We were wandering away from the bright lights of the Chinese Lantern Festival at Ontario Place ⧉ in 2007 when we stumbled onto this: dozens of Monarch butterflies clinging to a tree branch, completely still in the dusk. We had no idea what we were looking at until later: a migration roost. These little guys were likely resting up before crossing Lake Ontario. A quiet corner of the park, no one else around, and this surreal moment with nature doing its thing.
Monarch butterflies travel up to 4,000 km from Canada to their overwintering sites in Mexico. Along the way, they need places to feed and rest—especially near big water crossings like the Great Lakes. Toronto’s waterfront parks, with their trees and native plants, provide just the kind of safe haven they need. Monarchs usually roost together at night in clusters like this, especially during their peak migration in September. Pretty amazing how they find these spots year after year.
Shot this using flash in low evening light, which helped highlight the rich tones of the butterflies and crisp details in the leaves. The dense clustering on the branch adds texture and movement to the composition, while the darker background isolates the subject nicely. I wasn’t thinking about technique much in the moment, just trying to capture something rare. But that makes the photo feel even more special in hindsight.
Processed with Affinity Photo v2 and Topaz Photo AI.
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This was taken at the Chinese Lantern Festival held at Ontario Place in 2007. Among the many lantern displays, this dragon boat stood out with its detailed design and bright colors. It floated in a pool surrounded by illuminated lotus flowers, and the reflections on the water made the whole scene feel layered and rich. The mix of saturated reds, golds, and greens looked great against the dark night sky, and the reflections in the water really added to the atmosphere.
The event itself was a cultural exhibition inspired by the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival, which is usually celebrated in China at the end of Lunar New Year, around February or March. Anyone who has stood on the shore of Lake Ontario on a cold February evening would have come to the conclusion that this time frame would not be favorable to hosting this type of event. So, while this version took place in late summer and early fall, it drew on many of the same artistic traditions: elaborate lanterns, mythological themes, and references to Chinese dynasties and folklore. Displays like this dragon boat were part of a broader showcase meant to share elements of Chinese culture with an international audience.
This was taken with my very first digital camera, the Olympus C-2040Z. Before this camera, I'd only shot on film. It was a compact with a surprisingly fast f/1.8 lens. This allowed me to shoot handheld, no tripod, just working with the available light. I focused on capturing the full shape of the dragon head and structure while letting the surrounding water and floating lanterns fill out the frame. For a handheld shot from an early 2000s camera, it held up better than I expected.
The scene is pure magic. A family of glowing koi lanterns dance over water at the Chinese Lantern Festival, lighting up the night with their vivid reds and oranges. Shot back in 2007, this moment still feels so alive. The reflections are doing half the work here, creating this surreal double-world that makes the fish look like they’re swimming in light instead of water.
Shot handheld, in the moment, with a little point-and-shoot Olympus. It’s one of those captures where everything just came together.
In Chinese symbolism, koi (or carp) often represent abundance, prosperity, perseverance, and strength. A famous legend of a carp swimming upstream and leaping the Dragon Gate to become a dragon gives it added weight as a symbol of overcoming trials. Because of the Chinese homophone between “fish” and “surplus / abundance”, fish are often used in festival art and decorative motifs to evoke wishes for prosperity. In lantern displays, koi lanterns can invoke these layered associations—vibrancy, hope, and the struggle toward light.
Composition-wise, it’s all about rhythm. the repetition of the koi shapes, each posed slightly differently, plays beautifully against the dark water and glowing reflections. The reflections are compositional elements in their own right, doubling the impact and leading your eye right across the frame. Post-processing was essential: Topaz Photo AI handled the high noise from the early digital sensor, and Affinity Photo's inpainting cleaned up stray elements for a tidier frame, subtle edits that keep the focus where it belongs.
Perched on the broad green leaf of an eggplant plant, this little gray treefrog didn’t seem the least bit shy. Its pale, stony coloring stood out clearly against the green, like a misplaced pebble left behind by the night.
It was early morning, and the light had that gentle, slanted quality that makes everything feel like it’s just waking up. You can see it shining through the leaf, lighting up the network of veins from below — a quiet kind of backlight that gives even a garden frog its moment of drama.
You’ll notice the round toe pads, a telltale sign this isn’t a toad at all, but a treefrog — likely a gray treefrog ⧉ (Hyla versicolor) or its twin species, Cope’s gray treefrog ⧉ (Hyla chrysoscelis). There’s no telling which without hearing its call, but both are known for their ability to look perfectly at home whether on tree bark or, apparently, an eggplant leaf.
It stayed frozen the whole time — no blink, no twitch — like it knew that stillness can sometimes be a better disguise than color.
Processed with Affinity Photo v2 and Topaz Photo AI.
love (on) film 🎞🤍 some shots from our second analog film. which is your fav from 1-10? ✨ #shotonolympus #olympusom4 #35mm #filmphotography #analog #kodakgold200 (at Berlin, Germany) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUF8EcsM-cm/?utm_medium=tumblr
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