Torngats 2015 - Where Nature and Culture Connect 07

Gibbous Moon over the Camp

Quiet and restful nights...  

...under a never-dark summer sky.   

This time of the year, there are 17 to 18 hours of visible light each day, and twilight and dawn blend into each other. Unless they are very intense, the Northern Lights are rarely able to be seen in the summer. But the moon shines beautifully in the clear sub-Arctic atmosphere.          

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 30

Streetlights Through Sheer Fabric    

Lights from the Parking Lot   

- make interference patterns through the sheer curtains at the window.    

Interference patterns are fascinating to look at - they appear very different if you focus on the sheer curtain fabric or if you focus on the lights in the distance. In the dark, they show a prismatic color effect as well as the splitting of the rays of light from the intense lights behind the curtain.      

         

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 23

The Neighbor's Porch     

The Neighbour's Front Porch   

- through a screen of bushes.    

Alders and willows and birch and poplar grow between the neighbor's place and ours. Later in the season, the leaves will fill out and we will not be able to see each other's houses. But for now, there is a neighborly sharing of nightly brightness back and forth.        

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 22

Labrador Tent     

Setting Up a Labrador Tent   

- with a carpet of fir boughs inside.    

If you are setting up a tent, you should get it done before dark so you can see how to weave the evergreen boughs together to make a warm and comfortable flooring. This tent is almost ready, although the tent stove is not yet in place, as night sets in.        

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 19

Summer Chairs     

The Summer Chairs Are Out Of Storage    

- and waiting to be set up tomorrow.    

Floodlit and out on the deck, the summer chairs look inviting, as if they are waiting for someone to sit down and relax.      

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 18

Birch Tree Bark in Floodlight    

Floodlight Accentuates the Shadows     

- and brings out the texture of birch bark on the tree trunk.    

The floodlights are close to this tree. The highlights and shadows from the floodlights makes the texture of the birch bark and the form of the tree stand out in the darkness.      

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 17

Waning Gibbous Moon    

Waning means "Fading" and Gibbous means "Bulging"    

- a gibbous moon is less than full but more than half illuminated.    

Gibbous moons occur on either side of the full moon, either waxing - growing, or waning - fading. In a gibbous phase, the moon reveals the contours of its craters on the shadow side.      

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 16

Buds and Branches in the Streetlight    

Springtime Buds and Branches    

- lit by the orange glow of a streetlight.    

Trees that grow around streetlights have the benefits and disadvantages of two different light sources - sunlight in the daytime and streetlight at night. For a passerby, the nighttime lighting seems more dramatic.     

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 15

Reflections From A Dark Window    

Outside of a Darkened Office Window    

- the glass reflects the lights from the restaurant across the street.    

On a calm spring evening, there is no wind to ruffle the flags on their flagpoles. The vertical blinds inside the office are as still as the trees outside. There is only a little traffic moving on the street, and only a few clients going in and out of the restaurant doors.     

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 14

Full Moon Rise Through Clouds    

The Full Moon Rise   

- happened on a cloudy evening    

Sometimes the thing you weren't expecting is nicer than the thing that you were hoping to have. I was prepared to photograph the fully illuminated disk of the moon, instead I was surprised by the loveliness of shape-changing and color-shifting of the moonlight refracting through cloud layers.   

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 13

Moonlight Through The Pines    

Silhouettes of Pine Boughs   

- against brilliant white moonlight    

The song "Georgia On My Mind" may be running through my head, but the moon and the trees are universal. On a fine spring night, it's a pleasure to take a deep breath of cool air, and just look around.    

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 11

Moon, Clouds and Architecture    

Geometric Shapes are Softened   

- by the soft abstractness of the clouds    

The rigidity of the triangles, the rhomboids and the circle of the moon are softened by the gradation of tones, the suggestion of of colors, and the sense of mystery in the clouds.    

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 10

Hospital Entrance at Night    

Night Lighting Going Into the Lobby   

- at the hospital there is no distinction between day and night     

The main visible difference at the hospital between day and night is that at night there are fewer people around. The lighting at the entrance gets your eyes used to the 24-hour brighness inside.    

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 9

Shadows at Night    

Is It Strange to See Shadows at Night  

- wrapping around the cylindrical form of the tree trunks?     

Cast shadows are created when an object blocks light from reaching an area that is lit by a light source. The criss-crossed shadows on these tree trunks were made by the branches that stand between  the floodlights and the trees that they are spotlighting.    

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 8

Porch Light   

The Porch Light  

- says "Welcome Home" in the dark.     

A porch light means a lot of things. In stormy weather, it guides you to the door. On warm summer evenings, it provides comfortable light to help keep the good times going. A porch light is safety, security and a beacon in the dark.   

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 7

First Quarter Moon showing the Terminator   

Yes, We'd Like To Call It a Half Moon 

- but actually, that's a dessert pastry     

To be perfectly correct, our familiar "half-moon" can be either the First Quarter of the moon, or the Last Quarter of the moon. The First Quarter is the waxing phase of the moon between the totally shadowed New Moon and the totally illuminated Full Moon. Along the Terminator between "day" and "night," the Moon's cratered surface shows up well because of the contrast between sunlight and shadow on the crater walls. 

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 6

Twin Floodlights   

A Double Bulb Floodlight Set

- that is turned on by motion activated sensors    

Mounted on the side of a building, motion activated floodlights give instant light in areas where it is needed, but only when light is called for.  

     

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 5

On Guard in the Floodlights   

Casper waits patiently  

- for the motion activated floodlights to turn off again    

A guard dog's best defences are a keen sense of smell and using the element of surprise against a suspect. Floodlights are for humans, dogs do a lot better in the dark. 

     

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 3

Early Crescent Moon Through Trees  

The Early Crescent Phase of the Moon

-  rises through bare tree branches       

A familiar crescent moon shines through a stand of trees. No leaves are sprouting yet, and the bare branches and tree trunks are silhouettes against the rich dark blue sky of dusk. 

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 2

Porch Light  

Light from Indoors at Night 

-  invites you inside        

Everything looks different at night. Warm lighting from inside the porch contrasts the adventures of being outdoors after dark with all of the comforts of being cozy indoors. It's good to get home.