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🌸 Step Aside, Lingerie—My June Romper by small is Stealing the Spotlight 🌸
You caught me in the act... lounging in pure indulgence, wrapped in the sinful sweetness of June—the romper by small that seduces with every stitch and leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination (except how you’ll ever take it off).
Let’s talk about this cut. Baby, June plunges deeper than your last summer fling. The neckline? Dangerously low. The waist? Cinched just enough to tease those hourglass curves into a whisper of pin-up perfection. Its sculpted rib-knit texture hugs every swell and hollow of your body, while dainty little buttons down the front dare your lover to unfasten one... or all. And those lace trims peeking from beneath? Vintage boudoir meets modern-day heartbreaker.
This design takes its cue from 1940s Hollywood sleepwear—think Jean Harlow’s barely-there bias-cut slips—but brought forward with a scandalous twist of 2020s high-femme power. This isn’t your grandma’s romper. This is retro reborn, laced in fantasy.
But we’re not stopping at just looks. Oh no—June is rendered in BLINN & SOFT PBR, offering depth, luster, and realism that shimmer with every move. It clings like silk and glows like satin in the right light. And just wait until you dive into the HUD: buttery pastels, deep jewel tones, and racy reds—all fully tintable. Go sheer or full coverage. Mix, match, and tempt at will.
Compatible Mesh Bodies:
💗 Lara / Petite
💗 Legacy
💗 Perky
💗 Bombshell
💗 Reborn
💗 Waifu
💗 Nuhuma
✨ Designed with transparency options for that extra naughty edge ✨
So go ahead. Be scandalous. Be sweet. Be whatever you want to be in June. Because when I slip into this romper, I don’t just wear fashion—I write a fantasy in thread.
🚖 Where to get your hands on it:
️ Uber Event Taxi: [www.uber-sl.com]
🏡 Mainstore Taxi: [maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SkyBeam%20Hideaway/72/195/23]
💋 Now tell me, are you staring at the romper… or imagining how it comes off?
And let go... because yes life gets busy, but we all need to set aside some time for ourselves 🙏
[6/10]
Sixth instalment of the #StillFlickring project! Every 2 weeks, each of us in the group (Liisa, Havard, Savannah, Laura, Jana, Brittany, Christian, Sophie and Ethan) will challenge another to re-create an older self portrait dated back 2013 or earlier. It’s a way for us to see how far we’ve come as artists and how we’d interpret the concept today 💙💗
This round the ever so talented Laura picked my shot! I was 19 when I took the original 😲 It was an experimental shot then and an experimental shot now haha! Hope you like it. I have another shot without the flower that I nearly posted but I followed advice and posted this one. I’ll show you guys on my story soon. Anyway, I’d love to hear interpretations of you have any ☺️
A veces sentimos que lo que hacemos es tan solo una gota en el mar, pero el mar sería menos si le faltara una gota.
- Madre Teresa de Calcuta
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My worldwide travel will start in November 2016! If you want to follow my adventure: Facebook
Contact: ietphotography@gmail.com
In case you want to use or print any of my pictures, please contact me or visit my website.
One of the greatest flickr groups: DIPLOFOCUS
My flickr account: Flickr
500px: 500px
A few months ago, during a foggy morning, I took this photo at the Fraser Foreshore Park in Burnaby just after sunrise.
Due to being careless, this is basically SOOC, Jpeg (aside from monochrome treatment and creating the border) : I unintentionally shot this in Jpeg, as I forgot to reset my camera settings after taking some shots in Jpeg the day before. Oh well, it is just a reminder to always check your settings! Unfortunately, I took several shots the night before, during twilight, and this morning, at sunrise, with the same setting...
Previously,
Standing abount 9" tall, the Eastern Screech Owl (Megascops asio) never had to deal with Zack Morris, but one can imagine that he would have held his own. Eastern screech owls can be found just about everywhere in the U.S. east of the Rocky Mountains, a line which seems to separate them from their Western Screech Owl cousins. Aside from some small visual differences, eastern and western screeches have distinct calls, and eastern screeches have a wide range of vocalizations... ranging from the telltale screeches to grunts, chirps, and the haunting trills that often accompany spooky movie soundtracks.
Often suburbanites--suburban birds will often outlive counterparts that reside in 'the wilds'--screech owls will readily nest in owl houses. This particular red morph nested within this box in Maumee Bay State Park. I have, myself, purchased an owl box that I'll be putting up this fall. After that, I'll be crossing my talons...er, fingers!
Located in the coastal mountain range of northern California along a very winding road is this Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve, an area set aside to protect a beautiful grove of Coast Redwoods, the tallest of its trees is over 365 feet.
Aside from being the location of a one-of-a-kind religious work of art, Meditation Point (Kawayan Cove) is “a spot that’s perhaps like nowhere else in the world.” The elevated topography of Meditation Point offers a 340-degree view of the South China Sea. Being far above the ground, the Point’s silence is disturbed only by the sound of lapping waves, the soft breeze and the constant chirping of birds.
Bright Eyes! Aside from me having bronchitis, this evening was just amazing. The set list included songs from basically all of the albums which was very nice. If you're a Bright Eyes fan and haven't listened to their new album "The Peoples Key" you should check it out!
Aside of surfing SNOW & SAND offers skating and.... I looked for a good sim for it for so, so loooong.... .Snow Boarding!! Thank you for this sim, happy me ;)
Parco nazionale del Tarangire.
Aquila rapace (Aquila rapax).
Misura 60–75 cm di lunghezza, per un peso di 1600-3100 g, l'apertura alare è di 159–183 cm.
Gli adulti non presentano una colorazione uniforme: tralasciando le varie fasi, il loro piumaggio presenta diverse sfumature di marrone, dal marrone scuro al marrone chiaro.
Gli individui più scuri sono i più caratteristici, in quanto esibiscono una bella sfumatura fulva che non è presente in nessun'altra specie di aquila.
Le remiganti e la coda sono nerastre, mentre linee e strisce chiare ornano le copritrici alari.
La parte bassa del dorso è nettamente più chiara rispetto al resto della livrea.
L'iride è marrone, il becco giallo con la punta nera.
Le femmine sono molto più grandi dei maschi, ma per il resto il piumaggio è identico.
Tarangire National Park.
Tawny eagle (Aquila rapax).
It measures 60–75 cm in length, for a weight of 1600–3100 g, with a wingspan of 159–183 cm.
Adults are not uniformly colored: leaving aside the various stages, their plumage has different shades of brown, from dark brown to light brown.
The darkest individuals are the most distinctive, as they exhibit a beautiful tawny shade that is not present in any other species of eagle.
The flight feathers and tail are blackish, while light lines and stripes decorate the wing coverts.
The lower part of the back is clearly lighter than the rest of the plumage.
The iris is brown, the beak yellow with a black tip.
Females are much larger than males, but otherwise the plumage is identical.
IMG20241202152355m
Aside of the tawo Tawo festival we went to the beach to shoot the sunset.
There, this nice grand pa came to see me and started to talk to me, we learnt that he was 106yo !
Please don't hesitate to visit my facebook page :
Aside from regularly rage-quitting its infuriating boss battles, I've been enjoying shooting my way through Halo Infinite.
Was inspired to have a go at some LEGO Halo.
Altogether now...
Bum-da-da-bum-bum,
Bum-bum-da-da-da-bum-bum...
HFF - Weekend is here!!!!
Have a good one :-)
Testing the 50mm
SOOC (aside crop)
Kodak Gold
Praktica MTL5
Aside from the wonderful views of the dried up lake, this is lone tree in the parking lot of the visitor centre at the Fuente de Piedra nature park!
Florida East Coast SD40-2 710 was wasting away in the deadline at FEC's New Smyrna Beach shops on a sunny 4th of July.
The harsh Florida sun was bleaching the former Union Pacific colors and patched FEC lettering as the 710 awaited an uncertain future along with several other former UP motors.
Built as Union Pacific 3766 in 1980, it appears the end is near for the FEC 710.
Cheating a bit: Not a real spot, but parked aside the road on a club-event.
Special attention to the V50 with the cheese-slicer wheels that have pretty much disappeared, while they were quite common when new because they were standard (because better air flow) for extra low pollution/low tax versions. No-one but me likes them...
@AMRWR Voorjaarsrit
Aside the smoke and the train arriving literally minutes too late, I'm pretty happy with how this shot came out considering I had very little idea of what I was actually doing.
"Stand by the light where you need to be strong
Sway like a breeze when you want a big day..."
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions: youtu.be/VlmnPZ70ffM
If it weren't for the German signs in the background, I think this could be almost anywhere in the world.
The metal grate that you see in the background is an entrance to the German "U-bahn" subway service
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For the final few days of our vacation, we traveled by air from Amsterdam to Berlin — and spent about four days in the “Mitte” section of the city, quite close to what was once the dividing line between East and West Berlin; indeed, our hotel was technically in East Berlin.
We spent the first afternoon wandering around the local area, partly to see the infamous “Checkpoint Charlie” (just a few blocks from our hotel), and partly to get a sense of the buildings, the people, and the overall “look and feel” of the city. Since I spend much of my time focusing on “street photography” in New York, I did the same thing here … and aside from the German language that you’ll see on a few of the signposts, the people look much the same as they do in any other big city.
I did get a few photos of the Brandenburg Gate and the Holocaust Exhibition, and some video clips from inside the TierGarten (which I’ll upload in the next few days). I also took quite a few photos of some “street art” that was created on one of the few remaining sections of the old Berlin Wall; these two will be uploaded in the next few days.
We took a driving tour around the city one morning, including a quick circle around the old 1936 Olympic Stadium; we also had lunch in a fancy restaurant atop the old Reichstag Building, which is now (as I understand it) the home of the German legislature. But I certainly don’t feel that I saw very much of the entire city; it would be like making a whirlwind tour around a few parts of Manhattan, and then trying to claim that you’ve seen all of New York City.
As a child of the Cold War (and having been born exactly one year before the day that Hitler committed suicide), I have always been intrigued by Berlin — and would love to go back several more times to see more of the neighborhoods, the culture, and the people. I don’t think I would ever claim to “know” Berlin in any complete sense; indeed, I don’t even feel that way about New York, after living here for 45+ years. But I could certainly learn a lot more, and I found it sufficiently interesting that I would like to learn more…
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During the first two weeks of September 2015, we took a river cruise down the Rhine River, and wrapped up the trip with a few days in Berlin. This Flickr album contains various photos from that trip …
We spent the first couple days recovering from jet-lag in Interlaken, Switzerland. This is the site of the Jungfrau and various other spectacular peaks in the Alps range — but it was so foggy that we could hardly see anything. I’ve included a couple of videos of a tram ride down the mountain, as well as some paraglider who floated down into the town park.
We then traveled to Bern, where we got on-board a Viking Cruise ship that headed north for the next several days — eventually arriving in Amsterdam, after making stops nearly every day to see ancient castles and fortresses, as well as various villages and small towns that have survived various wars, tyrants, and regimes for well over a thousand years.
From our final cruise destination in Amsterdam, we flew to Berlin — where we spent a few days at a very nice hotel that turned out to be in what was once East Berlin. Indeed, the separation between East and West Berlin, once so obvious and important, is now almost impossible for a visitor to spot. Except for some rubble, and a few small mementoes (like Checkpoint Charlie, a few blocks from our hotel), there is no obvious difference between East and West from pre-1989 days.
Aside from the beautiful weather for a sec, because I saw this in my house and thought it'd be a neat shot.
I must say, the all black ModCom looks pretty legit too.
I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving? :-)
Erma Bombeck
HBW!! this is the 1,000th image I have posted from duke gardens. I think they should put me on their payroll :-)
camellia, sarah p duke gardens, duke university, durham, north carolina
Phnom Penh’s only formal night market, Psar Reatrey overlooks the riverside from the central reservation that separates downtown and northern Phnom Penh — it’s easiest to enter by the gate at the north end of riverside to avoid scrambling between lines of parked scooters. As with Orussey, the Night Market is chiefly oriented towards the local market, but is definitely worth a dip to pick up some very reasonably priced clothes — there’s not a huge lot else really aside from some tacky and generic souvenirs.
Aside from the unconventional cropping/framing, this was SOOC. Truth is, I was tired, it was late, and the explosion of color was there, so I just sort of randomly shot up at the foliage. Rather than keep messing with it with processing, decided to embrace it just as it was. (Yawgoog Boy Scout Camp - near Camp Three Point.)
Jackson Lake is in Grand Teton National Park in northwestern Wyoming. This natural lake was enlarged by the construction of the Jackson Lake Dam, which was originally built in 1911, enlarged in 1916 and rebuilt by 1989.[4] The top 33 ft (10 m) of the lake is utilized by farmers in Idaho for irrigation purposes. The lake is the remnant of large glacial gouging from the neighboring Teton Range to the west and the Yellowstone Plateau to the north.[5] The lake is primarily fed by the Snake River, which flows in from the north, and empties at Jackson Lake Dam. Jackson Lake is one of the largest high altitude lakes in the United States, at an elevation of 6,772 ft (2,064 m) above sea level. The lake is up to 15 mi (24 km) long, 7 mi (11 km) wide and 438 ft (134 m) deep. The water of the lake averages below 60 °F (16 °C), even during the summer. Numerous species of fish inhabit the lake including nonnative brown and lake trout and the native Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout and mountain whitefish. There are over 15 islands in the lake, including the largest, Elk Island, and Donoho Point. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway is located near the northern end of Jackson Lake and extends to the south entrance of Yellowstone National Park. This roadway combines with the roads in Grand Teton National Park that follow the eastern side of the lake, and provides access for boating and fishing. There are several marinas and lodges along the eastern shore such as Leeks marina, Colter Bay Village, Jackson Lake Lodge and Signal Mountain Lodge. All of these except Jackson Lake Lodge have boat access points and ramps. The western shore of Jackson Lake is primitive, with only hiking trails and a handful of primitive campground spots. [Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Lake]
Grand Teton National Park is a United States National Park in northwestern Wyoming. At approximately 310,000 acres (480 sq mi; 130,000 ha; 1,300 km2), the park includes the major peaks of the 40-mile-long (64 km) Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. It is only 10 miles (16 km) south of Yellowstone National Park, to which it is connected by the National Park Service-managed John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. Along with surrounding National Forests, these three protected areas constitute the almost 18,000,000-acre (7,300,000 ha) Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the largest intact mid-latitude temperate ecosystems in the world. Human history of the Grand Teton region dates back at least 11,000 years, when the first nomadic hunter-gatherer Paleo-Indians began migrating into the region during warmer months pursuing food and supplies. In the early 19th century, the first White explorers encountered the eastern Shoshone natives. Between 1810 and 1840, the region attracted fur trading companies that vied for control of the lucrative beaver pelt trade. U.S. Government expeditions to the region commenced in the mid-19th century as an offshoot of exploration in Yellowstone, with the first permanent white settlers in Jackson Hole arriving in the 1880s. Efforts to preserve the region as a national park commenced in the late 19th century, and in 1929 Grand Teton National Park was established, protecting the major peaks of the Teton Range. The valley of Jackson Hole remained in private ownership until the 1930s, when conservationists led by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. began purchasing land in Jackson Hole to be added to the existing national park. Against public opinion and with repeated Congressional efforts to repeal the measures, much of Jackson Hole was set aside for protection as Jackson Hole National Monument in 1943. The monument was abolished in 1950 and most of the monument land was added to Grand Teton National Park. Grand Teton National Park is named for Grand Teton, the tallest mountain in the Teton Range. The naming of the mountains is attributed to early 19th-century French-speaking trappers—les trois tétons (the three teats) was later anglicized and shortened to Tetons. At 13,775 feet (4,199 m), Grand Teton abruptly rises more than 7,000 feet (2,100 m) above Jackson Hole, almost 850 feet (260 m) higher than Mount Owen, the second-highest summit in the range. The park has numerous lakes, including 15-mile-long (24 km) Jackson Lake as well as streams of varying length and the upper main stem of the Snake River. Though in a state of recession, a dozen small glaciers persist at the higher elevations near the highest peaks in the range. Some of the rocks in the park are the oldest found in any U.S. National Park and have been dated at nearly 2.7 billion years. Grand Teton National Park is an almost pristine ecosystem and the same species of flora and fauna that have existed since prehistoric times can still be found there. More than 1,000 species of vascular plants, dozens of species of mammals, 300 species of birds, more than a dozen fish species and a few species of reptiles and amphibians exist. Due to various changes in the ecosystem, some of them human-induced, efforts have been made to provide enhanced protection to some species of native fish and the increasingly threatened whitebark pine. Grand Teton National Park is a popular destination for mountaineering, hiking, fishing and other forms of recreation. There are more than 1,000 drive-in campsites and over 200 miles (320 km) of hiking trails that provide access to backcountry camping areas. Noted for world-renowned trout fishing, the park is one of the few places to catch Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout. Grand Teton has several National Park Service-run visitor centers, and privately operated concessions for motels, lodges, gas stations and marinas.
[source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Teton_National_Park]
Website: www.nps.gov/grte/index.htm
Taken on 12 July 2018 and uploaded 13 January 2025.
A view across the River Thames from Gravesend: little of what is seen here is around anymore, aside from the pylons...
On the right is a "drill ship" then know as Sertao, which I believe was from from an expensive mooring at Middlesborough to a cheaper spot, just off Tilbury B power station. The ship was "under arrest" due to unpaid debts but was eventually moved and sold: it's now named Kanuni and is owned by the Turkish state-owned gas company and is now on the Black Sea.
The small vessel on the left was one of the boats used to provide the Gravesend to Tilbury ferry service; it's currently at Queenborough, "out of range" so possibly being serviced...the ferry service no longer operates, however.
The boat moored at the rusty pontoon also used to be the Gravesend to Tilbury ferry; its owner went into administration when the contract to provide the ferry service went to Jacob Marley's owners and the last I heard about Duchess M, it was being offered for sale...
The pontoon was part of a floating pier which was removed not long after this was taken.
Over the river, the slowly reducing Tilbury B power station; it's now gone entirely and in its place a roll on roll off facility, fully operational and possibly expanding. The pylons are still there, as is the water treatment plant on the far left.
The ferry service is a sad loss...!
[DSC_4024g]
I had put these four photos aside when I last deleted a few more photos from my computer. Gradually, I will add the description that I had written under a different posted photo taken on the same day. Not getting out at all, partly because of our very cold weather and my car is still covered in snow and my arms/shoulders are too painful to remove it. Somewhat less cold weather is in the forecast, thank goodness, with more snow, though. Today, 9 November 2022, our temperature is -19°C (FEELS LIKE-28°C), just before 11:00 am.
"On Day 6 of our birding holiday in South Texas, 24 March 2019, we left our hotel in Kingsville, South Texas, and started our drive to Mission, where we would be staying at La Quinta Inn & Suites for three nights. On the first stretch of our drive, we were lucky enough to see several bird species, including a Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Hooded Oriole, Red-tailed Hawk, Crested Caracara, Harris's Hawk, Pyrrhuloxia male (looks similar to a Cardinal) and a spectacular Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. I'm not sure if this stretch is called Hawk Alley.
We had a long drive further south towards Mission, with only a couple of drive-by photos taken en route (of a strangely shaped building that turned out to be a deserted seed storage building). Eventually, we reached our next planned stop, the National Butterfly Centre. This was a great place, my favourite part of it being the bird feeding station, where we saw all sorts of species and reasonably close. Despite the name of the place, we only saw a few butterflies while we were there. May have been the weather or, more likely, the fact that I was having so much fun at the bird feeding station. We also got to see Spike, a giant African Spurred Tortoise. All the nature/wildlife parks that we visited in South Texas had beautiful visitor centres and usually bird feeding stations. And there are so many of these parks - so impressive!
nationalbutterflycenter.org/nbc-multi-media/in-the-news/1...
"Ten years ago, the North American Butterfly Association broke ground for what has now become the largest native plant botanical garden in the United States. This 100-acre preserve is home to Spike (who thinks he is a butterfly) and the greatest volume and variety of wild, free-flying butterflies in the nation. In fact, USA Today calls the National Butterfly Center, in Mission, Texas, 'the butterfly capitol of the USA'." From the Butterfly Centre's website.
The Centre is facing huge challenges, as a result of the "Border Wall". The following information is from the Centre's website.
www.nationalbutterflycenter.org/about-nbc/maps-directions...
"No permission was requested to enter the property or begin cutting down trees. The center was not notified of any roadwork, nor given the opportunity to review, negotiate or deny the workplan. Same goes for the core sampling of soils on the property, and the surveying and staking of a “clear zone” that will bulldoze 200,000 square feet of habitat for protected species like the Texas Tortoise and Texas Indigo, not to mention about 400 species of birds. The federal government had decided it will do as it pleases with our property, swiftly and secretly, in spite of our property rights and right to due process under the law."
"What the Border Wall will do here:
1) Eradicate an enormous amount of native habitat, including host plants for butterflies, breeding and feeding areas for wildlife, and lands set aside for conservation of endangered and threatened species-- including avian species that migrate N/S through this area or over-winter, here, in the tip of the Central US Flyway.
2) Create devastating flooding to all property up to 2 miles behind the wall, on the banks of the mighty Rio Grande River, here.
3) Reduce viable range land for wildlife foraging and mating. This will result in greater competition for resources and a smaller gene pool for healthy species reproduction. Genetic "bottlenecks" can exacerbate blight and disease.
IN ADDITION:
4) Not all birds can fly over the wall, nor will all butterfly species. For example, the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, found on the southern border from Texas to Arizona, only flies about 6 ft in the air. It cannot overcome a 30 ft vertical wall of concrete and steel.
5) Nocturnal and crepuscular wildlife, which rely on sunset and sunrise cues to regulate vital activity, will be negatively affected by night time flood lighting of the "control zone" the DHS CBP will establish along the wall and new secondary drag roads. The expansion of these areas to vehicular traffic will increase wildlife roadkill.
6) Animals trapped north of the wall will face similar competition for resources, cut off from native habitat in the conservation corridor and from water in the Rio Grande River and adjacent resacas. HUMANS, here, will also be cut off from our only source of fresh water, in this irrigated desert."
Aside from being a powerful martial arts weapon, his staff can be used to vault high into the air. Combined with a Miru, this has many creative applications.
"What a privilege to be here on the planet to contribute your unique donation to humankind. Each face in the rainbow of colors that populate our world is precious and special" - Morris Dees
This is very similar to this photo from my last 365 project, and for good reason. The evenings before and after I took that photo I was assisting the students that I work with in a theatrical performance, much like I will be doing tonight.
The students that I work with are incredible, they are diverse and talented in many ways and have had to overcome challenges their entire lives. They aren't the students that get asked to dances or get picked to play on teams during gym although it's something that they desperately want. They are students with Autism, the ones with Downs Syndrome, the ones who typically get labeled as different or weird or many other terrible terms.
But, in this theatre class, they are actors. They are set designers, they are collaborators, they are students. For the past 3 years our school has developed a theatre program designed specifically to showcase inclusion and diversity and to celebrate the talent and accomplishments of ALL our students, regardless of ability levels. In the play tonight the cast is made up of students and adult supports that are putting aside diagnosis or disability and focusing on theatre and the chance to show the community what people can achieve when given the opportunity.
I go into work each day, yes because it's my job, but moreso because I look forward to interacting with these students, helping them learn and accomplish their goals and help them to feel like they belong in the school community. Tonight I'll be standing behind them, watching them step forward into centre stage and I know that I'll be beaming with pride and admiration for what they're doing and what they're achieving.
MFIMC: Emulation #88
Just a snapshot of a lone traveler with his phone, not a DSLR photo!
Location: Thong Cuong, Moc Chau
Son La, Vietnam · Autumn 2016
Aside from the flailing limbs that adorn this old oak, it is the texture of the bark that stands out to me. Lit up by the morning sun the wrinkles almost seem to flow across the trunk.
Set aside after years of use, a barn and an old hay rake sit quietly deteriorating. In a perfect world, young people would seek wisdom from older people regarding how to live life. But for many of us older ones, we find there is often little interest and sometimes we wonder if what we have to say even applies anymore.
Before the falling of the first tranche of snow several weeks ago, my photography encourager and I rounded a curve on a gravel road early in the morning as the long sun rays danced across browned fields and rested lightly on front of a long deserted dairy barn.
The splotches of light were wonderful to see in the early hours after the birth of another day but what caught my attention was the piles of discarded concrete lining part of the north side of the barn.
There was a time after WWII when an increasing number of farmers started pouring concrete feed lots around their barns where dairy cows could wait impatiently for the farmer to open the barn door to allow them inside to get milked twice a day.
Cemented feedlots were a boon to both cattle as well as the farmers themselves.
Cattle were now able to stand dry footed in both warm months as well as in winter without standing up to their knees in muck. Young teenagers who were tasked with carrying pails of feed to cattle out of the barn to wooden feed bunks could safely walk from the barn to the bunks without losing a loose-laced shoe in some disgusting slop that could suck a shoe off an unwary walker.
But when the barns on many farms became unused relics, concrete lots also became irrelevant and a waste of valuable space. Farmers broke them up in order to be able to plant more crops as close to the barn as possible.
While this is just one example of how a lot of farms have changed physically, it is also an apt reminder of how many older farmers themselves began to feel as the world around them became faster paced.
As they aged and farming methods changed, another generation with different priorities and methods took over, unceremoniously dumping many of their proud traditions.
They were set aside as what was once instrumental in their lives became an oddity that people would drive by and take photos of to show to their grandchildren in case one of them might show a little interest.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
Beelzebub Has A Devil Put Aside For Me, For Me, For MEEEEEEE!
(Original post located at www.pmkelly.com/2019/11/beelzebub-has-a-devil-put-aside-f...)
This was an example of a pattern that was both typical and unexpected: tight stretch pants, a bright stretchy t-shirt ... and high-heel shoes? There may be some straightforward explanation for this dress style, but it wasn't obvious.
While almost everyone walking past had a simple, straightforward combination of pants/dress, shirt/sweatshirt, jacket, and shoes -- there was also a "pattern" consisting of a number of odd exceptions. Strange hats (sometimes tinfoil), strange shoes, strange pants ... all kinds of strange things. It makes you wonder whether people actually pay any attention to the clothes that they throw onto themselves, or whether it's a deliberate attempt to gain attention on the street.
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As I’ve mentioned in a couple of recent Tumblr blog postings, I’m working on an exercise for a new class that I’ve started taking at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in the fall of 2015.( You can see the earlier Tumblr postings here. and here.).
In addition to taking a bunch of photos (see the other Tumblr postings for details and descriptions of what the photos are supposed to illustrate), we also have the task of editing our images down to a maximum of 10 “presentation images” that we will share with the ICP class next week. When our instructor, Joanne Dugan, asked me last week if I anticipated having any problems with this aspect of the assignment, I shrugged and said, “No, I do this all the time …”
Well, yes and no: I do do a lot of editing/winnowing of my photos before deciding which ones should be shared with anyone else. But I had forgotten that I also do a lot of cropping, color-adjustment, tweaking, and general post-processing before I upload my photos to Flickr, Facebook, or even Instagram. For this particular ICP exercise, we were also told not to crop the photos, and not to do any post-processing. That makes things a lot more difficult …
On the other hand, part of the exercise is to assemble and share a maximum of ten photos that collectively tell a “story” of some kind – and to “tell” that story with anywhere from a word, to a sentence, to a paragraph for each of the photos. That makes things a lot easier … after all, if a photo has to be presented in isolation, then it truly stands alone. And it is intended to be viewed without any accompanying text, then it really stands alone. There’s nothing wrong with that; indeed, one might argue that that’s the whole point of photography: a picture should “tell” a story all by itself, without any extraneous verbiage to “explain” what might not be obvious to the viewer.
But not very many things exist in complete isolation of the rest of the universe, especially in today’s interconnected world. I suppose some people would debate that point quite vigorously; and some people might argue that a photograph of a person, place, or thing should be able to “stand alone” without anything else. I certainly have seen photos that fall into this category, and I suppose I’ve taken a few like that, too. Or, maybe if I never intended my photos to be considered in complete isolation from one another, perhaps that’s how some people prefer to look at them …
But for me, that’s a pretty rare phenomenon. Almost always, I find myself telling a story. The photographs obviously present one “dimension” of the story, in a visual form; and I’ve been trying to remind myself lately that videos can present can present one, and sometimes two, additional dimensions (motion and sound) that can add enormously to the viewer’s understanding and appreciation of the underlying story.
But even if one uses only traditional photos, I find that it’s almost impossible for me to crate (or make, or take) one photo by itself; invariably, I take dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands, which collectively tell a story. It may be a story about someplace I’ve been, or some event in which I’ve participated, or some individual (or group of individuals) that I want the viewer to know and appreciate in more detail than would be possible to communicate in a single photo.
And then there are the words … maybe it’s because I spend part of my time as a writer and teacher that I find it almost impossible not to augment my photos with words. Lots of words. Indeed, sometimes far too many words; and sometimes clumsy words, or the wrong words. And I do realize that there are times when the situation would be improved if I would just shut up, and let the photograph do all of the communication. But for better or worse, I guess I’m a photojournalist.
With that in mind, I began the process of editing the photos for my recent ICP assignment. Here’s what I found:
1. It’s not as easy as one might think, when you start with a large number. I began winnowing the original images when I had 2,700 (after 9 days of shooting), and I still had 5 days of shooting left).
2. It’s much more difficult than I had imagined, given the constraints of my ICP class: no cropping, no post-processing, and a maximum of only 10 images. I’ve worked within those constraints for the final images that I’m submitting to the ICP class; but for these Flickr uploads, I’ve ended up with 40-45 images – and they have been heavily cropped, tilted, color-corrected, noise-dusted, and tweaked in various other ways. C’est la vie…
3. Using the collection of photos to “tell a story” is both easier and harder than I thought it would be. I’m including these background notes in all of the photos that get uploaded to Flickr … because I’ve learned (form past experience) that some visitor will zoom in on just one particular photo, without necessarily looking at all of them, and/or without seeing the overall notes for the entire album. And I don’t think I’ll find it difficult to write a few sentences to provide the background details for each photo … but whether they “flow” and create one overall, coherent “story” remains to be seen.
4. Aside from a narrative “story,” there are some “themes” that I noticed throughout this entire two-week exercise. The most significant one was exactly what I had anticipated: patterns. If you are lucky enough to sit in the same spot at the same time, day after day, you see the same rhythms, the same people, the same repetitions of life’s little actions and emotions. Many people have the opportunity to see these patterns, because they do follow the same schedule, day after day, on their way to their job or their school. But some of us have irregular routines, and any, most of us don’t pay any attention. If you slow down, and pay attention, you’ll see the patterns.
But sometimes the pattern involves uniqueness – i.e. strange and unusual people or events that seem to happen only once. But I have to keep reminding myself that my visits have lasted only two weeks; if I was here for a month, or a full season, or perhaps an entire year – then perhaps I would see these strange incidents repeating themselves
5. Another theme – which I did not anticipate, but was delighted to see – was the pervasive sense of affection and caring between and among everyone on the street. Mostly it was apparent in the interactions between parents and children; but sometimes it was between dog-owners and the dogs they were walking; sometimes it was between friends who happened to be walking along together; and sometimes it was between complete strangers and me, as the strangers would smile and nod and say “hello” if they noticed I was watching them. It was a great experience.