Category: sky

Hit and Miss

Published on by greavesadmin3 Comments

A couple of thunderstorm systems passed just south of us just after sunset last night. Lightning and thunder played tag in the air. Between 9 pm and 10 pm I shot 87 images in attempt to capture at least one with a streak of lightning

lightning shoot thumbnails

The camera was set with my 17-50 mm at 17 mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8 and BULB so I control exposure length. I was using my Trippertrap remote shutter for the second time.

Triggertrap webpageIt works through the app on the smart phone. It has lots of great features but I really miss the feel of a button. The ‘trigger’ on the phone is a small dot at the bottom of the screen so it is difficult to find by touch. Perhaps there’s a setting for any part of the screen to set off the shutter – will have to look in to that.

Anyway, there was a lot of lightning but most was sheet lightning.  Even when I thought I was capturing a streak of lightning, the extreme brightness caused the lines blended into the overexposed sky. It was tricky to react like a trained game show contestant with a buzzer and at the same time calculate how long to leave the shutter open relative to how bright the flash of light was! But about the 65th try, I got one!

lightning streak in sky

1.0 sec, f/2.8, 17 mm, ISO 1600 with Canon EOS 7D

 

Waters flow

Published on by greavesadmin5 Comments

With sorrow I share that last week we suddenly and tragically lost my husband’s nephew at the age of 26. Buddy spent time around the docks of our seaplane base off and on from the time he was a toddler. He started his flying career with us in 2004 and was back to work for us this summer. He was a gentle soul with a dimpled grin and quick wit, and he was an excellent pilot.
passing rains
My tears fall and mix with the summer rains.
Like the rain the sadness comes in varying volume, randomly; sometimes sudden, tumultuous; sometimes softly, gently.
Like the rain the sadness passes. The sun returns with warmth and light. I go on, stronger.

early bird

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It was worth getting up early this morning to catch the lunar eclipse.

A quick glance out the window confirmed the event was actually visible and under way. I had set up the camera and tripod the previous night so I wouldn’t have to fumble with gear at the sleepy hour of 5:30 am. I stepped out on to the landing, pointed the camera at the moon and set about getting a shot. The air was a fresh -10C but reasonably calm; still chilly for one in a fuzzy robe and winter boots. After snapping a couple test shots, I headed back indoors, dressed more warmly and returned for more of the show.

lunar eclipse

A system was moving in and just as the moon was half gone, it was all gone!

about to disappear lunar eclipse

I snuck back inside and curled up on the couch to watch for the cloud cover to break. After about a half hour, I gave up and climbed back into my toasty warm bed.

 

August 2014 Calendar – Island in the storm

Published on by greavesadmin2 Comments

One of my favourite aspects of living lake-side is watching the rain move across the lake. Whether a light shower or raging storm, the sight, sound and smell is amazing. This past week we experienced several days of sudden and brief thunderstorms. I was able to capture the dramatic change in the colours of sky, shore and water before heading for cover!

island in the storm 1 island in the storm 2 island in the storm 3 island in the storm 4 island in the storm 5

I decided to lay the calendars on two images taken in the sequence but could not decide which I liked better. So, I’ve set them both up so you can choose. Different screen resolutions can be found here.

free desktop calendar august 2014_1440x900
Calm before the storm
Here it comes!
Here it comes!

 

Night lights

Published on by greavesadmin3 Comments

Didn’t see the expected meteor shower at 1:30 this morning but was treated to the beauty of a moonless night sky!

Night Sky

 

I found this article very helpful in getting my gear set properly the evening before so I wouldn’t have to do it ‘in the field’ in the dark. I used my widest, fastest lense a Tamron 17-50mm at f/2.8, 17 mm, ISO 3200 set the mode to BULB and used my wireless timer remote shutter. It was impossible for me to see well enough to fine tune the focus so I crossed my fingers. made sure it was on manual focus and dialed to infinity.

Because of the brightness of our yard light, I took several images with different exposure times. In Lightroom, I selected the image shot at 25 seconds for the horizon and sky (on the left below) and one with a 4 second exposure for the foreground.

exposure time comparison

 

The two images were then layered in PhotoShop. I added a layer mask to the darker shot then applied the gradient tool to reveal just the bottom of image for the foreground.

layered image

All definitely worth the effort, I’d say. 🙂

 

 

radiant sunset

Published on by greavesadmin1 Comment

The other evening, the air was crisp and clear, the sky clear blue and the water calm. The lake called me out from the shore. I’m glad I answered the call.

radiant sunset.jpgTo get the star light glow of the setting sun, I set the f-stop as deep (or wide – I never am sure of the technical description) as I dared (f29) and shot when the sun was brightest poking through the pine bows. I was driving the motor boat alone as I shot so I cruised as low as possible past this point of land several times to capture the sun before it disappeared over the horizon.