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Actually it isn't...it's midnight and I've only just got round to this... iPhone glares at me...
365 in colour orange 28
I actually took this picture. It seems like I just got it off a wallpaper from Emachines, but I actually took it!
Large chipped Atlantic Noble Triton Trumpet shell.
(The description Charonia Nobilis does not actually exist)
It’s about a foot long but it has been chipped. I can’t give serious consideration to turning this shell into a horn. As a teenager I dabbled at playing the French horn, a one valve bugle in a Boy Scout/Legion marching band and a trumpet in high school. This would have a totally different aesthetic.
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SOME BASICS ON SHELL TRUMPETS
AND SOME VERY BASICS ON HOW TO MAKE THEM
By Mitchell Clark © 1996
Two views of an end-blown shell trumpet made by the author from a Cassis cornuta ("horned helmet"); length 8 1/4"; pitch B3 (open) or A3 (hand-stopped).
At the request of the editor of Experimental Musical Instruments, to whom I once casually mentioned that I had made a few shell trumpets, I will write something about the process of making such an instrument. But, to the possible disappointment of the editor, there's not an awful lot for me to say about their construction, as the simple forms of shell trumpets are quite easy to make. So, in the style of an entry in a cookbook where the author gives lots of history, lore, and anecdotes, and then finally gets down to the recipe, somewhere in what follows are some basic instructions for making shell trumpets. Endnotes - often referring to illustrations which may be consulted in other sources - are included, and contribute additional texture.
I'll start by saying that when I was young, I knew about shell trumpets but obviously did not quite understand the principle of how they worked. I thought that no alteration was made to a conch's shell, which I thought was very beautiful and that it would be a shame to deface it. Rather, it seemed that getting the shell to sound was a matter simply of blowing very, very, very hard. Fortunately I did not rupture any blood vessels trying out this theory.1
But the shell trumpet (an instrument in the domain of study of the organologist) has indeed been altered from the animal's natural shell (a natural object in the domain of study of the conchologist) in such a way that would make life uncomfortable for the actual mollusk itself (an animal in the domain of study of the malacologist) - that is, a hole's been poked in the shell. A shell trumpet will obviously have to made after the mollusk has (willingly or unwillingly) vacated.
There are two basic places this hole may be placed, and so there are two basic approaches that can be taken for making a conch shell into a shell trumpet. A hole is made either at the apex (the tip of the spire) of the shell, or, alternatively, in one of the whorls to the side of the spire. The mouth hole may be at the apex if the spire is shallow, as on a Strombus gigas ("queen conch" or "pink conch," common in the Caribbean), 2 Cassis cornuta ("horned helmet," found in the Indo-Pacific region), or Cassis tuberosa ("king helmet," found in the Caribbean). The mouth hole may be on the side of the spire if the spire is more steep, as on a Charonia tritonis ("Triton's trumpet," distributed throughout most of the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans). In some cases the hole itself forms the mouth hole; in others, a mouthpiece is added. Mouthpieces seem to be a matter of what tradition has evolved, as sometimes the same species of shell may be found with or without a mouthpiece. For instance, a variety of approaches will be found with Charonia tritonis. In Polynesia, a mouth hole cut into the side of the spire is the norm. 3 Occasionally a side-blown tritonis will have a mouthpiece added, as found in the Marquesas Islands; 4 this appears to be a rare arrangement. Concerning end-blown tritonis, on the Hawaiian pu 5 and on the Korean na, 6 a mouth hole is cut into the apex. On the Japanese hora, the tritonis (called horagai) is given a mouthpiece, placed at the apex. 7 Other shells used for trumpets usually have the hole in the apex, with a mouthpiece or (perhaps more commonly) without.
The qualities of sounds which shell trumpets can produce are varied, and also layered in the meanings and responses such sounds evoke. As children we learn of one of the poetic associations of shells - that if you hold a conch shell to your ear, you will hear (however far away from the coastline you may be) the sound of the sea. 8 Yes, perhaps it is indeed the air column enclosed by the shell filtering the ambient level of noise to create a faint roaring sound. But the association of shells with water, and the sea especially, is also at the basis of the many of the ceremonial uses of shell trumpets around the world. Shell trumpets have often been used at great distances from the sea, and this has contributed to the sacredness of their sounds. Thus the hearing the of sea in a shell may be a vestige of these older, profound associations. Shell trumpets produce a profound sound in every sense of the word - there is a sense of the sound coming from the deep past. This is both true as regards the actual antiquity of the use of shell trumpets, which dates to the Neolithic era, 9 and in the very shell itself. The apex of a univalve gastropod such as a conch or a snail is the oldest part of the shell (the place where the young animal started growing): in blowing a shell trumpet the sound is passing from the oldest place to the youngest - from the past towards the present.
Concerning this antiquity of the use of shell trumpets, the etymologist Eric Partridge puts forth the idea that the word "conch" may be of echoic - that is, onomatopoeic - origin. 10 Echoic, I suppose, of the sound of the blast of a shell trumpet, and thus - given the early Greek roots of the work "conch" - indicating the great antiquity of their use. A common term applied in a number of parts of Polynesia to the shell trumpet - pu - would certainly also seem, in its own way, to be echoic.
The most common use of shell trumpets in many parts of the world - and they have a remarkably wide distribution - is as a signaling device. A shell trumpet may announce curfew in Samoa, or announce that fresh fish is for sale in Fiji, or may serve as a foghorn on the Mediterranean. The shell trumpet often has a magical role in relation to weather. It may be used on the one hand be used to calm rough seas, or on the other to summon wind when seas are becalmed. 11 Shell trumpets are also used in musical contexts, most often in conjunction with ritual. The Indian shanka has held a place in the Hindu religion for millennia. There it may be used as a ritual vessel as well as a trumpet. 12 The shanka is also of significance in Buddhism, where, besides its musical uses, it figures importantly into Buddhist iconography. Befitting their role in Tibetan ritual music, where they are called dung-dkar, shell trumpets made from shanka receive detailed decoration, with carving on the surface of the shell itself and with added ornamentation in metal and semi-precious stone. 13 Shell trumpets were also important ritual instruments in Pre-Columbian South and Central America and in Minoan Crete. In these latter areas, skeuomorphic reproductions ("the substitution of products of craftsmanship for components or objects of natural origin") of shell trumpets, in ceramic and stone, are found archaeologically. The details of their exact purposes remain a mystery. 14 Generally a shell trumpet is used to produce one note; harmonics are possible but seldom utilized. One exception is the Japanese hora, where three, sometimes even four, pitches of the harmonic series may be employed. 15 On the end-blown Fijian shell trumpet made from the Bursa bubo ("giant frog shell"), there is a fingerhole which will allow for a whole-tone change in pitch. 16 Shell trumpets with several fingerholes have also been explored. 17 Occasionally pitch is modified by the player inserting his or her hand into the aperture. Although shell trumpets would seem to lend themselves to being played in a musical context in homogenous ensembles, along the lines of ensembles of panpipes and stamping tubes in Oceania (particularly Melanesia), such an approach is actually very rare. Tonga (in Polynesia) is the only place where conch ensembles have been found, and then only in the more remote areas (some of the northern islands) and only in a few musical contexts (for recreation and for cricket matches). 18 In contemporary music and jazz, however, ensembles of shell trumpets have been used by trombonists Stuart Dempster and Steve Turre.
Now, to get to work. I've made a few shell trumpets with the mouth-hole at the apex. A simple basic recipe is:
Ingredients:
The shell of a large univalve gastropod
A file
Jeweler's files for finishing work (optional)
Procedure:
File off the tip of the spire.
Smooth out the perimeter of the hole (optional).
That's it. But to be more specific: from my experience, for making a shell trumpet it seems that a conch of some size - something like seven inches or greater in length - is needed. My attempt at making an instrument with the shell of a young Strombus gigas (perhaps 5-6 inches long) did not work out: I just couldn't get a sound out of the thing. Perhaps a smaller shell such as that might work with a mouthpiece. I've made end-blown trumpets from Cassis cornuta (my shell of choice; see photos above), Cassis tuberosa, and adult Strombus gigas. My construction approach with the Cassis has been to file off the tip with an 8" mill bastard file and a lot of elbow grease, getting it to the point where the opening is about 5/8" in diameter. With the jeweler's files, I'll smooth down the insides of the opening. For a Strombus gigas, which has a steeper spire, I first cut off an inch or so of the tip with a saw, and then proceeded as with the Cassis.
It is certainly possible to get the job done more quickly. A friend once made a trumpet from a Strombus gigas by forcibly breaking off the tip - he's a percussionist - with little or no filing. In this case, it appears that the irregularities of the edges of the mouth-hole allowed for a more pronounced array of upper partials to the shell trumpet's tone. To remove the tip of a Strombus gigas, D.Z. Crookes (describing the process in his "How to make a shelly hautbois") supported the shell's tip "on an anvil, and nipped it off with a cold chisel," later carving a "half-civilized" mouthpiece. 19 I suppose one could also use a power grinder or sander to quickly get through the early stage on a Cassis, for instance, but I think a couple of hours or so of manual filing is not too big a price to pay (however, see photo below). Of course, being physically involved with the stages of the manufacture of a shell trumpet, as with any musical instrument, increases one's connection with the instrument and its sounds.
As regards side-blown shell trumpets, I've made one, from a Charonia tritonis (see photo below). For such a shell, a basic recipe could be:
Ingredients:
The shell of a large conch with a steep spire, especially a Charonia tritonis
A drill
Jeweler's files for expanding the hole and for finishing work
Procedure:
Drill a small hole into the side of the spire.
Expand the size of the hole and smooth out the edges.
Again, a little more detail. I placed the hole in the second whorl out from, and on the same side of the spire as, the aperture. With this arrangement the aperture faces backwards from the player when the trumpet is played. I used photographs of side-blown Charonia tritonis as my guide. 20 I used a drill bit of about l/8" diameter to get the hole started and then followed with a 1/4" bit. I expanded the hole to about 5/8" with a half-round jeweler's file. A larger rat-tail file would also be possible (although one needs to be careful of a bulkier tool damaging the interior of the shell), before following up with the jeweler's file.
Although I've made a few shell trumpets, I have not yet made musical use of them in any concerted way. I do have a piece - forthcoming in my series of Anthems for ensembles of "peacefully co-existing" sustained sounds - for a plurality of shell trumpets and pre-recorded tape. Also, when you've got a shell trumpet around, blowing it every once in a while does impress neighbors and passers-by alike.
Again, these are the most basic of recipes. I look forward to other writers who have more background in the individual traditions of these instruments, and who are more acquainted with the acoustics and detailed construction, 21 to contribute further on the subject of these fascinating instruments.
ENDNOTES
1. Despite the fact that a large conch does need to be modified to make a trumpet, a small snail shell can be used, unmodified, as a whistle. An intact snail shell is essentially a stopped pipe, and if the aperture is of an appropriate size - so the player is able to create an embouchure - the shell can be an effective whistle. Unaltered large conch shells filled with water were used for their gurgling sounds by John Cage in his pieces Inlets (1977, which also makes use of a shell trumpet) and Two3 (1991, which also includes a Japanese shô reed organ). A single such large water-filled conch was used by the present author in his "concerning an aspect..." (1988). Return to text
2. In general usage, the word "conch" is used to describe large spiral univalve gastropods even when it is not referring to what is, strictly speaking, a conch (the "true conchs" are members of the genus Strombus). This seems to be especially true in relation to shell trumpets, where the term "conch trumpet" is used quite freely. Return to text
3. See Richard M. Moyle, Polynesian Sound-producing Instruments (Princes Risborough, England: Shire Publications, 1990), 39 and figure 25, which shows several side-blown tritonis being played in Tonga. Return to text
4. Richard M. Moyle, Polynesian Sound-producing Instruments, 39 and lower portion of figure 23. Return to text
5. Te Rangi Hiroa (Peter H. Buck), Arts and Crafts of Hawaii, IX: Musical Instruments (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1957, reprinted 1964), figure 256a. Return to text
6. See Chang Sa-hun, Uri yet Akki ("Our Traditional Musical Instruments"; Seoul: Daewonsa, 1990), 31. Return to text
7. See Hajime Fukui, "The Hora (Conch Trumpet) of Japan" in Galpin Society Journal 47 (1994): 47-62, where several photographs and a diagram of the mouthpiece are shown. For a full-size color photograph of a hora, see Jane Fearer Safer and Frances McLaughlin Gill, Spirals from the Sea: An Anthropological look at Shells (New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1982), 174-5. Concerning the hora, one of its less-documented uses is in a rite called Shunie associated with the Tôdai-ji Temple in Nara (see Hajime Fukui's essay, 52). A shell-trumpet ensemble portion of the Shunie can be heard on the album Harmony of Japanese Music, mentioned in the attached discography. Return to text
8. Note that terminology relating to the human ear is rich in shell imagery. The cochlea (a Latin word derived from the Greek kokhlos, land snail) is the spiral, shell-shaped portion of the inner ear which transmits the signals to the brain which are interpreted as sound. As a word referring to a shell-like structure, concha (from the Greek konkhe - a shell-bearing mollusk in general - which, via Latin, is the ancestral form of "conch") is a term used to describe the human external ear, also known as pinna. And pinna, from the Latin word for "wing" or "feather," is also the name for a genus of large - and wing- or feather-shaped - bivalve mollusks (family Pinnidae). Return to text
9. John M. Schechter and Mervyn McLean, "Conch-shell trumpet" in Stanley Sadie, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments (London: Macmillan. 1954), I:461. Note that it is conjectured that the earliest use of the instrument was as a voice modifier - a megaphone of sorts. Return to text
10. Eric Partridge, Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English (2nd edition, New York: MacMillan, 1959), 114. Note especially one Middle English spelling, conk. Return to text
11. A recorded example of the former, from Chuuk, Micronesia, is included on the album Spirit of Micronesia, mentioned in the attached discography. The latter is mentioned in the entry for the shell trumpet ntuantuangi, of the Poso Toradja of Celebes, in Sibyl Marcuse, Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary (2nd edition, New York & London: W.W. Norton & Co., 1975), 368. Return to text
12. Note that the Sanskrit word shanka (which may be romanized in various ways, with or without diacritics; the English common name for the shell is "chank") does share the same Indo-European root as konkhe, and ultimately, "conch." The Latin scientific name for the shanka is Turbinella pyrum. Return to text
13. See Safer and Gill, Spirals from the Sea, 176-7, for two views of a specimen dated 1400. Return to text
14. Jeremy Montagu, "The conch in prehistory: pottery, stone and natural" in World Archaeology 12/3 (1981): 273-9, which focuses on these shell-trumpet skeuomorphs. Return to text
15. Hajime Fukui "The Hora (Conch Trumpet) of Japan," 51-2. Return to text
16. Moyle, Polynesian Sound-producing Instruments, 39 and figure 24. Return to text
17. See D.Z. Crookes, "How to make a shelly hautbois" in FoMRHI Quarterly 80 (July 1995): 43, where he experiments with up to seven (?) fingerholes on Strombus gigas. Return to text
18. Richard M. Moyle, "Conch Ensemble: Tonga's Unique Contribution to Polynesian Organology" in Galpin Society Journal 28 (1975): 98-106. Also, his Polynesian Sound-producing Instruments, 41-2 and figure 25. Ensembles of three to seven, or more, side-blown Charonia tritonis are used. Return to text
19. Crookes, "How to make a shelly hautbois," 43. Return to text
20. For instance, Eric Metzgar, Arts of Micronesia (Long Beach, Calif.: FHP Hippodrome Gallery, 1987 {exhibition catalogue}), figure G, and Safer and Gill, Spirals from the Sea, 168. Return to text
21. See Montagu, "The conch in prehistory: pottery, stone and natural," 274-5, for a brief discussion of shell-trumpet acoustics which outlines some of the basic issues. Concerning shell-trumpet construction, note that Hajime Fukui's "The Hora (Conch Trumpet) of Japan" goes into a great amount of detail concerning making this particular instrument. Return to text
SOME SHELL TRUMPET DISCOGRAPHY
Following is a handful of recordings including shell trumpets. Occasionally, recordings of shell trumpets will appear on collections of music from Oceania. An example is Spirit of Micronesia (Saydisc CD-SDL 414), which includes a conche (note this alternate spelling) introducing two chants (track 20) and a conche used for warding off storm clouds (track 22; a photo on page 20 of the booklet shows a player of a trumpet made from a Cassis species). Though brief, this latter track beautifully captures, against a backdrop of storm waves, the shell trumpet's evocative qualities. Pan Records' Fa'a-Samoa: The Samoan way... between conch shell and disco (PAN 2066CD) includes a recording (track 1) of a conch-shell pu being used to announce curfew; on track 13, an animal horn used for the same purpose is also called pu. (The "disco" of the title is actually a brass band performance.) Another album on Pan, Tuvalu: A Polynesian Atoll Society (PAN 2055CD), has an impressive photograph of a shell-trumpet player on the cover, but does not include any shell-trumpet recordings.
A Japanese Buddhist ritual-music use of shell trumpets - as part of O-Mizu Tori ("a water-drawing rite") of the Shunie rite at Tôdai-ji Temple, Nara - may be heard on Harmony of Japanese Music (King Records [Japan] KICH 2021).
Steve Turre's Sanctified Shells (Antilles 314 514 186-2) and Stuart Dempster's Underground Overlays from the Cistern Chapel (New Albion NA076) include some contemporary creative uses of shell trumpets in ensemble. Colin Offord's Pacific Sound (Move Records [Australia] MD 3 105) makes use of shell trumpets in ensemble with instruments of his own construction. Together with other sound-makers made of shells, a shell trumpet may be heard on the track "Sea Language" on The Art of Primitive Sound's Musical Instruments from Prehistory (Hic Sunt Leones [Italy] HSL 003).
Baoding Balls
An on-line description of one:
This Japanese vintage Samurai Horagai is a trumpet shell of yoroi, or armour. It is about 50 years old, and is like the real thing used during the age of the Samurai. It is made from a real trumpet shell like the shells we have had before and found in many oceans including the Pacific, this one being from Japan. A mouth piece had been attached and it can be used just like in the old days when it was used to communicate during wars. Horagai was used as a command and signal of the old times during Samurai battles. Now it is used for decorating armour.
Actually, the first idea I had was to pretend to be stepping in dog poop. We have plenty of it (Miss Poopy didn't earn that name for nothing). But who wants to look at a picture of a turd?
So, then I decided I'd pretend to step on some chewing gum.
It took 23 snaps and 3 pieces of gum (thanks to above mentioned dog) to get this picture. Plus my white jeans now have some grass stains.
The things we'll do for a picture.
Macro Monday theme - Camouflage.
Actually this was taken some years ago. We have no snow at the moment but as the calendar moves into December, it can start at any time.
...
Actually photo no# 1 should be No# 2
but I'll walk ya through all of this stuff.
It's 9:AM and I'm not going to make it.
I'm going to bed and will finish this
after taking an extra long nap ;-)
OK, 4:PM I'm back... Fatigue sent me to bed !
This photo was taken as we were leaving
while photo no# 2 is when we had arrived.
As we came across the bridge, that crosses
the river that runs right in front of our place
I can see the spot where we take a right
and start down the path, mud trail
leading to the entry to the
mud cobra field !
Immediately upon taking that right hand turn
we are met with a serious Murphy Trap ! ! !.
They had recently dumped 6" 8" 10" and 12"
crushed rock to support the heavy trucks !
Plus just for a silly door prize 4 wild street
dogs started giving chase. So what we now
have is 3 dogs in the sidecar going absolutely
ballistic, 4 angry dogs chasing us, while I try to
do my best to not loose control,, while crashing
over the rather large broken stones that are trying
to rip the scooter/sidecar and it's tires to pieces ;-0
Threw it into neutral and bailed out of the saddle
as the rig is slightly coasting. Grabbed a big rock
and let it fly in the general direction of the 4 dogs.
They did a 180 and we continued on unscathed ;-)
These rocks make it out to be a survival contest
of the fittest, but the rocks are sharp, I'm not ! ! !
Eventually we made our way to the entrance
of the mud cobra field.. An excavator is parked
directly in the center of the area we usually come
flying through in an attempt to get through the mud.
Most likely Mr Murphy parked it there, what say you ?
At 5:58AM ---
We had found a semidry spot, the hounds are released.
Photo no# 2 shows and tells what I encountered next ---
Jon&Crew ;-)
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I know it's pretty much the exact angle of the preceding two. Going to upload others soon, but for right now this will have to do.
I'm actually not a big fan of Regina Spektor's music but I was happy to photograph her because of her strong female presence. She sold out the Chicago Theater Sat. night and, though I didn't have to deal with any intoxicated people, it was another strange experience.
When I had confirmation, it had said two songs and the tour manager changed to one by the time I arrived. They wanted me to shoot pretty far in back but I asked if I could get closer. Then, I thought I had followed exactly where they said I could be but 30 seconds in I was tapped and told I had to move about 50 feet back. I also had to kneel so that I didn't block anyone so I was basically crawling up the aisle as fast as possible to not miss more shots...because, of course, I only had one song.
I really am always grateful for these photopasses but sometimes it's like a comedy of errors and I can't help but think that someone should do a youtube documentary on all the stuff concert photographers go through and how hard we work. Still, there will be some young kid at a show who will say, "Dude! I'm gonna buy a camera and get into shows free, too!" :/ Yes, many people have said these comments around me. :(
For more photos and a review by Selena Fragassi on Venus, please go here:
www.venuszine.com/articles/music/live_reviews/6388/Regina...
All photos are copyrighted. Please do not use without permission.
Virginia Beach VA. This event was canceled the last two years due to COVID. A great event for the Obsessive/Compulsive photographer!! The people are very nice and actually thank you for taking their photo!!!!
Actually Vatnfjord in the Lofoten Islands, Norway. This was the last day before the sun actually rose for the first time in 2013.
Made with a Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon 35mm f1.4.
1.
I am delighted to announce that your image has actually been commended in the People Category in the Open Competition of the Sony World Photography Awards 2012. Your work has been selected from 52,323 images entered from 171 countries. This is an incredible achievement.
2.
Congratulations, your photo has won an honourable mention in our Street Photography Contest! Unfortunately you haven't won the prize but you have featured in Eric Kim's Top 5 entries. Check out the winner and honourable mentions here www.siliconbeachtraining.co.uk/blog/street-ph oto-comp-win...
Kind regards,
Craig
Silicon Beach Training
seanmcdonnell.blogspot.com/2011/09/life-class.html
3.
It was wonderful to give another talk at The School of Life earlier this month. Many thanks to Nick Turpin and the participants of the Photographing London weekend workshop for a really inspirational afternoon.
I am impressed at the quality of work at these sessions. Once again it's a real lesson for me in setting oneself parameters or a challenge. Inevitably I search for a metaphor in these instances and the mental and physical effort required is certainly of Olympian proportions.
Two marvellous images are worth noting from Laura Fitzpatrick and Tony White. Each in their own way exemplify for me the essence of street photography.
Tony's image, and style now I'm glad to have discovered more of his work, has a real warmth and a resonance with the sensitivity of Tony Ray-Jones. There's certainly an undefinable Englishness to this picture which is a joy.
In contrast Laura's photograph at the foot of Nelson's Column is a tour de force of geometry and timing. It feels so perfect that it ironically touches on contemporary practices of digital manipulation and staged flash mobs, even though the image is entirely of the moment, taken as found with no intervention other than being in the right place at the right time and having the presence of mind to take the picture.
Easy, eh?
The Best Street Photograph Ever
www.sevensevennine.com/?page_id=2580&bwbps_page_2=4
Although we may all have favourite Street Photographers they may not always be the author of our favourite Street Photograph.
It might be a revealing exercise to suggest and vote up or down single Street Photographs to see which images bubble to the top and which images fall to the bottom.
In this way we might get a sense of the popular opinion on what qualities might be inherent in ‘The Best Street Photograph Ever’.
This is a bit of fun but at very least it should make for the creation of a fascinating collection of Street Photographs.
Please feel free to take part, vote images up or down and upload those you think should be included from any era and any Street Photographer.
Images will be removed that don’t fall into a loose definition of a Street Photograph
Actually taken in 2019 but reimagined this year. Was shooting sunset cloud shots at Magic Island and this pair of walkers happened to be in the frame when the shutter was open.
actually this is just a resting posture. It is amazing how long people can rest in this position!!
en realidad es solo una postura de descanso. Es increible cuanto tiempo pueden estar en esta posición y descansar!!
Actually better condition than me...
Explored [441] - Sep 22, 2011
Location: Governors Island, New York
Actually he is a judo guy doing a karate pose.
Strobist info: Hensel Integra 1000 Plus with softbox front top, Hensel Integra 500 Plus with softbox right and left beside. Windmachine from left.
Actually, it's not a river; it is a channel off of the Willamette River in Lane County, Oregon USA.(DSCN0587reflectionsfrombothsidesofriverinitflickr022616)
Confession : I actually took this photo back in February, but I never got to use it in my 52-weeks since I had lots of photos to choose from back then. Now that I'm falling behind, I figured I might as well upload it.
I haven't had that much time to shoot lately. It's almost the end of the semester so I've been spending most of my time checking and finishing up grades for my classes. I can't wait for summer break!
Actually, there was a pair of hawks! One had made a kill and the other wanted to steal it. They are really bold in the neighborhood, even hard to scare away.
21 December 2015
Indiana
Actually a train stopped/parked East of downtown Dekalb waiting for a green signal. Photographing a moving train this close, from this location would be extremely dangerous. The crossing gates for the sidewalk crossing I was standing on would have long before tripped on if this freight were moving, and at 50mph it would be mere seconds before he was on top of the crossing.
Actually, I just got her today as a Christmas present. But she hasn't had any pictures. Shes a bad influence.
This is actually a Canadian built Bolingbroke, RCAF serial ‘10201’, which is now fitted with a genuine MkI Blenhiem nose. It represents ‘L6739’, a MkI of 23sqn in September 1939.
This was its first Legends after it was rebuilt as a MkI.
2015 Flying Legends Airshow.
Duxford, Cambridgeshire, UK.
12-7-2015
The following info is from the Flying Legends website:-
“The Bristol Blenheim Mk.I is a truly unique British aircraft. As a type the aircrafts history is long and formative and an important milestone in the history of British aviation. Designed as a small airliner in the early 1930s by Frank Barnwell, Chief Designer of the Bristol Aircraft Company, it was funded by Lord Rothermere who named it ‘Britain First’. It proved much faster than the latest biplane fighters, with a speed of over 300mph, and Rothermere promptly donated it to the nation.
Barnwell then redesigned the aircraft as a bomber and it became the first stressed skin aircraft with hydraulic actuated undercarriage, flaps and turret to be accepted by the Royal Air Force. It was the fastest bomber of the day and it became the backbone of the RAFs light bomber force. At the start of WWII the RAF had 1089 Blenheim’s in service more than any other type.
The Blenheim bore the brunt of daylight operations during the early war years, whilst other bombers were switched to night operations, and the crews paid a heavy price. Many Blenheim’s were lost not only to fighters but to anti-aircraft fire especially when attacking ships. Even so it was well liked by its crews and Churchill paid homage to their bravery comparing them to the ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’.
The Blenheim was pressed into many roles for which it was not primarily designed, such as long range and night fighter duties. It became the first radar equipped night fighter and got the first kill using that equipment.
The first Blenheim project a Canadian licensed built MKIV, which they called Bolingbroke, was recovered in a derelict state and restored to fly after a twelve year rebuild by a small dedicated team led by a licensed aircraft engineer. It made its debut in May 1987 only to be destroyed in an accident exactly one month later, suffice to say that the accident was not due to a mechanical fault.
Determined not to be without a Blenheim another airframe was found and the same team gave themselves five years to complete the project with the aircraft flying in May 1993, it became the only flying example of a Blenheim representing the light bombers of the early war years. Flying for ten years from Duxford on behalf of the late Graham Warner, the aircraft was well known on the air show circuit and flew with great success building an enviable serviceability record amongst the vintage aircraft fraternity.
In August 2003 the aircraft suffered an accident whilst landing at Duxford, again through no mechanical fault with the aircraft, and suffered significant damage. The aircraft was dismantled with the ownership subsequently transferring to Blenheim (Duxford) Ltd in December 2003.
It was decided that the aircraft could be repaired and work started with a team jointly made up of full time staff and the original and some new volunteers. Initially work concentrated on the centre section and fuselage and it was at this stage a feasibility study was carried out to see if the aircraft could be converted to Blenheim MkI status. A MkI nose had come into possession of the team and it was realised that the production break at the rear of the fuselage was the same for all marks of Blenheim so the decision was made to go ahead with the conversion. The conversion did cause some headaches in that although the main fling controls are in the same position in the British and Canadian variants it is in the positioning of the ancillary controls such as throttles, pitch, carburetor and hydraulic controls, the positioning of instruments and the rerouting of hydraulic and electrical lines that would take time.
The MkI nose had been donated to the team and had an interesting history in its own right; it had been obtained by a Bristol employee Ralph Nelson after WWII and converted to a car. He had mounted it on an Austin Seven chassis and with help of colleagues completed the conversion. The car was battery powered and he drove the vehicle around Bristol until 1957 when it was damaged by fire. The conversion necessitated the nose being modified to create doors and interior fittings so basically destroyed the stress skin construction, so after jigging to maintain its integrity a considerable amount of manufacture of new airframe parts had to be carried out including reskinning. Fortunately Ralph had kept a considerable amount of the interior fittings and most of the control systems including the seat and these were refurbished and refitted.
A data plate in the nose revealed its build number and that it had been built by AVRO. Contact with Avro’s heritage Centre showed that the aircraft serial was L6739 being issued to 23 Squadron on 2nd September 1939. It fought throughout the Battle of Britain as a night fighter before being struck off charge in December 1940 after being damaged. Further research revealed that it had carried the codes YP-Q and a photo was found of it ground running at Wittering in February 1940. This has enabled the aircraft to be painted in the authentic colours worn in 1939-1940 and fitted with the MKI(f) gun pack.
The Mercury engines were overhauled in house being stripped down to their component parts and checked for wear and damage and reassembled. All ancillary items such as magnetos, carburettors, pumps and the many items that make up the engines examined and checked for airworthiness before being fitted.
After 11 years of painstaking work, on the 20th November 2014 Chief Pilot John Romain and James Gilmour as Flight Engineer took Blenheim MkI(f) on its maiden flight at Duxford for a successful 26 minute test flight, following some minor adjustments a further two test flights were carried out.
The Blenheim received its full Permit to fly at the end of 2014, enabling the aircraft to be ready for the 2015 season.”
Actually, I have no idea what they are diving for. It's fun watching them!
Happy Wednesday (Thursday)/Mid-Week, Hump-Day, Everyone! I hope your week has been going well so fa.
Thank you all so much for the visit and for the kind comments and favs. They are very much appreciated!
I don't get to do that very often, even cut myself doing it, but thought I should show them off a little.
This was actually a test shot of the talented Mike Jacobs before he did some martial arts kicks. I like this for its menacing comicbook like feel as he is being back lit byspeedlights behind him that rim light and give the dramatic shadows..
strobist 411: one sb800 camera left, as seen bare on a stand, another sb800 is camera right obscured by the metal frames also bare. Triggered with pocket wizards.
actually it is my ooak jasmine ahha...i'd like to call it royal sparkles, I have gone overboard using starry sparkles for this one photo...I gave her different brows,green eye shadow and a smile.
Actually was very clean, but I thought they surely should have had a half moon on the front door! Oh well you can't ask for everything while on the road, and not really sure where you are at, I Was simply happy to find a cabin, even if the potty was a few feet away
Am heading home today, hurrah! Please check out my sleeping arrangements below!
Actually it's the external wall of a rather dingy public toilet block in Portobello, but it's got this very charming mosaic to brighten the place up a bit.
I tried on different wigs for the last of my photo shoot Dec. 4th., to see how I would have looked. This is my dark red long one.
Note the hint of pink nylon slip!
Replicating the scene out of the brilliant movie Love, Actually, in which a young Andrew Lincoln serenades an equally young Keira Knightley with giant cue cards. In this case I have used insults from a couple of Shakespeare's plays as the messages, although they are very unlikely to woo the fair hand of the damsel.
We're Here looks at I believe in holidays & other calendrical observances.
Actually it's a re-circulating creek with numerous waterfalls in the Nancy Rutchik Red Maple Rill.
Perhaps the most impressive feature of this two-acre garden is a fabulous collection of over 80 varieties of signature Japanese Maples planted along the stream.
This premier addition to the Arboretum was designed by Rowland Jackson of Newman, Jackson, Bieberstein, with construction services provided by The Beck Group. Key design elements of the Nancy Rutchik Red Maple Rill include a new entry off the Paseo de Flores and a large gathering plaza that overlooks a re-circulating creek and numerous waterfalls. Opened in fall 2011, this charming area also includes a series of paved walkways and a stone bridge connecting the Martin Rutchik Concert Stage to the Magnolia Allee. An especially large weeping Japanese maple, nearly 100 years old, anchors the center of the garden.