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Explore Frontpage, Highest Position #6
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Having seen some great shots by some of my Contacts of this Future Systems building at 367 Oxford Street I know there's a lot of potential but every time I've walked past the building is in shade. I liked this one though as the chaotic composition seemed to reflect it's Oxford St context.
© D.Godliman
P.S. This photo is one of nine included in my 'Through a glass, darkly' set for the #OxfordshireArtweeks 2021 Festival. You can see the others here : www.flickr.com/photos/oxfordphotographers/galleries/72157...
The jumping spider is typically found in tropic regions. The tropic regions that they are found in are very different, anywhere from the rain forest to the Himalayas. The jumping spider can be found anywhere in these climates, if its day the spider can be found on the ground, on rocks, in the grass, or on trees. At night or if it is raining, the jumping spider will hide under rocks or a small web.
*Taken during the 2nd Anniversary Celebration of Pinoy Macro Group at Matabungkay, Lian, Batangas - February 20-21, 2010.
Thanks to Dr. Alfred Tan and Dr. Roland Perez
best viewed LARGE:
Phuket, Thailand
Thank you very much all my dear friends for your visits, comments and faves!
Please NO MULTIGROUP invites!
Day 60 - March 1, 2010
Tonight I met up for the first time with long-time Flickr contact Dux and his future best man Mark. It was actually my first Flickr meet up with someone from the Philippines, my third of all time.
My first Flickr meet was with Adrian, Amanda and Stephanie back in November of 2009 when I visited Guam. The second this January with Ron when Adrian visited the Philippines.
Tonight's photo walk was very brief and more time was spent talking than shooting photos but it was alright, in fact that was all I really wanted to do tonight.
The cool thing about tonight is that even from this brief three-hour meet I could already sense that Dux & Mark are going to end up being really good friends, just like Adrian and the Guam gang have become to me. Flickr hasn't got it wrong yet!
Who wants to meet up next? And if you could meet up with any Flickr contact who would it be and why (you don't have to say me)?
PHOTO NOTES:
This is my first strobist attempt, but don't know if it counts since Dux set it up for me and even told me what the best camera settings would be. Here's the strobist info:
1. 430exII on lightstand with shoot through umbrella @1/32power; 50mm
2. Triggered via ctr-301p's
EXPLORE #113 - (March 1, 2010)
"Lord Jesus, be the King and Ruler of my heart, mind, life, and home. May my life reflect your meekness and humility that you may be honored as the King of glory!"
King of GLORY Live by Third Day
Copyright© 2010 Kamoteus/RonMiguel RN
This image is protected under the United States and International Copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without written permission.
After the Thurs-Fri snowstorm. I think the full moon washed out the reflection on the water a little bit. Going to find something else to study now. Last Brooklyn Bridge shot for a while.
Single exposure, 18mm, 78s, ISO 200, f/13
Today I have been driving back to my hometown, the places where I have grown up. There comes a time in the year when I can really smell in the air the taste of spring coming up, and this was the day. I went there to take pictures of the sunset (which actually I did some), but on the other side of the horizon, I hesitated in front of an unexpected moonrise. It looked gorgeous, as the air was very clear. That awesome moon, floating on the top of my long-known hills, still lit by the last sunrays, started to pour a river of memories into my mind. I could not stop the superposition of fragments of those memories, just at random… the cans of cheap beer barely hidden and the first cigarettes stolen from our parents, the many dreams about our future lives and what we would have become, the first challenges of love, no worries about tomorrow and the uncertainty about the present time.
Tonight, for a handful of minutes, I felt again the same, just until the sun faded finally behind me.
Dedicated to all of those who look in depth at the details
PS: By the way, I don't smoke (anymore) but still like beer :) It helps to remember...
Oggi sono tornato nella mia città natale, i luoghi dove sono cresciuto. Arriva un momento, durante l’anno, in cui riesco veramente a sentire il profumo della primavera, nell’aria, e oggi era proprio quel giorno. Sono andato a fare fotografie del tramonto (e qualcuna in effetti l’ho scattata), ma dall’altra parte dell’orizzonte ho esitato davanti ad un inatteso sorgere di luna. Era impressionante, per l’aria molto tersa. Quella fantastica Luna, che galleggiava sopra alle mie colline note da sempre e illuminate ancora dagli ultimi barlumi di sole, mi riversava nella mente un fiume di ricordi. Non potevo arginare la caotica sovrapposizione di frammenti di memorie… Le lattine di birra a basso costo a malapena celate e le prime sigarette rubate ai genitori, i molti sogni sulle nostre vite future e su quello che saremmo diventati da grandi, le prime sfide dell’amore, la spensieratezza per il domani e l’incertezza del presente.
Stasera, per una manciata di minuti, ho provato esattamente quelle stesse cose, ancora una volta, fin quando il sole è finalmente tramontato dietro di me.
Dedicato a tutti coloro che guardano i dettagli in profondità
A proposito, non fumo (più) ma non dico di no ad una birra :) aiuta a ricordare...
Petite Princesse
Tu écoutes chanter les vagues
Pour rendre heureuse ton Ame
Pour ne pas que ton esprit divague
Tu penses qu’ un jour tu seras Femme
Là-bas ! Tout au loin
Ton Avenir …
De Toi, prends toujours bien soin
Le Soleil se décide à venir
Prêt de Toi
Pour réchauffer ton Coeur
Tu as tout le temps, et l’Avenir devant Toi
Je te souhaite que du Bonheur
Domi
Little Princess
You listen to the waves sing
To make your soul happy
To do that your mind wanders
You think that one day you'll Male
There! Far away
Your Future ...
You, always take good care
The sun decided to come
Ready for You
To warm your heart
You have all the time, and the Future to You
I wish you Happiness
Domi
West Dennis Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, 2009
Panorama of two shots made with the old Panasonic FZ50, stitched in Photoshop. Cokin 2-stop GND Filter has been used to capture more dynamic range.
Have a great weekend!
Desde una cumbre sin nombre, a 2170 metros, al este de la meseta de Malonehue, una vista general de este pequeño rincón patagónico en Chile central.
View On Black y Grande, te dicen...
Región de la Araucanía, Chile central.
Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands - Marin County, California
This morning I had planned on uploading something completely different, but when I saw the foggy conditions over the bay, I decided to head out to the same old spots along the Marin Headlands. As I have said before, I will never get sick of this view. It will never get old to me, and it will never be the same view twice. Sure... Some elements stay the same. The bridge will always be where it is. The places to stand and watch the fog roll in or out will stay the same, but the light, and fog will always change.
This morning the fog was a bit unusual. When I arrived up at the first turnout along the headlands, the fog was flowing east to west just underneath the center section of the bridge. The fog started to surround the north tower, which normally starts to clear as the air warms with the rising sun. Within minutes, the south tower started to become engulfed in the misty haze. The odd thing for me to see was the fog building inside the bay rather than rolling in from the Pacific. I know this has happened before, I have just never seen it in person.
So this is not exactly what I had planned for the day, but its a special view to me, and always will be.
Thanks for the views, comments, nice notes, bad notes, criticism, or whatever else you all can come up with....
View my stream on black here
Canon 5D MarkII
Lens: EF 70-200 f/4 L
No filters
Exposure: 200
Aperture: f/13.0
Focal Length: 149 mm
ISO Speed: 50
caught me off guard.
14 Feb 10.
I was strolling down the beach and chanced upon this odd looking tree. At that moment, I knew I found love. It is truly special that I spotted this on Valentine's Day although I don't celebrate it.
Explored | February 14, 2010 #14
© Copyright Iskandar 2009 | All rights reserved.
Do not use, copy or edit any of my materials without my written permission.
Would appreciate not having large/animated multi invite codes
Marin Headlands - Marin County, California
Searching, and cleaning the hard drive, I found this one... I made this on the last day of 2009, but forgot it even existed. The color wasn't that great out on this sunrise, so I decided to go minimal.
View my stream on black here
Canon 5D Mark II
Lens: EF 17-40 f/4L
B+W ND110 (10 stop solid ND)
Lee .9 hard edge GND
Exposure: 541
Aperture: f/13.0
Focal Length: 40 mm
ISO Speed:100
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Dati Tecnici
a) Leica M8 + Leica Summilux M 75 mm f.1,4 (senza uso del mirino esterno);
b) Tempo 1/15s apertura a f.2,8 (a mano libera);
c) Utilizzato il Magnifier 1,25x per effettuare una messa a fuoco più precisa;
d) Lettura Esposimetrica impostata in M (manuale) con esposimetro della macchina (Effettuate quattro letture a luce riflessa sui due lati estremi opposti del bambino, una sul volto fra lo zigomo destro e l'occhio e l'ultima sui panni sfuocati in basso a sinistra);
e) Conversione con Adobe Photoshop CS3
f) 1°/a Post-Produzione Corel Photo-Paint X5
g) Post-Produzione di completamento con Nikon Capture NX 2
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Mio breve Curriculum Vitae: - My Brief Curriculum Vitae:
Luigi Mirto/ArchiMlFotoWord Profilo Linkedin
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Tutti i diritti riservati © 2010 da ArchiMlFotoWord/Luigi Mirto/Photography
Nessuna immagine o parte di essa può essere riprodotta o trasmessa in qualsiasi forma e con qualsiasi mezzo senza preventiva autorizzazione.
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All rights reserved © 2010 by ArchiMlFotoWord/Luigi Mirto/Photography
No images or part thereof may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means
Without prior permission
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Dedicata al mio Gabriele - Dedicated to my Gabriele
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Luigi Mirto/ArchiMlFotoWord's most interesting photos on Flickriver
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Ninna nanna o mio tesoro
Dormi, dormi mio bambino
fior di pesco e mughettino,
dormi qui nel tuo lettino
e sarò a te sempre vicino.
Sogna un mondo colorato,
dormi bene mio adorato.
Tra le braccia di papà
che mai più ti lascerà.
Dormi bene mio bambino
che il mattino è già vicino,
porta tante cose belle
fiori, stelle e caramelle.
Questi versi son un girotondo
da ballare tutti intorno,
Ninna nanna, ninna ho
t’amo tanto o mio tesoro.
………………………………………….…Luigi Mirto
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Lullaby oh my darling
Sleep, sleep my baby
peach blossom and mughettino,
Here you sleep on your couch
and I was always close to you.
Dreams of a colorful world,
sleep well my beloved.
The arms of Dad
that never leave you.
Sleep tight my baby
the morning is already near,
brings so many beautiful things
flowers, stars and candy.
These verses are a ring
to dance all around,
Lullaby, lullaby I
I love you so much oh my darling.
………………………………………….…Luigi Mirto
"Conquistami inventami
dammi un'altra identità
stordiscimi disarmami e infine colpisci
abbracciami ed ubriacami
di ironia e sensualità."
Oggi Fotolog non va! E quindi sbadabau!!
Nikon coolpix p90, iso400, f/2.8, 5.9 mm.
Post-processed: Photoshop CS4 (Filtro rosso).
Portfolio || Wordpress || Fotolog
This photo is made by me.
No only groups invites or images in my comments, please.
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission.
© All rights reserved. Use without permission is illegal.
Straight from the camera. Done in collaboration with missmoody. Big thanks to my friend Tom, who made it possible for us to shoot at the movie theatre!
Dear friends, yesterday in the late afternoon my friend Angelo and I went to Vallette, a small suburb of Sant' Ambrogio di Zoagli, Italy, where you may find a great panoramic view of Tigullio Gulf. I hope this shot may enjoy your blue Monday!
Digitally developed with Raw Therapee and enhanced with GIMP.
Absolutely to View Large On Black for better details, I appreciate the additional time you'll spend for this!
FLY iNTo a SuNSHiNY SuNDaY
another view on the river rhine in Basel, Switzerland.
one of the best fish restaurant you see on the right hand side.
amazing view on the river rhine and to the middle bridge you will have while you eat your dish.
wish you all a fantastic weekend.
you have to turn up the volume for this wonderful tune
do it and......
Le rêve de Petite Fée était que les hommes n'arrêtent jamais de croire en leurs rêves... Elle était la Fée des Rêves et en particulierdes Rêves Fous, c'étaient ceux qu'elle aimait le plus.Mais, despuis quelques temps, Petite Fée avait perdu espoir de réaliser ses rêves à elle... Elle n'y croyait pas assez fort, lui arrivait-il souvent de penser. Avait-elle raison ou tort, là n'était pas la question. La question était de savoir où sa petite lueur d'espoir s'en était allée. Elle l'avait cherchée en vain derrière ses grands projets, ses petites peurs, ses grandes angoisses, ses plus souvenirs... Nulle part. La petite lueur d'espoir avait un jour disparu sans qu'elle s'en rende copte. Un chagrin d'amour lui avit brisé le coeur en mille morceaux. Eh oui, les fées ne sont pas à l'abir d'un chagrin d'amour malgré tout le bonheur qu'elles donnent au monde. Petite Fée n'arrivait plus à croire aux rêves des autres, elle ne pouvait plus être la Fée des Rêves... Mais c'était toute sa vie, elle était une fée. Que deviendrait-elle si elle n'était plus une fée? Elle se mit à pleurer... Elle était seule dans un bois tranquille, seule et elle pouvait enfin vider son coeur de toute la tristesse qu'elle avait accumulée toutes ses années... Aprés avoir pleuré toutes les larmes de son corps, elle sentit une douce chaleur sur son visage et malgré ses paupières closes, elle pouvait distinguer une lueur d'une luminosité extraordinaire. Elle n'osait pas ouvrir les yeux. C'est alors qu'elle entendit une voix aussi douce qu'un murmure lui dire:
- Tu as enfin compris.
Elle ouvrit les yeux et vit une petite fée couleur soleil qui lui ressemblait comme deux gouttes d’eau assise sur une branche. Elle osa parler :
- Compris quoi ?
- Tu es la Fée des Rêves, mais tu as aussi TES rêves. Il ne faut pas que tu l’oublies. Tes rêves sont aussi importants que ceux que tu aides à mettre au monde. Si tu ne crois pas en tes rêves alors tous les rêves mourront aussi…
- Je ne comprends pas…
La petite fée auréolée d’une aura dorée répondit :
- Même les rêves qui meurent ont existé. Ils devaient mourir pour laisser place à un autre rêve. Tu ne peux pas réaliser tous les rêves. Et pour réaliser un rêve, il faut vraiment y croire. Je m’étais enfuie parce que je ne me trouvais plus à ma place…
La petite fée s’était tue un moment puis poursuivit :
- Tu étais tellement triste et tu semblais avoir perdu tout espoir que j’ai décidé de t’aider…
Petite Fée la coupa en s’exclama :
- Mais tu m’as abandonnée…
- Non, je ne t’ai pas abandonnée. Je t’ai donné la possibilité de te retrouver, de te délivrer de ta tristesse et de croire à nouveau en toi ! Ne sens-tu pas une différence ?
Petite Fée ferma les yeux et ressentit dans sa poitrine un feu intense mais tellement doux… Elle ne s’était jamais sentie aussi bien. Quand elle ouvrit les yeux la petite fée toute dorée n’était plus là, Petite Fée avait compris et souriait à présent. Elle s’était levée et avait commencé à marcher. Quand elle se retourna une dernière fois pour essayer de l'apercevoir, elle entendit la petite voix de la fée portée par le vent lui dire :
« N’arrête jamais de croire en tes rêves, jamais, jamais…»
The Little Fairy dream was that people never stop believing in their dreams ... It was the Fairy of Dreams and particulierdes Wish Fools, were those she loved plus.Mais, afterwards some time Little Fairy had lost hope of realizing her dreams ... She did not believe hard enough, he came there often to think. Was she right or wrong, that was not the issue. The question was where the little glimmer of hope was gone. She had sought in vain behind his big projects, small fears, his great anguish over his memories ... Nowhere. The glimmer of hope had once disappeared without her noticing Coptic. An unhappy love him avit broken heart into a thousand pieces. Yes, fairies are not the abir a heartache despite all the happiness they give to the world. Little Fairy could no longer believe in the dreams of others, it could be the Fairy of Dreams ... But it was all her life she was a fairy. What would become of her if she was not a fairy? She began to cry ... She was alone in a quiet wood, and only she could finally emptied his heart of all the sadness she had accumulated all those years ... After crying all the tears in her body, she felt a warmth on his face despite his closed eyelids, she could see a glimmer of brightness extraordinary. She dared not open his eyes. Then she heard a voice as gentle as a whisper he said:
- You have finally understood.
She opened her eyes and saw a little fairy color sun like him as two drops of water sitting on a branch. She dared to speak:
- Understood what?
- You are the Fairy of Dreams, but you also have your dreams. Do not you forget it. Your dreams are as important as those that you help to save the world. If you do not believe in your dreams then all the dreams will die too ...
- I do not understand ...
The fairy has a halo of golden said:
- Even the dreams that die have existed. They had to die to make room for another dream. You can not realize all the dreams. And to fulfill a dream, you really believe it. I ran away because I found myself at my place ...
The little fairy was silent a moment, then continued:
- You were so sad and you seemed to have lost all hope that I decided to help ...
Small cut in the fairy exclaimed:
- But you abandoned me ...
- No, I have not abandoned. I gave you the opportunity to find you, deliver you from your grief and to believe in you again! Do not you feel a difference?
Little Fairy closed his eyes and felt in his breast a fire so intense but gentle ... She had never felt so good. When she opened her eyes all the fairy gold was gone, Little Fairy understood and smiled at this. She got up and started walking. When she turned one last time to try to see her, she heard the small voice of the fairy windblown say:
"Never stop believing in your dreams, never, never ..."
Domi
Machine and objective: Canon EOS 450D, Sigma 18-200mm DC OS.
Locale: España, Sevilla.
Photographer: todoUNtipo
Velocidad: 1/320s
ISO: 200
Apertura: f5,6
Focal: 134mm.
Please View On Black Por favor
…Dicen que soy héroe, yo débil, tímido, casi insignificante, si siendo como soy hice lo que hice, imagínense lo que pueden hacer todos ustedes juntos.
(Mahatma Gandhi).
…They say I am hero, I weak, timid, almost insignificant, as I am if I did what I did, imagine what they can do all of you together.
(Mahatma Gandhi).
A pie o a caballo pero juntos… porque juntos somos más y mejores, porque junto a ustedes yo me siento mejor, nada ni nadie puede detener la ilusión ni la felicidad cuando estamos juntos, juntos llegaremos a grandes días llenos de luz y vida, juntos conseguiremos lo imposible.
(F. Martínez Ledesma).
Hacia tiempo que no dedicaba una foto, hoy se la quiero dedicar a dos grandes personas que llegaron a mi vida hace ya tres años y medio, Mayca y Natalia, mis dos queridas cuñadas que tanto, tanto me apoyan y a quienes tanto quiero, aprecio y respeto. Gracias a vosotras también porque con vuestro ánimo esta afición es una pasión.
…Nunca me han interesado ni el poder ni la fortuna lo que admiro son las flores que crecen en la basura…
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved.
Ex #3 Thanks for all the views and comments ! :)
This is a bracketed HDR
From now on I am blocking everyone who sends me mail with “wants you to see a photograph” in the title, how can people be so desperate and needy !?
This image and others are for sale as Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints and Posters, cards or canvas art. Please view my profile for more information.
St Mawes is a lovely little town in Cornwall, opposite Falmouth. It lies on the east bank of the Carrick Roads, a large waterway created after the Ice Age from an ancient valley which flooded as the melt waters caused the sea level to rise dramatically, creating an immense natural harbour, often claimed to be the third largest in the world.
St. Mawes has a lovely festival in August every year where they light up the town and have music, local events etc. I was on the pier that evening and shot this, which came out remarkably well considering I'd only just had this camera for a few days and hadn't shot anything in literally 20 years!
I'd thoroughly recommend this town for an afternoon's stroll if you're down in Cornwall for the Summer holidays - the icecream shop is to die for and my kids love crabbing off the pier in the early evening.
From a technical perspective this photo came out nicely - I shot at night just as dusk was falling so I managed to retain some of that blue graduation in the sky and on the reflection, which is rather nice. The boats in the foreground make the picture really - a perfectly tranquil scene in a gorgeous Cornish town.
Check this out on B l a c k M a g i c
I first would like to say thanks to Aaron M. for getting my Timberland boot out of the mud that was like quick sand. Aaron, just make sure you don't tell anyone that I had to drive home in my ballerina tights.
Also to all the photographers that were at Badwater this morning, the guy that was all the way out in the middle of the salt flats, in the water, that was me. So if I was in any of your frames, I do apologize, but the early bird catches the worm!
The title of the image speaks for itself. The salt flats were under water. The further I went out the deeper the water got. It was strange, but it was pretty cool seeing water out there. And a rare sight also.
Oh, and before I forget, to my co-worker Jim R., you missed out on an amazing sunrise, so I hope that Sizzler dinner you had last night was good!
no HDR
You can Tweet THIS by clicking HERE:)
A late photo from fall..
SPRİNG CLEANİNG; (30.06.2011)
243 "comments" has been erased.
Because;
-Invites without comments
-Award codes without comments
-And because of these I couldn't read the REAL comments in all that clutter,
especially due to the Flickrs New Page.
And I thank to every one who did write something,
really it made me happy to see so much..
~Albert Camus
Went on a little photowalk downtown last Thursday and got some pretty cool shots! This is the front of the Steel Building in downtown Pittsburgh. I have a few other shots of this building, but I never was able to get the front!
This was actually taken during rush hour, but I was able to get my 7 exposures with only a few people in in that I was able to clone out.
Thanks for stopping by my friends!
I don't mind invitations, but please no big, shiny, flashing, glitter graphics, they will be deleted. Thanks!
Follow me on Twitter
My blog: HDR Exposed
A view of the Minnesota State Capitol from Cass Gilbert Memorial park on a cold evening - shows off the backside of the Capitol building with the Cathedral of Saint Paul off in the distance
My beautiful daughter Sophie Lu (she's my angel).... Here I used Florabella "Cosmopolitan" action & "Honeychild" overlay. ♥
Explore Front Page 10. Jan. 2010
Blick vom Berg Zwölferkopf (1480m) bei Pertisau auf den Achensee / Österreich
View from the mountain Zwoelferkopf (1480m) near Pertisau at the Achensee / Austria
Angalica
Only by one shot (None Composite )
Picasso and Braque which created "Cubism"!!.
The trial of their beginning.
A desire that the invisible side wants to watch it.
They took in multiple viewpoints in a picture.
I respect them.
I tried their imitation without using the composition processing.
I added one new work to conventional technique.
The camera turns to the ground first.
The LED lights up the front of the flower.
I point a camera to the sky next.
The LED lights up the back of the flower.
I focus on the stars and change a position of Aperture ring from F22 to F2.8.
The Milky Way exposes it afterwards for 60 seconds.
This shot may resemble early Cubism.
Perhaps this photograph resembles still life of the Cezanne.
He told a lie with the picture of the apple a little.
How do you think of this technique?.
Will this be composition processing? .
This place is a Mount Kirigamine .
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kirigamine.
From my home, it is 20 minutes by car.
Attempting to capture an image that has been taken so many millions of times, takes a lot of thought and preparation. Reaching this area on the Marin Headlands, is not the difficult part; however adding my personal touch was somewhat harder.
Observing for about an hour before shooting, I noticed a couple of fairly large boats pass under the bridge. My thought was that if a boat or ship would pass through the frame at the right moment, it would create a motion of the water. This in-turn would cause the light reflection of the bridge to move in the water, and thus spreading the glow and reflection out just far enough to be a defining part of the image.
Well, about 30 minutes after sunset, it happened. Combined with a 30 second exposure, this was the result.
While, I didn't get much sleep bundled up in my vehicle that night, I really enjoyed this experience, and am looking forward to returning to the area with the hope of capturing more of it's beauty.
Today I received my 3rd Dan Black Belt for Batto. The art of Japanese Sword Cutting. Today I used only a wakizashi (Short Sword) One handed cutting.
The temp was -1C and as you can see it was snowing. This was held at a very old shrine. More photos later.
My wife took these nice photos at 6 frames per second.
Cropped in a hurry. Sorry about bottom left. :-).
For several years already I had tried to capture the splendour of the spread wings of the Woodland Kingfisher but never managed. You can imagine my excitement when we were just relaxing on the deck of Rattray's and 2 of these beautiful birds landed on the tree just outside of the camp and started displaying their beauty while shying away an intruder. A little bit too far away but the converter came in handy.
Dear Friends, as the year is coming to an end (she said with some relief as 2009 to me was one of the toughest of my life) I would like to wish you a fantastic, wonderful, healthy and most of all happy New Year with lots of fantastic 'Kodak moments'. Thank you so much for your friendship, support and encouragement! I appreciated each and every comment, Flickr mail and fave more then I can express in words...
The ladybug still wonders whether to jump from the nettle or better prefer to fly ;-)) ..
Der Marienkäfer überlegt noch, ob er von der Brennessel springen oder vielleicht doch lieber fliegen soll ;-)) ...
* Happy New Year * Frohes Neues Jahr * Bonne année * Feliz Año Nuevo *
© 2009 Ursula Sander - All rights reserved.
Coccinellidae is a family of beetles, known variously as ladybirds (UK, Ireland, Australia, Pakistan, South Africa), ladybugs (North America), or lady beetles (preferred by some scientists). Lesser-used names include ladyclock, lady cow, and lady fly.
They are small insects, ranging from 1 mm to 10 mm (0.04 to 0.4 inches), and are commonly yellow, orange, or scarlet with small black spots on their wing covers, with black legs, head and antennae. A very large number of species are mostly or entirely black, grey, or brown and may be difficult for non-entomologists to recognize as coccinellids (and, conversely, there are many small beetles that are easily mistaken as such, like tortoise beetles).
Coccinellids are found worldwide, with over 5,000 species described, more than 450 native to North America alone.
A few species are pests in North America and Europe, but they are generally considered useful insects as many species feed on aphids or scale insects, which are pests in gardens, agricultural fields, orchards, and similar places. The Mall of America, for instance, releases thousands of ladybugs into its indoor park as a natural means of pest control for its gardens.
A common myth is that the number of spots on its back indicates its age. (Wikipedia)
By the way the ladybugs in Belgium look the same like in Germany ;-) ....
Der Marienkäfer gilt als Himmelsbote der Mutter Gottes und ist ein Glücksbringer. Er soll die Kinder beschützen und die Kranken heilen, wenn er ihnen zufliegt. Man darf ihn jedoch niemals abschütteln oder gar töten, weil man sonst das Unglück anzieht.
Die Marienkäfer (Coccinellidae) sind eine weltweit verbreitete Familie halbkugeliger, flugfähiger Käfer, deren Deckflügel meist eine unterschiedliche Anzahl von auffälligen Punkten aufweisen. Viele Arten ernähren sich von Blatt- und Schildläusen.
Die Marienkäfer sind bei der Bevölkerung beliebt und tragen die unterschiedlichsten Namen in der jeweiligen lokalen Umgangssprache. Die Beliebtheit begründet sich unter anderem darin, dass sie im Gartenbau und der Landwirtschaft nützlich sind, da sie allein in ihrer Larvenzeit je nach Art bis zu 3.000 Pflanzenläuse oder Spinnmilben fressen. Sie sind in ihrem Aussehen variabel, was ihre Bestimmung erschwert. Dieselbe Art kann in dutzenden Mustervarianten auftreten. Manche, wie etwa der Luzerne-Marienkäfer, erreichen sogar über 4.000 gezählte Varianten. Früher wurden diese Varianten innerhalb derselben Art mit eigenen Namen belegt, beispielsweise beim Zweipunkt-Marienkäfer (Adalia bipunctata) mit über 150 Bezeichnungen, die allerdings heute nicht mehr verwendet werden und wissenschaftlich bedeutungslos sind. Bei manchen Untergruppen – etwa innerhalb der Unterfamilie Scymninae – kann eine Bestimmung schwierig sein und zuverlässig nur aufgrund einer Untersuchung der Genitalorgane erfolgen. Neben den Genitalien sind die Kopfkapsel, der Kopfschild und die Fühleransätze oft zuverlässige Unterscheidungsmerkmale ähnlicher Arten.
Die Käfer können gut fliegen und erreichen 75 bis 91 Flügelschläge pro Sekunde. Die Anzahl der Punkte gibt entgegen einem weit verbreiteten Irrtum nicht das Alter des Käfers an, vielmehr ist die Zahl der Punkte charakteristisch für jede Art und ändert sich während des Lebens des Käfers nicht. (Wikipedia)
Übrigens sehen die Marienkäfer in Belgien genauso aus wie in Deutschland ;-) ....
www.twitter.com/ecstaticist/ <-- I tweet when I post on flickr.
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Here's Vancouver harbour at daybreak shot from the balcony of our room in the Westin Bayshore. Very similar shot to the last one I posted, taken at night.
I'm looking forward to the best year ever, continuing my commute between Victoria and Vancouver and hopefully opening another office in Washington, DC by the end of the year.
Happy New Year everyone! Have a fun and safe night tonight and prosperous 2010.
"... Entre um trago e um amargo,
recostado num esteio,
bombeava o piazito feio,
mas taludo - sem embargo,
sentindo no campo largo
cheiro de pasto e incenso
naquele desejo imenso
de que este ano que nasce
faça que o homem se abrace
no amor da paz e o bom-senso... "
Fragmento de "Payada do Ano Novo", de Jayme Caetano Braun
Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil