This is the winter that wasn’t. At least, here in TO it wasn’t. We’re not used to this total lack of winter and last weekend Tito and I drove out in search of ice and snow because, dammit, we miss it. We ended up heading north into Parry Sound – as a bonus the northern lights made a surprise appearance!
We passed a frozen lake covered in skidoo tracks. It reminded me of a cute story my dad told me about coming to Canada in 1972. He had worked in India as a motorcycle repairman, so when he moved to Ottawa he looked for the same kind of work. Finally he got his first job in Canada. He showed up on his first day and they took him to his first job and it was … a skidoo. He stared blankly at it for a few minutes before looking at his boss and saying “What the %@!* is that?”. The story always makes me laugh :)
What a great day for a road trip, the sky was that endless sort of blue that you feel you could fall up into.
At blue hour I took this shot – the 2 bright things in the sky are Venus (the lower one) and Jupiter.
We went northern light hunting at night without much hope of success – but then there they were. I remind myself that sometimes the shot you want happens when you least expect it. They were faint, true, and visible to the camera more than to our eyes, but they were there. This was a 15 minute long exposure.
This was a 20 minute long exposure, and yes we were cold ;) but it was worth it. The angle of everything was so perfect, I was able to get the tilt of the stars and the northern light glow into one shot. Reason enough to stand freezing out in the middle of the night. At least for crazy people. And photographers.
Then we did some star photography. Did I say we? My bad, I meant I. Tito, being more practical than me, was staying warm in the car ;)
What a perfect, clear night it was! This was all done just off the 400, north of a small town called Nobel, on a side road. The night sky was just stunning.
Thank you Tito – for doing all the driving and getting me out of town when I really needed it :) The star photography was just the icing on a really great day !
These are absolutely incredible pictures. I am blown away!
So awesome that you saw the Northern Lights! I saw them myself about two weeks ago and it was an incredible experience!
The magic of the stars is captured brilliantly here. Great work. :)
These here are so lovely! You captured the stars so well.
How stunningly beautiful. Loved these :) Thank you SO much for sharing!
Wow, those photos are spectacular! The night sky looks so amazing it almost seems unreal…it looks so magical with all those stars. Thanks for sharing such breathtaking photos and congrats on being freshly pressed!
I absolutely love star circle photos, these are just gorgeous. What a fun adventure : )
Love the one with the clear sky and the light on in the car.
Thanks for sharing.
Lovely!
amazed by the spiral created by the stars !
No kidding! We haven’t had a winter at all here in TO…what’s up with that?? It tried to snow today…and then melted 34 minutes later. Lame.
Awesome photos and congratulations on being Freshly Pressed! :)
I’ve been loving this mild winter in Toronto, but it’s still always beautiful to see blankets of fresh snow.
That is amazing! Seeing the Northern Lights is on my bucket list. I thought they came in cycles every few years? I was going to go next year when I thought the next cycle was — or maybe that’s when you can see them in full force?
Beautiful – many thanks for sharing them :)
Amazing! I’ve always wanted to see the Northern Lights.
Thank you everyone! I’m so thrilled this little post made it to Freshly Pressed – w00t! @ Cafe23 – I believe the solar maximum, which happens every 11 years, is ramping up around now, so this is a great time, on clear nights, to drive up north and take a shot at seeing them!
I love your star images they are magnificent. Very nice work.
Wow! so amazing… great shots!
Oh so beautiful!! What an amazing experience it must have been? I just posted about our lack of rain in California on my blog. I hope you get your snow, and I hope I get my rain.
Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
i keep trying to do this, but its rather hard in nyc..
Amazing shots!
GREAT pictures; really great post. We’re having “the winter that wasn’t” in Chicago, as well. Strange year…
You have succeeded in finding Winter
the wisdom of the Crone Season
your art is breathtaking and one feels the
energy surrounding each photo, to draw one
within you as if they were there with you
LOLs just from the warmth of our homes though
Perfect!
Thank you for sharing!
Take Care…..
)0(
BlessedBe
LadyBlueRose
AMAZING pictures! We’re not having any winter where I live either. Sadness.
Beautiful work. Thank you for sharing it with us. You mention Ottawa….Rideau Canal frozen? Love skating it into town. Its been a long time. Miss the Beaver Tails as well, I like them with Nutella. lol. Winter Carnival! Edelweiss Ski resort just across the bridge. One beautiful city! Like the mention about your dad working on the snow mobile. Great stuff!
Take care,
Tony
My favourite is the maple butter ;)
I’ll have to try that! :)
Thank you! Winter as a child was voulptuous and freezing and dramatic…yes, I have missed it in the Pacific NW! At least we do have the Cascades and other mountains. Gorgeous northern lights and stars… I will look for your photographs in NG and other places.
Lovely and beautiful photographs!
Amazing night photographs, and a great job capturing the beauty of the winter that wasn’t!
All this winter stuff is making me cold. Nice pictures.
WOW…very very beautiful
nice star pics and what a nice friend Tito!
beautiful scenery !
Very cool star trail photos…
on my bucket list to see the northern lights, thank you for those stellar photos!
These are absolutely incredible pictures. How successful work.
Beautiful shots–I think we were out on the same day, though I didn’t make it quite as far north. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
Beautiful.
superb, I love it….. great….
Stunning photographs! The landscape is so beautiful.
Incredible timelapse images! I really enjoy your work.
Reblogged this on perubahan10.
i think tito should be getting cold as well! great shots.
Wonderful landscapes and beautiful images of the night sky – nice one.
Just loved the imagination behind these awesome pictures!
Beautiful pix. Really absorbing shots. Thanx for sharing…
Love these pictures.Especially the northern lights shots.:-)
wow the pics are just awesome…
Absolutely beautiful! Tells the entire story of winter and serene sky.. Great work :)
i love stars, i wish i live there, seeing all those stars! wow! i’m envious! thanks so much for sharing, i had fun viewing your awesome photos.
awesome photography…. loved the effects of motion…:)
those are some beautiful shots!
if by ‘ winter’ you mean ‘snow,’ then i’m glad to say that the new york city area is winter free! nevertheless, it’s often very cold; we’ve just been lucky.
The star trail photos took my breath away. Absolutely. Gorgeous. Wow. -bethany
I love the long star exposures! Great shots!
these pictures are great!! I’m astonished!! the angles are wonderful.
http://www.trueloverelationship-advice.com
So cool, the 20 min. exposure.
I, too, miss the winter that didn’t happen.
I wonder where all the snow went….
Reblogged this on sambaltempoyak.
Beautiful pictures! I too, went hunting for Winter in Massachusetts. I still haven’t found it. http://kbunge.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/i-like-this-new-kind-of-winter/
Love this pictures! ;)
creative post. i like it.
Fantastic shots of the Northern Lights! . . . Thank you for sharing!!
http://arabianmusings.wordpress.com/
Awesome photos
Absolutely gorgeous! I love the one of the stars with Tito in the car. So pretty.
Love how clear your starshots turned out, what ISO did you choose?
Hi there! For the really long exposures I worked at ISO 100 – anything higher and my shots blew right out. I was at f4, so my aperture wasn’t wide open either. For the star shots I used 30 second exposures, ISO 500 and a lens that opened up to f2.8. Hope that helps!
Thanks =))
These photos are absolutely amazing! Beautiful!
Only crazy people are really GREAT photographers! I love your collection!!
Haha! Couldn’t have put it better myself!
Nice pictures i love to watch the sky in the night
I feel your pain! Winter is severely lacking here in south-central Montana, too. Great start photos, and congrats on catching the Aurora!
Gorgeous photos! I miss winter, too. The holidays just weren’t the same without chilly temps and snow. Now we’re three weeks to Spring and we just had our first dusting of snow (aside from the Halloween storm).
These are great photos. I bet Canada is beautiful.
Most beautiful place on earth :) But then, I am biased!
All photo are nice!!!!!
Great shots of my favourite things – stars and northern lights during these dark, almost winter nights! How wonderful too that you are using your passion to create such amazing images.
Wow! I love your pictures of the stars, it almost resembles falling snow- amazing how you captured it!!!
Nature is the best, I like your photos, very relaxing :)
very relaxing, its really nice to travel
:)
You’re photos are beautiful!
Very nice photos! I really enjoyed looking at them. I’ve been hoping to take some winter night shots as well but we haven’t had much of a winter here either. Maybe these will give me the inspiration I need to get out there before it’s too late!
I especially like the last one – what a great reminder wwe are on a spinning globe…
Your photography is AMAZING! Bless you for being willing to stand out in sub-zero weather to get these shots and share them. And with breathtaking beauty like this to experience, isn’t it hard to understand how anyone can doubt there is an equally beautiful, loving Creator who brought it all into existence?
Blessings on you and your work.
Love the thank you for the utmost truth: Helping me getting out of town when I really needed it! ^^
I had to say it – I was having a very difficult week and I’m lucky to have someone in my life who will do such beautiful things for me when I need it :)
That’s the awesome thing about friends, there when you need them… and sometimes they know better than you what you need =)
Oh my God…. Wow… It’s really wonderful….
Magical. The incidence of the first meeting of your dad with his employer brings smile. Thanks for sharing.
Brilliant photos of the Northern Lights..
These are inspiring. One of these days I’m going to get out there and try this!
Amazing! Starry , starry night… :)
Amazing, simply and purely amazing! Congrats on freshly pressed!
Incredible pictures! Really heavenly made!
Great stuff!
http://www.dressupforme.wordpress.com
Gorgeous! We spent three years in Edmonton without ever seeing the Northern lights. I can’t say I miss the -50C days, but I miss the snow!! Vancouver’s gorgeous but sadly snow-free. Thanks for the beautiful photos!
amazing and awesome pictures.
Beautiful uplifting piece of writing and photography. Thank you :-)
Great photos. I really didn’t realize that you can see the Northern Lights that close from Toronto. I always figured that you had to go up to Nunavut or something. You’ve inspired me. I’m living abroad right now, but next time I’m home, I’m going to see them!
I think you just have to be determined – we’ve seen them in Parry Sound, but I think we’re going to go farther next time and aim for Timmins, or even Moosonee. It is definitely possible though, without having to go that far! Good luck :)
Very cool shots, indeed!!! The lengths individuals will go to get some good shots:)….it is always worth it!! (I have experienced some frozen finger tips myself, playing out in the snow with my camera). Unfortunately, this year has certainly been a very odd year for the weather. Normally we have inches of snow on the ground this time of year….it seems what snow does fall ends up melting within a day, leaving behind a nice muddy mess. May have to think about playing with my camera in the mud this year:)
Wow, what an opportunity to see and capture that! Great work!
Reblogged this on readinggirl1976.
Fabulous photographs. I actually got cold looking at them – or was that the chills I get when something is better than excellent? I love your blog.
Reblogged this on paktriputro.
Your photography is amazing.
That star photography is a cake – sumptuous cake!
Well done Tito…the man took some awesome photos and revealed we are indeed hurling through a beautiful chaotic universe…now give him a big kiss.
superb capturing of Stars…Wat a awesome Scene
Your photographs are beautiful – every one of them. And I would SO like to see the Aurora Borealis!
Which like on my Science Book
cokelatnut.wordpress.com
Very nice. I live in Florida and it is great to see snow once in a while. My love for photography is also important to my writing. Love what you do. Nancy at Boyer Writes http://www.boyerwrites.wordpress.com
Beautiful shots! We haven’t had much of a winter here in NJ either, now I might have to go find some winter too :) Thanks for sharing!
I’m LITERALLY out of words. Awesome!
http://www.thebambooshoots.com
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who misses winter and snow! Everyone here in NY is so happy we haven’t had any snow yet.
Absolutely love the pics, particularly the two long exposure ones with the circular lights.
If you keep staring at the photo, the lights appear to move! If you scroll the photo up and down, the lights appear to spiral. Wicked…
Haha, I hadn’t tried that, cool!
Gorgeous star pictures! I’ve been trying to get some star pictures, but it’s been cloudy lately.
The pictures are incredible and I love the way it reads. You have a great voice.
Thank you for saying that. I usually don’t write much in my posts – just lots of photography. You’ve motivated me to keep working on my ‘voice’. Thank you!
Prachtige foto’s…..
this page is awesome, here is mine http://momentosestrellados.wordpress.com/
Great storyteller : both in words and photos. jay
Thank you Jay!
Absolutely love your star trail photos. I love taking photos by the moonlight and try to go as often as other things will allow :-)
See – http://wp.me/p29ILL-cd
Best wishes
Martyn