In October 2003, there was a massive release of energy from our sun. The resulting coronal mass ejection (CME) headed straight for our planet, bombarding it with a massive amount of charged particles. The official classification for the flare was an X17.2, which is one of the top three recorded solar flares in the history of our planet.
Photo from here
The charged particles disrupted satellite communications in space, and also lead to auroras being seen as far south as the Chicago. I was fortunate enough to be following the activity while it was happening, and was notified via email (via SpaceWeather.com) ...
As most of you know, I really enjoy photography. I have been fortunate enough to have received a bit of recognition for some of the shots I’ve done, and even managed to attend the 2008 Canadian Juno Awards as a photographer.
I thought I’d post a few of my favourite shots here for those that are new here.
Most of these shots make use of a technique called high dynamic range (HDR) photography.
This entry was written for Blogathon 2008, and in support of the Union Gospel Mission charity. If you’d like to donate to the cause, please visit the blogathon donation page and fill out the form ...
A New Day Begins In Vancouver
I took this photo at around 5am this morning. Watching the sun rise or the sun set is something I will never tire of. Seeing the orange-red glow stretch across the horizon always makes me think what a beautiful thing it is to be alive, and what an amazing part of the world I live in.
There are some people who think sunsets are cliche, and that taking photos of them is a waste of time. But I think the complete opposite, and as long as I have a camera, there will always be a sunset or a sunrise worth taking a photo of.
This entry was written for Blogathon 2008, and ...
Based on a suggestion by Raul, I’m going to talk a little bit about my entry into photography. I originally got into a photography because I wanted a hobby that exploited my creative side without all the trappings of the math and science I typically deal with in my day job. Photography to me has always been a bit of a release, a way to unwind and simply see only a small portion of the world at a time. It’s like turning the power off and noticing your ears are ringing — it represents a way for me to unplug from the world for a period of time.
I picked up my first digital camera in 2000. It ...
Most compact cameras that you pick up from Future Shop only have one built in lens. In most cases, it’s a zoom lens, capable of giving you moderate wideangle coverage upwards to a decent telephoto lens. Most people probably don’t know the difference between those two, so I thought I’ll give a brief tutorial.
The most well known lens is probably the 50mm prime. 50mm refers to the focal length of the lens, and prime refers to the fact that it’s a fixed focal length lens (i.e. not a zoom lens). In photography, the 50mm lens is also called a “standard” lens because it almost exactly matches ...
Tomorrow marks the first event for the Vancouver Fashion Week, 2008 Spring Edition. I had a media pass last year and spent a few evenings taking photos. If I remember correctly, the only downside to the event (in my opinion) was that I thought most of the models lacked enthusiasm. I also remember wishing I had brought a flash to the opening event, so if anyone is going, I’d recommend bringing one.
While I love photography, it’s fairly dull sitting at the end of a runway for an hour taking the same shot over and over again, and I really appreciated the models that mixed it up a bit or added ...
I received an email a while ago from an editor at Wikipedia, asking me if I would mind if they using one of my juno photos on a page. The only catch is that they wanted me to change the license of the photo to allow for commercial use and derivative works.
I’m a big fan of Wikipedia — I use it all the time. So I really wanted to help those guys out and let them use my photo. Since I paid for the entire Juno trip myself, I have a hard time actively letting other people make money from my work. As a compromise, I offered to grant Wikipedia a non-revokable license for use of that photo on their ...
I’ve spent most of this last week thinking about blogging and Northern Voice, so tonight I’m going to unwind a bit in front of the TV and just relax. So, while I plan to write a Northern Voice summary, I’m going to hold off on that for a day or two.
One of the aspects of Northern Voice I enjoy is the opportunity to take a lot of different photos in various settings. I practiced doing the odd wide-angle shot in some of the rooms, and used my 70-200mm for a few close ups of speakers. For the most part, I took a lot of the same shots I always take. But for some reason, something’s been really ...
You know, there was a time when I actually sort of considered my blog a photo blog. Truth is I haven’t really posted many photos lately. Here’s one I took with my little Powershot camera a few days ago:
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Image from PBase.comThat, my friends, is Canon’s biggest lens, the Canon EF 1200mm f/5.6L. For obvious reasons, they only make a handful of these every year. The cost? Approximately $10,000 $100,000 if I remember correctly. ...
This Thursday, I’ll be photographing a charity fundraiser down at the Sanafir Restaurant & Lounge in Vancouver. The event is put on by local fashion designer Roberta Cheema from Tush, and will consist of swimwear and lingeree.
Lingerie by Tush, photographed during Vancouver Fashion WeekI’ve spent a bit of time hanging out and getting to know Roberta, and she’s really a dedicated person with a real passion for design.
It’s what underneath that counts – hot spot’s upscale swimwear and undergarment fashion show fundraiser – February 7
Join host MC Musician and Funny Man Rick Baker ...
I set up a small photography website over at photography.duanestorey.com a while ago. I think I’m going to over haul it this weekend and make it a bit better. I also want to get a domain name for it and make it a proper stand-alone site. If anyone has any ideas for a cool name for a photography site, fire me off an email. I’ve been trying to come up with west-coast oriented names, but so far no go.
I’ll give a free 8×12 print and a blog entry on the new site for the person that picks the winner!
Thanks! ...
Yup, I now have proof that yours truly is in fact a published travel photographer. What does that mean? That if you have a plane, a sandy beach, and maybe a few cute locals in bikinis waiting, I’d be more than happy to come help you out by shooting some photos.
Air Transat’s In Flight Magazine, Atmosphere
Air Transat sent me a few hard copies of their Atmosphere in-flight magazine, since I had only heard from a friend that some of my photos made it in. Sure enough, a few of my photos from the Dominican Republic are on pages 20-21 of the Winter edition of Atmosphere. Thanks for mailing it ...
In about 30 minutes, the beach photowalk near my place is going to begin. It turned out to be a rather nice day with some ideal light, so hopefully there will be a pile of great shots taken. The challenge always for me is figuring out what lens to bring and what exactly I want to shoot. I haven’t shot film in quite a while, so I loaded some 160VC portrait film in my one camera and put my wide angle on it, and will bring my 70-200mm f/2.8L for doing some portraits near the water. I’m just making some coffee and making sure my cameras are good to go, then heading downstairs to meet people.
I’ll ...
Last night, Rebecca and Trevor told me about the sex show this weekend taking place at the Vancouver Convention Center. Since I’ve never been to one, and haven’t had an opportunity to take my camera out in a few weeks, I decided to head down and check it out.
Live Entertainment
In terms of layout and logistics, it was like any other tech conference I had ever been at. There were tons of booths, some of which made sense given the aim of the sex show, and some which obviously shouldn’t have been there. One that comes to mind is Sun Life Financial in the back corner. Seriously, do you really ...
So Leila just came up to me at work today and said congrats. I said “for what?” And she said she was recently on an Air Transat flight and came across a pile of photos in the middle of the in-flight magazine from my last trip to the Dominican Republic. She said they all said “photo by Duane Storey”, and that she was sure they were mine.
Funny thing is I had no idea they had been published. I know Air Transat has a section where users can submit their photos for consideration, which I did after coming back from the Dominican Republic, but nobody ever contacted me and said they were going ...
A few months ago I had an offer on my website to send a few people some free photo prints. Due to my hospitalization and recent health battles, I never got around to mailing any of them out. Thankfully, I found some time tonight to put a bunch of them together, and they will be going out in the mail.
Unfortunately, not all the people who were supposed to receive one sent me their address, so I still have some to send out. If you were pretty sure you were receiving one, can you please fire me off an email with your address and which print you wanted? Thanks.
Also, once these are all out of ...
Perogy fest beginning soon. Here’s a shot I took of the valley on the way over. You can see little streaks of rain and a few flares caused by drops on my lens, but I like them.
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