I have been discovered, but appear not to be a threat

Taken along the main street in downtown Mayville, Wisconsin.

Like much of downtown, this very cool old building appeared to be well maintained although the second floor looks like it may be vacant. Since they don't make 'em like they used to, I hope they continue to preserve it.

It appears that Arriva Buses Wales VDL Cadet 2630 - CX07 CPZ has recently been withdrawn. Here it is in Abergele during its last summer in service working route 13 to Llandudno.

Whilst leaning on a field entrance gate searching for Hares, I notice some movement to my right.

Suddenly a young Roe buck appeared and walked calmly along the crop edge towards me. When it finally spotted me pointing my camera lens in its direction it looked up and then just carried on walking until it got to the field edge and disappeared into the hedgerow, only to appear in the next field a few minutes later.

Thanks for visiting my Flickr page. Happy to receive comments / feedback.

This is among the first of the wildflowers to appear in the part of the world I live in, usually right behind the Siberian Squill. It grows on the forest floor, and its life plan depends on maturing before the leaves develop the forest canopy, shading out the floor.

What it gets called depends on where you live. I was always told it was a Trout Lily, so named for the brown mottling on its green leaves, said to resemble a trout. This name has the advantage of being more scientifically accurate, because it is indeed a member of the Lily family. But other parts of the country will call it Adder’s Tongue, after the shape of the petals when they come out of the ground, or Dogtooth Violet, a name it gets because of the corms in its root system.

The flower is said to be ‘nodding’, a reference to the bend in the stem at the base of the flower that causes the flower to point downwards. The French name, like the scientific name it mirrors, includes the Greek root ‘erythros’, meaning red, which refers to the rusty anthers that are my focal point.

Patches of leaves can be found in the woods, but they are often immature plants. Single leaves will show up for up to seven years before a second leaf joins it and the plant flowers. Some patches are thought to be as old as the forest, up to hundreds of years old. They reproduce both via the seeds that follow the flower, which ants help germinate by eating an outer layer, and via its root systems, making the plant rhizomatic.

My attempts to learn how to secure images of flowers continue.

This fungi grows to become the largest organism on Earth. Most is underground. It is a parasite ond kills its host. The tree where I found these fruits was dead. Most trees in the area are not dead or dying and are seemingly unaffected. It appears to be selective.

Manor Estate Stafford UK 11th October 2020

SJ91872115

From a distance, warblers can appear drab and unenticing. In fact, in without closer inspection they all seem brown or grey in color. But take a few moments to get a better look and many are spectacularly beautiful, like this prothonotary warbler. Getting the chance to get a closer look? Well, that can take some skill. Knowing where to look is half the battle.

Ghost screen appearing during a SL deconnexion. Only the left part (numbers rain) is edited.

Visit The Carbone Gallery

Art gallery & café

Read Milena Carbone's Second Life stories on Medium

and a angel of the lord appeared to me . and said gawd luv a duck mate , is that a real camera OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Atop a rock outcrop ridge overlooking the barren strip mined wastelands significant of the Pennsylvania coal belt region, a faded purple 1970s era, MGB automobile emerged across the horizon, appearing to float above the tree topped hills. A head turner for sure, for upon second glance a red Ford pickup truck could also be spotted, upon which the MGB was ever so precariously balanced. A confusing sight to comprehend, especially while cruising at highway speeds down Interstate 81 while trying to maintain lanes. Soon the highway gently curved in toward the natural topography of the surrounding terrain and with it the hovering automobiles became obscured, lost behind a hill of trees. This all happened so quickly, I at first wondered if the bizarre sight was just a coal country mirage, perhaps my eyes were merely playing tricks upon me, fatigued by the endless expanse of repetitive woodland scenes.

With a desire to investigate further, I took the next exit and soon found myself walking along a railroad bed roughly paralleling the interstate highway I had just exited from. The strong summer sun beat relentlessly across my face, the dry heat amplified further by the coal and ashen laden soil which resonated the suns rays right back at me like a convection oven, evaporating my sweat before it could even form. The seldom used tracks cut along the base of a strip mined mountain, providing little shade. The further I walked the steeper the mountain became and the more I hated myself for leaving my water bottle back in the car. Unprepared to bushwhack up a sheer cliff face where I suspected up top the vehicles to exist, I decided to backtrack toward where I saw a power line cut meander up the mountain face. It became evident that this electric pole right-of-way was also actively used by ATVs and dirt bikes for a well worn trail zig-zagged up toward to my presumed destination.

The trail turned out to be quite treacherous as the loose dry sandy soil and gravel ripped up by barrages of ATVs, resulted in many steps forward actually being three steps backward. Despite the rapid regression at times, progress was made and the terrain began to level out. Atop the summit, a second narrower trail lead off in into the shaded woods. If it weren't for the spray painted sign reading "car totem pole --->" I'd probably have been lost and summited the mountain for no reason. This trail continued for a solid half mile until right before my very eyes the floating MGB appeared yet again. This time however I could be sure it was no mirage. As I walked closer I could see an iron beam had been driven through the center of at least half a dozen vintage automobiles all stacked upon another. Four guy wires anchored the vehicles to the ground below, preventing the vehicles from spinning around the pole like larger then life Christmas decorations. A car shish kebab I thought to myself, until I stopped and realized "no, it's a shish carbab", an automotive effigy that can truly only exist in Pennsylvania, land of abandoned automobiles. And with such a realization, I knew I had a future story and a photo title, but still no water and a steep climb back down a mountain ahead of me.

Frogspawn appeared in my small garden pond this morning. About a week earlier than the previous earliest appearance in the last 10 years. A male frog was encased in solid ice in the recent sub-zero temperatures and did not survive so I was not optimistic of seeing any spawn this Spring.

This would have been so much better half an hour earlier. But I was otherwise engaged with my daily cappuccino so there

Centaurus A, also known as NGC 5128, is a peculiar lenticular galaxy in the constellation Centaurus, which appears to be an elliptical galaxy with a huge superimposed dust lane. It is one of the closest radio galaxies, and its active galactic nucleus has been extensively studied.

Discovery and Identity

NGC 5128 was discovered by James Dunlop on August 4, 1826. John Herschel was next to see it, from South Africa in 1834; he cataloged it as h 3501, which became GC 3525 in his General Catalogue of 1864, and NGC 5128 in J. L. E. Dreyer's New General Catalog. Herschel was first to note this galaxy's peculiarity, in 1847.

Halton Arp included NGC 5128 in his 1966 Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies as one of the best examples of a "disturbed" galaxy with dust absorption.

Amateur Observation

Centaurus A appears approximately 4° north of the naked-eye globular cluster Omega Centauri. At magnitude 7.0, this galaxy is the fifth brightest in the sky, making it ideal for observation, although it is only visible from the southern hemisphere and low northern latitudes. Centaurus A has been spotted with the naked eye by expert observers under very good conditions. The bright central bulge and dark dust lane are visible in finderscopes and large binoculars, and additional structure may be seen in larger telescopes.

NGC 5128 is a "lenticular" galaxy, of intermediate type between elliptical and disk (spiral) galaxies. Its main body has all characteristics of a large elliptical, but a pronounced dust belt is superimposed over the center, forming a disk plane around this galaxy.

The only supernova discovered in Centaurus A so far is SN 1986G, a Type Ia event that reached mag 12.5 in May, 1986.

Properties and Evolution

Centaurus A is located about 11 million light-years away, at the center of one of two subgroups within the Centaurus A/M83 Group. Messier 83 (the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy) is at the center of the other subgroup. These two groups are sometimes identified as one, since the galaxies around Centaurus A and the galaxies around M 83 are physically close to each other, and both subgroups appear to be stationary relative to each other. The Centaurus A/M83 Group is part of the Virgo Supercluster.

NGC 5128's strange morphology is the result of a merger between two smaller galaxies. The bulge of Centaurus A is comprised mainly of evolved red stars. Its dusty disk, however, has been the site of more recent star formation; over 100 star formation regions have been identified in the disk. As observed in other such "starburst" galaxies, a collision is responsible for the intense star formation. Scientists using the Spitzer Space Telescope have confirmed that Centaurus A is an elliptical galaxy going through a collision, devouring a spiral.

In the radio part of the spectrum, Centaurus A exhibits two vast regions of radio emission, running along the polar axis of NGC 5128's disk and extending hundreds of light years in both directions. A relativistic jet from what is believed to be a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy is responsible for emissions in the X-ray and radio wavelengths. Radio observations of the jet indicate that the inner parts of the jet are moving at about 1/2 the speed of light. X-rays are produced farther out, as the jet collides with surrounding gases, creating highly energetic particles.

Source: skysafari

RA: 13h 25m 27;8s

DEC: -43° 01’ 04"

Size: 28.9 x 28.9 arcmin

Orientation: Up is 0.397 degrees E of N

Location: Centaurus

Distance: 10-16 Mly

Magnitude: 6.8

Acquisition April 2021

Total acquisition time of 2.5 hours.

Technical Details

Data acquisition: Telescope.Live

Processing: Nicolas ROLLAND

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Rio Hurtado, Chile

L 6 x 600 sec

R 3 x 600 sec

G 3 x 600 sec

B 3 x 600 sec

Optics: Planewave 24“ CDK @ F6.8

Mount: Paramount ME

CCD: FLI PL 9000

Pre Processing: CCDstack, Pixinsight & Excalibrator

Post Processing: Photoshop CC

In Catholic tradition the virgin Mary appeared to Juan an indigenous peasant on four occasions, the Virgin Mary asked Juan Diego ro build a shrine to her o n the hill of Tepeyac where she first appeared! She left her image on his cloat "tilma" , the image is enshrined in the Basilica of OUr Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, the worlds third most religious sacred site! Photographed in St. Peter's Church in San Pedro, CA.

This seal appears on the cover of the US Patent Publications, often referred to as the "ribbon copy" once issued by the USPTO. While the embossed seal is still used, the red ribbon is no longer on the patent publication received by the patent owner/assignee.

Image stack (35 images) Shot with single off camera strobe (Godox AD200pro/Godox XPProII L tirigger), bare bulb, bounced off a 32 inch white umbrella, mounted on overhead boom, angled at 30 degrees.

Macro Mondays - theme embossed

size of seal - 51.5 mm

This dragonfly appears to be missing half of a wing which may explain why he was reluctant to fly away. It was also very breezy which may be another reason he chose to remain stationary for a long period of time. It's very likely that the dragonfly had a close encounter with a bird that got part of his wing but didn't manage to catch him.

After a few days on the road with an unstoppable rain, we finally arrived to Alesund, where a huge sunset appeared behind the clouds that filled sky.

Appears out of the fog with 4O90 Leeds -Southampton Liner. Nothing but fresh air behind it. Elford. 4th December 2024

An diesem Abend hat alles perfekt gepasst, der Sonnenuntergang war zwar wolkenlos, aber wunderschön glühend! Genau i dem Moment als die Sonne im Bogen der Brücke erschien, kam auch noch ein Güterzug. Perfektes Timing :-)

Vielen Dank für all Euer Likes und Kommentare, ich freu mich immer riesig darüber.

This evening everything was perfect, the sunset was cloudless, but beautifully glowing! Just at the moment the sun appeared in the arch of the bridge, there was also a freight train. Perfect timing :-)

Thanks for all your Likes and comments, I'm always looking forward to it.

This red disk-shaped phenomenon, is another member of the TLEs (Transient Luminous Events, happening in the middle and upper atmosphere, above thunderstorms) family and is called sprite halo. Under it, there is a group of, relatively small, sprites. Sprite halo is short-lived (some ms) and its color comes from the same physical process as in red sprites (de-excitation of 1st positive group of mol. nitrogen). Halos appear close to sprite tops (alt. ~80-85 km), over active thunderstorms, like sprites. Sprite halos are usually triggered by -CGs, in contrast to sprites which are related to +CGs (99%). There is also a faint stripe of high clouds in front of the halo. The yellow light is a distant ship.

The event happened over the thunderstorms south of Crete (on the east side of the Medicane on 28/10) as seen from S. Attica during the night of Oct. 28, 2021. Faint parent lightning flash at the bottom, behind a cloud layer, can be seen as well. I've used a Sigma 85 mm lens at f/1.4, for 1/4'' with 51.2k iso. More about the Greek Team chasing red sprites and TLEs in general: antisimvatikos.blogspot.com/2019/05/tles-greek-archive-of...

What is a red sprite? Info here: antisimvatikos.blogspot.com/2017/04/red-sprite.html

Photography and Licensing: doudoulakis.blogspot.com/

My books concerning natural phenomena / Τα βιβλία μου σχετικά με τα φυσικά φαινόμενα: www.facebook.com/TaFisikaFainomena/

The dam at Hamilton Reservoir, Holland, Massachusetts

It would appear its got to be a pretty skilled hunter to grab a fish out of the water here.

We climbed the observation tower in the southern enclosure to have lunch. Every five minutes, a flock of popokotea would appear in the treetops and then move on.

Maungatautari Sanctuary Mountain

I thought I would share this photo taken by my daughter of her beautiful Australian Blue (Red....think Chilli and Bingo)* deaf Australian Cattle Dog Bella getting her present from us on her 7th birthday. Of course the wrapping didn't last long. * Chilli and Bingo appear on the cartoon series "Bluey".

Laowa FFii 90mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO, stacked and developed in Affinity Photo

A new mural has appeared on the wall of the renovated tenement house. It is dedicated to Jan Kowalewski - a certified lieutenant colonel of the Polish Army, a mathematician, linguist and cryptologist. Founder of the cryptology and radio intelligence department in Poland after regaining independence after the First World War. He broke Soviet codes during the war with the Bolsheviks (1919), for many years he was an officer of the Second Department of the General Staff.

The mural is made with an interesting technique (it reminds me a bit of the Matrix movie). Here, the execution technique is associated with decoding the ciphers.

Also appears on Capital Weather Gang, The Huffington Post and DC Magazine.

This photo appeared in this week's North Hawaii News, which was published this morning.

This was the first assignment where I was both the story writer and photographer. The article I wrote is found below this photo's byline, seen here:

BILL ADAMS | NORTH HAWAII NEWS

The session was held at the Waimea Music Exchange store in the Parker Ranch Center this past Saturday.

--

Studies In The Art Of The Slack Key

by Bill Adams

The Waimea Music Exchange store at Parker Center was filled with the beautiful sounds of Hawaiian music this past Saturday morning as a group of students from Cornell University participated in a slack key guitar lesson taught by the Big Island's own Don Kauli'a, whose album "Sweet Wahine" was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award.

The students are enrolled in Cornell's Earth and Environmental Systems (EES) Field Program. A 5-month course which spans the entire spring semester, students engage in field, class and laboratory studies focused on the various ecosystems of our Hawaiian island chain and of Hawaii's history and culture.

Led by Professor Dr. Alexandra Moore, the EES Field Program is based out of Waimea and hosted by the Hawaii Preparatory Academy. The students' living quarters is the 8-bedroom Waiaka House near the main campus of HPA.

Dr. Moore explained, "The students are immersed in studies geared towards "Kumu Pa'a I Ka 'Aina, which translates to 'Knowledge and understanding that comes from the land.'"

The stated mission of the EES Field Program is "To inspire stewardship of the Earth through first-hand experience with the power, and fragility, of Earth's interconnected systems."

Upon completion of the EES Field Program, students will achieve 18 credit hours from courses such as; Field Study of the Earth System, Biogeochemistry of the Hawaiian Islands, Field Study of Marine Ecosystems, Internship Experience, and an Introduction to Hawaiian History and Culture, which included Saturday's slack key guitar lesson.

The Program stresses the importance of respecting the Hawaiian ancestral lands and to give something back to the community by engaging in a variety of service learning (in class) projects and local volunteer opportunities. Students are also encouraged to explore ways in which they can contribute to the well-being of their adopted community.

Before Saturday's lesson began, the students were able to briefly meet and chat with another famous Big Island slack key guitar master, Sonny Lim, a 2007 Grammy Award winner for his work on the album, "Slack Key Guitar Volume 2".

Participating in Saturday's guitar lessons were a diverse group of five Cornell University students; Hannah Kubica, a junior from Little Falls, New York, Keisuke Irie, a senior from Bergen County, New Jersey, Matt Connelly, a sophomore from Syracuse, New York, Kourtney Reynolds, a senior from San Diego, California and Tyler Huth, a sophomore from Boston, Massachusetts.

More information about Cornell University's EES Field Program can be found on the Internet at www.geo.cornell.edu/hawaii.

After the announcement that Robbie Reyes would be appearing in Agents of Shield I knew I had to make him. He is probably my favourite of the Ghost Riders and one I have been hoping to see on screen for a while. I used the ultron headgear for the helmet.

Well, it appears that the wait is over as Christophe Ruelle, the President and CEO of Ipernity SA, has finally accepted the IMA proposals as detailed in a brief update by William Sutherland.

The next few days should see further announcements being made on both sides once they have finalised the logistics of the transfer.

Got to be honest I'd almost given up hope that a deal could be struck and even today there's still a little voice inside my head saying "I'll believe it when it happens", but this isn't really a day to be negative ... it's a day to celberate and to try and be as optimistic as we can be about the future.

It's also a day to say a big thank you to those involved within the 'inner circle' of the IMA, and not just William although I suspect his input has been the most significant, for all they've done to get us to this stage.

Thanks also to Christophe who it appears has finally showed us all that he does indeed still care about the platform his team created all those years ago and the community that now call it home.

Analogue / Film / Medium Format: Ensign Selfix 820 (folding camera with native 6x6 e 6x9 masks) + Ross Xpres 105mm f/3.8 + 8 speed Epsilon shutter + Fomapan 400 (pushed 2 stop)

This scene appeared absolutely uninteresting to me in the summer when all the plants were covered in green leaves. But as often when most of them has fallen, much more structure and character is unveiled. Love the shots with thousands of sticks, as it remembers me to pencil strokes. And for sure, the red color complements wonderfully the white snow.

December 2022 | Niefern

© Max Angelsburger Photography

Thanks for your interest! Feel free to have a look on the other images of my portfolio as well.

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Music recommendation: ✨ Space Ambient Music. Deep Relaxation. Calming Space Journey | www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe46j0_nJpU

The man who appears soldering in this image is a Syrian discus champion !!! He dreamed of the Rio Olympics and had the level to go to ... Instead he ended up in a Refugee camp in Northern Greece, with no rights or freedom ... The continuous solidarity of the people who have flocked to these refugee camps have made possible some small miracles. One of them was building a gym for all ... Qusai started soldering an iron, then another, then another ... And he got it.

This vessel appears to have broken its anchor cable or connection to a moorage buoy and then blown onto the mud flats in one of the recent wind storms. I have noticed this vessel at anchor within Cowichan Bay in the common anchorage area. As pointed out by Dave Forbes it does not appear to have propeller.

An abandoned cabin near the ghost town of Rhyolite. I shot the chair and bed springs through the window. The poor chair appears to have been thoroughly decimated by rats or other wildlife.

Happy Window Wednesday!

"FALL BEFORE ME! OBLIVION TAKE YOU!"

(see on the blog)

@ We Love Role-Play:

makeup . "Feralis" (BOM) / by VENGE

hair . Leilani / by EscalateD

outfit . IOWA in brown / by JANGKA

boots . Eilidh boots in dark brown / by Lassitude & Ennui

sword . Legendary Sword (scripted RP weapon) / by LR Weapons

by Lumae:

skin . LeLutka Eden, T2 (BOM) @ mainshop!

by Nefekalum:

chest tattoo . Enchanted (Spririt) (BOM + mats) @ mainshop!

by NANTRA:

poses & shield . Brynhildr set @ mainshop!

also used:

eyes . Android Collection - L.Blue Robotic / by Gloom (from ACCESS' Cyber Fair)

head . EvoX AVALON / by LeLutka

teeth . The Sharps / by ContraptioN

body . Lara / by Maitreya

sparks . Fae Embers / by STATIC (@SLB18 shop and hop)

face pose . bento Facial expression HUD / by Happy Dispatch

backdrop . "Devote" from Behold the Day gacha / by The Bearded Guy

✭

CIRCA ✭

Deadly Nightshade ✭

Del-ka Aedilis ✭

Dimma ✭

Dotty's Secret ✭

eXxEsS ✭

✭

{Frick} ✭

Lovely Alien ✭

Lumae ✭

NANTRA ✭

Nefekalum ✭

✭

✭

Soul ✭

TSM ✭

TwoSided ✭

VENGE ✭

We Love Role-Play ✭

Zibska ✭

Image taken in the virtual platform of Second Life (tm)

The sun appears briefly across the limestone of Feizor. A place with history and atmosphere. It's a wonder this shot happened at all, really. Firstly, getting up for sunrise is still an effort..... The wind was fierce and it had, moments before,blown my camera over,smashed the lens hood and unknown to me, had knocked the camera onto manual focus. So it was luck that this appears to be in focus. A difficult exposure, and the tree was blowing so wildly that it appears to be moving, even in a still! Thanks for the new location Steve!

Down on Birnam Wood today this apparition appeared beside the giant Sycamore and its neighbour the Oak. They are both thought to be the sole surviving trees of the great forest that once straddled the banks and hillsides of the River Tay. This forest is celebrated in Shakespeare's Macbeth as the famous Birnam Wood.

Explore: Aug 28, 2009 #11

View On Black

And His glory appears

Like the light from the sun

Age to age He shine

Oh, look to the skies

maraculio.blogspot.com/

twitter.com/maraculio

maraculio.09 © All rights reserved

This pair of Canadian Geese appeared to be cautiously scouting for nesting sites by an old unused dock on the lake. What made this unusual was that while I have often seen them in the marsh areas off the lake, I have never seen this species on the main lake at all. Trailblazers, perhaps, tho I doubt it as the marshes provide much more protection from the eagles who regularly scout the lake.

Зенит = Zenit means Zenith that is the point in the sky that appears directly above the observer in astronomy or may mean the highest point

Manufactured by Vileiskiy Zavod Zenit, (Vileiskiy factory Zenit) of BelOMO (Belorussian Optical and Mechanical Association), near Minsk, former USSR

Model: 1991 type 5d, (produced between 1991-92)

all Zenit ET produced between 1982-1993 with quantity 3.000.000

as to Alexander Komarov

35 mm film SLR camera

Lens: MC Helios-44M-6 58mm f/2, (written with Latin letters), automatic diaphragm,

filter theread 52mm, serial no.93451950,

Other standard lens is Helios-44 58mm f/2 with manual diaphragm

Mount: M42 screw mount

Zenit and Valdai logos are on the lens

Aperture: f/2 - f/16, setting dial and ring on the lens

Focus range: 0.5-10m, +inf.

Focusing: Fresnel matte glass screen, ring, scale and DOF scale on the lens

Shutter: Horizontaly travelling, cloth focal-plane shutter, speeds 1/30 - 1/500 +B,

setting dial: on the top plate

Shutter cocking lever: also winds the film, short stroke, on the right of the top plate

Shutter release: on the top plate w/ cable release socket, and a lock mechanism

by half pressing you can see the DOF

Frame counter: coupled with the winding knob, advance type, manual setting

Viewfinder: eye-level SLR pentaprism

Exposure meter: uncoupled Selenium cell lightmeter

Metering: match the needles type, window beside the re-wind lever

Setting: by a complex dial under the re-wind lever with ASA, speed and aperture setting dials

Re-wind lever: folding crank type, left of the top plate

Re-wind release: by a collar around the shutter release

Self timer: activates by a small knob above the lever

Hot-shoe

Flash PC socket: on front of the top plate, X sync.1/30, marked 30-X on the speed dial

Back cover: hinged, opens by lifting the re-winding lever

Body: Plastic bronze coloured top and bottom finish, some parts are also plastic, weight:

Engravings on the bottom plate: Made in USSR and the Vilejka factory logo

Strap lugs

Tripod socket 1/4''

Serial no. 9132008 (stamped inside the back cover, the first two digits show the production year)

Small numbers of early Zenits was produced by KMZ, in 1981-82

Zenit ETs also exist without aperture automation. They offered various finish materials and colours like silver, black, bronze.

This camera is an attempt to modernize the Zenit EM. Initially it looked just like an EM with new lettering, with new designs on the dials.

The cameras produced in BeLomo are a complete remake of earlier Zenit ET. The shape and features remain the same, but material that camera was made is different. It mostly made from plastic and lite alloy. Not only external parts like top and bottom cowers made from plastic, but many internal gears, levers, and pulleys are made from plastic also. But the camera works very smooth, quieter then metal counterpart and the most peculiar feature on this model is the first multi coated lens in mass production.

The Soviet times factory Vileiskiy Zavod Zenit new name is Vilejka Factory, or officially OM RUP ZENIT. Founded in early 1969 in Vilejka, about 75km north-west of Minsk, as a side plant of MMZ and KMZ to produce Zenit cameras. Vilejka, has produced many Zenit models: E, TTL, ET, 11, 15, under slightly different designations. Vilejka is apparently still producing Zenits, i.e. Zenit 130.

MMZ (Minsk Mechanical Factory) was founded in 1957. It started making optical glass and producing cameras that were developed by GOMZ. In 1971 MMZ and Vileiskiy Zavod Zenit merged to form BelOMO (Belorussian Optical and Mechanical Association) . It was based in Minsk.

Optical-Mechanical Factory Valdai is located about 400km north-west of Moscow. Very little is known of this plant, but it has been a prolific producer of lenses for KMZ, and Zenit BelOMO. The SLR lenses bear the Helios name.

more info: Communist Cameras by Nathan Dayton, Fotoua by Alexander Komarov, Sovietcams by Aidas Pikiotas, Sovietcamera by JM Burtscher

random cones of delight appear within the wetlands brush

(Explored March 25, 2021 # 500)

This picture appears on Page 37 of the Sept-Oct 2011 issue of Behind Barz Motorcycle Magazine. See it here www.behindbarz.com/id73.html

It would appear that the New Life Church had a busy congregation, this morning ... lots of cars parked along the entrance and street!

Our Daily Challenge ~ ... Religion & Photography ...

Stay Safe and Healthy Everyone!

Thanks to everyone who views this photo, adds a note, leaves a comment and of course BIG thanks to anyone who chooses to favourite my photo .... Thanks to you all!

Well, it certainly appears that the farmer has done a wonderful job in this field! I am sure that I recall noticing that the farmer had already gathered crops but now it looks like something else is being grown!

365/2025 - Still The Wheel Turns ...

Stay Safe and Healthy Everyone!

Thanks to everyone who views this photo, adds a note, leaves a comment and of course BIG thanks to anyone who chooses to favourite my photo .... Thanks to you all!

Brace yourselves, this is going to be a long one...

This is Emput (short for Semput, or asthmatic in Malay). Emput is a stray cat that started appearing around my mother in law's apartment block about a year and a half ago. Contrary to all the other cats that linger around the area, we've never seen Emput while he was still a healthy little kitten. Instead, he just came out of nowhere, all sickly and thin. His health is lacking to say the least. He was so thin that when I touched & petted him, I could see that he was barely more than skin & bone. His body and fur was covered in dried scabs & cuts from fights he had with the other neighbourhood cats. How he fared in those fights I can barely think about. In addition, he always breathed in this ragged gasps, his flanks & sides moving up and down erratically. As if he had asthma. That's how he came to be known by me as Emput.

Being a stray, he had no owner & no home to speak of. What he had was an elderly Chinese couple living in the same apartment block who took rudimentary care of him and fed him at least once a day with cat food and boiled fish with rice. What he called home was the entire ground floor of the apartment block. This however, was his favorite spot.

Because of his ill health and because I have always had a soft spot for stray cats, I took a liking to him. I'd always make it a point to stroke & pet him as much as I could whenever I walked by him. I guess I pitied him...when I gave his head & chin a rub, he would roll over and expose his stomach just like house cats do. That's the only time he felt safe & loved like one, I think. In spite of his condition, Emput held on to life for the longest time, like an old hardy soldier. For that, I respected him. I've always had it in mind to do something for him to make him better, like take him to the vet. I made a resolution to myself that I would do so in 2 months time, after Eid. I told him once while I gave him a head rub..."Hold on for 2 more months, okay?". I guess that was too much to ask.

Ever since he appeared, I have always wondered how long he could last. My wondering has ceased...

I went back to my mother in law's house yesterday. Emput was nowhere to be seen. Previously, if I didn't see him anywhere, I would ask my father in law where he was and he'd say "Oh, he was there just now, I saw him"..and then I'd feel at ease. After asking them the same question yesterday, his reply was in the negative. Instead, my father in law told me that there was a new burial mound in the little yard at the back of the apartment block. I should explain...the aforementioned elderly Chinese couple had always took it upon themselves to bury the cats they fed & took care of when they died. They did so by digging up a hole in the yard and later, when the hole was covered, they would put bricks & stones on top so that other scavenging animals can't get to the corpse. Up till recently, I noticed that there were 3 such burial mounds in the yard. Yesterday, I saw there were 4.

In the last couple of weeks, I began to do a strange thing. I began photographing Emput in his daily environment. Whenever I went back to my in law's place, I took one of my cameras along with me, always loaded with film. I photographed Emput as much as I could. Somehow, a part of me already knew that Emput had not long to live, and if no one else took photos of him (like house cats whose pictures were frequently taken by their owners)...then at least I did. If there are no photos of him at all in this whole wide world, then at least there are some in my archives. It's almost like I wanted the photos to be a record, proof that a stray cat called Emput once existed at Block F10, Seksyen 2, Wangsa Maju.

I didn't know it then, but this is the last photo I took of him.

I just wish I had done something for him earlier. Here's a photo of you Emput, published on the this crazy thing called the Innernet where everyone can see you. Turns out, it's the very least I can do for you.

Rest in peace, my friend. May Allah SWT have nicer things in store for you.

Kodak Retinette Type 022 ~ Schneider Kreuznach Reomar 45/3.5 ~ Expired Kodak Gold 100 ~ Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Some of the spectators appear to have spotted Superman as he flew overhead.

This Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) appeared to be sleepwalking across the snow of his enclosure at the Detroit Zoo. I took about 20 pictures of him, and his eyes were closed in all of them. Maybe he was just blocking the intense sunlight reflecting from the snow, or maybe he had walked this route so many times a day, he could do it with eyes closed.