Bernard Weil, Chief Photographer/Multimedia
Viewed from beneath the wing over the West Arrm of Lake Nipissing, Harley Lang, 77, a 30 year retired veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Force, flies his 1961 deHavilland DHC-2 Beaver, one of 1692 that were built.
Rene Johnston - Staff Photographer
This was a sad year for this photographer.
Jack Layton's passing was especially bad because he had been one of the constant stories at The Star since I started.
He was a city councillor riding his bike and I was a young hack learning how to run cameras.
Then he ran federally for the NDP lead I was there with Linda Diebel.
When he tried to take down the government with Dion and Duceppe I went to Ottawa.
But. most of all, when he walked out on the day he admitted to big time cancer at a downtown hotel just months ago I knew a friend was leaving us.
Rest in Peace Jack,
Rene Johnston
Jack Layton announces that he has cancer elsewhere in his body and will be stepping down from his post as the NDP leader. July 25, 2011.
Colin McConnell - Staff Photographer
Florian Schuck is comforted at a memorial at the corner of Sterling and Dundas for his wife Jenna Morrison, who was killed when a truck ran over her.
COLIN McCONNELL - Florian Schuck is comforted at a memorial at the corner of Sterling and Dundas for his wife Jenna Morrison, who was killed when a truck ran over her.
DAVID COOPER - Olivia Chow, sits beside the Koi pond in the backyard of the home she shared with her husband Jack Layton.
Bernard Weil, Chief Photographer/Multimedia
Earlier this summer, I had an opportunity to fly with Harley Lang, 77, a 30 year retired veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Force, in his 1961 deHavilland DHC-2 Beaver, one of 1692 that were built.
Excluding the Great Lakes, Lake Nipissing, which means "big water", is the fifth largest lake in Ontario and drains into Georgian Bay. The lake is dotted with hundreds of islands, many of which are privately owned.
Viewed from beneath the wing on the port side over the West Arm of Lake Nipissing, Harley Lang flies over tiny islands that dot the lake. A GoPro Hero camera was mounted under the wing and programmed to take a picture every two seconds. A total of 1858 images were taken. See below for a time lapse video I created from the stills.
While the wing mounted camera did its job, I managed to capture a few interesting images from the cockpit. Above, hundreds of double crested cormorants desecrate island H7 in Louden Township, Nipissing District. In recent years, the birds have been blamed for the negative impact on fish stocks. The Ministry of Natural Resources states there are five nesting colonies located on various islands on the lake and they continue to monitor the population.
A boat meanders its way through a maze of islands.
Barely visible at far right, longtime Nipissing summer resident Elaine Drobeck waves to Harley as we fly over her summer retreat. Elaine and her husband Rip bought the island more than fourty years ago. Together with their two dogs, they make the car drive up each summer from their residence in Fredricksburg Texas.
Harley makes a smooth landing.
Video: Here's a link to a time lapse video I created from 1858 still images using a GoPro camera mounted under the wing during the flight: Click here
A couple days into August, but lets have a quick look back at some of our favourites from July.
RICHARD LAUTENS - Firefighter Angelo Gambrelis gets a cool down after exiting the house, still in his bunker suit, from an open valve on the side of a truck.A fire was thought to have started on an outdoor deck of a townhouse at 45 Sudbury st. in the King and Ossington area. The fire was fairly quickly under control but the firefighters had to contend with record high temperatures and were quick to try to cool down when they stripped out of their bunker suits. July 21, 2011
Steve Russell - Staff Photographer
You never know what is going to happen when you walk through the doors at the office.
My spidey sense was tingling when our photo assignment editor, Canice Leung warned be that I might be staking out a Beiber.
When I questioned it, my hearing might have been a casualty at the previous weekend's Indy, she clarified that it wasn't Justin Beiber, but a beaver.
Turns out a reader sent in a photo of a beaver at the foot of York street.
The Toronto Star which has been doing a series of stories on Lake Ontario had Antonia Zerbisias write this story on the beavers in Lake Ontario.
Relieved that I wasn't going to stakeout Justin Beiber, I went out in search of beavers.
A quick walk along the waterfront and I saw the first signs.
Being from Northern Ontario, I know beaver sticks, and there were a few floating in the harbour.
A quick look West and I could see the trees that were the source near a deck that extends into the harbour.
A closer look and I could see the damage and I could hear chewing!
A look under the stairs and there it was.
It was dark under the stairs, I was shooting 1600 ISO at a 60th of a second.
Thankfully the beaver snuck out and made its way over to the rocky shore by the boardwalk where it put on a show!
The first signs of beaver nearby is damage to trees. A beaver has been feasting on the trees and shrubs behind 77/99 Harbour Square near the bottom of York Street.
Under the stairs of the deck a beaver eats leaves from a nearby tree amongst some of the harbour garabage that has collected under the stairs.
Steve Russell - Staff Photographer
It is one of the assignements we look forward to getting, it gets us out of the city, we go for a boat ride and you learn something.
The bonus is that I get a chance to show readers something that they usually don't get to see.
The assignment involved a trip to Kingston and back to spend a few hours on a boat with a scientist researching the health of the Lake Ontario by looking at the Gull colonies.
Chip Weseloh leaps off of his boat onto Salmon Island that has nesting sites for Herring Gulls. Chip Weseloh, studies birds on Lake Ontario, particularly the Herring Gull, the Ring Billed Gull and the Cormorant for Environment Canada.
Continue reading "A Closer Look at the Gulls of Kingston." »
