oopsy it's been too long

Been busy, really busy at work and lets face it, not much to photograph in the grand outdoors when darkness prevails for so many hours in the day. My weekends in December and January typically go like this; should get busy and get outside for some sun.....oops missed it, try again next weekend!
All of a sudden it's MARCH! We gain daylight at an astounding rate and the camera gets dusted off a little more often.
The bay one frosty morn.

With a fancy new camera, I've been experimenting with the settings and purchased a sexy macro lens for summer photography!

Up close and personal

I've learned some new techniques to improve the night shots of the aurora, but we've been sadly quiet in the night sky. Forecasts for 2012 aurora are optimistic. During the recent solar flares, I was in Ottawa and missed out viewing our inky skies.

My efforts were further complicated when one evening in the late autumn, while using the tripod on a 30 sec exposure; I had to exhale and in doing so turned away from the camera to avoid tainting the image...when all of a sudden a gust of wind took my camera and tripod flying!

To my dismay the lens mount had busted, hurling the lens a metre away, and was un-usable. After a lengthy wait for the part, followed by a failed attempt at repairing it myself and in so doing damaged it further; I ordered a new lens.
Lesson learned; do it yourself in camera repair is not for me and is best left to the experts.

Yaay longer days!

Bye Bye 2010!

Safe and Happy New Year.

So Long 2010!

the arctic is melting

Politicking is not my thing, but one cannot ignore the weird and warm winter we're having this year. So much rain, freezing rain and melting will definitely affect the northern wild life. Furthermore the night sky has been obliterated by clouds.

falling stars

The night of the meteor storm was unusually cold and clear night for us (this winter). My friends and family in Ontario were under cloudy skies. So with a sense of duty, obligation we went out "representin'" to view the meteors! It was a chilly -27C but well worth the effort. We bundled up, trundled out the tripod and faced the wind to watch the universe unfold.

meteor storm with added bonus; aurora borealis extraordinaire




Not much to photograph if it's mud and cloudy skies so here's to hoping for the return to cold!

time passages

I made a difficult decision to remove the blog list which was to the right of ma blog. Reason, I can't keep up with the transient nature of northerners. Of the originals in my list, I think only Matt in Cape Dorset and I are still in Nunavut. Many others migrate to "greener" pastures of the Yukon, NWT or locales south. Sorry folks. Miss you all and Jen of the north I miss you the most.


Shelley

long wait to winter

Winter took a long time in arriving this year. December and we were still experiencing rain! Imagine, rain in the far north in December! No new posts since September simply because I have nothing nice to say about too much rain. It is easy math; rain = mud = nothing much to photograph.

But now with a couple of cold days and persistent snowfall there has been an upgrade in the local panoramas.

I always get a kick out of decorative trees here for the Christmas season as it usually takes me a minute to realize this is novelty, not nature. But the trees complete the "festive" scene and make me feel all fuzzy and warm.



With winter finally here, the landscape looks nice and clean and the Christmas lights are brightening our long nights.



The temperatures remain unseasonably mild, with today being the first day of a temperature colder than -10C. It has been disappointing to our southern visitors as they feel cheated out of their arctic experience.

Today I saw two people out in a boat in the bay, the windchill at the time was -31C, yes a boat not a snowmobile. Hopefully the bay freezes in time for the New Years snowmobile parade!

Here's a tip of the egg nog, and a toast for a bitterly cold winter ahead!

Autumn greets the tundra

It was a rare unseasonably warm September day, finally the rain had stopped, it seemed to cloud over every evening just as we finished work for the day. Life was simpler when skipping class on a fine spring or autumn day resulted in a scolding from the school or ....not! No chance on cutting classes now though. The fine weather will end, bringing on the early nights and lazy sunrises, and the plants will be blanketed for another long wait under the snow.

Alan loves blueberries, all berries in fact. I don't. Picking berries makes great use of the fine weather. Today I bake a pie..or tarts...something with blueberries for him. The black berries (crowberries) are sweeter after the first snow, oddly we haven't had one yet. When we do, I will get back out there in the colder weather to harvest the frost sweetened black berries for the winter.

Crowberry

Thanks to the rainy month of August, the berries are bountiful, big and juicy. It amazed me that so many plants can share the thin soil and at the end of the short season, everyone has had a successful summer.

Blueberry among lichen.


Mountain Avens? I think, unfurled with seed.



Blueberries, red bear berry, and crowberry crowd the thin soil covering the rocks.



Mt. Avens


Dwarf Fireweed seedpod

This fine weather does nothing to improve the state of our apartment, an opportunist like me would rather be outside playing in the sunshine than inside fighting with the vacuum. Taking pictures is a good way to stay outside for long hours. As the sun moves across the sky, with the ever changing the light, there is always something beautiful to capture.





After all, there will be plenty of time to sort and organize in the coming months!