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 31

"Daylight" at Dusk - Moon Through Trees    

Time Exposure of the Moon Through Trees    

- turns the evening into "daylight."    

A 20 second time exposure with low ISO and medium f-stop delivers enough light to the camera sensor to make dusk appear to be daylight, and turns the moon into a softly glowing sun.      

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 29

A Porch, a Deck Chair and a Flashlight    

Light-Painting a Deck Chair on the Porch   

- makes a dramatic play of highlights and shadows.    

There is no direct light on the deck chair, and this photograph was lit entirely with the moving beam of a flashlight. Dark shadows are most well-defined where the light from the flashlight went back over the same area more than once, which is also where the highlights on the porch wall and the detail in the chair are best depicted, too.     

         

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 28

Grapes, a Glass Bowl and a Flashlight    

Light-Painting a Glass Bowlful  of Grapes   

- makes a dramatic play of highlights and shadows.    

At night, with no direct light on the bowl of grapes except the flashlight beam, the camera is able to create an image which is a record of where the light has traveled while the shutter was open. And the grapes are isolated and spotlighted in the scene.  

         

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 27

Painting with a Flashlight    

Light-Painting a Geranium Plant   

- makes a dramatic play of highlights and shadows.    

Cameras can create images that the human eye could never perceive. With no other light source except a flashlight beamed around the blossoms of the plant, and with the camera set to make a long enough exposure, the geranium plant becomes a dynamic sculpture in color and texture. 

         

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 26

Pale Shadows on the Shed     

Pale Orange Illumination from Streetlamps   

- and a cluster of nearby trees make dancing shadows on the shed.    

The orange light from the streetlamps is blocked by trees on the other side of the yard, making flickering liquid shadows on the side of the shed. On the adjoining side of the shed, the corner of a chain link fence makes a more pronounced zigzag.         

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 25

Big Dipper Over the Roof     

Constallations Are Recognizable   

- no matter where the the sky they appear.    

There are millions of stars in the sky, but only a few of these stars are bright enough to make a recognizable pattern for the human eye to follow - a constallation. The Big Dipper is one of these.          

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 24

Trees, Stars and Planets     

Streetlights Illuminate the Trees   

- and stars and planets glow with their own light.    

On a clear night, away from artificial lights, your eyes can pick out so many stars it's unbelievable. Our eyes are blinded by streetlights, floodlights and lights from cars and houses, so it takes a few minutes of staring into the dark to see how many pinpoints of light there actually are out there.         

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 21

Willow Pollen     

Pussywillow Buds Sprout Into Pollen     

- creating strange new flowers.    

Not-quite dark and not-quite a silhouette, these willow buds stand out against a dusky sky.       

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 20

Sunset Clouds     

Sunset Over the River    

- and the clouds and the distant shore are disappearing into the darkness.    

Sunset can be a disorienting time of day, when the familiar shapes of distant hills become a dark mass and when clouds loom low and heavy with shadows. Sunset forces us to pay attention in different ways than we do in full daylight.       

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.