ornge

my sister and i were walking along a side street near the university belt and R&D belt in downtown toronto, when i noticed this loud sound. at first i didn't recognize the sound but i kept looking back. my sister was telling me something and got annoyed that i wasn't listening. then the penny dropped: it was the sound of a helicopter. so i stopped and looked up the top of the buildings when i espied the movement of the rotor blades. as it slowly rose up from the top of the heart research centre, i fumbled with the iphone, cursing myself for forgetting to bring my camera! thankfully the iphone wasn't temperamental so i got a few shots. one item off the bucket list.

i've been wanting to get a shot of a helicopter coming or going on top of a building. there are a few hospitals around this area so it is possible, it is just a matter of timing and location. i remembered that a couple of years ago, since i've seen one land at the top of st. michael's hospital, i was quite obsessed for a while. there was a weekend when i went downtown and sat at a ledge near that hospital hoping one of the air ambulances would appear. almost like wishing there would be some really bad accident so i could get that item off the bucket list. well, almost, not quite, as i wouldn't want to wish ill on anybody.

this helicopter belongs to 'ornge' a not-for-profit organization that provides air ambulance and associated ground transportation services for the province of ontario. the name Ornge is not an acronym, but is based on the orange colour of the organization's aircraft and land ambulances. the 'a' was removed from the name, partly to make people stop and take a second look, and also so that it could be trademarked.

i think i better start that habit again of carrying the camera all the time as the iphone really doesn't cut it for me anymore. i promise to get a better shot the next time.

[Kathy]

The helicopter's color pops in this photo.

[moni kozi]

Tht's relly ornge...

[Sally Ings]

That helicopter does dominate the scene, it's really bright

[Delwyn Barnett]

I have a bucket list of photos I want to get too!!

[Lou Ann]

Interesting information about that name. They do important work, for sure.

[katy]

Terrific capture for an on the fly photo! No pun intended! Interesting information about the name of the company too.

[Ann H. LeFevre]

I pulled out the cell phone for a shot the other day too- but not to capture a helicopter, but a deer walking across the street. My grandson Charlie is fascinated by them right now so I took a picture of the nuisance with my cell phone so that I could send the picture to my son so that he could show it to Charlie. It was a terrible picture but thankfully 2 year olds don't care about the quality if they can recognize the subject. Good catch for an impromptu photo shoot!