| Author | Message | ||
     Lornce |
(Message edited by lornce on February 10, 2006) | ||
| Lornce |
Trout and Atlantic salmon, too, Henrik. Don't get the wrong idea about the weather, John and I waited past noon for the deluge to subside to a drizzle before leaving Ottawa. Was rained on half way to Mount Tremblant - on muddy roads. Guess I don't take the camera out much in the rain. Riding beyond Tadoussac to Baie-Comeau provided many scenic views along both the St. Lawrence River basin and many inland river valleys.   The following were taken at a beautiful nature preserve/campground/native museum operated by members of the local first nation, and I'm afraid I have no recollection of it's name or exact location. Looking at the map, I can only guess it's between Les Escoumins and Papinachois along the North Shore beyond Tadoussac.        | ||
| Lornce |
You may have noticed the threatening skies, Henrik. They made good approaching the ferry wharf in Baie-Comeau when the skies opened in torrents. Disembarking after dark in Matane on the South Shore of the Fleuve Saint-Laurent I rode into a storm of biblical proportions. The hour's ride north east in driving rain and gusting gales was one of the more exciting in recent memory.      | ||
| Lornce |
Afraid there's a gap in the photos from the day spent riding between Gaspesie and Halifax, not because of a lack of scenic views, but a combination of limited memory and time. With 3.5G of total flashcard space, shooting 9.6MB RAW files required lots of editing along the trip. My next equipment purchase is going to be a 40G photo ipod-type device. The first half of the day was spent leisurely crossing the Gaspesie Peninsula through the Chic Choc Mountains on a lightly traveled hwy 299. Climbing south into the mountains from the St. Lawrence was entertaining as the distant peaks came closer into view while following and traversing broiling rivers heading back north to salt water. Once over the back of the Chic Choc Mountains the road to the Baie de Chaleurs follows the stunning shoreline of Riviere Cascapedia. I wish I'd kept pictures of this river, it was beautiful! Many times along the route I passed vehicles (most with US plates) parked roadside their occupants enjoying the fly fishing in the river below. At one point I stopped to look at three dark shapes on the far side of the river that I'd assumed were large fish; they turned out to be otters! I hadn't seen otters since '79 when they swam under my canoe in Ontario's Killarney Provincial Park. They were too far away to properly photograph, but it was pretty exciting to watch them. After a fabulous lunch of local smoked fish, cheese, bread and Guinness I fell asleep on the grass in the warm sunshine overlooking the Baie de Chaleurs. Ain't motorcycle travel just grand?  | ||
| Henrik |
It sure is  Very cool about the otters. Yep, storage space is a challenge of digital photography. When I got my first digital camera at work, I was *so* thrilled, that I could just keep shooting and not worry about having to develop film or get prints made. But with higher quality shots come bigger capacity cards ... and on and on it goes. But I guess that's ok Henrik | ||
| Lornce |
Spent a few days visiting Paul and Judy, old friends who'd move to Halifax a few years ago.  To familiarize myself with Halifax I spent an evening exploring the docklands and found the local biker hangout.           | ||
| Lornce |
I don't see much saltwater coastline in my regular routine and I'm fascinated by the the whole tidal cycle and the plant and animal life it reveals. Here's a few lowtide shots of kelp beds glowing yellow in the sunlight. These low-res versions don't do these scenes justice. The colour was spectacular.    (Message edited by lornce on February 11, 2006) | ||
| Lornce |
When traveling I try to take as many pictures as I can while strange sights are still new to my eye. It's amazing how quickly we become visually complacent and stop "seeing" the subtle details that might have struck us as exotic only a few days earlier.          | ||
| Henrik |
It's amazing how quickly we become visually complacent What a great observation. So very true. Thanks - and for the pictures too. Henrik | ||
| Lornce |
Tide pools    | ||
| Lornce |
Coastal wildflowers: asters.   Memorial to Swiss Air Flight 111 from New York to Geneva which crashed into the Atlantic just off the coast from this spot near Peggy's Cove on September 2, 1998.  http://www.tsb.gc.ca/en/reports/air/1998/a98h0003/a98h0003.asp | ||
| Henrik |
Wonderful colors in the tide pool shots. Those shots could be modern art. How about having some Photoshop fun with those. I'd like to see that. Henrik | ||
| Court |
I love the shot with the pallets! | ||
| Lornce |
Henrik, How about I send you some RAW files and you show me what you've got in mind? Glad you guys enjoy the views; even the skids. fwiw, received some jpg images the other day from a friend's daughter. She took them with a point and shoot digicam when she was 16 and they'd jump right off the page if you saw them in National Geographic. Think I'm going to loan her my D100, some lenses and see what she comes up with. Now, I'm going outside to fall on my 300mm macro. | ||
| Court |
Lawrence: Do you have a copy of the Nikon view RAW software? I bought my D100 from a private individual who was to provide all the software and stuff that came with it. Once the check cleared I've never seen him, the SB800 or the software since. I might be able to buy it from Nikon, they are close to my office here in Manhattan. What 300mm do you have? I wanted to pick one up for Daytona. Any recommendations? Court | ||
| Lornce |
Have a look at what this kid's been seeing...       | ||
| Lornce |
Court, Yeah, I've got a copy of that software and you're welcome to it. I'll have to retrieve it from a friend first, though. Loaned it to him so he could view pictures of his 100yr old, 86ft wooden fishing boat... but that's another story. Don't think there's much I could tell you about lenses, Court, I just use consumer variety mid-range types. The tele-zoom I bought myself for Christmas is a Sigma 1:4-5.6 APO DG macro. The APO series Sigma lenses are supposed to produce less colour aberration than their standard series lenses. Okay, I believe it... The sort of pictures you'd be taking at Daytona, in the pits etc. it'd be useful to have a faster lens (more $$) but you already know that. Do you use a monopod? That's a very useful item trackside for action bike pics. | ||
| Court |
Cool . . . I'd love to get that copy. Looks like the kid shot the pic of the Chrysler building (looking NW) out my window! I shot some pics of the stainless steel Eagles heads from accross the street. They look small from down below, but staring a story tall Eagle in the eye is eerie. The mid-level consumer would work well. The lens that came with my D100 is a high end /high-speed Nikon and cost more than the camera. Wasted on me. I'm going to take a monopod and a tripod to Daytona. We'll see what happens. . I'm doing a lot of learning! | ||
| Henrik |
Lawrence; sure send me a file or two. I'll have to figure out the RAW conversion, but I should be upgrading my Photoshop with Adobe's RAW converter anyway, so it'll give me something to play with. Henrik | ||
| Lornce |
Court, I'll send that software along as soon as I get it back from Cpt. Charlie. Hey, you don't have an English language version of the D100 user's manual, do you? Don't know where I left mine - and my French isn't good enough to make detailed use of this French version. I just need one tiny piece of information from that manual. -- Nikon offers a device that plugs into the body which allows you to raise the mirror and hold the shutter open so you can clean the CCD. The Nikon part number is listed in the manual (where it details the cleaning procedure, iirc). I need that part number. My CCD is FILTHY! My friend's daughter took that picture (a couple of years ago on a school trip!) from the Empire State Building. That Sigma lens I mentioned is a 70-300, which is equivalent to a 105-450 35mm lens (as you likely already know) which would be useful for photographing the infield action if your trackside position were good, ie: close enough. I paid $350Cdn for it here in Hamilton and it's likely even cheaper in NYC. Amazing value, really. Your high-end lens would be perfect for people and machines in the pits etc. no? It's a 28mm or 18mm-70mm? Henrik, I'll burn a variety of the tide pool images onto a dvd and fire then to you from Aaron's place - I'm still on dial-up. | ||
| Henrik |
Ahhh, the dial-up days. Not nearly long enough ago for me I'll keep an eye out for the files. Henrik | ||
| Blake |
Beauty! Thanks for sharing Lornce! | ||
| Lornce |
Glad you like it, Blake. This kid's amazing, she just sent me some more colourful stuff that I think I'll post to break up the monotony of my rocks. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado.... This is the way Cherise sees it:         | ||
| Henrik |
She really is good. She should be encouraged to carry around a camera at all times. These days you can get, say a Canon A620 for just over $300. A very good camera for the $$ and while not exactly "pocket-able" it's still small enough to carry around . Henrik | ||
| Lornce |
Okay, so I lost steam on the Nova Scotia thread.... Here's a few views from yesterday's ride to try out a new set of Avon Gripsters.      We'll get back to Nova Scotia and finish that one off in a wee bit.... | ||
| Lornce |
Getting back to Nova Scotia.... Here's a view of Peggy's Cove, the most visited fishing village in all of Atlantic Canada.  Now we'll have a quick look around Paul's garden. There's no grass around Paul and Judy's house, just one big garden dissolving into the surrounding forest. Pretty ideal.     Saw this parked outside a fun pub near the waterfront.  We closed the place which was packed out on an hilariously fun Wednesday kareoke night. Too cool for kareoke? You don't know what you're missing!  | ||
| Lornce |
A day spent walking the unspoiled shoreline of Nova Scotia's Crescent Beach.           | ||
| Lornce |
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| Lornce |
Leaving the Atlantic coast, the next stop was Mategan to visit a buddy on Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy shoreline. Charlie was having his new-to-him 86 foot, 100 year old fishing boat refitted on the town's marine railway and dry dock. Fog rolls into Digby Neck from the Bay of Fundy.  My first sighting of the Bernadine in Mategan's dry dock.  A prow that's seen it all. She's plied the seas since 1906 hauling sardines through every kind of weather the Bay of Fundy could offer.  Charlie (center) with two local lads fitting computerized navigational equipment into the Bernadine.  Captain Charlie on deck.  Down below the boys are fitting a newly shaven and re-pitched propeller.  The correct torque is critical.  A rear view of the shapely Bernadine.  Below in the engine room a newly fitted 1938 150hp Gardener diesel replaced the blown 500hp Cat which had been used prior to the ship's retirement 5 years prior.  | ||
| Lornce |
Sea Trials: With the new prop fitted it remained to be seen if the engine would pull to it's ideal maximum speed of 1400rpm and to see what sort of speed would result. The tide didn't lift the Bernadine off the mud until nearly 21:00 and by 21:30 we were headed out of the harbour towards open water to see what she'd do.  With anticipation, and much work still to do in Bernadine's wheelhouse, we made our way towards open water.  The eerily humid black calm with naught to guide us but a marker buoy's distant light... which "seemed to lead us into the heart of an immense darkness" and the knowledge of Hurricane Ophilia's arrival in just a few short hours. Did I mention Hurricane Ophilia?  Success. The old sweet running Gardener managed 1400rpm and 8.5 knots. Oh, you Daytona jaded land-lubbers, that's pretty good! And we made it back into harbour without incident and tied up prior to the Hurricane's arrival.  |
