Late Night in Tongeren

Here are three more images from an evening in Tongeren (Tongres if you happen to be passing through the French part of Belgium ... but that's another story).

Last ones from the lights tour

Ok ... last set of images from the moving holiday lights tour bus ... I promise!

Holiday Lights Tour Cont'd

Ok ... so there were a lot of bright lights in New York to see on the tour ... here are some more!

Christmas Lights Tour

Here are a few more images from the Holiday Lights tour we took while in NYC. I say that here are some "more" because the post from Christmas day had three images from the same tour. Albeit not my best images, I still am amazed by some of the lights in the city (as shot from a moving bus at night time).

Times Square NYC Pt 2

Here is the second part of the 2 part times square series of NYC ... more of the same: bright lights!

Times Square NYC Pt 1

One of the most impressive places in NYC is Times Square! The bright lights and crowded streets add to the 'magic' of the location. One of the facts that I heard while I was there impressed me as well: the owners of the stores and restaurants in the area designated as "Times Square" are mandated that a certain percentage of of the facades and open wall spaces need to be covered with lit up signs, screens and neon. This is all to preserve the "magic". 

The Down Low in Jersey City

Having forgot my accessory to attach my camera to the tripod I took to creative angles needed to steady my camera. Here are a couple of images taken by placing my camera on the ground for some night photography. The first one is of the road down towards the waterside and the financial district of NYC in the distance. The second is on one of the public transit train paths in Jersey City.

New York City Skyline

First off ... Happy New Year to all!

I had the opportunity to go to New York during the holiday period and that meant yet another place full of photo opportunities. Since I am knee deep in those photos right now, the next little while will be all about the photos from New York .... then I will blast back to the unfinished images of 2012!

We stayed on the Jersey City side of the region which gave a great view of the Financial District of New York ... here is that view!

Nighttime Chalet View

Here is another image (although this time at ground level) of the view from the chalet at night.

View From the Chalet Roof

This Canada Day weekend was spent up at the cottage. It was one of the first night's for a long while that I have been up there and it has been clear enough to merit bringing the camera out for some night photography. The interesting thing about taking pictures is how different a scene looks from different angles. You end up trying so many different points of view of essentially the same subject, that when you finally get the "right one", you know. That is what happened with this image. The pictures I was getting from down by the dock were decent, but it just wasn't working for me. I've already taken hundreds of pictures at the cottage and I needed something different. The image below is my favourite of the evening AND it is a completely different angle from any other image I have made at the cottage. Where did I get a shot like this from? Yes of course, I scrambled with my camera, tripod and all up on the roof of the cottage to get a star trail image of the lake, boat, dock and even the group around the fire.

View of Lac Ste-Rose from the Chalet Roof

Church of Christ, Scientist

Here are a few more images from the first place I took pictures in Boston. The large domed building's official title is the The First Church of Christ, Scientist which is the The Mother Church and administrative headquarters of the Christian Science Church. The building was constructed in 1894 and the current plaza (including the 28 story administration building, a colonnade, and a reflecting pool with fountain) were constructed in 1960. All in all an impressive area and very fun to photograph!

Church Reflections


Nighttime Boston View


Towers and Fountains

Bostonian Views

Here are the last two wide angle views of Boston as seen from the 50th floor of the Prudential Centre in downtown Boston. One of the things I really like about the second image is the green lines that are the road leading towards the water. The green colour (I believe) stems from all the trees along those streets and the streetlights.
The next few days I'll give you a bit of a rest from the night-time HDR scene and hopefully some more down to earth (get it ... hahaha) scenes from Boston. Once those are done I'll have a few more night time images for your.

Downtown Boston at Night

Charles River Basin from the Prudential Center

Boston Cityscap HDR's - A lesson in persepective

I know that I have talked about this before on this blog, but I think this is another great example of perspective. There are many different ways of taking pictures of the same subject(s). Even when the subject is a wide, grand, land-(city)-scape that is just screaming for your to go as wide as possible, try a few different shots. Here I have 3 images, taken from the 50th floor of the Prudential Center in Boston, which demonstrate what I am trying to say. The first image was my default picture. Go wide and get as much of the view in that direction that you can. Show the expansive view of the cityscape in front of you. The next thing you can do is look for some othre prominent features in the image that may stand out. For me this was the large building that stands out from the rest. The next two images played on that. The second image also plays on a saying I've heard several times before "The best time to take a vertical image, is right after you took a horizontal one". Don't neglect the vertical image. Finally, in the third image I tried to capture the grandeur of the large central building, but also the line of tall buildings that curves to the left in the distance.

Moral of the story? Try several shots in the same location and you never know what you will come up with.


Wide Angle Boston View


Vertical Boston HDR


Close Up Boston View

MIT and the World Shaving Headquarters

Besides sweeping wide-angle views of the city, you can still see some Bostonian specifics from the 50th floor of the Prudential building by zooming in a little bit. I only had my walk around lens (17-70mm on a cropped sensor) so I couldn't get in any further than this but I find them interesting anyways. The first image is of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Mclaurin building just on the other side of the Harvard bridge seen on the left of the image. I really liked the reflections of the colours along the bridge and the northern coast of the Charles River Basin. Next ... here is another 'zoomed' in image of the city. I really like what turned our for the car trails of head and tail lights but there is something else. The upper right corner of the image seemingly houses the "Gillette World Shaving Headquarters" ... what that is ... who knows! More night-time landscapes of Boston to come.

MIT

World Shaving Headquarters

Prudential Tower

In order to get a widescape view of the city tourists can make their way up to the 50th floor of the prudential centre. There are more of these coming, but here is the SAME pool and buildings as seen in the last post!!

Boston Night Scene

When I first got into Boston I took the first night and wandered around a little bit without my camera. This is one of those spots that I was just itching to get back to the next evening with my camera. This pool, about the length of a football field, was an amazing place for some night time photography. Playing with the reflections, some of the contrasting architecture, and the bright lights from the buildings was definitely fun. There are quite a few more pictures from the area to come but I just had to throw one up as an example of what I've seen.

Boston Night Scenery

Nightly Sparkles on the Snow

Sparkling Lights on the Night Snow

Nightscapes of the Chalet

As promised here are the remaining nightscapes that I have from a few weeks ago at the chalet. I really need th bring/make something (barn door tracker, etc) to get a longer exposure on the milky way. I figure that option is more likely right now than getting a camera with higher ISO levels or buying faster glass! The first image below is the "standard" starscape over the lake shot. I enjoy the second image since it takes you a second to realize there is something funny going on with the "smudge" on the eight hand side. It is not in fact another smeared cloud like the one on the right but the "smudging" of the milky way from the long exposure. Finally, the third image is similar to one ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/scerakor/3789100448) taken approximately one year ago. This one instead has more emphasis on foreground elements.

Milky Way Over the Chalet


Clouds, Stars, and Milky Way Streaking over the Night Sky


Star Trailing Over a Busy Campfire