Winter Walk at Tommy Thompson Park

We started this cold month wanting to go out and take photos but also not wanting to do anything due to the constant freeze-and-thaw weather the city has been having. On one hand, I enjoy walking and biking though the snow, no such thing as bad weather to me. On the other hand, it’s been very icy these past weeks, making it challenging to walk in the city, let alone bike through a trail.

Finally, on the 9th, I decided to suck it up and take a trip down to the Spit (Tommy Thompson Park). The bike ride down wasn’t bad. One thing to remember is that there is no winter maintenance at the park, so the trail was just ice covered with snow. Some sections of snow were packed more than others, as the park is popular even during the winter months. I was hoping to bike the trail just to cover distance faster and reach a few more spots before sunset. It ended up becoming to difficult even walk the bike and I ended up locking the bike up at the visitor center about 500m into the park. I just couldn’t get traction on the bike that day. With the bike all locked up, I unpacked and began the walk.

On this trip, I was testing a few things. The first, I brought a two-camera setup: the R6 Mark II as my primary camera with the Tamron 100-400mm attached, and the 90D with the 24-105mm or 100mm macro. The R6 would be for wildlife, while the 90D would be for landscapes, macro, and maybe a timelapse.

The second thing I was testing was whether I could film myself or the trip in general, with the goal of making short videos for social media or maybe a short YouTube video. For this, I packed the GoPro Hero 5 and Hero 10, along with what would normally be too many accessories for such a short trip.

Results of this trip

Let’s start with the GoPro part. I made an oops—I forgot the batteries for both GoPro's at home. I put the batteries in case I didn’t normally use and just forgot to pack it, so now I’m carrying an extra bag full of GoPro mounting accessories for no reason. The one batteries I had doesn't last more than an hour in the cold. I did manage to conserve the battery enough to get a few shots throughout the trip: a chest POV, and I tried clipping the camera to the tripod with the bike mount, as well as mounting the cameras on the hot shoe (flash mount).

Next, Two-Camera Setup. To keep it short—I liked it a lot. I could set up a landscape photo or timelapse with the R6 while photographing birds at the same time. I didn’t have to worry about switching lenses in the snowy weather. I tried carrying both cameras for a while—one in the bag’s shoulder mount and the other on the tripod over my shoulder. This wasn’t horrible, but I couldn’t see myself needing the second camera for quick access, so I put it back in the bag and just took it out whenever I needed it.

I’m glad I left the bike behind since I couldn’t see myself biking with two cameras. Not much more to mention during the trip—my 90D has been giving me some problems, primarily with autofocus. I’ve had to recalibrate every lens I own for it to work properly. You might be asking—why haven’t I sold or traded it yet and just kept the R6 Mark II?

Well, there are a few reasons. One, I wanted a backup camera body. Two, and this is bad—the 90D’s autofocus is worse than I remember it being, or maybe I’m just spoiled by the R6 Mark II. Either way, I’m using the 90D for landscape photos, so manual focus it is.

Well, it turns out that didn’t work well either—the photos are all soft. I think the problem is that the sensor has shifted slightly. The images aren’t outright blurry, just soft with no clear edges. I ran a few images through Topaz AI, and it kind of fixes the issue, but I don’t want to be fixing every photo I take with this camera.

Image taken with Canon 90D

Final Thouts of This Trip

Two-camera setup: The 90D either has to get fixed or get traded in. I don’t need anything fancy—if I’m just using it as an extra camera, maybe the R8? Small body, full frame, it looks good on paper. Or maybe the R7? It’s an APS-C sensor, but it would give me extra reach for birds when I need it. I don’t know. I’m not in a position right now where I need a second camera body, so this can wait.

GoPro: I got some okay shots. The POV mounts worked well, as did the wind cover. I’m going to look at buying some new items for general action cam use—a stronger selfie stick and maybe a longer one, 2 or 3 meters, to get more of an aerial shot.

A new mounting system may be needed as well. The snap mount system I currently use are breaking, either dur to age. I like the default GoPro buckle system, but it’s slow, and I want something that lets me swap the camera from one place to another quickly and mount it to anything.

Batteries: Turns out my original blue batteries are both dead, and one is puffy. New batteries will be needed for the future, the Hero 10 should be easy to find batteries for. The Hero 5 on the other hand, I have two batteries for it both can't keep a charge for more then 20 minutes. Finding new batteries for the Hero 5 might be a challenge seeing as its such an old model, anything I do find will probably be just as old.

That all for now, thanks for stopping by

Sun Set At Tommy Thompson Park - Toronto Ontario