Things to Do in Pickering

Operating on a fully solar-powered farm, The Ajax Riding Academy sprawls before visitors a state-of-the-art facility complete with continuous security camera coverage. The academy's year-round selection of services helps novice and advanced riders alike earn their spurs, including lessons for groups or single riders and camps for every season. Owners can also shelter their four-legged comrades inside the facility's exclusive boarding barn, which features 20 large box stalls that are cleaned daily and stocked with rubber-matted floors, making it impossible for ponies to tunnel out and start new lives as bankers. During colder months, a pair of indoor arenas teams up with heated viewing areas to facilitate enjoyable riding throughout the winter.

At Nature's Photo Adventures, professional photographers—some of whom have seen their work published on the covers of Audobon Magazine, National Geographic, and _Newsweek_—guide students of all skill levels on outdoor journeys to learn the essential techniques of photographing wildlife and scenic landscapes. At locales such as High Park's lakefront or the Toronto Zoo, students learn to focus lenses on reflective waters and exotic animals. They also learn the basics of shutter speed, aperture settings, and ISO configurations as they seek out close-up shots of insects snorkeling across the Lynde Shores marsh wetlands. Along with these rudimentary skills, photo tours teach students how to read histograms and properly compose photographs with natural lighting. Students should bring a notebook and must provide their own digital SLR, point-and-shoot digital camera, or Baroque portrait painter.