Jérôme Aoustin Photography

December 22, 2010

I think I took this photograph mostly for my daughter, Jasmine.

December 21, 2010

Probably the most photographed subject that day. Here’s my contribution. I took it when the Moon was in its deepest shadow, capturing the most vibrant coppery red hues of the night. It was beautiful. Fortunately, no clouds got in the way. If I knew of this event earlier, I would have rented a major telephoto lens at B&H or Adorama.

December 20, 2010

This unusual phenomenon is also called an icebow. “They are produced by the ice crystals in cirrus clouds high (5–10 km, or 3–6 miles) in the upper troposphere. The particular shape and orientation of the crystals is responsible for the type of halo observed. Light is reflected and refracted by the ice crystals and may split up into colors because of dispersion. The crystals behave like prisms and mirrors, refracting and reflecting sunlight between their faces, sending shafts of light in particular directions.” (source: Wikipedia) We observed this halo from our place in Fleetwood, Westchester. Waiting for the rare total lunar eclipse of 2010, we got two shows for the price of one!

December 19, 2010

Back in New York and already missing Maine. This made for an extremely boring photograph.

December 18, 2010

The beauty of a sunrise or a sunset is entirely unpredictable since it depends so much on weather conditions. Indeed, clouds play a major part in their outcome. It was our last day in Maine and I wanted to get the most out of it, so I woke up sometime before 5am. I got ready, woke up my dad and we hit the road. I figured Owl’s Head would be a good location for a sunrise and I wasn’t wrong. We got extremely lucky with the cloud formation. It let just enough sunlight pierce through the horizon to illuminate the massive cloud slowly making its way right in front of us. By covering the rising sun, the treeline in the background also helped prolong our shooting time. It was grandiose.

As we were shooting away, fishermen were embarking aboard their boats and heading for the sea. If I was to stay longer, I think I would have asked to hop on one and share their journey. “The World belongs to those who wake up early”, or so they say. That saying never made more sense to me than on that frigid morning.