Moon from the Other Night

Here's a shot of the full moon from the other night. I've just sold my Canon EF 2x Extender on Ebay, so that'll be the end of moon photos like these for a while, until I purchase some other long range telephoto lens (like the Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L or some thing (or if anyone reading this would like to buy me one as a gift, I would be forever grateful! LOL!)). In anycase, I need to do some upgrade work on my computer, so I had to sell some stuff. It was a matter of sacrifice/practicality I guess. Which reminds me, I think I should have some kind of carwash to raise funds for my new printer.

The Moon Tonight

While I was on my way home this evening, I noticed the moon just over the horizon, looking big and beautiful. When I got home, I grabbed my camera and set it up on the tripod to take some shots.

Here are two images; the first one shot with my Canon EF200mm f/2.8L USM, and the second image shot with my Canon EF200mm f/2.8L USM + a Canon EF 2x Extender. My digital SLR the Canon 20D, has a 1.6x magnification factor due to the partial image sensor. Because of this, my Canon EF200mm f/2.8L USM becomes the equivalent of a 320mm f/2.8 lens, whereas with the 2x Extender connected, it becomes a 640mm f/5.6. Some image quality is sacrificed however, when using the 2x Extender. But when you compare the price of a 200mm lens + 2x extender to a true 600mm lens, well, it's worth the sacrifice (at least until I can afford an actual Canon 600mm L lens).

Here is the first image at the 200mm focal length:



And here is the same moon (a few seconds later) at the 400mm focal length:



Isn't it lovely? Now just imagine what I could do with a Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS USM?
Whoever wishes to donate such a lens, of course I would be forever grateful! ;)

For those of you who might have missed it, here's a link to a photo session I did of a Lunar Eclipse last year. It was an amazing event. Have a look if you haven't already seen these.

And here's one that I posted on Pixel Critic:

Joy

This is one of my photos from the wedding I shot a few weeks ago. I really like this scene because this is the bride giving her daughter a nice big hug after the wedding ceremony. The expression on her face is worth a thousand words.

HSBC Celebration of Light

Last Saturday I went down to English Bay to watch (and photograph) the fireworks. This is an annual competition, and it's the biggest of it's kind in the world. Last year's winning competitor was Sweden. This year it is Canada, Sweden, and China that are competing. I haven't actually watched the fireworks directly from the beach in years. There is a tremendous crowd of people who go to this event (about 400,000 or so) and so when it's over, there is a mad rush to get out of town and head home. Anyhow, this year I was determined to brave the crowd and just do it.

I got there at about 5:00pm (the fireworks start at 10:00pm) and I decided to set up all my camera stuff on a big rocky area. I figured most people would choose the prime sandy spots on the beach, and I was right; so I had no one sitting in front of me. The only thing is, I had to sit and wait for 5 hours. Luckily, a friend showed up to keep me company. So here are some of the highlights from that event:

Here was the crowd when I first arrived. Not too crazy yet, and it was a little cool and cloudy as well:



A little while later, it started filling more:



This is the barge the fireworks are deployed from. There are over $2,000,000.00 worth of fireworks on that ship for each show:



A lot of boaters came around to see from the water:







Some people went for a refreshing swim while they were waiting:



The cops were there too; on the beach and in the water. I guess they were making sure people weren't drinking on the beach (that's actually illegal here).







Fireboats where there as well:



It was getting dark, and the crowd was getting very thick now:







So here are a few of the fireworks. I can't show you all the photos, because there are too many, so I'll just post the highlights for now:

Makeup

I've always enjoyed watching women put on makeup. I don't know why, I just do. I shot this photo before the wedding, while the bridesmaids were getting ready.



The past two weeks have been very busy. I've been working on 3 different photography assignments. It's ok though, because the weather has been rather cloudy and rainy lately.

Sneak Peek

I had a great time last weekend. I was in Summerland shooting a wedding for some friends. I was surrounded with wonderful talented people. It was a great weekend!
Here's one of many shots I took just after the ceremony:



I'm currently working on all of the photos I shot at the wedding. I'll be making a web page for the wedding and I'll post a link to it here when it's ready. I'll drop a few photos here as I go.