View allAll Photos Tagged Actually
Actually, everyone should at least have access to clean drinking water. Unfortunately we are still a long way from that!
Anyway, have a happy Macro Monday and a great week!
Continuing with the swallow observations I've been concentrating on lately, here is a Tree Swallow with a dragonfly, delivering to the nest. One of the young actually flew out of the hole when this adult landed, so the young are already fledging.
Wood Lake Nature Center MN
Actually, not really THAT seedy
Along Wilson Street
Batavia, Illinois 41.849636, -88.306552
November 25, 2021
This is reshoot of this picture
www.flickr.com/photos/jimfrazier/23317230/ from 2005. Slightly different perspective.
There will probably be another attempt on a day when there are absolutely no cars. This was on a Sunday morning and there was still a van out of the frame. Maybe Christmas or Easter?
COPYRIGHT 2022 by JimFrazier All Rights Reserved. This may NOT be used for ANY reason without written consent from Jim Frazier.
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Actually many rivers run through it as it gets a lot of run off from the mountains behind it.
As I not a Welsh speaker it took me many attempts to even try to pronounce the town the river runs through: Dolgellau
Actually there were wonderfully healthy looking Cormorants down there. But only one in this photograph.
There's a trick I use to check my long exposure quickly. Once the dark ND filters are on the lens I set the ISO to 6400 and make a shot (in this instance the exposure time was half a second). Have a look. Exposure ok? Focus fine? If good, then turn your seconds into minutes; return ISO to base; and let it go. So the next shot, at ISO100, could be 0.5 x 6400/100 (basically just simplify it to 0.5 x 60) = 30s (basically half a second turns into half a minute*).
But sometimes I discover I quite like the shot at ISO6400. Here I caught a nice wave rolling through and half a second worked quite well. That sucks because ISO6400 is noisy, isn't it. Or, maybe it doesn't suck that much these days. The noise isn't as serious as it used to be. And the pic next door was shot at ISO64 and ended up looking ancient since I've added noise in "to taste"!
* assuming your cameras base ISO is 100 or close enough to that. If your base ISO is 200 then, in this example, 0.5s would turn into 15s, not 30s. Or to make it sound so confusing, each second would turn into half a minute.
Oh, the Kingyo Red Cap is actually a sweet water fish...
~~~
Some months ago I started to work part time, and take a preparatory course (this course is to take the test that was supposed to be the begining of this year, but it will supposely happen only next year). This course finally reached its end on April. I took a couple of weeks off and am now, working in the morning, taking my preparatory courses in the afternoon, I run three days per week in a park after classes, get home, eat, watch the news, and read whatever I have in hands (related to the test I want to take) 'till I find it's time to sleep, usually 22:30.
I am now making a lot less money than I used to, but am also studying a lot more in a less stressing way.
I was planning to go to USA on June/July this year, but that won't happen because I didn't get enough money (and there was the car problem, and some other unplanned expenses), nor time to go to São Paulo to request a Visa.
I was invited to go to Spain on Novermber, and I really would like to go, but that will happen only if I boost print sales sky high.
I would also like to go to USA on March or April next year (If the test I want to take really takes place on February as everyone expects), but according to my finances, that seems even harder to happen.
The problem with the test is that the last time it took place was in 2005!!! It should had taken place in 2007, 08 and 09! And nobody is sure if it will take place next year.
I'm just saying it all because I kind of said some of it to some people, who told other people whom I hadn't told anything and they got pissed because I hadn't said anything to them, and then there were other people worried about the amount of time I'm still "wasting" with photos and this and that... So, just making things clear, I take a camera where ever I go, so most photos "just happen" and don't take much of my time. The editing takes just as little of my time, lately, no more than 15 minutes. I upload photos usually during lunch time, while my brain is in "roaming mode".
That's it... and I'm kind of up set.
~~~~
"um caco no chão não é apenas o seu presente de caco no chão, é também o seu passado de quando o não era, é também o seu futuro de não saber o que virá a ser." - José Saramago "A Caverna"
Actually Tuesday and the Ruddy didn't have to pay for parking either.
Ocean City Inlet Beach, Maryland.
#278
actually this isn't ready, but my editing program cracked up and now it doesn't work anymore
enter at my PRINT GIVEAWAY (I'LL CLOSE IT IN 1 WEEK)
please do not blog or use my images for anything without my personal permission
actually theres not much to say, as i have to prepare myself for relatives open houses around KL. but before all that, here's the brief description on this photo:
this shot was taken during blue hour and for the processing, it is a Vertorama of 5 exposures blended manually. no tonemapped HDR. the good thing was, i didnt get chased away by the security guards! so i have ample time to play around with exposures besides exploring my new "machine" :)
im wishing everyone a Happy Weekend!
=) actually I don't. Can you guess that I got this magnet and moo card from the hilarious and talented Kelley?
We did not really work with the postal service to get our mail on the same day but they arrived on the same day! Thanks, gurl!
Actually I think the title should be 'Behind Eagle Pond' or maybe just 'Snaresbrook', there was a lot less mud at the hollow end
Actually the fly was incidental to my focus on the flower...
I didn't really see the little critter until after I was reviewing my images on the computer! Still, I like it there :)
Actually more like a Potterton kitchen, glorious light streaming in played along the leaves of one in out kitchen, distracting me from making coffee.
The poinsettia Euphorbia pulcherrima is a commercially important flowering plant species of the diverse spurge family Euphorbiaceae. Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europeans in 1834. It is particularly well known for its red and green foliage and is widely used in Christmas floral displays. It derives its common English name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States minister to Mexico, who is credited with introducing the plant to the US in the 1820s. Poinsettias are shrubs or small trees, with heights of 0.6 to 4 m. Though often stated to be highly toxic, the poinsettia is not dangerous to pets or children. Exposure to the plant, even consumption, most often results in no effect, though it can cause nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poinsettia#Description
Aberdeenshire, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain, Aberdeen, North East Scotland, Doric,
Actually bull Elephant Seals, but they were bellowing, and snorting. I took this photograph on South Georgia at Gold Harbour just as the mist was rolling in. Large numbers of Southern Elephant Seals had gathered on the beach here and were practicing fighting. Southern Elephant Seals are the largest pinniped on the planet, including Walrus. These are subadult males, so not quite so large as the adult males which have mated and vacated. The largest male ever recorded weighed a staggering 5000kg although typically they are between 2000 and 4000 kg. Females are dwarfed by the males, weighing in at 400-900kg.
While this may look bad, there is actually nothing of concern happening. The train is stopped and the crossing is not activated and the 500mm telecompression of the lens makes it look a bit closer than it actually is.
This is Berkshire and Eastern Railroad train EDPW which has arrived in the chair city and is yarding their train for interchange to sister Genesee and Wyoming road, the Providence and Worcester Railroad. The four ex Pan Am units (two C40-8Ws and two SD40-2s) have nosed on to the north end of the P&W's Gardner Branch and have pulled down beneath Route 2 to the upper South Main Street crossing at MP 26. After putting this away they will run around light via the main to the west end of the yard and pick up their westbound train then wait to meet eastbound intermodal train B100 before starting their 38 mile trip back home to the big former Boston and Maine East Deerfield Yard.
Gardner, Massachusetts
Friday January 3, 2025
Actually its the cows drinking water but he likes to cool off. Tilly is in the background wanting to join him!!!
Actually this magnificent male lion was keeping an eye on the vultures that were circling overhead. He was worried they would eat his kill which lay at the bottom of the kopje he was resting on. Did he manage to keep them away? See tomorrow's posting for the next thrilling instalment.
Blowing some of the fresh snow we received overnight, Clay Boswell coal empties kick up lots of fresh powder at Ball Club.
We received between 10-14" of snow overnight, and they actually ran two trains during the day. Unfortunately as I was chasing this one, even the Dodge 4x4 couldn't handle the deep snow and I found myself stuck and in need of rescue. Unfortunately, that mistake cost me many shots today, and completely missed the second train.
This is the heaviest single snowfall we've received since April 2008, when we had three weekend storms that dumped 33", 19", and 16".
Actually, not; taken at a local lake, but the dark background makes me think it could have been in a studio. Great Egret.
actually, this is a ceiling reflection - just looking upwards, seeing the lines and people moving...
I'm now 29 weeks pregnant.... where has the time gone?
My tummy is expanding more than I ever thought it could... I actually have a baby in there! I sometimes forget how real it is!
I love being pregnant... I reckon I'm going to miss my bump....
Actually we didn't even leave the driveway. I would never drive with my windows open while a dog was in the car. I have seen too many dogs who have jumped out and gotten hurt.
We have company and I just didn't have time to figure out a photo or take Minty someplace. So we used an old idea from Della and Tug's albums.
There are actually three female cycad plants producing new leaves right now. I'm fascinated with their process! I think they are gorgeous! I never knew before the way cycad leaves unfurled with all these tiny spirals!
This is the oldest plant and the sixth and last image of the series.
Cycas revoluta. The most common cycad, and the one most people have heard of, is the Sago Palm. Cycas revoluta is NOT a palm despite what its common name suggests, but is a classic cycad. Cycads are non-flowering plants that are actually more closely related to conifers than to palms or any other flowering plants. They reproduce by making cones and seeds. All cycads are dioecious, which means they are either male or female, and never both.
Cycads evolved 280 to 250 million years ago. Imagine ~ 220 million years ago many species of cycads covered Pangea, when all the continents had coalesced into one, and dinosaurs roamed, ran, and fought among them. The dinosaurs disappeared 65 million years ago in a great extinction. Cycads survived!
This Wikipedia article is very interesting!
Taken at The Regency, Laguna Woods, California. © 2015 All Rights Reserved.
My images are not to be used, copied, edited, or blogged without my explicit permission.
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I actually took this (and a few other ornaments) to the beach on Monday, but it was so overcast that I decided not to take photos. So they got a trip out, and a walk along the beach lol!
When I got back to town it was nicer, so I went to a park and had a little photo shoot there instead :-)
All shells found and carefully collected by me from beautiful NZ beaches.
>More of my beach finds on flickr :-D
As we approached the outer limits of the Chicago Terminal, near Gary, trains were beginning to pile up. This is actually quite normal, but there was chatter on the radio hinting to a train ahead experiencing trouble.
The railroads changed to narrow band radio communication a few years back. This system makes it extremely difficult to hear a locomotive radio from more than ten miles away. If a portable radio is being used, then the limit seems to be around three miles.
While the dispatcher flushed out the normal rush of evening eastbound intermodals, those of us on westbounds suffered a very slow roll into town. Every mile of progress, though, made it a tad easier to catch bits and pieces of the conversation ahead.
Just prior to leaving the mainline and changing over to the yard radio channel, I learned that the train in question was Amtrak's Capitol Limited. It was stopped east of the detector a mile or so south of the White Sox stadium.
On the following day, we departed Englewood and began our journey to Toledo. The progression of signals ahead meant a stop at the Calumet River bridge for a lake freighter to pass through.
Once stopped at the signal, I opened the door and was surprised to find sparkling Charger 361 tied down on a yard lead. With no apparent fuel, oil, or water leaks, I assumed she had an issue somewhere within.
After kicking over a few stones, I learned that the Capitol tripped the detector at MP518 for a wheel defect. The culprit? Non other than the brand new 361! So new that the wheel sets were still shiny. Not a speck of dirt or dust to be found.
The crew was instructed to limp the unit down to CP 509 where it could be set out. The defect was rumored to be an issue with one of the axles.
Lucky for the passengers on #30, the 361 was not sole power for the train. She was trailing a Genesis unit. After a hefty delay, the train continued east.
This is not the first time that I had seen or heard of a Charger no longer being able to charge ahead. It sounds like the model's reliability percentage is more favorable now than when first delivered. Good news as Amtrak has enough troubles!
Charged Out.
I actually quite like this one. It started off being inspired by That 70's Show titles, but when I photographed through the windscreen the reflection of the clouds was too much and you couldn't see me. Worked out for the better though I prefer this.
I love that its like winter again :) However I don't love that the wind blew my tripod over whilst my camera was still on it. Cameras ok though, but still.