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!

X4FMGEB6VY2X

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.

Located on the Bay of Fundy, the Hopewell Rocks are unique formations that can be explored both by sea kayak or on foot, thanks to the world’s largest tides. I managed to arrive at low tide (or slightly thereafter) and was able to walk around the many “flower pot” formations, such as the one pictured here.

Of all the shots I took today, I think this is my favorite. In general, the lighting was difficult with the sun casting most of the rock formations in silhouette. The masses of tourists also didn’t help, as they were constantly in the shots. The location of this formation allowed it to be lit from the side, providing some detail in the rock. It was also located away from most of the other formations so the tourists didn’t find it (except for me of course!).

Big White, near Kelowna B.C., on a typical day of overcast clouds.  The snow-covered mountain and trees tend to blend into the sky making it hard to distinguish between land and sky.  Later on in the winter, the trees will be completely covered in snow and ice and are affectionately named “snow ghosts”.   

Black levels and clarity were bumped up in Lightroom to help bring out some of the details of this high key image.

I found these pine trees covered in fresh snow at the bottom of Big White ski resort, near Kelowna, B.C. 

The shot was taken at night and the lights of the village and gondola lifts combined with the low clouds to create an interesting background behind the trees.  The image was shot hand-held.

A small butterfly takes a rest on a rock at Josephine falls in Australia.  This little guy was being quite cooperative as it took me quite a few shots to get the focus, composition and exposure right.

A few days before Christmas, my girlfriend and I went to feed bread to some Canadian geese that frequent the park next to our place.  Consider it an early Christmas present for the cold hungry geese.

The bread went over really well–too well actually.  Some nearby seagulls figured out what was going on pretty quickly.  As soon as one seagull caught wind of the free buffet, he called over all of his friends and stole most of the bread from the geese.  The above photo captures the greed and aggressiveness of those stupid seagulls.