Animals of Saint Thomas

Feb

22

Photo Monday: Night time in Saint Thomas

I know. Another Saint Thomas related Photo Monday. It’s coming to an end very soon. We’re working hard at culling the (1800) photos, so we’ll be ready to share the rest of them soon. Stay tuned. In the meantime, see what I was up to with Andrew’s tripod in Saint Thomas!

As always, let me know what you think!!

Oui, oui. Je sais. Encore un autre Photo Monday sur Saint Thomas. C’est presque fini. On travaille fort pour chosir les photos (il y en a 1800!) et nous devrions pouvoir les montrer sur flickr bientôt. En attendant, voici quelques photos de nuits que j’ai pris à Saint Thomas.

Comme d’habitudes, laissez-moi un petit message pour me dire celle que vous préférez!

Cheers,

Plane leaving Saint Thomas at night, from the balcony!

Moon in Saint Thomas. As close as my 200mm permits.

The star effect here was created naturally, using a very small aperture (f/22).

Night sky over the sea (looking South). Lots of noise was produce for this long exposure over the ocean (exposed 13 minutes).

Startrails looking North from the house. Because I only had one battery, this shot is only a mix of 8 shots of 30 seconds each. All shots were set at f3.5 with ISO-400.

Posted by Miguel | 1 comments

Feb

18

Steve Bloom: Nature Photographer

Photographer Profiles

I’ve decided to try going bilingual (oui! oui! En Français!). Bonne lecture!

Believe it or not, I discovered this photographer at Shopper’s Drug Mart – on a calender. I was really captured by the incredibly original perspective on the cover (you’ll understand what I mean in a minute). So, when I got home, I did a quick google search for “Steve Bloom” and started to browse his online shop. He calls his shots “Fine Art Prints” and after checking a couple pages of his superb photos, you will quickly understand why. My wife almost didn’t believe me that they were photos (and not paintings/drawings)… it’s by far her favourite of the photographers I’ve profiled so far. Below is a shot of Steve Bloom in Botswana, followed by my two favourite shots.

J’ai decouvert ce photographe sur un calendrier à vendre au “Shopper’s Drug Mart” (notre équivalent du Jean-Coutu en Ontario). J’ai tout de suite été captivé par la perspective originale de la photographie sur la couverture (vous comprendrez ce que je veux dire dans une minute!). Quand je suis arrivé à la maison, j’ai tout de suite cherché sur google pour “Steve Bloom” et j’ai parcouru son site web. Il décrit ces photos en tant que “Fine Art” et vous allez comprendre pourquoi assez rapidement. Ma femme me croyait pratiquement pas que c’était des photos (et non pas des peintures)… c’est définitivement son photographe préféré jusqu’à maintenant. Voici une photo de Steve Bloom au Botswana, ainsi que mes deux photos préférées.

Make sure you check out his site, and if you happen to have about 100$ dollars (CAD) to spend on some fine art prints, I strongly recommend you do it on his site. Or you can buy the famous calendar that I saw at Shopper’s Drugmart for about 30$ (CAD), it’s the one calledSTEVE BLOOM Calendar 2010.

In any case, here are the two shots that really captured my attention:

Prenez le temps d’aller voir son site et de parcourir tous ses belles photos. Si vous avez 100$ (CAD) à dépenser sur des photos, je vous suggère fortement de le faire sur son site. Vous pouvez aussi acheter son calendrier (celui que j’ai vu au Shoppers!) pour à peu près 30$ (CAD). C’est celui qui s’apelle STEVE BLOOM Calendar 2010.

Sans plus tarder, voici les photos qui ont tant captivés mon attention:

Now that’s National Geographic material (you can almost see the yellow border of the magazine…)!!!

Here are some links that you might find interesting:

Steve Bloom on vimeo;
Steve Bloom’s main site;

Posted by Miguel | 3 comments

Feb

15

HDR in Saint Thomas

Photo Monday

I have another great Photo Monday in store today. While away on vacation, we took a couple of afternoons off from sitting on the beach to walk around and take photos. Most of the HDR we did during this trip were shot at Charlotte Amalie, on a Sunday afternoon when everything was closed. At first, our friend felt really bad that things were closing so early on Sunday (around noon), but we were delighted. It gave us time to walk around and get shots that would normally be full of tourists. Hope you enjoy these HDRs shot around Charlotte Amalie.

Have a great Family Day (for those in Ontario!)!
Cheers,

Shot at Drake’s Seat – View On Black.

Empty alleyway of Charlotte Amalie! View On Black

Old door in Charlotte Amalie – View On Black

Another great shot taken while no tourists were around in Charlotte Amalie. View On Black

This shot was taken at house that was for sale. We sneaked in their courtyard to take this awesome view. I wish the infinity pool was “on” so that you’d get the real illusion. View On Black

Posted by Miguel | 0 comments

Feb

12

Vistas of the Virgin Islands

Travel

So, as promised, I continue to post some of our favourite shots from the trip. This time around, we are showcasing the many beautiful views and panoramas we had the chance to see while on vacation in the beautiful U.S. Virgin Islands.

I know that the photos come out a little small here on the site, so I added a “View on Black” link that you can click to see each photo in a larger format with a black background (which is really the best way to see these photos!!).

More to come soon. Of course, feel free to browse our flickr photostream as we may post photos there very soon. I have a nice collection of shots for the next Photo Monday. Stay tuned.

Cheers!

The view we woke up to every morning in Saint Thomas. Doesn’t really get better than this! View On Black

The bay and peninsula of Magens Bay! Apparently voted among the top 10 beaches in the world by National Geographic. We didn’t end up going down there because it’s too touristy. You’ll understand when you see where we went. :) View On Black

Trunk Bay beach in Saint John. Now *that* beach we did go to. A pretty stunning place with amazingly clear water! View On Black

Another amazing morning in Saint Thomas! Check out the cruise ship to the right. We saw those arrive in the morning and leave everyday. Luckily for us, we got to stay in Saint Thomas. Ha ha! View On Black

Beautiful Charlotte Amalie! Superb vista all the way up there. At the bottom left, you can see the port where the cruise ships arrive and everything. View On Black

As always, leave some comments. Let us know which one you prefer. Have a great day all!!

Posted by Miguel | 2 comments

Feb

08

Animals of Saint Thomas

Photo Monday

We were lucky enough to enjoy some time off in the beautiful U.S. Virgin Islands for the past week or so. We mostly stayed on Saint Thomas, but also visited Saint John and neighbouring much smaller British island called Virgin Gorda. In order to get all of us through the end of the winter, I thought I would share some of our favourite shots of the trip for my photo Monday. This week’s topic is the fauna of Saint Thomas, the ones we were able to photograph that is! The islands are full of amazing creatures and, as you will see, the most predominant one is the Iguana. Enjoy!

As we sort through more and more of our photos, we will add them here on flickr.