Scout Camp

Camp Kinkora, in St-Adolphe-d'Howard, about an hour and a half north of Montreal. Even when you're part of the Scouts, freezing in the below-zero weather, you can appreciate the beauty of your surroundings: the frozen lake, the lonely chapel, the snow-covered trees...Beautiful! And, to prove it, here are some of the pictures that I took during our recent winter camp.

The Midnight Sun

On March 19th, 2011, there was a full moon in the night sky, over Montreal. Beautiful, bright, and just waiting to be photographed. So, I took my camera and, after trying for a few minutes, finally got the perfect settings. Here is the result.

After this, I can't wait to do more night-time shots, hopefully including some really amazing things, like meteor showers, eclipses, and, eventually (hopefully!), Aurora borealis (the much-admired Northern Lights). I even have a list of a few experiments that I would like to try, some involving telescopes, others trips to the foresty areas of northern Quebec, where electrical lights are few, and where the nights sky shines bright with a beauty unequalled by anything that you can see from the city.

So, my first ever picture and blog post! Yay!

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In winter, Montreal becomes a beautiful place. Sure, there's the bone-chilling weather, yes, there's the ice and snow, the dangerous driving conditions, the paralyzing snowstorms, the.....you get the picture. But it's not only blizzards and other such assaults from Mother Nature. There is, still, a calm, quiet, frigid sort of beauty to the whole thing. 

This picture was taken on the morning of December 10th, 2011, as I made my way across the bridge linking the northern suburb of Laval to the island of Montreal. The nearly-frozen river, the bridge, and the blueish light set the tone for this 'cool' picture.

And yes, this is the background picture for the blog (right now, anyway).

© Karine Topalian