My new camera is a Canon PowerShot SD1000, which I am absolutely loving so far. At first, I thought most of the features were somewhat useless; I never thought I'd need an "Aquarium" mode, for example. But lo and behold, only three days after the purchase, I found myself in an aquarium, face to face with some pretty amazing looking animals.
The jellyfish were quite a sight to behold. The near translucence of their structure was something I had never quite seen before in a living organism. Truly amazing, subhanAllah.
The sea otters were napping at the time, but they looked pretty darn cute and comfortable doing so.
It never ceases to amaze me how much beauty there is even in the smallest creatures in nature, subhanAllah.
The camera purchase was also partially one of my first steps in my farewell to the West Coast. It has been an amazing experience, and I thought it necessary to capture as much of it as possible before I leave for good. There are a few sights I will miss in particular.
This was a new one for me, though I had passed this way so many times. I am not entirely sure what the intent of this monument is; does anyone have any ideas?
My weekend ended at the Pacific Coast, just a few kilometres north of the American border.
This is a fairly cliché shot, but I assure you that the lens flare effect is not photoshopped in.
A man can get a lot of thinking done in a place like this. Of course, I've done more than enough thinking. It's time to take some action.
The Jellyfish remind me of Finding Nemo :)
ReplyDeleteThe upside down house... what's it called? It's definitely very interesting. [More interesting that the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto that's held up by "pencils"]
Beautiful pics! There is nothing more cherishing than capturing moments. I absolutely love photography :)
ReplyDeleteI like the Jellyfish. :D
ReplyDeleteAssalaamu Alaikum :)
ReplyDeleteSubhana'Allah, those are some pretting impressive pictures!
Oh, those pictures are marvellous... I'm sure you've heard that enough to have lost it's initial appeal. :P
ReplyDeleteIt's all very professional and the picture you call 'cliched' is one of the best(est) ones. :) You've got a good eye for photography, or maybe you've taken courses we don't know of.
By the way, if you're wondering about those amazing jellyfishes, then you should check out some of the creatures that live in the depths of the great oceans. These creatures I'm talking of are found right near the sea-bed where there's no light at all. They're amazing, beautiful, tiny critters of different shapes and light shines right through them, lighting them up in a spectrum of colours.
Oh, and you should start a photoblog! A picture really is worth a thousand words when you share it like that with your fellow bloggers. :)
Assalam-o-alaikum!
I forgot to add a fun-fact here about Jellyfishes that we studied in Zoology at school. Jellyfishes belong to Phylum Cnidaria (Cnidarians)of the animal kingdom on the basis of 'Cnidocytes' present in their tentacles. Cnidocytes are part of the jellyfish's defense mechanism - cells, each with a stinging needle projecting out of it. Associated with the cell is a 'trigger' of sorts - whenever any animal or object brushes against the Jellyfish's tentacles, it triggers the Cnidocyte, injecting the needle into the enemy.
ReplyDeleteCool, eh?
Humairah: The upside down house is actually an upside down church. It is called "Rooting out Evil".
ReplyDeleteRaaji: Thanks, I'm starting to enjoy photography myself.
Saira: I have a lot more jellyfish pictures if you like.
Squeeky: Wa'alaykum assalam,
Glad you liked them!
Ameera: I haven't taken any photography courses, nor do I intend on doing so ever. I think it's less a matter of "having an eye for photography", and more a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
There were lots of different varieties of jellyfish at the aquarium, of which I have several different ones captured. What I have here is only a small subset of the pictures I took; I also have some videos as well. Thanks for the interesting information about these jellyfish!
As for a photoblog ... I'm not serious enough about photography to justify that; I just do it for fun when I come across something. I do travel a lot though, so any interesting pictures I come across will be posted here.
All: I have very high-resolution versions (3072x2304) of all the images posted here and several more. They make great desktop wallpapers. If you would like a copy (or you have any other comments/questions for me), my e-mail address is on my profile page, and here: faraz (at) alumni (dot) uottawa (dot) ca.
Thanks!
Nice pictures but the most amazing creature that I've ever come across - BY FAR - is the mimic octopus... subhanallah, it's absolutely stunning what this thing can do... it changes shapes, colours and textures INSTANTLY and does so constantly for any reason it feels necessary. Crazy.
ReplyDeleteThere's this one picture that you posted a long time ago, I set it as my wallpaper but it was very pixelated... I can't remember what exactly you called it, but it was snow falling in the night with Usnea lichen hanging down.. do you have a high resolution of that?
ReplyDeleteNauman: Maybe all of these are pictures of mimic octopi, in various stages of camouflage. Ever thought about that?
ReplyDeleteHumairah: You must be referring to one of the pictures from this post. Yes, I do have a higher resolution version of that picture. Credit for the one you're referring to goes to my cousin.
hehe the camera shook in some of them. haha... :)
ReplyDeletetell me what decisions you made... i'm eager to hear them
Maryam: Yes, there is a little camera shake, but I'm far from a professional and don't feel like investing in a tripod.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what decisions you're referring to, but if it's anything irrelevant, then perhaps it'll get the Irrelevant Opinions treatment eventually.
my first impression when I saw the pictures was that the camera's water-proof..and you took 'em when you went scuba diving! The camera's not even SLR. I'm amazed @ the clarity. The "aquarim mode" is far better than my expectations.
ReplyDeleteHow's your experience with the camera? Any drawbacks?
Hafsa: The camera actually does have an "Underwater" mode that is supposed to be used with a special, underwater case.
ReplyDeleteSo far, the camera has been great, no significant drawbacks that I can think of for my simple needs. It's much better than others I've used over the years, once you get the hang of it.
Salaam
ReplyDeletewow you managed to capture the sea otters!
I tried so much to do that on my last trip to the aquarium to no avail :(
Lesson: figure out your camera before you go taking pictures.
Ma'assalam
Radiant Light: Wa'alaykum assalam,
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting! The sea otters were relatively easy to capture, since they were kinda hanging out, not really moving around too much.
Have you visited Vancouver aquarium before? Or are you referring to a different aquarium?