Perseid Meteor Shower

Perseid Meteor Shower
Originally uploaded by mdnjustin

So I went to Meech Lake with my cousin and we wanted to see some shooting stars. We saw a few small ones and one really huge and clear one. We can see one here at the top left of this picture. We can also see Polaris right in the middle. The one that has no light trails.

It was really dark and we had our flashlights. Even with the flashlight, we were walking down towards the lake and we saw sand. We were like... alright a beach. A few steps later, we stepped into water. The water was so still and clear, we didn't even notice that it was there. Good thing it was a warm day and we weren't doing anything other than taking pictures.

650 second exposure at f/3.5 and ISO 100. A few Photoshop adjustments, but not much.

Nortel Networks Campus

Nortel Networks Campus
Originally uploaded by mdnjustin

Here's the Nortel campus in Ottawa. I was taking shots at a marina nearby and then decided to go to Shirley's Bay afterwards and this was on the way. I thought to myself that I should stop in here. The campus is not very interesting other than this "tower" they have. This is the first new picture I've taken in a very long time.

3 exposures HDR/DRI combo. Photoshop and Photomatix.

Waterfall Closeup

Waterfall Closeup
Originally uploaded by mdnjustin

Here's a closeup of the waterfall. It's the one in Orleans I took a few months back. You can probably tell I haven't gone shooting in a while and am running out of pictures to post. I'm just processing old pictures now.

3 exposures HDR/DRI combo. Photoshop and Photomatix.

Downtown Ottawa

Downtown Ottawa
Originally uploaded by mdnjustin

So here's a shot of downtown Ottawa from the King Edward bridge. You can see the Peace Tower, the National Gallery of Art and other unimportant things.

3 exposures HDR, DRI combo. Photoshop and Photomatix. Curves, levels, saturation, contrast, masking, unsharp mask.

Same Banff mountain, different angle

Same Banff mountain, different angle
Originally uploaded by mdnjustin

So here's the same mountain as my other Banff shots. I just took the shot much closer to the water. I think I might have not even used a tripod for this one. I set my camera down on some rocks. I put my trust into this rock to not move while my camera was taking the shot. If it did move, my camera would probably fall into the water and I would freak out.

3 exposures blended the same way as the last two.

Victoria!

One of my friends left for a year exchange in Belgium. I didn't really talk to her that much while she was there but I saw the Facebook updates and whatnot. She just came back on Sunday to her home in somewhere near Toronto. She was still jetlagged when I saw her today in my hometown and where she goes to school. Anyway, I met her and I didn't realize how much I had missed her. It was so good to see her again and talk to her. I caught her up on my life over the past year and we exchanged stories. One of my other friends in Ottawa told me to go see her and he would meet up with us. He never showed up and never told me why or that he wasn't going to show up. Anyway, I was a bit peeved by that, but seeing Victoria was great. She's leaving to help her friend move to Newfoundland tomorrow, so I won't see her for a few weeks until she starts school again. Hopefully by then I'll have this job that I really want in Toronto. Sorta means that I won't see her very often.

My night was made by seeing her. =)

Weird things in Calgary

Weird things in Calgary
Originally uploaded by mdnjustin

I have no idea what these are or what they do. They were just there while I was walking around Calgary. I decided to take a picture of it, since they weren't things I would see on a regular basis. This was weird because the picture at 0EV was horizontal and the other two came vertical (proper) and I had to rotate them before putting them through Photomatix.

3 exposures blended using the new technique from the last picture.