The Milky Way movie

The other night I was out with the new wide lens to shoot stars. Wow! There are some learnings out of it, but that's the whole point. The individual shots are nice, but what's cool is assembling them into a movie.

Just sitting and looking at the sky one doesn't see the motion. There are a few streaks, but mostly they are too quick to focus on. When you look at individual photos, you might see a streak, or you might not. Put them into a movie, however, and you see all sorts of things you didn't notice before. Our eyes are good at spotting motion.

Best experience is to watch it on Youtube, but not full screen.

As a bonus, here's a single frame from the movie. Or rather, one of the photos used to make the movie. Look for the parallel streak, that's why I edited this image in the first place.

Yet more Fish Creek, with a buddy

Photo rambles are more fun with a like-minded buddy. I've done a few group walks, and vehicle expeditions, but only a few with one other buddy, like Sean or Bart or Michelle or Ken. Yesterday Heather joined the ranks as we went through Fish Creek. She had always wanted to see more of it, and it's nice to show off the good spots.

We met up at Bebo Grove, and wandered in a big loop along the river down as far as bridge 5. We were pretty careful about walking on the ice because there are lots of thin spots and liquid water is everywhere. The "Icers" traction aides worked really well, and are essential if you want to be walking off the paved paths. Neither of us got wet.

It was a lovely day for a hike, just about zero, and mostly sunny, clouding over as the day went on. I ended up taking 260 shots with the new camera. I am totally in love with it and the new lens! So far I've edited 19 of those, and there are a few more I'm on the bubble about. No, I'm not going to give you all 19 today. Just some. Come back tomorrow for more, unless I do something else instead. You never know what I'll be up to.

I thought about converting this one to B&W, but that beautiful blue of water under skim ice convinced me to keep the colour.

The hazy reflections in the ice had me completely enchanted throughout the walk. You'll see more of that.

My photo buddy Heather.

That sky, reflected in the ice.

I love this tree. I've come back to it many times. I still want to do a photoshoot with my runner buddies. Them running past it, doing post run stretches against it, basking in the sun on it while nibbling snacks. No, that isn't a Heather photo bomb.

The less relaxing end of the tree.

I've walked within a few dozen feet of this picnic table many times, and this is the first time I've seen it. Much of the year you'd be standing in a swamp to see this. I'm not sure if there used to be a little picnic area here, or if it was washed here by one of the floods. This is near the big log jam between bridges 2 and 3.

This is one of the reasons it's nice to go with someone else. You take different routes, and see new stuff. There is always new stuff to see in Fish Creek. The river changes from year to year, the weather is always different, the vegetation shows up differently, and the light is always changing.

Sunrises and exciting

Friday started off with some nice sunrise shots. Some of you may have seen them on Facebook. It was another day in retirement, turning down a contract offer that didn't appeal to me, puttering about tidying my desk, Linda working on her seasonal floral displays. There will be photos of them when complete.

Then two unrelated things happened, a phone call and a registered letter. The phone call was sad but not completely unexpected news from Linda's side of the family. She has to sort out a plane trip to visit relatives. The letter was for me. I can't remember the last time I got a registered letter, and my heart went pitter patter a bit when I saw who it was from. Then it went pitter patter A LOT when I saw what was in it. A completely unexpected surprise. A good one. Really good.

Sunrise today was just as nice, so I left that cup of coffee to cool, and zoomed out.

These three are from this morning, in time order. I liked that long narrow cloud and was hoping it would really catch the light, but it didn't.

It's smart to remember to look around during sunrise and sunset. The show in the other direction is sometimes better. This isn't as flashy, but I really liked the blues and the sense of depth.

This one is from Friday morning.

Soon I'm off to shoot another race. Lets see how that goes!

You didn't expect an apple

Winter has arrived, snow and all. We can't complain; it's been a wonderful long autumn in Calgary. We've had some spectacular sun rise and sun sets, and I captured some lovely fall-coloured landscapes. Things are just a bit whiter today, but there's still colour.

Our neighbour's tree still has some apples on it. Most have been picked by birds, or fallen off, but a few are still hanging in there. I'm not sure what kind they are, but they are tasty.

The deal on Facebook is B&W, no people, no explanation. You'll see a few more of mine over the next week or so. This isn't Facebook, so you get an explanation. Nobody was out in this if they had any choice about it. I was leaning on my front steps and deliberately going with a bit of a long exposure, trying to capture the motion of the wind and snow. I didn't mind if the camera moved slightly.

Along the way I got this nice serene half moon photo. A bit later was a nice sunset. That cloud amused me, looking sort of like a giant moustache.

Here's part of that sunset you haven't seen yet. I was quite taken with that grouping of trees and the yellow backdrop.

This is such a durable flower it will stay in bloom all winter.

I've spent some time today watching Thomas Heaton videos. I just loved how he responded to a guy complaining about water drops on his lens during a stormy shoot. He quickly said that of course there were spots, and that technically it wasn't a perfect image, but so what? He goes on from there, you can hear him say it better than I could repeat. 

It's another step along the way of thinking about what I'm taking photos of, how exactly, and why. A work in progress.

I get asked, every now and then

I'm not sure what it is. Every now and then I get asked stuff. Some of it is practical (How do I do Ironman?) some of it is process (How do we migrate this data?) some of it is curious (Why aren't you on Twitter anymore?), and some of it is weird (bribe me with a glass of wine in private.)

So the Twitter thing is recent, but it ties in with other things related to retirement and life in general. I was a late convert to Twitter, thinking that if I had anything to say, it was going to take more than 140 characters. For a while it was ok, and I learned some editing skills to hone what I was saying. But the artificial nature of it chafed me. Mostly I used it tell people I'd blogged, and respond to other people I know.

About the same time I stopped listening to the news, and radio in general. The news was full of people trying to push my buttons or reporters doing their job reporting without context the stupid things and lies that various people in power and wannabes were saying. I started getting really selective about where I got my news.

It annoys me when video starts on a website without my permission. If I wanted to watch it, I would have clicked it. If I haven't clicked it, by definition I don't want to watch it and it's a distraction. Many videos annoy me, what with the long intro of meaningless graphics and brand building, and the host taking forever to get to the point. This is why I like text. I'm extremely good at processing it.

The music on the radio baffles me. Little of it is music to my ears, but then I think the Beatles and the Rolling Stones are new music. No, I don't know anything about the Tragically Hip or why people are upset about one of their members dying. Sad for the fans I guess, but it's inevitable. The newest band where I can reliably recognize their music? Pink Martini. Don't get me started on commercials in any medium.

Back to Twitter, I noticed more and more snark and gotcha and outright bullying happening, and nothing being done about it. Then the Idiot in Chief down south essentially threatened nuclear war in a tweet.

Yes. The man with his finger on the nuclear button, threatening North Korea with nuclear destruction, via Twitter. Say what you like about North Korea, I don't care. But they are the legitimate government of the country, even if it is reprehensible in many ways. There has been lots of diplomatic to-ing and fro-ing between them and everybody else, with varying amounts of it public. The North Korean end is mostly a semi-rational screech at best, and pre-Trump, everybody else's responses have ranged between paternalistic, to serious discussion, to veiled threats, all with varying degrees of rationality.

Now Trump 'negotiates' via Twitter, threatens nuclear annihilation, and in the great scheme of things that is not productive. On a smaller scale, how can that not violate Twitter's terms of service? They let him babble the stupidest most hateful things, and do nothing to throttle the bully pulpit. One could easily argue they are enabling the most dangerous man in the world to be even worse.

The other thing that pisses me off with Twitter isn't properly their fault. Have you noticed that a lot of so called news articles are just reprinting tweets? Or rather, re-re-printing tweets. The report says what the tweet says, then there's a screen shot of the tweet. Come on people, I don't need both.

Real world events are complicated, much to the dismay of conservatives everywhere. There is no one true (TRUE!) answer, no solution that will fix everything. All they want is to do is use that promise to springboard into power where they can do what they like for themselves and their buddies, regardless of the reality around them. As near as I can tell, they want to roll the clock back about 50 years, or to what their parents/church/community told them in their first childhood.

Real world events are certainly more complicated than a series of tweets, and I want to see them treated this way. I want to see world (country/province/civic) leaders speaking in coherent paragraphs about the issues of the day. I want to see the people that oppose them also speaking in coherent paragraphs about those issues. I want reporters to connect up those paragraphs and contrast them with what experts in that field say. I want to be able to tell if leaders have changed their thinking over time as the science has advanced, or if their own opinions evolve. I want to hear the reasons leaders hold the opinions they do, and be able to determine if they are starting from a reality based position and tweaking a position based on what they think they can sell to the electorate, or if it's magical thinking based on a work of fiction, or them living in fantasyland.

Twitter is conducive to none of those things, so I've decided to ease Twitter out of my life. So far I haven't missed it. I don't think there's anyone I actually know on Twitter that isn't on Facebook or Instagram. Maybe I'm missing out a few jokes, but oh well. I'm getting better at skipping past news stories at the first appearance of a tweet.

It's been a wonderful summer living on my own schedule. Sometimes I've chosen to get up early to do a photo thing, or get to the pool when it's quiet. Sometimes I've been so busy the day passes in a blur, and other days I've done nothing more energetic that cuddling a cat. It's been good to think about the things I want in my life. I like being able to step back from events a bit, comment where I think appropriate, and let other things sail on by.

This photo has nothing to do with today's blog. It's from a photo ramble a couple weeks ago, dressed up in Photomatix a bit. Pity about those straight lines in the clouds, I'm not sure what that was.

Sky and swim

Earlier last week I clicked my neck gently while stretching, and now my back and shoulders are feeling better. Somehow along the way my legs are feeling better too. So the swim on Thursday felt really good at first, though I got tired and slowed down pretty quick. Overall only 500 m in 9:30, but it's one of the best swims in the last few months.

A run today was a nice easy 5K at just over 7 min/K pace. Let's hope all this continues. I'll be setting my bike up on the trainer tomorrow, and will probably try to ride a little, to see if I remember how.

The sky the other evening was interesting.

Some more fall shots from last week

A week ago I was out on a photo ramble south and west of the city looking for colour. Found lots! It was temporarily set aside while I worked on other things. Now that we're getting into more seriously grey pre-winter days, here's some more of fall colour for you. As you might recall the clouds and light were al over the place.

Harvest moon

It's been a while since I've shot any skyline. Plus it was the full moon yesterday and today. After a bit of research I figured Tom Campbell hill would allow some good sunset and skyline shots, maybe some cityscape shots, and as a bonus, the full moon. I was hoping to get it posed on top of the old Firestone tower near Deerfoot and Memorial.

Shooting into the sun is always a bit tricky. The first thing I discovered is that the lens I was using most was filthy. Second was the viewfinder was filthy, but at least the light that gets onto the sensor doesn't go through the viewfinder. Things were better once I'd cleaned the first.

 Repsol Sports Centre, (Talisman, and before that Lindsay Park, which is what I still call it) under a nice sunset. Getting the photo fingers warmed up.

Moonrise at last. There was a tiny bit of cloud between the building and the moon.

I came that close to getting the moon posed on top of the tower. I tried to get the moon on top of some of the various cell, radio, or power line towers, but that didn't work out.

Back to skyline. This one is similar to the last photo down below, see what you think. I loved the orange glow from sunset.

I can't decide which I like better, this one, or the earlier one, so you get both of them. Do you have a preference?

In between shots I tried experimenting with light trails from vehicles, but that didn't work out so well.    The sky was so clear I even shot up, capturing some airplanes, but there was still too much light (duh!) to capture any stars, even though I could see them.

It was an enjoyable evening out. A few buddies were out in other places, but dog walkers were my only company. Tonight will be different. Neil Z has a photowalk happening, and those are always lots of fun. I should know a bunch of people there. I'm trying to decide if I want to take all the gear in the pack, or stick to one lens, the tripod, and some chips and batteries in my pocket. I know what I'll see, I just have to decide what I want to photograph. Maybe I'll see you!

If it's Tuesday, that must be Dawson

I'm beginning to lose track a bit. We were up late last night on the dome above Dawson. Maybe that should be capitalized; one of the locals would know. We had a tour of Bonanza Creek and a bit of Dawson yesterday, plus a bit of Dawson itself. There is more to this town than I had suspected.

Gotta be quick, going for breakfast a few blocks from here. They've got some of the best coffee I've ever tasted, and I can't wait to try their food.

Isn't this scenery hard to take? Gotta go.

So, Yukon. Never been. There’s a first time for everything.

As soon as Neil Zeller announced a fall Yukon photography workshop I signed up. They are a great learning experience, terrific value for the money, and all kinds of fun. I’ve been along on several, and it never gets old.

Plus, Yukon! The first thing I thought of was the aurora borealis, and hoped it would put on a show, but just going somewhere new, with all kinds of amazing scenery was enough for me.

Just before the flight, the aurora predictions were over the top. Neil was giddy. I got some shots from the plane, but keep in mind it’s moving through the air, it’s vibrating, there’s turbulence, and there are all kinds of crazy reflections from the windows, even after trying to cover them with black cloth.

The next day was out and about around Whitehorse. The light was always interesting, and some of the time it was captivating.

This is the view from our cabin.

After a wonderful home cooked dinner we got set up to watch the aurora. Sundog retreat has these great viewing cabins, but we set up outside to enjoy the lovely evening. The moon slowly rose, flirting with clouds. The aurora teased us all night long with some streamers and a bit of a show every now and then, but I have to say it didn't quite live up to our hopes. One never knows, though, and we were happy to see what we did get. At 3:45 I packed it in. Neil left a camera running outside, and got some more at 4:30.

Today is another day, and who knows what will happen tonight?