Super Moon in Toronto

Super moon in Toronto

Apparently, the moon on March 19th, 2011 was a super moon, which just means that the moon appears bigger and brighter than usual (about 20 percent brighter and 15 percent bigger in this particular instance). The actual reason is that the moon was the closest to us it will ever be (happens every 30 years or so). As it turns out, the orbit of the moon is not a perfect circle and, on average, it is at a distance of about 385,000 kilometers, but this past Saturday, it was only 356,700 kilometers away.

I’m not perfectly happy with the result of my photos, but i wanted to share them anyways. Through this experiment, i have learned that to take an interesting picture of the moon, you need a very long lense (600mm and up, or 300mm with a converter) in order to make it look extremely large against a cool foreground (a cool example of this from someone else on flickr).

Make sure you check out some of the National Geographic’s shots and some of the shots on flickr too. Very cool!

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Lunar Eclipse of 2010, a.k.a. Blood Moon

Lunar Eclipse (Half of)

As soon as my friend Andrew told me about the total lunar eclipse that was going to happen exactly on the winter’s solstice (Dec. 21st, 2010), I knew I had to stay up for it. This particular eclipse was special for a couple of reasons. Firstly, a lunar eclipse hasn’t fallen on the Winter’s solstice since 1638, and it will not happen again until 2094. Also, the moon happened to be perfectly aligned with the stars of the Milky Way, which gave it (for some) a nice and bright backdrop. The only problem: clouds.

Of course, the city was covered with clouds all day, but I was still hoping to get a clear view of the moon that night. But I was in luck and the sky was perfectly clear that night. In fact, we could actually see the stars over downtown Toronto… a very rare treat!

Blood Moon

Dès que mon ami Andrew m’a averti qu’une éclipse lunaire allait arriver directement sur la première journéee de l’hiver (Le 21 décembre 2010), je savais que j’allais rester debout pour la voir! Cette éclipse était spéciale pour deux raisons. Une éclipse lunaire n’a pas tombé sur le solstice de l’hivers depuis 1638, et ne reproduira pas avant 2094. Aussi, la lune était parfaitement alignée avec les étoiles de la voie lactée, lui donnant un super beau fond lumineux (pour certains!). Le seul problème: les nuages!

Évidement, la ville était completement couverte de nuage toute la journée, mais j’esperais quand même avoir une vue claire de la lune. En fait, le ciel était tellement clair cette nuit là que nous pouvions voir les étoiles, même au centre ville de Toronto! C’est tellement rare de voir les étoiles à Toronto!

Dining on top of Toronto

Last week, we were lucky enough to be invited for a private tour of the CN tower, and to then dine in their fabulously extravagant restaurant called the 360. The food and wine was fabulous and the views from the rotating restaurant were nothing less than spectacular. After our delicious meal, I took the time to take a couple of shots of Toronto’s downtown, about 553 metres above it all. Enjoy.

La semaine passée, nous avons eu la chance d’être invités pour une visite privée de la tour du CN. Nous avons ensuite mangé au restaurant tournant, le 360, au sommet de la tour. Non seulement avons-nous mangé très bien, mais les vues étaient spectaculaires d’en haut! Après notre repas, j’ai pris le temps de prendre quelques photos du centre ville de Toronto, à 553 mètres au dessus!

Toronto's skyline at night

BMO Tower.

The Rogers Centre

Toronto's skyline at night

Summer weekend at the cottage

We took this last weekend off from climbing up north and went to the cottage. I think our bodies appreciated the rest! Time at the cottage consists of card games, board games, lots of swimming, and lots of eating. This time around, it even included a midnight stroll to the pond to take photos of the stars. It was my first time at the pond during the night and it won’t be the last!! Enjoy the photos!

You may remember photos from the cottage in the Winter and some photos from our spring time there. Go check them out!

Nous avons pris congé de l’escalade le weekend passé et sommes allé au chalet. Nos corps ont bien apprecié le repos! Le temps au chalet consiste de jeux de cartes, jeux de sociétés, beaucoup de nage, et plein de bouffe. Cette fois-ci, nous avons même été prendre une marche à minuit au lac pour prendre des photos des étoiles. C’était la première fois que j’allais au lac la nuit, et ça ne sera pas la dernière. Enjoy!

Vous vous rapellez peut-être des photos que j’avais prises lors de nos visites pendant l’hivers et pendant le printemps. Allez les revoir si ça vous en dit!

Trying to balance on the tube
Trying to balance on the tube

Orange Growth
Orange Growth

Flowers on table
Flowers on table

Stars Over the Lake
Stars Over the Lake

Old Mine Cart
Old Mine Cart

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
Plane leaving Saint Thomas at night, from the balcony!

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

Star effect moon from the balcony
The star effect here was created naturally, using a very small aperture (f/22).

Night sky over sea
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
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.

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