Achint Thomas Photography

Achint Thomas Photography Portrait and fine art landscape photographer based in Toronto.

The full moon of October 17th, also known as the Hunter's Moon, was pretty special. Not only was it a Supermoon (a bigge...
10/18/2024

The full moon of October 17th, also known as the Hunter's Moon, was pretty special. Not only was it a Supermoon (a bigger-than-usual full moon), but it was also a Perigree Supermoon — the closest, biggest, and brightest full moon for 2024.

And, if you planned well in advance and stood at just the right spot, you could take a picture of October 17th's Hunter's Moon as it aligned perfectly behind Toronto's iconic CN Tower during moonrise.

On the evening of October 17th, I did just that.

The total solar eclipse of April 8th, 2024, was an absolutely unreal experience. At an intellectual level, I knew what t...
04/09/2024

The total solar eclipse of April 8th, 2024, was an absolutely unreal experience. At an intellectual level, I knew what to expect since I had been planning for this for the past three months. But nothing could prepare me for what I saw during totality. Those 2 minutes and 36 seconds were something I was not expecting. At all.

The moon fully obscures the sun's disk, but you can see the sun's outer atmosphere—like a living, breathing ring of fire. You also see the solar prominences (red flares bursting out of the sun's atmosphere) in vivid detail. The brightest stars and planets pop into view as well. All this against a deep blue sky, which your eyes can see but cameras cannot capture due to the limits of technology. And finally, the diamond ring shines bright as totality ends. It's all over very quickly. But it's an incredibly moving experience.

This image is a composite of the various phases of the total solar eclipse. The top row shows the partial phases as the moon starts to cover the sun. The middle row shows three phenomena seen only during totality -- Solar Prominences, Diamond Ring effect, Solar Corona. The bottom row shows the partial phases as the moon moves away from the sun.

⬅️ SWIPE ⬅️ for an image analysis and ✨SAVE✨ this to recall later.SerenityStanding atop those rolling green hills along ...
03/14/2023

⬅️ SWIPE ⬅️ for an image analysis and ✨SAVE✨ this to recall later.

Serenity

Standing atop those rolling green hills along the rugged coastline of the Atlantic Ocean watching a rapidly setting sun, I could tangibly feel the calm as it washed over me. The view that riveted my eyes, at the end of a long tiring hike, was more than worth it. I waited over an hour for the sun to cast just the right light on that incredible scene, and it did not disappoint. As golden rays illuminated the hills, casting long shadows and highlighting every blade of grass, the waves crashed against the shoreline below in a soothing melody that tugged at the tendrils of every fond memory. And in that moment, I felt it. Serenity. As if time itself had slowed down and all that mattered was the beauty that lay resplendent before me.

Captured on the Canon 6D Mark 2 using the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM lens at 64mm, 1/6secs, f/9, ISO 100.

01/05/2022

The 2022 Calendar, featuring landscape images from around the world including India, Nepal, Kenya, New Zealand, the USA, and Canada.

The alarm rings at 3:45am. Cursing under my breath, I hit the snooze button, wondering for the umpteenth time if it’s wo...
03/26/2021

The alarm rings at 3:45am. Cursing under my breath, I hit the snooze button, wondering for the umpteenth time if it’s worth waking up this early on the weekend, when it’s still cold outside, and dark - pitch dark. A 40-minute drive gets me to a dusty pull out beside the lake, and a quick 5 minute scramble down a steep incline and mis-shaped boulders brings me to the edge. The water is dead calm and there is barely enough light to make out colour or form. I wait. Slowly, it begins. First, a chill wind, gentle enough that it does not disturb the surface of the lake, yet firm enough that it nudges the clouds across the sky. And then, the horizon to the east lights up, brushing blue-gold streaks above and around me, painting in a scene that will be as fleeting as it is beautiful. That’s when I remind myself. It’s worth it. Always worth it.

Technical details about this image:
Canon 500D
Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS II
18mm・f/13・ISO 100・243 seconds
B+W 10-stop ND filter

Do you like this image? What makes it interesting for you?

Swipe ⬅️ for an in-depth breakdown of the camera settings used to create this image. ✨Save✨ this post if you need to rec...
03/19/2021

Swipe ⬅️ for an in-depth breakdown of the camera settings used to create this image. ✨Save✨ this post if you need to recall the concepts of the exposure triangle and how to select various settings in the future.
A pastel-hued moonrise during sunset over lake Ontario.

Swipe to the last image in the carousel and see if you can answer the question there.

Captured on the Canon 6D Mark 2 using the Canon EF 70-300mm IS II USM lens at 232mm, f/11, 1/125 sec, ISO 800.

Here’s something different today. Check out the link in my bio for a 2 minute video with more information.Deep in the he...
03/12/2021

Here’s something different today. Check out the link in my bio for a 2 minute video with more information.

Deep in the heart of the constellation Ta**us in our night sky lies a curious little cluster of stars that has been known since antiquity and has taken on many names throughout the ages. A little cluster known most famously as the seven sisters of the heavens - the Pleiades.

The Pleiades is an open star cluster containing a number of hot, middle-aged, B-type stars. Immediately visible to the naked eye, it appears as a miniature replica of the big/small dipper constellations. It is at a distance of ~444 light-years from the Earth and is estimated to contain about 1000 stars. Seven of the brightest stars in the cluster are very bright and this gives the Pleiades its nickname - The Seven Sisters. Surrounding the stars, we also see nebulous gases that are reflecting the light emitted by the stars in the cluster.

The Pleiades is a deep sky object that has been known to many ancient cultures who independently recognized it and named it. It is known as Krittika to the Indians, Kimah to the Jews, Parvī to the Persians, Mutsuraboshi to the Japanese, Mao to the Chinese, Makaliʻi to the Hawai’ians, Mul to the Babylonians, Ennead to the Egyptians, and Kungkarangkalpa to the Aboriginal Australians.

It’s true what they say — we have more that binds us together than what divides us.

Mount: Skywatcher Star Adventurer
Camera: Canon 6DMarkII
Scope: Canon EF 70-300mm IS II at 300mm
Guide camera: ZWO ASI 120MM Mini
Guide scope: ZWO Mini Guide Scope
Controller: ZWO ASI Air Pro
Exposure settings: ISO 3200, f/7.1
Total integration: 44 x 180sec = 2hrs 12mins

Swipe ⬅️ for a breakdown of this image.This image was taken somewhere among the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes when I traveled...
03/05/2021

Swipe ⬅️ for a breakdown of this image.

This image was taken somewhere among the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes when I traveled with my brother and my daughter to Death Valley one cold December evening a few years ago. My daughter, all of 18 months, was a real sport, braving the biting cold winds that were picking up as the sun went down behind the mountains surrounding the valley. The dunes out there are so photogenic.⁠⁠⁠⁠

Swipe ⬅️ to see how you can compose and frame images like this. Hit ✨Save✨ to come back to it when needed. This is one f...
02/26/2021

Swipe ⬅️ to see how you can compose and frame images like this. Hit ✨Save✨ to come back to it when needed. This is one from the archives that we haven’t analysed yet.

Very few things rival that feeling of letting your cares slip away at the end of the day as you stare down a setting sun on a quiet beach. A day spent snorkelling among jellyfish and manta rays, kayaking over colourful corals beneath an aquamarine veil, lazing on white-sand beaches and scuba diving at the edge of island reefs that drop a hundred feet and more into the ocean depths below. Very few.

Captured on a Canon500D with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS lens at 18mm, ISO 100, f/14, 8 secs.

Swipe through the carousel and try to answer the question at the end.

Swipe ➡️ to learn how you can create images like this. There is a lot of information packed into this post. Hit ✨Save✨ t...
02/19/2021

Swipe ➡️ to learn how you can create images like this. There is a lot of information packed into this post. Hit ✨Save✨ to come back to it when needed.
Have you seen our home galaxy, the Milky Way? Here it is rising over Chandrataal lake in Spiti Valley. When it is very dark, our eyes can see the galaxy as if someone had smeared faint white paint across a large swath of the night sky. But our cameras can see much, much more. This image was taken under Bortle class 1 skies - the darkest skies possible here on Earth - that lets the details and colours in the night sky pop. Learn more about the Bortle scale, the 500-Rule (when shooting without a star tracker), stacking exposures, and more by swiping the carousel.

The final picture is a two image blend. The foreground with the lake and mountains was taken after sunset before it became too dark. A setting moon at the time cast its silvery light illuminating the scene. Captured on a Canon 6DMark2 at 18mm, f/14, ISO 400, 15 secs. The image of the Milky Way is a stack of 10 images taken later after the moon set. Captured on a Canon 6DMark2 at 14mm, f/3.2, ISO 5000, 30 secs.

If you swiped through all the images, can you figure out the answer to this — What is the maximum shutter duration you would choose to shoot the night sky with a 24mm full-frame equivalent lens using the 500-Rule? Bonus points if you also provide the answer using the NPF-Rule!

12/29/2020

The 2021 Calendar featuring stunning landscape images from around the world including India, Kenya, Nepal, Maldives, Canada, and the Americas.

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