Marie Curtis Park

Marie Curtis Park is an amazing stretch of greenspace tucked away in a bustling corner of Etobicoke. The park centers around the winding Etobicoke Creek reaching Lake Ontario and covers about 41 hectares of lawn, trees and shoreline. A sandy swimming beach and a zigzag boardwalk sit on the east side of the creek, with a longer, rockier shore on the west. The beach faces to the southeast across the open water so at first light the sun appears over the lake to the east with nothing on the horizon to block it. An 1803 cannon sits mounted on the boardwalk and makes a unique shooting subject against the water. You can easily experiment with shooting the creek mouth for reflections and the pair of piers for leading lines. On clear days the CN Tower appears above the treeline to the east, small enough that it's worth having a long lens in your kit. On the west side the ground slopes down toward the shore past big standalone trees that silhouette well. On calm mornings you may even find fishermen along the rocky banks hope to catch some salmon or trout. Aim to get there early for a peaceful sunrise and the boardwalk is usually all yours. (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)