foliage in the trees. The nice thing about using a 70-200mm lens that you are not locked to focal lengths like 85mm or 135mm allowing me to save space in my bag for things like a lunch and water. Using a telephoto lens also allows the photographer to get a really nice compressed image where the subject bounces off of the background. I am very pleased with the results that I got when I was downtown; the photos of the tower are way better than the landscape photos of the city in my opinion. As I was heading back to my car I got to walk around downtown a little bit and the foot traffic did not seem any more congested than Pittsburgh. I was able to stop and get some nice wide angle shots of the stadium with the tower in the background
despite the foot traffic into to the stadium for the baseball game. The photos with the stadium also seemed to trump the cityscape shots which makes me wonder if the humidity in the air had something to do with the clarity of the photographs. I am not saying that I hate the cityscape photos but I think if I arrived at a better time of day the results would have been much better. When you compare the two different locations side by side you can tell that the photos from downtown look way more professional than the landscape photos on the beach. Anyone can stop at a park, get out of a car and take a landscape photo of Toronto in the middle of the day but you really need the right tools, the proper experience, and the right timing to get that thumbnail shot of the observation deck overlooking the city.CN Tower is not just another cool space needle; it is a symbol of not only economic freedom and individual liberties. The tower is also a symbol of international diplomacy and a culture of consumerism that spans across the largest international border in the world. This photo session may have lasted only an afternoon but the impact that this symbol has on the world will continue to be a
a beacon for freedom in the Northern Hemisphere for generations to come. On the way back my roommate and I stopped at an Ikea and a shopping mall and were surprised at 1) how large Ikea really is, and 2) how populated the shopping mall was on a Friday afternoon. Looking back on the trip I could have done better with my time of arrival but again…too lazy to get up at 3am to make it to Toronto for the sunrise. Time of day is the determining factor between getting that professional, well thought out photograph, and the half-hearted snapshot with a cell phone. I think I did pretty well with what I got, and I am pleased with the shots that I got to bring home. I am glad that I got to go see an actual part of Canada and not just another tourist trap like Niagara. Overall I am most pleased with getting the opportunity to capture a structure that reminds people of the freedoms and liberties that we enjoy today both in Canada and The United States. The history of railroads has always left a positive impact on my life and I hope these photographs are able to portray that passion of both freedom and adventure.