Eye of the Beholder
A ridiculous array of Kenko extension tubes — 68mm worth — opens up a garter snake’s eye to fill almost the entire frame.
Between the Darkness and the Light
A beautiful northern pike undulates towards the camera, sandwiched between the dark lagoon floor and bright overhead sky. Unfortunately, after heavy rains and high wind, the water is also full of flotsam and jetsam: bits of plastic, rubber, and aluminum punctuating an otherwise beautiful natural image. This image was photographed with the FishEYE I underwater […]
Underwater Buffleheads
A bufflehead duck, white feathers glowing in the gloomy lagoon light, dives in search of food beneath the surface. They’re extremely shy birds, so they’re difficult to photograph normally without extremely long focal length lenses. Underwater remote cameras come into their element in a situation like this, as they unobtrusively monitor the daily life under […]
Directions
A two-hour stacked exposure turns the late-March Toronto skyline into a fine web of aircraft trails. The Island airport can be seen at the left of the image, glowing with its myriad of takeoffs and landings. Porter Airlines can be seen following their usual east-wind takeoff pattern, from the airport directly to the top-right side […]
Business End
A mute swan, seen from an unusual angle, forages on the bottom of the still-desolate lagoon near the edge of what remains of the late spring icepack. Warmer temperatures should complete iceout over the next few days.
Northern Beauty
During the winter months, the lagoons become almost sterile as all the larger fish head to deeper waters. Crayfish, mink, beavers, and a few smaller fish can occasionally be seen going about their business under the ice, but nothing else. As the ice finally begins to clear out, the larger fish return and get ready […]
Sandy Eyes
Fresh from its winter slumber, a Dekay’s Brown snake moves slowly into the sun to help shake off winter’s chill.
Mink Sprint
A mink, exposed in the open, sprints to safety across the thinning ice of Blockhouse Bay (click for larger image).
Swan Song
For the final time ever, space shuttle Discovery appears with the International Space Station over the Toronto skyline. Undocked from the ISS the previous day, Discovery and the ISS form distinct trails as the shuttle’s deorbit preparations increase their separation distance. This is a series of ‘stacked’ images, 5-second exposures laid over top of each […]
Future Perfect
Capping a perfect mission and tracking southward, space shuttle Discovery (left) and the International Space Station (right) disappear into orbital sunset over the Centre Island pier, 16 hours before Discovery’s final landing at Kennedy Space Centre.
Cormorant Revealed
The pristine skull of a cormorant gives up its secrets on Ward’s beach. The top half of the bill is hinged just in front of the eyes, and the lower half of the jaw is jointed in almost the same place to help swallow larger prey.
Redtail Leftovers
An unidentified bird skull no larger than a quarter is all that remains of a red-tailed hawk’s dinner on Snake Island.
Monumental Willow
The Great Willow glows in the near-infrared, the sky turning almost jet-black under a cold January high pressure system.
Improbable Valentine
Be my valentine: a snowdrop prepares to bloom improbably early in the season, on February 14th.
Discovery Xenon
High-powered Xenon lights illuminate space shuttle Discovery on the launch pad at LC-39A after rollback of the Rotating Service Structure, for STS-133’s first launch attempt in November of 2010.
STS-133 RSS Rollback (timelapse)
The Rotating Service Structure is rolled back from space shuttle Discovery for the final time, revealing the veteran orbiter over the course of 45 minutes for launch the next day (click the play button to view the timelapse).
Launch of STS-133 (audio)
[audio:STS-133.mp3] Space shuttle Discovery roars into orbit, the crackling thunder of her twin Solid Rocket Boosters threatening to overwhelm the microphone. Note: if the audio player doesn’t appear, click the title (Launch of STS-133) to view the actual post.
Branch
Space shuttle Discovery reaches for the sky on her final mission, consuming over 20,000lbs of propellant every second. Coincidentally, the Ongiara’s maximum vehicle load just happens to be 20,000lbs, which the shuttle consumes every second.
Staging Progression
About two minutes after liftoff in a sequence called “staging”, Discovery’s SRBs (Solid Rocket Boosters) separate from the External Tank to begin their parachute-controlled decent to the ocean below for recovery. (Click image to view larger.)
Overflight
The International Space Station, with a full complement of visiting vehicles from all participating nations, soars in orbit over Toronto at 7:02 P.M. This is a stacked set of eight images, the gaps in the trail are caused by the ~1 second delay between shutter actuations.
One More Time
Space shuttle Discovery lifts off from the launch pad for the final time. Within twenty seconds of missing her launch window and being forced to abort, she had a flawless ascent to orbit.
SSME Stabilization
Space shuttle Discovery’s SSMEs (Space Shuttle Main Engines) stabilize after ignition in this sequence. From left to right, the rough orange flame stabilizes to form a smooth blue flow, displaying the characteristic “Mach diamonds”, formed by the supersonic flow of the engine’s exhaust.
Pillars of Fire
Riding twin pillars of fire, veteran space shuttle Discovery embarks on her final voyage to orbit from LC-39A. After this final mission, she’ll be processed and turned over to the Smithsonian for permanent display.