A Modern Classic
Venus and Jupiter streak past the Gibraltar Point lighthouse on the Toronto Islands during their conjunction of 2012, competing with star and aircraft trails from the nearby Toronto City Center Airport. The oldest remaining lighthouse on the Great Lakes, Gibraltar Point was constructed around 1808 and stands 82 feet tall.
The Unforest
Heavy fog shrouds Christmas trees, hung in the Ward’s Island traffic circle in preparation for the annual Spring equinox celebrations.
Wonderful Profile
Space shuttle Atlantis clears the tower for the final time, signalling the end of the space shuttle program.
Churchill Trails
The starry night spins around Polaris, framing my temporary home while kayak touring Georgian Bay’s Churchill Islands.
Snug Harbour Light
The light of the setting sun catches the lighthouse at Snug Harbour, in Ontario’s Georgian Bay.
NASA Marshalls
A family of ospreys stand watch in their nest, framed by the NASA ‘meatball’ logo on the side of the Vehicle Assembly Building.
Flag Forward
Endeavour’s flag flies proudly over Launch Complex 39A. This is actually a fairly difficult shot to get, 95% of the time the wind blows the flag backwards.
Endeavour Xenon
Space shuttle Endeavour, shortly after rollback of the Rotating Service Structure, sits bathed in Xenon lights for the final time.
Zero Days
A sign on the roadway leading to NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building proclaims the day of launch for space shuttle Endeavour, STS-134.
Mirror Mirror
Cpt. Aaron Jelinek of the United States Air Force Blue Angels flies in formation with SSgt. Shane Hutchins (inverted) over Cocoa Beach.
Overflight
The International Space Station, with a full complement of visiting vehicles from all participating nations including space shuttle Discovery, soars in orbit over Toronto at 7:02 P.M. This is a stacked set of eight images, the gaps in the trail are caused by the ~1 second delay between shutter actuations.
Reveal
Space shuttle Discovery, STS-133, aims purposefully skyward on the launch pad immediately after rollback of the Rotating Service Structure.
Staging Progression
Two minutes after launch, space shuttle Discovery’s twin Solid Rocket Boosters burn out and separate from the orbiter, to fall back to the Atlantic ocean for retrieval.
Roll Program
Space shuttle Discovery, STS-133, performs her roll program after clearing the tower at Launch Complex 39A.
STS-132 Rollback
Space shuttle Atlantis, STS-132, stands revealed on the launch pad after rollback of the Rotating Service Structure, the day before her ‘first final flight’. This is a small detail from a several hundred megapixel final composition.
Level Roll
Pulling level with the roof of the Vehicle Assembly Building, space shuttle Atlantis (STS-132) has completed enough of her roll manouever to see directly between the External Tank and the orbiter itself.
VAB Liftoff
Space shuttle Atlantis, STS-132, clears the tower as seen from the roof of the Vehicle Assembly Building.
Moonrise Over Manarola
Part of a larger panorama, featuring moonrise over the seaside town of Manarola, Cinque Terra, Italy.
Manners
A beaver poses for a Ms. Manners poster, displaying teeth stained red from a winter diet of bark.
Flight Lines
A mature black-crowned night heron wings its way past the camera, at the end of its long migration north for the summer.
