I saw zero ice cover on any of their photos, so I'm sure the official ice-out announcement isn't far away. If you're not already packed, time to get on it!

They're doing the flyover right now. So far on Twitter they've only posted a single photo of Galeairy, but if it's anything last like year we'll get another dozen photos in the next hour. 


 

I have a 7-month old daughter so getting any camping time this year required a great deal of negotiation. I'll be taking three interior trips this year: a 5-day, a 4-day, and a 3-day. 

The 5 day is coming up soon, leaving May 9th. I'm going in through Shall, spending a night on Booth, a night on Shirley, and two nights on McKaskill. 

The other two trips I haven't booked or even thought about much until just now, but I'm thinking one out of Magnetawan and one from the Tim River. 

Alright, after reading a bunch more, including the helpful information posted here, and then spending some time mucking about with my camera, I'm starting to feel like I might manage some photos that aren't complete disasters. Assuming I don't get nothing but cloud cover, that is. 

Thanks for the advice folks. I'll let you know how it went after I'm back from my camping trip (coming up in a couple of weeks). 

It almost feels like they cancelled this weekend prematurely. Yesterday's satellite image really makes it look like ice-out could happen today or tomorrow easily. 

Sadly yes, yes it is.

Sigh. Ah well, I wasn't exactly looking forward to snow-covered portages anyhow. I think I'm just going to forgo an immediately-after-ice-out trip and rebook for May 9th. After mother's day, so my wife doesn't murder me. 

So I'm going to try my hand at some night sky shots for the first time ever. The first challenge will be staying awake long enough to do so - I'm almost always asleep in my tent long before it's dark. The second challenge is having a clue what I'm doing, which I don't - I'm no photographer. 

Camera-wise, I'll be using a Canon 60D with a wide angle lens (if it matters, it's a Canon EF 17-40MM F4.0L USM). No way I'm carrying a full tripod into the back country but I have a little GorillaPod that I always take, hopefully that'll suffice. I also bought a wireless remote. Good enough on the gear front, or give up now? 

Assuming it's worth trying, I could use some advice on settings. Yes I've googled a lot and have an idea of what to try, but I'd hate to come home from the park without any usable shots, so any advice is appreciated. What I've gleaned so far:

Use a wide aperture
ISO: I've seen posts suggesting everything from 400 to crazy high, so could use some advice. With my camera I see image quality decrease sharply when I use higher ISO values so I'm hoping I don't have to.
Shot length: I gather if I go much beyond 30 seconds then the stars are going to start developing trails. I don't have any gizmo to account for the earth's rotation and I'm not looking to take super long star-trail photos, so is 30 seconds roughly in the correct ballpark?
White balance: I saw someone suggest Tungsten. 

I know the specific settings to use are going to depend on the conditions I'm shooting in, but if any photographers could offer some words of wisdom on how to come home with some decent shots of the night sky, I would certainly appreciate it!

That first photo is incredibly depressing.