Project 365 - Day 318 - Sunrise in Moorea

Sonia set the alarm today for 4:30 so I could get up to check the sunrise again.  When the alarm went off this morning, I opened our curtains to find some cloud at the horizon, but it looked promising.  I started to get ready, gathering all my stuff, but unfortunately I woke Sonia up in the process.  As I was puttering around the room, I was planning my shot and Sonia was asking questions about what I was going to do this morning.  Finally, I dragged my lazy butt out to the deck of our bungalow and looked over towards the sunrise.  It had already started!!!  Abandoning my shoes, I ran with my tripod and camera all the way over to the bridge that connects the overwater bungalows to the rest of the resort.  I didn't have time to set up in my planned spot, at the end of the dock in front of the restaraunt.  I was able to get a few dozen shots off, varying angles and details.  This is just one of them. 

I'm going back to bed for an hour ... :-)  Mornin everyone!! :-)

Project 365 - Day 317 - Hotel pool at night

We went back to Tahiti to Papeete today to do some shopping.  Sonia was looking at the pearls and the clothing and I was taking pictures of the town and surrounding area.  When we got back to Moorea I took a short nap, but left Sonia with strict instructions to wake me at 6pm as I wanted to shoot the sunset.  The sun actually sets on the other side of Moorea, but the light hits the clouds and it is quite spactacular - I got a great shot of it last night. Alas, there was no light over the mountain as the cloud cover was far too low.  So what's a guy to do when plan A fails?  Plan B of course.

This was a shot that I wanted to get regardless, so I went and got it after exhausing the "sunset" options.  This is our hotel pool at night.  It is lit from below the deck, and it overlooks the ocean and the overwater bungalows.  It is quite cool.  Enjoy.

Project 365 - Day 316 - Introducing ... Hermes

Spent the day at the beach today, enjoying the surf and the lightly salted water.  When we first got down to the beach, the towel counter was not open.  While Sonia got us settled, I went to get the towels.  When I got back, Sonia was intrigued with something at her feet.  Thinking she had stepped on a piece of coral or something, I became concerned.  When I approached, however, she looked up and said "Hey, come here!"

I meandered over slowly, expecting now that she was going to get me to clear out some of the miniscule amount of seaweed that had gathered in front of our sun beds.  But instead, she pointed to a shell in the sand.  "Check it out! - Meet Hermes!!"

I looked.  I saw a shell.  One of ... well I am not exaggerating when I say hundreds of other shells on the beach.  But just when I was going to make a smart alek comment - yes, I have been known to do that from time to time - the shell moved.   Inside, was a hermit crab.

So, off I went to get my camera and macro lens, while Sonia babysat our new friend and made sure that the young man who was raking the beach did not rake him up as well.  I got a lot of shots of Hermes, but not a lot of useful ones - as these guys are pretty quick for crabs, and he liked to fall off things that I wanted to photograph him on.

Well, here's Hermes!!

Project 365 - Day 315 - Moorea at night

Today we made the trek to Moorea.  The trek involved a half hour ferry ride from the island of Tahiti to the island of Moorea.  The ferry ride proved to be a great source of images, and they will be displayed once I get home and can create the panoramas by stitching together the required images.

Tonight, after dinner, I dropped Sonia back off at the room and I went back out to shoot.  We had eaten dinner at the pool bar, and it overlooks the pacific ocean - with a great view of Tahiti.  Having this view all night I wanted to share it with you guys.

After I shot this view a bit, I was headed back to the room and found this shot below.  This is one of the over water bungalows in the foreground, and far in the background you can see the island of tahiti all lit up.  Also, there are stars... lots and lots of stars.  There is light polution here, but not nearly as much as back home.

Project 365 - Day 314 - Tahiti Day 2

Today we went on a 4x4 tour of the island.  We got very wet, and saw a lot of waterfalls and great scenery.  I have a lot of work to do when I get home, stitching together panoramas and some major HDR work.

When we got back, it was almost time for the sunset.  Sonia went back to the hotel room while I went to our "backyard" and got some sunset photos.  I think I took about 30 shots, one of which is today's shot.

This is the same catamaran as yesterday's photo.

Off to Moorea tomorrow, but not before a quick trip into town to the market.  Apparently they have pearls here?  And vanilla.... :-)

Project 365 - Day 313 - Hello from Tahiti!

So, after a marathon of flights yesterday we finally arrived in Tahiti at 05:30 local time.  We left Toronto at 2:00 eastern, and we are currently 5 hours behind eastern time.  So we landed at 10:30 eastern - meaning we were travelling for20 hours.  Let me just clear one thing up - travel time was totally worth it.  This place is gorgeous!

We got our room right when we checked in this morning and we set about getting into our swimwear.  Then we headed down to one of the two infinity pools after taking a quick stroll around the grounds.  This hotel is really nice, and the weather is perfect.

After getting slightly crispy, I went back to the room for a nap and Sonia, ever the sun worshiper, stayed out for another two hours.  When she came back, we took the camera out for a walk.

This shot was taken basically in front of our room.  This is our view, and the sun sets right in front of us.  No sunset tonight, you can see the clouds are way too heavy for that - but I did get this shot of some sun rays.

Project 365 - Day 312 - Sunrise in Mississauga

Okay, so this is going to be my last post from Canada for about 2 weeks, maybe my last post for a while.  We are going on vacation and the internet will be a little spotty at times so I may be posting sporadically.  Rest assured, I will be shooting and hopefully editing as I shoot, although I do have a whole day off when I return to go over my pictures.

Today I went to Lakeshore Promenade as I was dropping my wife off at work.  I missed the actual sunrise, but the sun moved behind some clouds to create this scene.