Time evolution

Asymptotic progression

Continuity considerations

Post Cards from the vacation that is my life. the "I have been some remote placeless but....... " section

So here I am spending the day organizing 180TB of drive. Sorting through the 16TB of Myanmar images. Looking at the 2_DO folder. From a kinder gentler time. I look forward to the day I can be taking like this again.

Shot with the fabulous D200 24-120mm modified to capture infraredpost processed with Capture NXD and the NiK collection in Photoshop CC

For consideration only, no reproduction without prior permission.

#Nikon100 #nikonlove #kelbyone #photography #onOne @NikonUSA

#NikonD200 #NikonNoFilter #niksoftware #nikonUSA #Epson

#wacom #xritephoto #calibrite #onone #sunbounce #fineartphotography #kolarivision

#DxO #iamgenerationimage #iamnikon #B&H #PhotogenicbyBenQ

#nikonLOVE #hoodman #Myanmar #Burma

#nikonnofilter #nikonambassador

as a thank you for kindness and consideration, for the sweet emails and visits

:~)

In consideration of the cold season, gentlemen are advised to keep their hats on the way to the grave.

American lifer #529. Most of my fellow photographer and birders enjoyed these rarities at Kelly Nature park. Work has kept me from going there until today just before sunset...as luck will have it, the two golden wings ended up right by the river at my last chance spot...way too noisy, but the best I could do for a first encounter. Heavily cropped. Topaz

processed.

From Cornell [www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Golden-winged_Warbler/lifehis...]: Golden-winged Warblers have declined sharply and now have one of the smallest populations of any bird not on the endangered species list. The North American Breeding Bird Survey estimates a decline of almost 2.5% per year between 1966 and 2014—amounting to an overall decline of 68%. Partners in Flight estimates the global breeding population at 410,000, with 84% spending some part of the year in the U.S., 2% in Mexico, and 16% breeding in Canada. They rate a 15 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score and are on the 2014 State of the Birds Watch List, which lists bird species that are at risk of becoming threatened or endangered without conservation action. They are also listed as a Tri-National Concern species. In 2012, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took the species under consideration for listing as an endangered species. As numbers have fallen, the species’ range has also shifted northwest. The breeding range is now largely split into two distinct regions, with 95% of the population in the Upper Great Lakes (mostly Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Manitoba) and the other 5% in the Appalachians from New York to Georgia. Minnesota now has the highest remaining density of Golden-winged Warblers, with about half the global population. The Appalachian mountains population has nearly been extirpated (down 98 percent). Causes of the bird’s decline include habitat loss and hybridization and competition with the closely related Blue-winged Warbler (in which the Golden-winged tends to lose out). Wetland habitats seem to be a stronghold for Golden-winged Warblers, but invasive Phragmites is making the birds’ preferred tussock-sedge nesting sites harder to find. Clearcutting, burning, and grazing can improve habitat for Golden-winged Warblers, although new evidence points to the importance of keeping mature forest nearby. Loss of open forests on the wintering grounds is also a problem, and bird-friendly or shade-grown coffee and cacao plantations can help retain habitat for the species. The Golden-winged Warbler Working Group, a consortium including the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and 38 other universities, agencies, and conservation groups, has released a conservation plan to improve the species’ prospects by 2050.

re.flec.tion

contemplation: a calm, lengthy, intent consideration.

The best thing about finally getting the www.dictionaryofimage.co.uk website up and running is that it has got me back to making new DOI creations on a regular basis.

*Note: I dont use a flood filter for these shots, i've been inspired by some of the great results i've seen from them (evan), but i seek out natural reflections.

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I will also post versions of these without text to my photography website

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©2009 Jason Swain, All Rights Reserved

This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

Getting a good shot of the Milky Way is complicated. In addition to considerations such as location, time of year, moon phase, cloud cover, atmospheric conditions, equipment, and camera settings, there’s the issue of choice of foreground. What are you going to put in the image in addition to the sky? And how will this foreground area be lighted?

The question of foreground illumination leads me to consider three methods of Milky Way photography:

a. Use the moon as a light source

b. Use your own lights

c. Photograph the foreground when there is more light

1. At twilight

2. During daylight (with post-processing to make it appear to be night)

Any image of the Milky Way that you can see on a screen or in a print is by definition a fake. Processing of the image has made it bright enough that you can see it in daylight. The question is: How much of a fake is it? I suggest that the three categories listed above appear in order of fakery, with the first (use the moon) as the most pure and free of manipulatiion, and the final (c-2) as the least. At that stage of fakery, you can use just about any image you have as a foreground.

I have used all of these methods. Some of my Milky Way images have foregrounds that were shot years earlier using a lens of different focal length and the camera pointed who knows where? But people tend to like them. Even the obvious fakes generate a lot of favorable views on flickr and Unsplash.

But today I want to show you an example of option (a), as pure an image as I can make.

Moonlight is useful for star shots only during the brief period of two or three nights before and after the new moon, when its illumination is in the 20 to 30 percent range. This amount of reflected sunlight gives just the right amount of light on the scene. Given that the other conditions have to be met (clear sky, etc.) the opportunity for this type of photography happens only a few times a year, if any. Even then, moonlight (just like sunlight) makes the sky appear blue. You don’t see it because of the darkness, but it does appear in the images. This limits the amount of contrast in the sky that you would get after the moon has set and the sky becomes truly black. With no moonlight, the structure of the Milky Way becomes much more prominent in the image. But you don’t actually see much of that when gazing up at the sky.

I’ll show you the difference tomorrow. But today I present an image that is most like what you would actually see if you were there.

(The bright spot in the middle is Jupiter.)

©JaneBrown2018 All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without explicit written permission

The older I get, the more I am becoming a stranger.

Fryodor Dostoevsky wrote “What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.” He was right on many levels. And as I get older, I give thanks that I have become unexpected, because of it! I found that the first part of enabling yourself to love, is to love and be kind, not just to others, but also towards yourself. And that this could be applied to the principle of the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to share how personally significant it is. How on reflection of its application, I now appreciate why it is so important.

The consideration of love, come about after a face book conversation with a young man I help raise. He was a kind, and happy young man, but he wrote something on social media that made me genuinely concerned for him. He wrote of post-traumatic stress syndrome, or PTSD and I tried to convey to him that despite what may have happened to him, or what he may have seen to cause it, that he should be kind to himself. I wrote to him saying he should be easy on himself. I told him we all loved him. We loved him because he was a kind, and respectful person. Talking to him, helped teach me, that we all make mistakes, and that sometimes despite making no mistakes at all, and despite being utterly blameless, we witness things that no person should witness. I conveyed to him that we must remember that we are not to blame, even despite at times our direct involvement. I indirectly shared a little part of myself with him, not just because I am proud of how he turned out, as he now helps me, and others. I shared it, because he assisted me, one way or another, and as a result he helped me to write this, a self-reflection that helps me with my own PTSD.

Thanks Ben.

Despite only being a little older than fifty, my mind and body, no longer match nor recognise the person I once was, and my recollections of my character become more frequently and every so often vailed. Despite the change of loss, it still cuts a little. It was not that I showed pride, it was not that my ego was hurt or reduced, it was from the personal experience of PTSD that I spoke to Ben with an adult honesty, an honesty that I always showed him even when he was a child. And it made me realize that despite the ever present or looming Spector of PTSD, that the thing that grates me, was the idea that some thought it was a weakness. Although never considering myself as weak, the considerations were foreign and made me reconsider who I was as a person.

So, who is this new person, this stranger?

I do not know, and to be honest; it is just that the more I write about myself, to myself, the more I appreciate the efforts I made. The more I write, the less, and curiously the more of a stranger I become. I reiterate, over and over to myself, about just how many failures it took to achieve anything. And it should be noted that failure is not necessarily an end; it is in general I have found, “…the start of doing something meaningful…, to paraphrase someone from somewhere in the cloud...

The more I look back, one of the things that I appreciate, was giving the benefit of the doubt. And although I fell on my face applying it on multiple occasions, I dearly valued how it helped, not just those that I gave it to, but in the end, it helped me! It helped me value the person I had become, and very fortunately it helped me value the person I was, despite all that had happened. Because of my application of it to others, I learnt to give myself the benefit of the doubt. And writing about it in my diary, makes me appreciate the principle, for what it is. It showed me just how clever it remains, and of how much worth it has as an intrinsic value or idiom. It in retrospect seemed like just a thing you do, and it should be noted that to give it, (the benefit of the doubt), and expect something back, other than to be granted the courage that it might be possibly or hopefully reciprocated, lacks integrity and self-sacrifice. It was something I was taught by my parents to do as a child, and I did it, and do it, because I was instructed that it was the right thing to do. I keep it up, because now I know, it is the just thing to do, not just a thing you do.

The application of this fundamental axion, pushed for me, to try to treat people with respect, even if I did not know them. It is not that I respect them, whoever they are, as my respect is earned, it is that I respect their right to be treated humanely and with humility. And until recently, I never fully treated myself with this respect. As a result, I now have become a stranger to myself. The more I learn, the more I find out, and the more I understand that I was not what other people thought I was. That they never really knew me. That their opinion of me was in general in error, and or self-serving of themselves.

I never forget the mistakes I made, which is part of my PTSD. But I try and be kind to myself and not dwell on them, as learning is and always will be an objective, and I now know we, as in humanity, universally make mistakes, while learning. I know that this is part of the learning process. These mistakes are written about in humanities survival manuals, printed, and etched in text to help us. Reading of others, not just personally observing them, and having firsthand experience, reinforced that this scenario played out repeatedly in its truism. It helped not just with forgiving myself for my mistakes or failings, but it aided in forgiving others for theirs. Due to this maxim, and its novel application to myself, I now look at this foreign person that I have never seen before. That person was me, and ironically, always was. I look at myself in a new light. It is not that I had an epiphany about who I was, I just never gave myself any credit, as not many others did. It was a trait written in one of my high school reports.

Despite them saying things like you are not bright enough; or you do not have the capacity, I just kept on going, like Vinsent from the movie Gattica. My mother gently pushed me not to listen to the people that said things like you cannot do that, or you will not succeed if you go down that rout. I tried never to listen to the nay sayers, because that is what my mother taught me. Although at times, I did. She was so calm and repetitive in saying it, that I should just keep on going. And as my capacity to take hits lessons, and my body runs out of time, I am losing some of the innocence I once had. The naive ignorance, and faith, in my capacity to weather personal injury slowly diminishes. I am not becoming a grumpy old man, sinical or anything like that. But, as my ability to disregard the opinion of those that thought, or think, of my applications of intellect, where acts of stupidity, I now become a little inelastic. My perseverance for those that thought it, and felt no shame in publicly pronouncing it, gets less, and because of their ridicule, I have become more.

In Australia, right or wrong we cut down tall poppies, and I have been cut down many times. This process seems highly ironic, as I never stood tall for all but a second in my youth. And boy did I get cut down by those that disagreed with me. Recently it seemed to me that they were just flogging a dead horse, trying to bleed the very last drop of effort out, all the while offering no just reward. But unlike Boxer from George Orwell’s novel Animal farm, I am not at the knackery yet, nor have I been sold for more whiskey for the pigs. It has not gone quite that far, although it has been tried by those that sort to capitalise on my work. And although my study and work put me in many perilous positions, some of which had left me socially prostrate and biochemically brutalised, it was the innocence and naivety, with which I went about my work, just like Boxer, that I am happy about. An innocence or loyalty that was, and is, of a worth that I personally think is immeasurable. It was not just a loyalty to people, but to values and things I had been taught.

Standing on principles that where and are sometimes profoundly challenged by my peers is and was in fact a strength. Most do not know the value or strength of virtue. And the revaluation, of its consideration helped me establish who I am, and what I went through. It helped reduce the PTSD, and now I am someone foreign to me. Like a thought of the third person, I have become a welcome stranger to myself. It has caused a process of revaluation, and in that process, I have become someone new, someone alien, someone of value. And just like the welcome swallows that turned up every year at my old house, they as a metaphor for an idea where in contrast, and unlike PTSD. They, like a conscious dream, fly in from nowhere, light up my day, and move on. And just like the birds, who took with them the mosquitos that filled the night air, my considerations take with them, the mosquitoes of my mind. They were such a beautiful little thing to see, and always welcome. For a quite mind is a gift.

This new person was created with two forces, out of something old. Like water and wind, to use a cliché, they helped produce me, with a heavy dose of self-fortitude. They had both worn me out, and worn me down, and I become a considerate tolerant man. Both were my parents. My mother, said and encouraged me to try anything, but she always reminded me, of the demanding work required to achieve said task. In contrast, my father cut down every endeavour I had thought of trying. Where my mother had taught me how to give myself the benefit of the doubt, my father gave me the capacity and discipline to do the work required. Initially he did not believe that I had the capacity to do the miles, to use a cycling term. To do the miles is to suffer for extended periods of time, to work, to churn, or grind away on the pedals as you train. Doing the miles makes your response to the task automatic, disciplined, and acutely effective. The longer you grind, or the more miles you do, the more Zen like you become at a task. Ironically as they both aged, my mother’s enthusiasm for me waned, and my father’s enthusiasm increased.

I do not know, if my father saw in the end, the miles being done, but, and it should be noted that both my mother and my father may have been a bit out, in their accuracy department of their analysis of me early on. Despite this, they both taught me resilience. The resilience, to have the not so common capacity to give the benefit of the doubt. One initially vocally optimistic, and ever encouraging, the other absent in lack of optimism, with an ever-present silence. His silence came from seeing me fall, seeing people laugh at his son, and finding the visual or metaphor more horrid to watch, than it ever was. I do not think he ever worked out, that where I might have lacked the ability to do the miles, it was my persistence in getting back up after a fall, which was my talent or discipline. Due to this, both my mother and father’s appraisals were wrong.

What caused it, this factual error? And to introduce Einstein in my parent’s defence, the situation was relative; it was not just their lack of faith in that I would just keep going after a fall, they just never could clearly see, where I was moving to, or where I was in time. I was on one train, and they were on the other. Like ships in the night passing each other, we never really stopped to talk, I never really discussed my work with them, I never told them about what I did. For when I had, they never believed me, for they could not comprehend my achievements. This social isolation is part of the new person I am, and as I discuss me, and what, or who I am, I come to the realisation of my exploitation by others. With an absence of family to discuss the details of my effort, and the sacrifices I had made, as they would never understand it, I started to write a journal, or a diary, about my work, and put into perspective or context, that journey.

Part of that journey due to my lowly status at work, was I never had a boss who could intimidate me. I never had a boss that could threaten me with a lower position, because I was in general already or always in it, the lowest of jobs. And thus, I become a type of wondering ronin. I am not sure, if my use of the word ronin is the old, or the updated version, but it most certainly is an Australian or western fusion of the two. This wondering, this lack of direction, and the experience of suffering and struggle, become an instructor of joy. It was an indicator, or a sign that I had earned my happiness, and not expected others to pay for it. This work or suffering had educated me, that I had earned the right to smile. I had served not just myself, in my endeavours of my pursuit of personal happiness, but that I had also served others on their quest or personal journey or pursuit of it… It was through my personal suffering, for that is what my work was, that I had lowered my collateral damage to those that surrounded me. I had reduced my infliction on their personal pursuits of happiness. As a result, I gave the benefit of the doubt to my pain, not knowing if it would ever bear fruit. I learnt of the discomfort of others, through my experience. I discovered that I should be considerate, because one way or another, we all suffer, and to intentionally cause another to suffer more is inhumane. I learned what that tribulation may entail, how personal it is, and how much of a double-edged sword it can be, as it is both, friend, and foe. And through the sympathy of other individuals suffering, and because of it, I learnt to give myself the benefit of the doubt, and I concluded that I had earned a decent living.

Studying others and their sacrifice, not just my own, and being respectful to both, helps alleviate the constant reminder of my broken body. The aches, and the pains, that I presume, if I make it to eighty, will all be quite weathering. But for now, they help keep me honest. I can only hope as I become more crippled, that I take more from Yoda than quasi modo. It will help put into context, the sacrifice of others, and just how lucky I have been, in comparison to some. It puts into perspective, that to give the benefit of the doubt, is to sacrifice little, and to give the benefit of the doubt, is to give up nothing. It is staunch, hard, and stoic, with one purpose, to give, and the first person you need to give it to is yourself. It has been both philosophically and religiously said, that suffering, and trial are a gift, a gift reserved for those that can manage it, but sometimes I wonder. At times, I look on at people, and question about their journey, and how much they, which is most of us, endure. And after reading a little of the Philosophers, I concur, luck, and hard work, are no strangers to each other, and when combined, are like magic. A magic so powerful, I no longer recognise myself, or care about my crippled body, nor the PTSD from the events that crippled it.

I was not cursed by my suffering, I was blessed to help not just myself, but others.

The Seventh District Police Station and Stable, constructed in 1901, are well-preserved examples of St. Louis' few remaining historic police stations. When St. Louis city boundaries were extended for the last time in 1876, almost all of the annexed area lay west of Grand Avenue. Although the center of population had been steadily moving westward for several decades, the newly annexed land was still sparsely inhabited. By 1890, however, public transit lines were connecting Downtown St. Louis with western suburban tracts and streetcar suburbs mushroomed as subdivision platting proceeded at an accelerated rate. Among the consequences of the city's growth was the need for police protection in the newly developing residential sections. By 1895, boundaries of three of the city's eight police districts had been extended considerably west of Grand Avenue but without an increase in policemen to patrol the added territory. Finally, in 1899, through the persistent efforts of Harry B. Hawes, President of the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners, the State Legislature passed a bill amending the 1861 Act which first established the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Among the significant features of the new statute were provisions for expedient approval of Police Department budgets, a sizable increase of three hundred patrolmen and the redistricting of the city from nine to twelve police districts where each would be equipped with a "station house or houses, with all things and equipments required for the same, and all such other accomodations as may be required for the use of the police."

Within a short time after the Seventh District was established, a building permit was issued in November 1900 to the St. Louis Police Department for a new station and stable on the southeast corner of Grand and Magnolia (seen above). With an emphasis on functional plan, the commodious three-story brick station (the first fruits of the 1899 statute) included a gymnasium on the third floor -- an innovative feature for St. Louis stations at the time. The station also was reported to have housed the Police Academy, a training school for patrolmen that was relocated after 1928 to a separate building downtown. The exterior design continued nineteenth century St. Louis brick building conventions and displayed an interesting variety of textures and patterns in the stone & brick ornamental detailing. The fortress-like treatment of the attic story with a stepped-brick blind arcade added a distinctive element, recalling nineteenth century armory design. Mounted on the facade of the adjoining stable, an unusually well-executed terra cotta horse's head is a rare surviving example in the city. The Seventh District Station continued to serve the area until 1960 when the city was redistricted again and the Grand & Magnolia buildings were sold to the local branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers, a union which represented more than two thousand mailmen in the St. Louis area. Recently (around 1984 when this information was gathered), the buildings were purchased by the WVP Corporation (engineers, architects, and planners) which will move its St. Louis office to the old station.

The Seventh District Police Station and Stable were determined to be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) according to criterion C for significance in the area of Architecture and was added to the list on March 22, 1984. All the information above and more was found on the original documents submitted for listing consideration and can be viewed here:

catalog.archives.gov/id/63820863

Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D7200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6.

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the following link: www.flickriver.com/photos/photojourney57/

I'd like to buy a supply of these bags for those inconsiderate idiots in Congress who refused to wear a mask during the hours they spent in very close quarters as they sheltered during the 6 January seditious storming of our Capitol. One Congresswoman, a cancer survivor, has now tested positive for Covid-19 after being stuck in a small room with those fools ! BTW they didn't just forget their masks: they were offered some and refused to accept them. Someone should tattoo their Oath of Office on them since they've clearly forgotten it. : ((

The three new pairs of boxers are made and can be crossed off my list!!!!!!!!!!

cf www.flickr.com/photos/diogioscuro/2127095765/

I take / Make / use notes ! Adjust this for that, what's the story ? view settings ! resize, for presentation. You get the message !!

That's just a sample View , Thursday and Friday are the Special shapes day's that means they are first to leave the launch field, make another earlier times not full lighting at 7 AM. example view other days at the time ! for ball park settings / focal length with or without cloud cover ! Telephoto considerations !! TBC,,,

The cemetery was closed for the night...... after brief consideration and hesitation, I climbed over a stone wall near "La Perla". It wasn't easy with a heavy tripod in tow.

As I walked through the darkening necropolis, I was greeted by a disembodied (but friendly "live" human) voice: "buenas noches.....creimos que no te hibas atrever" (Good evening, we thought you might not come over the wall after all)......

Los restos de Daniel Santos reposan en el Cementerio Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis del Viejo San Juan, cerca del Maestro Don Pedro Albizu Campos y el compositor Don Pedro Flores.

Ademas de ser uno de los gigantes de la musica popular latina americana, la figura de Daniel Santos inspiró a varios escritores, entre ellos al colombiano Gabriel García Márquez, quien lo menciona en su obra "Relato de un náufrago" y en varios artículos y reportajes periodísticos. Su vida y época musical son el tema de la novela "Vengo a decirle adiós a los muchachos", del escritor puertorriqueño Josean Ramos; así como motivo del libro "La importancia de llamarse Daniel Santos", de Luis Rafael Sánchez, y "El Inquieto Anacobero", del Salvador Garmendia.

Y de Don Albizu y Don Pedro, que se podra decir que no se ha dicho ya?

As you will have noticed from the previous two photos, I hadn’t planned to spend the rest of the day dressed as little Miss Demure. Of the many (too many?) new clothes I have bought in the last year, I wanted to try out this dark green leather dress first. The colour, the cut and the length mean that it is sexy , but not overtly so. It looked great when I first tried it on at home, but, as you can see, here I am giving it careful consideration.

This image is worth including here because someone with some photographic imagination took it. Getting a good photograph out of my camera phone seems to very difficult at the moment, and a large number of gloomy or fuzzy photos were deleted pretty quickly.

But I do think it is a nice dress, and I’ll post another, clearer photo of it soon.

By the power vested in me by Myself I hereby (cheers Donald!) declare the establishment of "The Most Auspicious Contest for The Cutest Pet Photo Ever in the History of the Universe".

Henceforth and with immediate effect I submit this pic to this Contest.

Upon no consideration at all and having barely recovered from prolonged and very loud "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwww" you exhaled seeing this photo I instantly pronounce myself a winner and hand myself the gold plated trophy of "puppy in a basket" and dissolve The Contest which rendered itself redundant.

second pic up/down the stream

go Sinead, I have all the time in the world for you, you 100% mental and 100% brilliant:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eD9U0Ty_CI

Made with Apophysis 7X

As of December 11, Nature Calgary field trips are paused until January 15, 2021. In consideration of the new Alberta Health Services guidelines dealing with the very concerning rise in cases that threaten the ability of our health care system to adequately care for those afflicted, the Nature Calgary board has decided to place a temporary pause on field trips. The board will reassess the situation on 14 January 2021.

Sunday, 13 December 2020: temperature is -17C (windchill -26C) and overcast. Sunrise is at 8:32 am, and sunset is at 4:29 pm. Unfortunately, we know that there is a lot of winter weather still to come, though temperatures for the coming week are supposed to be closer to 0C.

I can't wait for Winter Solstice on 21 December, so that days can at last start to stay light for just a little bit longer. Lousy night vision is so frustrating and limiting! Eight days ago, on 3 December 2020, I drove NE of the city, hoping to maybe see a Snowy Owl. Knowing that it would take me at least an hour and three-quarters to get back home, I started the long drive mid-afternoon in order to avoid the blinding late afternoon sun and the start of it getting dark. No luck finding a Snowy, but I did stop and photograph a number of old barns and other wooden structures, which made for a happy day.

Most of my drive was on familiar roads, with just a few new backroads. Because of limited time, I drove directly to my destination and the same on the return drive home. Some of the old barns that I photographed were ones that I had seen before. The rest may have been new ones, but I'm not sure. One barn (looked brand new) that I photographed literally took my breath away. A very unexpected and unusual sight, and one that I thought was beautiful. I'm pretty sure now that it was actually a barn and not a barn-style house.

What birds were seen? Practically nothing! The occasional Magpie, a Raven/Crow, and a flock of what I think were Snow Buntings in flight. I am almost beginning to think that Snowy Owls don't really exist : )

khitten.wordpress.com/2016/07/11/consideration/

After long consideration and a lot of requests I've finally decided to set up a small "curve" shop where you'll be able to buy some of my most popular Photoshop Curves.

These are the tools that I use on my work on a daily basis, so hopefully you'll have as much fun with them as I do

bloom + blue velvet + sugar rush + vintage daydream are my favorite and most used curves, you can get them here:

www.etsy.com/shop/BUYCOLOR

www.etsy.com/shop/BUYCOLOR

www.etsy.com/shop/BUYCOLOR

It has been a very dark few months, both inside and out for me in many ways. With a recent move, the birds around our new home have brought something that looks like peace or at least it can see from where it is.

This particularly feisty, little male Red-Breasted Nuthatch and I have been spending a lot of time together. He seems to appreciate my presence for obvious winter reasons, but so do the other birds... with him there's a little something extra. I needed him even more, truth be told.

This is the best portrait I could make of him.

We've dubbed him Wyatt Errph.

:)

The video:

youtu.be/Q2dxHuSsjY4

I'm telling my story only once and only here. After long consideration I have decided to not share it on my profile page.

I always loved this cap. I've had it since 3,5 years now and I can't recall wearing it during my chemotherapy period. Perhaps this is why I still love it.

My life's changed a lot since the breast cancer diagnoze and it took (and still takes) a lot of effort, energy and pain to build up my identity again after all the treatments. I fully lost myself or my ego which is needed to survive in this world. I'm doing okay now by the way.

Photography has become an important tool to express myself. It tells me everything about my state of being, how I see the universe and my subconsciousness.

It has been quite a journey already and I've learned so much by just looking at a lot of work. Some people I follow on Flickr I admire so much and they have been such a big inspiration to me. For me it's not important therefore if they don't follow me back to be honest.

It's been a pleasure, thank you!

Hi Flickr friends!

After long consideration I've decided to make my stream "friends only." I realize that I might only have a hand full of you as friends only, so please post a comment on this picture if you'd like to continue to view my photos. ^____^ I'll add you right away! I'll leave it up as public for a few days so everyone has time to comment.

Thanks, and I promise I'll get back to viewing/posting/commenting everyone's photos this week!

Everything is connected with everything else and must be untangled with understanding and consideration, carefully, with patience, so that this world remains intact and can continue to be used ...

Minorities and nature are also protected ... that's democracy, you have to take everyone with you, an election period, all the more half of it, is not enough, and with all due haste it is important not to lose patience and only behave selfishly, because it would result in a shambles ...

the "quick" and easy solutions of the populists do not help, they mean loss of time and destruction ... ;-) ...

You have to imagine the world of the future, beautiful and sustainable, wonderful, be optimistic, at the same time work hard for it, never lose sight of the goal and sometimes forego, it will pay off and you must never lose patience and doubt, never give up or pull others down ...

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Everything is connected to everything else and must be unraveled with understanding and consideration, carefully, with patience, so that this world remains intact and can continue to be used...

minorities are also protected and nature... that's democracy, you have to take everyone with you, one election period, all the more half of it, is not enough, and despite all the haste necessary, it is important not to lose patience and behave selfishly, because it would result in a shambles...

The populists' "quick" and easy solutions don't help, they mean loss of time and destruction... ;-) ...

You have to imagine the world of the future, beautiful and sustainable, wonderful, be optimistic, work hard for it at the same time, never lose sight of the goal and sometimes forego, it will pay off and you must never lose patience and doubt, never give up, pull the others down...

Translated with google ...

Alles hängt mit allem zusammen und muss mit Verstand und Rücksicht, vorsichtig, mit Geduld, entwirrt werden, damit diese Welt heil bleibt und weiter genutzt werden kann ... auch Minderheiten werden geschützt und die Natur, ...

so ist Demokratie, man muss alle mitnehmen, eine Wahlperiode, gar die hälfte dessen, reicht nicht, und bei aller gebotenen Eile ist es wichtig, nicht die Geduld zu verlieren und sich nur egoistisch zu gebärden, denn es würde ein Scherbenhaufen entstehen ...

die "schnellen" und einfachen Lösungen der Populisten helfen nicht, sie bedeuten Zeitverlust und Zerstörung ... ;-) ...

man muss sich die Welt der Zukunft, schön und nachhaltig, wundervoll vorstellen, optimistisch sein, gleichzeitig dafür hart arbeiten, das Ziel nie aus den Augen verlieren und manchmal auch verzichten, es wird sich auszahlen und man darf nie die Geduld verlieren und zweifeln, nie aufgeben, die anderen Herunterziehen ...

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A quiet place of stone and vegetation. Père Lachaise Cemetery - France

it is inexplicably coherent, it is transcendent in its meaning, and it has the power to elevate a consideration of human life.

Barry Lopez

Ho abbandonato momentaneamente Flickr perchè sto controllando il mio archivio e riscansionando la maggior parte dei miei scatti per avere delle scansioni al meglio...magari da esporre. Non sto facendo un lavoro cronologico ma su progetti che ritengo interessanti, e spesso su scatti che non avevo preso in considerazione. Inizio con questa serie di immagini del 96 fatte in Uruguay e ho deciso che la serie sarà Uruguay Metafisico, ditemi cosa ne pensate. Grazie

Metafisica nel senso pittorico: opere metafisiche sono la descrizione di una realtà che va al di là delle apparenze, il senso di mistero, allucinazione, sogno, le immagini statiche e le scene fuori dal tempo.

I temporarily abandoned Flickr because I'm checking my archive and rescan most of my shots to get the best scans ... maybe to expose. I'm not doing chronological work but on projects that I think are interesting, and often on shots that I hadn't taken into consideration. I start with this series of images of the 96 made in Uruguay and I have decided that the series will be Uruguay Metaphysical, tell me what you think. Thank you

Metaphysics in the pictorial sense: metaphysical works are the description of a reality that goes beyond appearances, the sense of mystery, hallucination, dream, static images and timeless scenes.

Decisions.

The finale of ‘Bae-cember’, and as the sunsets on what’s been a challenging, often difficult 2024, I’d like to say ‘Thanks For The Memories’, for your ongoing support over the past 12 months, and the love so many of you have shared, and continue to share… Whilst 2024 has been a time of personal reflection, changes in direction, sometimes stepping back and consideration of the moment, if nothing else, its demonstrated as to just who has been the pillars of strength, unbeknown to some of them in all honestly.

Wishing each and everyone one of you, a fun-filled 2025, filled with peace and harmony, may it bring you joy out of your endeavours, and lets all just be kind to each other! Not going to ‘name names’ (1. there’s just WAY too many, 2. (more importantly) YOU know just WHO you are anyway!)…

At just 33.8yrs old, VH-NJM as JTE7442 to the Gold Coast (OOL/YBCG) getting airborne 34R Sydney Airport (SYD/YSSY) on a rather gloomy New Years Eve… Go the ever mighty ‘QuadraPuff’

Taking into consideration the mountains and cloudy skies in the background and the mirror-like condition of lake surface, I had plenty of shoreline to explore while seeking a good composition. No matter where I would choose to stand, the image would make a good composition conveying sense-of-place. I walked the shores both left and right from the trail leading back to the car park but I kept coming back to the bench positioned near the shoreline looking out over the lake. Including the bench and the exposed tree roots underneath made the best visual story for the scene. The calm mood I felt was enhanced by the soft light and reflections on the lake’s surface.

Over the years I have taken close to 25,000 photos of my feminine persona. If you consider that I have posted about 3,400 here, that is less than 15% of all the photos I have in my library. Cristy is quite photogenic and 99% of the photos I take are good enough for posting so, how do I select which ones to post? Simple, I select the ones I like based on what I consider acceptable feminine deportment and appearance.

Since the beginning, my intention has been to share my feminine illusion efforts with likeminded people; not to get comments but rather to contribute to set a standard of tasteful and respectful emulation. Poise, attitude, choice of clothes and accessories, are among the factors I take into consideration. My inspiration comes from every single woman that I see and admire for her presentation and deportment. For me it is not a fetish for any item, but rather a representation of how women, my age, currently present. For instance, I don’t wear nylons because women do not wear them anymore and not because I don’t like them.

Fashion is important to me, but I select my clothes based on what I like and consider that would look good on me while reinforcing my feminine illusion. I wear mostly French manicure on my fingernails and toenails because that is what I like. You will never catch me wearing any unusual or trendy nail color or ornament, just because it is in fashion. A woman who is confident in herself wears what she likes and not what a trend sets, or others suggest. That is the kind of woman that I’d like to think I represent. I post old photos along with more current ones because it is not about how I look or what I wear today; it is about the art of feminine illusion regardless of time, fashion or whether it is the first or the Nth photo in that outfit and location.

After explaining my approach, I hope that when you look at my photos, you can see beyond what I am wearing and appreciate or criticize how I am wearing it, and how I measure in performing the feminine role based on that approach. Thanks to my approach, I have always received respectful comments and, over the years, l have deleted very few of them and have had to block less than a handful of people. I read and appreciate every single comment and even more so when they address what I had in mind when posting the photo. However, you should not feel obliged to comment unless you really feel like it and believe that you got something positive, or negative, from the photo, the title, or the text that goes with it.

From now on I will try to share why I choose the photo I am posting and will start with this one.

This photo is the first I will share of a long series of photos taken before and after my first ever religious service as Cristy (more about that in the future). In general, I’d like to think that my choice of clothes was appropriate for the occasion and that I was able to blend in, although I realized that I was a bit overdressed. A very feminine fit and flare dress with colorful flower print, by Maggie London, was, in my opinion, quite suitable, as were the Kate Spade flats that completed the look for Church. Nothing flashy or revealing here, as it should be. This dress would look great with a pair of heels too but would not be appropriate for attending Catholic Mass. For the pose I tried to be as demure as possible with my hands resting on my lap and my legs crossed in a very feminine manner with my feet pointing down (something that I find hard to do because my articulations are quite rigid).

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A través de los años, he acumulado casi 25,000 fotos de mí personificación femenina.Si consideramos que he compartido aquí cerca de 3,400, esto es menos del 15% de todas las fotos que tengo en mi colección. Cristy es bastante fotogénica y el 99% de las fotos son suficientemente buenas para compartir. ¿Cuál, entonces, es el criterio que uso para elegir las que comparto? Sencillo, elijo las que más me gustan con base a lo que considero una apariencia y presentación femenina aceptables.

Desde el inicio, mi intención ha sido compartir mis esfuerzos en ilusión femenina con personas como yo; no para obtener comentarios sino para contribuir a establecer un estándar de emulación femenina respetuoso y de buen gusto. Postura, actitud, elección de ropa y accesorios, son, entre otros, los factores que tomo en consideración. Mi inspiración viene de cada mujer que veo y admiro por su presentación y desenvolvimiento. Para mi no se trata de un fetichismo por algún tipo de prenda, sino que de una representación de cómo una mujer, de mi edad, luce en estos tiempos. Por ejemplo, no uso medias porque las mujeres ya no las usan y no porque no me guste usarlas.

La moda es importante para mí, pero elijo la ropa con base a lo que me gusta y considero que se vería bien en mí y que contribuya a reforzar la ilusión femenina. Por lo general uso esmalte de uñas en estilo francés porque es lo que me gusta. Jamás verán mis uñas pintadas don los colores drásticos que están de moda, con distintos adornos y colores en cada uña, solo porque está de moda. Una mujer segura de sí misma se viste como ella quiere y no como lo dicta la moda o le sugieren otras personas. Este es el tipo de mujer que quisiera pensar que represento. Subo fotos viejas junto con recientes porque no se trata de compartir cómo luzco hoy o qué llevo puesto, sino que se trata de emulación femenina sin importar la fecha, la moda o si es la primera o enésima foto con esa ropa y en ese lugar.

Luego de exponerles mi enfoque, espero que al ver mis fotos puedan ver más allá de lo que llevo puesto y aprecien o critiquen la manera en que lo llevo puesto y que tan bien logro mi objetivo en desempeñar el rol femenino, con base a este enfoque. Gracias a este enfoque, siempre he recibido comentarios respetuosos y, a través de los años, he tenido que borrar muy pocos y he bloqueado a menos de 5 personas. He leído y apreciado cada comentario recibido y más aún cuando se relacionan con lo que tenía en mente al compartir la foto. Sin embargo, no tienen por qué sentir el compromiso de comentar a no ser que realmente piensen que obtuvieron algo positivo, o negativo, de la foto, del título o del texto que la acompaña.

en adelante intentaré compartir los motivos por los cuales elegí compartir la foto que subo y empezaré con esta.

Esta foto es la primera que compartiré de muchas que me tomaron antes y después de mi primer servicio religioso como Cristy (y ales contaré más en el futuro). En general, quisiera pensar que mi elección de ropa fue adecuado para la ocasión y que pude integrarme al entorno. El vestido muy femenino, ceñido arriba, falda amplia y estampado floral (Maggie London) era muy adecuado en mi opinión, así como las zapatillas sin tacón de Kate Spade que completaban el look para asistir a la iglesia. Nada llamativo o revelador, como debe de ser. Este vestido se vería muy bien con tacones pero no habría sido apropiado para asistir a la misa Católica. En cuanto a la pose, intenté lucir relajada con mis manos sobre el regazo las piernas cruzadas en forma femenina y sencilla, mientras intento apuntar mis pies hacia abajo (algo que me cuesta mucho porque mis articulaciones son muy rígidas)

Caught in the act - scrimping rowan berries and you can see that this was not her first visit!!

It was difficult to take a photograph as there was a slight breeze but worse still the branch bobbed up and down as she plundered the fruit.

No consideration for they old lady with the camera!!!

Consideration for Today's Flickr 365 photo, ultimately not chosen.

Spruce Flats Falls, Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Sevier County, Tennessee.

Spring morning at Spruce Flats Falls in the Tremont area of Great Smoky Mountain National Park

©2017 Nature's Spectrum, For consideration only, no reproduction without prior permission.

This is not a photo I would have taken 25 years ago.

Cost considerations of film and developing aside, if the angle didn't give me a 'safe' view of the whole locomotive, I would be very hesitant to press the shutter release. In my early days of rail photography I was locomotive obsessed. Looking back over the grainy prints I shot confirms it. A moderately lit three quarter wedge of the leader was good enough for me.

Forthcoming years of osmosis via the printed railfan press, and my fathers photographic coaching helped eventually guide my lens to a more varied palette of angles and compositions, though still conservative.

When I picked up a camera again after more than two decades apart, some of my old instincts and teachings came back to me. My first digital images were rough, and awkwardly composed, as my mind struggled to remember what made for a good railroad photograph. In the time I was away from the hobby, railfan news had transitioned away from print and gone online like most everything else today. Discovering some local railfan social media groups was great for not only catching up on what had changed in railroad operations, but also for what the next generation of rail photographers was doing behind the lens. A recent trend that stood out involved framing or veiling the train using trackside foliage. The angles and compositions were neat to see, but didn't register in my mind as something I aspired to try. Fast forward a few months, and while waiting patiently at Hell's Gate BC for CN to throw a westbound my way in the optimum mid day lighting, CP was running a steady parade of eastbounds across the river from me, on the shadowy side of the canyon. A 140 year old CP stone arch bridge was hiding amongst the trees and shadow, begging to be the focal point of an image. Try as I might though, no matter where I positioned myself, I just couldn't get a clear shot. As the roar of another eastbound on the CP side grew louder, the realization dawned on me that while I coudn't see a way around the trees and brush to the bridge, there was a slim window to zoom in and shoot through them. The foliage filled sight in my viewfinder as M310 crossed the arch seemed oddly familiar. Reviewing this image afterwards brought a smile to my face, as the new generation of railfan photographers had indeed taught this old dog a new trick.

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I hiked up Ripley creek beyond where I have gone before and found this very wide section. You have to climb on a lot of mossy boulders choked with vegetation both dead and alive to get to this point, but it was worth it. I hiked a bit more, but it got very swampy and I stopped. Maybe I could go further on the other side.