I finally managed to get out shooting again, this time at the Toronto Zoo.  Although not my most successful trip there, I did come back with some keepers.  This is one of them.

The original colour version

These are moon jellyfish, lazily swimming/floating in their tank at the Toronto Zoo’s Australian Great Barrier Reef exhibit.  I really love the black background and translucent nature of these fish.  There is so much texture in the fish, yet with subtle tones.

I had a tough time deciding on the monochrome black & white version, or the original colour version.  You can let me know if you agree or not in the comments below.

It’s hard to believe that jellyfish can be so beautiful, yet potentially so deadly (I don’t think moon jellyfish are terribly dangerous, but there are other jellyfish that are much smaller and much more lethal).  The box jellyfish is feared in Australia as it is one of the most painful and deadly jellyfish on the planet.  After being stung, severe agonising pain will ensue, which can be followed by cardiac arrest leading to death.  But they sure are pretty to look at!

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Fall colours at the lower gardens of Hase temple in Kamakura, Japan.  The Japanese really have beautiful gardens, and they come to life during the fall/winter seasons when the leaves turn spectacular colours.

This is one of the guard houses, or lookouts in the Imperial Gardens in Tokyo.  The accessible areas of the Imperial Gardens aren’t really that spectacular in the winter, but this was one view that seemed to be worthy of a snapshot.

Lighting was a bit tricky on this one, as the sun was just out of frame to the right.  A little localized reduction in exposure and a little post-crop vignetting was done to tame the sun and bright sky.

Yasukuni Shrine honours soldiers who have died fighting for the Emperor of Japan. It is fairly famous in the far East for various reasons (historic and political), but this photo is not about the shrine as much as the entrance to it. Leading up to the shrine is a long mall bordered with trees. At the time I was there (early December), the trees were pretty much at their peak colours. The clear blue sky and bright sun really made the yellow leaves seem extra bright. An occasional gust of wind would stir up leaves, making it a really beautiful sight to behold.

I really wanted to capture the scene complete with blowing leaves, so I waited around with camera in hand for more than a few minutes. But of course, like a watched pot that does not boil, the wind didn’t blow while I waited. Finally, as I was about to leave, a small gust picked up some leaves which I quickly snapped some shots of.

I used a polarizing filter to help the colours pop and to darken the blue sky a bit. A slight vibrance and saturation boost were added in Lightroom. I think the final image comes pretty close to depicting what I actually experienced there. I only wish the leaves were a little more visible in the shot.

These hills are actually royal tombs where the ancient rulers of Korea are buried. These are located right in the middle of the city of Gyeongju where I was staying. As this was taken in winter, the grass was brown, but still makes for a scenic landscape. In total there are 35 royal tombs in this area and plenty of others. In fact, one can see recent burial mounds located throughout the country, on road sides, in woods, and in fields.

These Canadian geese did a low altitude fly-by in front of me while I was photographing the Canadian International Airshow in Toronto. I guess they were feeling left out and wanted some attention as well!

Luckily for me, the camera was set to AI servo and was able to focus quickly as I panned to catch the birds in my viewfinder. A lucky shot indeed!

On a recent sailing course, we anchored for the night near Waupoos island in Lake Ontario (near Kingston). The cloudless sunset was short-lived, but the colours that appeared at dusk were worthy of a photo, like the one above.

A bed of lush green fern found on the Fundy Trail. Slight exposure and saturation boost was employed.

These are the Fuller Falls, located near St. Martins, N.B. on the Fundy Trail Parkway. The falls are at the bottom of a ravine, accessed via a cable ladder that leads you straight down the steep slope. It’s more like stairs with handrails, but it’s all made out of wire cable and slippery wood rungs. There is a handy observation deck at the bottom, complete with sturdy handrails that I used to rest the camera on for the slow exposure. Without the handrails, this photo would not have turned out.

The overcast skies and fog annoyed me at first, as I thought they would hinder any good landscape shots. But they actually helped out here as the reduced light allowed for longer exposures of the falls. This helps create a nice soft and smooth feel to the water. A circular polarizer was also used.

This is the trail down to the Hopewell flower pot rocks, shown in my last post. The forest was so green and lush I just had to take a picture of it. Only slight saturation adjustments were made to the image to try to convey the lushness of the forest.