I’m back at Torrance Barrens with my friend Nigel, to photograph Comet Neowise. There were so many people here we could barely find a place to park. This doesn’t bode well for physical distancing. Luckily most people are staying off to the left of the entrance area so we were able to bypass that area and head a little further into the park. There are very few people here as we move further into the park so we can safely find some spots without running into anyone.
Neowise with the Setting Moon
The first place we stopped gave us a view of the comet and the setting moon over the foggy lake. I think this is one of my favourite photographs from the evening.
Perseids & Comet Neowise
As you can see Comet Neowise has a shorter tail than last week’s photos. I’m sad to see it go. The Delta Aquariid meteor shower is active in our skies right now and I was able to capture some meteors with the comet. We also have some airglow happening on the horizon.
After photographing Comet Neowise to death, I had a look around to see what else I could find. Just behind where I was shooting was an interesting boardwalk and as I took my photo someone walked by in the distance with a light. It made for an interesting photo and another of my favs from this evening.
After spending a couple of hours at the monastery (see the previous post) I had to move on as they were closing for the day. My next stop was to Belém Tower to catch the sunset. On my way over I noticed this little lighthouse that perfectly aligned with the sun.
The Lighthouse
Not much further from the lighthouse was the Tower (you can see it in the distance in the photo above). A couple of nights before they had quite the celebration here and the scaffolding was still up so I didn’t have a lot of great angles to play with as I took my photos of Belém Tower.
Belém Tower
I was lucky enough to catch the sun off the side tower as it was setting. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a vantage point that worked for what I had in my mind. After checking out all the angles I decided to move on and make my way over to the MAAT. The MAAT is the Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology located on the other side of Belém close to the train station. Since the sun was going down I wanted to get some fun night shots of the museum and the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge before heading back to the apartment.
Ponte 25 de Abril
As I walked the long road toward the MAAT I was greeted by this modern art piece lit up on dock just in front of the bridge. I”m not sure who the creator is or why it’s there but it’s definitely a conversation piece for those walking along the river.
Maat and Ponte 25 Abril
I waited patiently to get the photo above as there were quite a number of the people on the steps in front of me when I arrived. Surprisingly they all left quickly once the sun disappeared. I think they missed the most beautiful part of the day but it was a bonus for me. The MAAT is a uniquely shaped building, as you can see from the photo above, and what I loved most was the fact that you could walk a ramp up its roof to get some great views.
MAAT Roof and View
I had a great evening out here in Belém. I’m also a little sad as there is only one day left before I leave this beautiful city behind for home. But there are a couple more places I have to visit in central Lisbon not too far away from the apartment before that happens.
So…I went to the Nikon repair centre to get my D800 fixed.
Let’s back up a smidge: I was out on the Toronto Islands doing some work and was happily filming away. While waiting for the project manager so I could film his piece I noticed that something funky was going on. Nothing was recording to the card. But I continued to film thinking it was fine. Well, it was not fine. So two days later I’m here at the Nikon repair centre waiting to find out what happened.
While waiting for the tech to come to counter I started asking questions about the Nikon D810 box that happened to be sitting behind the counter. It didn’t take long before that puppy was in my hands and out the door.
So that brings us to today. I have this new Nikon but I have tons of work to do which means I can’t go far, so of course, I head out to Claireville. (are you sick of this place yet?).
Okay, this thing is pretty similar to the D800 but damn these file sizes are HUGE! What is up with that? I mean, sometimes its great but what the heck am I going to do with these super large files? I think I need a larger hard drive now.
Okay, so these images are not the best but there is not much going on at this park in March. Everything is brown and blah. And this is all I got for you today. Back to work.
It was a last minute idea but I knew I had to get out to see the partial solar eclipse today. One photo is all I really wanted but once I got over to my chosen spot I felt I had to get a sequence of shots that I could stitch together. And it worked out!!
Solar Eclipse at St Elias
I specifically choose St. Elias church because of its beautiful design. I also knew that no one would be around so I wouldn’t have had to contend with crowds.
For the photo above I took six different photographs and then in post production I added each phase of the sun into one photo to create the look you see here. Turned out pretty good considering the last minute planning.
During our annual family and friends camping trip, my friend, Deanna and I were able to get away for an hour to get some fun night shots. Our campsites were in walking distance of the shore and during that afternoons walk we had scouted out a couple spots to set up. Along the trail to one of the spots I took the shot below of the moon through the trees.
Orange Clouds
We set up on a small rocky beach to practice our night photography when I got this shot of the meteor. I didn’t even know that I had even captured it to begin with – just happened to luck out on this.
Falling Star
We had some difficulty working on this beach when a group of young people decided to invade to take selfies with their phones. The added lights from their flashes and flashlights drove us further down the beach to an emptier spot. Taking a few more shots we decided it was time to get back to the campfire for some adult friendly treats.
