A Glimpse of a Galaxy
I recently spent some time in the White Mountains of New Hampshire enjoying the beautiful forests and nature, it's truly a serene place. I knew that most of New Hampshire, compared to Boston, has very low light pollution making it a perfect location to try out some astrophotography.
On the first clear and moonless night I ventured to the top of a mountain at around midnight and stayed there till about 2 in the morning (which is when I heard the bears calling very close to me).
Astrophotography is very challenging, not just technically, but also physically and mentally, and I've much to learn in all those areas. To make successful photographs of the night sky, you need a clear, moonless night, which means working in pitch darkness. So you're in the mountains, in the wilderness, at 1 in the morning, in absolute darkness, surrounded by creatures of all kinds, some less friendly than others. It definitely put me a bit out of my comfort zone.
This was from my first nights attempt at capturing the Milkyway Galaxy.
The Luxembourg Gardens
On another day wandering around Paris, I came by the Luxembourg gardens again. It's a very beautiful place, from the landscaping to the atmosphere. Beautiful trees, all sorts of activities, from tennis to chess games. If I lived in Paris I could definitely see myself spending many days there relaxing and enjoying the commotion.
As I was exiting, I noticed an interesting uniformed police officer and decided I would try to get the shot, so I ran back, stuck my camera through the gate, and got it just before he started to stroll off. With photography, timing is rarely talked about, but with good timing, comes great photos.
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Cascading Waters
This is one of the waterfalls on the way to Kinsman Falls in Franconia Notch, New Hampshire.
It was about halfway to the Kinsman falls when I spotted this cascade. I made my way down, but carefully as it had rained out earlier and everything was slippery.
For this shot I ended up jumping to a rock in the middle of the water, and set up my tripod in the water. The tricky part was packing it up and getting back to the mainland, as I didn't have much space on the rock.
I ended up folding the tripod up, but leaving it extended to use almost as a mini pole vault, just to be safe, as I didn't want to fall in the water with all my camera gear, that would have been no bueno.
The Magnificent Metallic Monstrosity
I doubt that's the name of it, though I think it's rather fitting. This was one of the marvels that greeted me as I arrived at La Defense, as I describe as the modern and almost futuristic area of Paris, France.
When I saw it, I stood there and stared at it for a few minutes. I was trying to figure out what it was, why it was there, and what, if anything, it did. And I realized, I hadn't had that feeling in quite a while. Perhaps it was because I was so shell shocked already by not expecting this in Paris, but it was refreshing bewilderment.
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The Stained Glass of Chateau de Vincennes
This is the large front window of the Chapel at Chateau de Vincennes. This was perhaps one of my favorite new places that I visited. I'll talk more about the Chateau in depth in another post I have planned.
I entered the chapel and took a moment to take in the beauty and history of it, to immerse myself in the magnitude of where I was and who was here before me.
After that, I was off to find the best angles and areas to photograph. Then I happened to look up and saw this amazing window with this beautiful light just pouring in. I searched around and realized there was a set of stairs up to the balcony where the window was.
After quite a bit of steep and narrow spiraling steps upwards I reached the balcony and set up for the shot. Thankfully they didn't seem to care about the tripod.
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