Stars over and through reeds

I took some night photos of stars over some reeds.  All photos taken with 30s exposure, maximum aperture, on a tripod.  ISO was varied (200 - 1000) to adjust brightness.  In some pictures it appears that stars are shining through the reeds ...

This one captures the big dipper asterism/constellation over some reeds

Comparison of night and day photos Rushy Marsh Pond and the ocean

I wanted to understand the effects on the photos I took at night previously of shooting at night / in the snow compared to shooting during the day, so I went back to the same locations today and took pictures of Rushy Marsh Pond and the ocean, with roughly the same scenes.  The color difference is striking; I think it is due in large part to the cloud cover at night.  It would be good to take these night shots again on a clear, moonlit night (the moon is about 3/4 full) to confirm.

 

Photos of a dam from a plane landing in Montreal

I've always been fascinated during plane landings, marveling at the view of man made structures from a high altitude.  Luckily on this landing in Montreal we passed over a structure on the river - it might be a dam, I'm not sure.  I enjoyed taking pictures of it especially since the plane turned as we went by allowing me to see it from other angles.

3 AM photos of Rushy Marsh Pond and the Ocean

I woke up early and went for a walk with camera and tripod to take some at night pictures of a nearby pond (Rushy Marsh Pond) and the ocean near our house.  It was snowing increasingly hard, the sky was very cloudy, there was no moon visible, so it was fairly dark, but I was able to capture color images using 30 s exposure and maximum aperture opening.  The light was probably as diffuse as it can be.  It was amazing to me to see these color images, since to through my eyes the world around me was entirely shades of gray.

Looking from the road through trees at Rushy Marsh Pond

ginger mead, unpasteurized honey

2019-03-10: I decided to try an experiment of ginger-flavored mead; I did it on a 1-gallon scale rather than a full 5 gallons in case I don't like the flavor.  I know this is bad science but another variable I changed was I did not boil or pasteurize the honey - this is supposed to preserve the flavor of the honey.