Grand Canyon at Dusk
I first visited the Grand Canyon with my children and it is one of their favorite travel memories. At that time you could drive yourself around to the various lookouts, while the pressure of large crowds has meant the institution of a shuttle nowadays. The massive crowds even outside of the summer months has made the experience more frustrating but it is still a place you should visit if you can. The views will still stop you in your tracks.
Grand Canyon at Dusk
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Ring of Brodgar
The Ring of Brodgar is a wonderful stone monument from Neolithic Orkney. It is part of a wider series of nearby standing stones. Much about this complex set of stone circles, tombs and standing stones is not fully understood including close dating of its manufacture. It is thought to have been built 4,000 to 4,500 years ago. It is difficult to grasp that perhaps 20,000 generations of man have lived and died since it’s construction.
Ring of Brodgar
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Common Cat's Ear, Hypochaeris radicata
The Common Cat’s Ear, Hypochaeris radicata , is native to Europe, parts of Asia and North Africa. It has been introduced in other parts of the world where it is often considered a noxious weed. It is often mistaken for the Common Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale, but usually flowers later.
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Castle of Yesnaby, Orkney Islands
The Castle of Yesnaby is a famous sea stack off the main island of the Orkney Islands. It was first climbed in 1967 and has become a favorite of rock climbers. Its crumbling weed covered rock makes it a challenge.There is an amphitheater like coastline with a trail along the top which curves around it, providing the walker with spectacular views. It would be an amazing sight in a heavy sea, I hope to see it on a future visit.
Castle of Yesnaby, Orkney Islands
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Toronto Skyline
There are three Ferrys which make the short trip to the Toronto Islands and they are an excellent platform to photograph the Toronto Skyline as they pull away. This view shows the CN Tower on the left and the financial towers of the city center near the right. Most of the front buildings lining the shore are condominiums.
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Night in Lisbon
The Castle of St. George dominates the skyline of Lisbon, Portugal. The original fortress on this hilltop goes back to Roman times. The Moors became dominate here in the 8th century and built much of the structure. It was abandoned after the Great Earthquake of 1755 but was restored in the 1940s and presently serves as museum complex and tourist attraction.
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Butterfly Weed, Asclepias tuberosa
I think that birds should never have “Common” as part of their name just as flowers should never have “Weed” included. Nevertheless, this is the the Butterfly Weed, Asclepias tuberosa, a member of the Milkweed Family. It does go by many other English names, including Canada Root, Chigger Flower, Chiggerflower, Fluxroot, Indian Paintbrush, Indian Posy, Orange Milkweed, Orange Swallow-wort, Pleurisy Root, Silky Swallow-wort, Tuber Root, Yellow Milkweed, White-root, and Windroot according to Wikipedia. I think the Yellow flower mixed in the orange in the top image is a Sow-Thistle, Sonchus arvensis.
Butterfly Weed, Asclepias tuberosa
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Indian Paintbrush, Castilleja coccinea
One of my favorite wildflowers is Indian Paintbrush, Castilleja coccinea, sometimes known as Painted Cup. The beautiful red portion is actually a bract, while the flower is a smaller yellow green portion at the top. The best spreads I’ve seen are in sandy soil like there is in Long Point, Ontario.
Indian Paintbrush, Castilleja coccinea
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I wanted to process this image in a very graphical manner, almost like a block print. It was harder than I thought and eventually I made two layers, one light and one dark, and blended them
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I have made a few half hearted previous attempts to photograph fireworks, but with the arrival of Canada Day, I decided to sort out some good methods. Here is what I found:
Scope out your best place to shoot ahead of time. Arrive while there is still enough light to see, make sure there are no obstructions and that you have a nicely composed view to frame your shot.
Use a tripod, you need to have a rock solid base to eliminate camera shake.This is especially true when using long exposures.
Use a remote shutter. Although you can get by without it, it will make life much easier. Not only does it reduce camera shake, but it lets you work from a comfortable position, perhaps sitting on your comfy chair.
Camera settings. You want to look at long exposures times in order to get long colorful light streamers, anywhere from 6 to 10 seconds. You also want to keep the background dark to set them off. If you shoot in Bulb mode, you will be able to easily control the length of the shot. Open your shutter at the beginning of the fireworks explosion and close it when the trails begin to fade. A good depth of field and low ISO will give you clean focused shots, as well as keeping the background dark. I started with f/11 and ISO100 and was prepared to adjust from there but found that suited.
I think I have the general idea now and next time perhaps I can get some more creative shots. Following is my favorite fireworks image from Trey Ratcliff (Stuck in Customs)
Trey Ratcliff (Stuck in Customs)
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