Happy Anniversaries

There will be lots of fireworks going off both in Canada and in the USA this week. Enjoy the shows! And if you want to try to capture some of the bright lights, check out this great article. You might just want to sign up for the Digital Photography School weekly newsletter. It’s full of great articles with photo taking and post processing tips and gear reviews.

We had our own little ‘shoot’ last night. Happy Anniversary, Scott and Krista!

fireworks over agimak lake

(By the way, I found the above mentioned article this morning so I’m looking forward to capturing our municipal display tonight. I’m going to try tip#15 for sure. Grabbing my tripod, remote shutter and bug jacket….)

night light

There are so many beautiful sights in nature during our summer months. It’s difficult to pick favourites but reflections of the moonlight in a lake surface is definitely one of my top ten. Whether glass calm water mirrors the light or a light chop causes the light to dance, it provokes wonder in me.

In my constant hunt for an exceptional moon rise shot and with my trusty The Photographer’s Ephemeris application (which I discussed in this post), I headed out to Raleigh Lake just west of Ignace to scout a location in advance of the May full moon. I was delighted to find a little island between shorelines. The moon was scheduled to rise 40 minutes before  sunset so I knew the moon wouldn’t be very bright in the still lit sky. Sure enough, it rose where I expected and was quite faint. I was still pleased with the angle and foreground/water. Here’s a resulting shot.

moon rise at Raleigh-20130523-6916.jpg

Do you see the moon? Here’s a closer look.

moon rise at Raleigh-20130523-6918.jpg

The schedule for the following day, Friday, May 25 was full moon at 23:24; moonrise at 20:35; sunset at 20:55. The conditions would be better for a brighter moon on the horizon. I brought along a friend and a couple of flashlights so we could help each other find our way back in the pending darkness. Thankfully, the sky was clear (again), the bugs tolerable and the water calm. It was worth the wait!
Here it comes!
moon rise over Raleigh-20130524-6961.jpg

moon rise over raleigh-20130524-6968.jpg

What a night! Could it get better? In a way it did. Take a close look at the moon reflection in the image I selected and brightened for my July desktop calendar.

free desktop calendar July 2013 1440x900
The ripples were a result of a fish surfacing for a snack.

For specific screen resolutions of the calendar, drop down the Free Calendar tab at the top of the page or click here.

PS It was only a few days ago that an observant follower of my blog discovered that I had 31 days on my June desktop calendar! Oops. Sorry about that.

feather clouds

These delicate strokes of high altitude ice crystals are part of the cirrus family of clouds also known as mare’s tails. Here’s a cool resource for all things cloud.
Not only were we treated to these clouds at sunset, but the lake was calm!
Calm is a rare treat here at the water’s edge.
Calm is my camera’s friend.
(So is Photoshop – not so nice blue barrel in lower left corner…didn’t notice that when I was shooting…will have to move that next time.)
Very basic but important photo tip: Look for distractions in the entire frame and adjust the angle or zoom accordingly or, if possible, remove the unwanted item(s). It may be easier to do at the time of the shot than in post=processing.

Here’s the view from my neighbour’s beach.

Hint of pink

Passing rain shower at sunset

New inventory

I’ve just printed some new notecards.

They are available for sale and the Treasure Chest Artisan Market and Black Bear Gift Shop in Ignace or contact me.  They are 5 1/2” x 4 1/4” and are $3 each.  To see my other notecards, go here.