Photo Monday – From the Cottage

These are from Christmas day at my parents’ cottage.  I’m still exploring the possibilities with the wide angle lens and the lake seemed like the perfect spot…

Also, the great thing about all that bright snow is that the sky isn’t tons brighter than the ground anymore so you can get a lovely blue.

I took this one at night and it’s not great.  My tripod sucks so I had very little control over what I was shooting.  I had my ISO at 6400, open wide, and the longest exposure I could get without the remote.  It was so dark out there that I couldn’t get the autofocus to work.  I found a bit of light somewhere and focused on it, hoping it was far enough that I would get decent depth of field despite the large aperture.  It wasn’t.  Or the camera couldn’t do its job properly because of the distance. So all of ’em turned out a bit out of focus.  Or maybe the camera moved just a touch during that long exposure.

Still. I miss those stars so much.  You don’t see a whole lot of stars in the Brooklyn sky.  Lots of airplanes but no stars. I forced the girls to get dressed and come outside to see what the sky is supposed to look like. They weren’t enthusiastic at first but I heard them when they saw the sky.  E recognized the Milky Way. She loves space (it’s always on her list when we go to the Natural History Museum).  I love Brooklyn but I’m a bit sad that my kids don’t get to stare at the stars…

And this isn’t at the cottage.  It’s Ottawa.  Thankfully, it wasn’t super dark yet. I was able to get a fast shutter speed.  Unfortunately it had to be a wide aperture so I couldn’t get the picture all sharp.  At least the camera was able to focus this time…

We took the girls to see the lights.  When I was a kid, we used to go to a friend’s place near Rideau Canal most Friday nights.  We’d drive by Parliament on the way home and the holiday lights were magical.  In the dark, half asleep, they were like thousands of fairy lights.  I wanted to show the girls.  We were too late.  Workers had started building the stage for the New Year festivities and all the lights were hidden. Will try to catch them before Christmas next time.

About deuxsouriceaux

Creative mommy at home to two wonderful little girls, trying to juggle family, sewing, exercise, family, knitting, photography, and did I mention family?