View allAll Photos Tagged CRYSTAL-CLEAR
Another shot of Tao, you will see a few more of her because she was so cute and Pat was playing with her after Sunday show so I got tons of shots.
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Canon 5D Mark II photos of Beautiful Brunette Swimsuit Bikini Model Goddess Posing on Beach: Canon USM 24-105 F/4 Lens!
Here's some new HD video of the goddesses shot at the same time as stills!
She was tall, thin, fit, and very pretty with long, blonde hair and hazel eyes! From Sweden!
The Canon EOS 5D Mark II EF 24-105/4L IS USM was my workhorse until I got the Nikon D800 & D800E with the 70-200 mm 2.8 VR2 zoom.
Canon, Nikon, you can't go wrong with the pretty 45surf model goddesses! (Though the D800 is my new love.)
May the goddess inspire ye along a hero's journey of yer own making, and the path of yer own taking.
Was a classic socal magic hour with a crystal clear dusk! Hope the photos make you feel like you were there! :)
A hot beach babe on a hot autumn day!
A Gold 45 Goddess exalts the archetypal form of Athena--the Greek Goddess of wisdom, warfare, strategy, heroic endeavour, handicrafts and reason. A Gold 45 Goddess embodies 45SURF's motto "Virtus, Honoris, et Actio Pro Veritas, Amor, et Bellus, (Strength, Honor, and Action for Truth, Love, and Beauty," and she stands ready to inspire and guide you along your epic, heroic journey into art and mythology. It is Athena who descends to call Telemachus to Adventure in the first book of Homer's Odyssey--to man up, find news of his true father Odysseus, and rid his home of the false suitors, and too, it is Athena who descends in the first book of Homer's Iliad, to calm the Rage of Achilles who is about to draw his sword so as to slay his commander who just seized Achilles' prize, thusly robbing Achilles of his Honor--the higher prize Achilles fought for. And now Athena descends once again, assuming the form of a Gold 45 Goddess, to inspire you along your epic journey of heroic endeavour. And like Helen of Troy, she's worth fighting a ten-year war over.
A most beautiful magic hour which will now last for all eternity via the art of photography! :)
She was tall, thin, fit, and in shape with long, slender skinny legs!
Seen at Rock Island State Park at the tip of Door County, Wisconsin. I had to take two ferries and hike 1.25 miles to to get here. It was worth it!
Photo recycled for Our Daily Topic: From Above
Till that moment, I wasn't really sure as to how crystal clear water looks like. My mere words can never explain how beautiful the whole experience was.
The white sand, the blue water, the corals, the fish, the view....
I shall never look at beaches the same way again.
Till that moment, I wasn't really sure as to how crystal clear water looks like. My mere words can never explain how beautiful the whole experience was.
The white sand, the blue water, the corals, the fish, the view....
I shall never look at beaches the same way again.
Along the shore of Llyn Teyrn at the foot of Snowdon .
In case anyone wonders what I've done with the two peaks - the answer is nothing. In actual fact, this was taken as the sun was setting behind that ridge so that is the last rays highlighting the low cloud surrounding the mountain - it is not a poor attempt to add snow!!
The kit and its assembly:
Well, this build has been lingering for almost 25 years in the back of my mind. It just took so long that a suitable IP kit (with a reasonable price tag) would materialize!
The original inspiration struck me with a VF-4 profile in the source book "This is animation special: Macross PLUS" from 1994, which accidently fell into my hands in a local Japanese book store. Among others, a side and top view profile of an aggressor VF-4 in an all-brown, Soviet-style paint scheme was featured. At that time I found the idea and the scheme pretty cool, so much that I even built a modified 1:100 VF-1 as a ground attack aircraft in this paint scheme.
However, the original VF-4 profile from the source book had always been present, but for years there had been no affordable kit. There have been garage/resin kits, but prices would start at EUR 250,-, and these things were and are extraordinarily rare.
Things changed for the better when WAVE announced an 1:72 VF-4 kit in late 2016, and it eventually materialized in late 2017. I immediately pre-ordered one from Japan (in a smart move, this even saved money) and it eventually turned up here in Germany in early 2018. Patience pays out, it seems...
I had preferred a 1:100 kit, though, due to space issues and since almost any other Macross variable fighter model in my collection is in this small scale, but I am happy that a decent VF-4 kit at all appeared after so many years!
Concerning the WAVE kit, there’s light and shadow. First of all, you have to know that you get a VF-4A. This is mentioned nowhere on the box, but might be a vital information for hardcore modelers. The early VF-4A is a rather different aircraft than the later VF-4G, with so fundamental differences that it would warrant a completely new kit! On the other side, with a look at the kit’s parts, I could imagine that a VF-4B two-seater could be easily realized in the future, too.
The kit is a solid construction, a snap-fit kit molded in different colors so that it can be built without painting. This sounds toy-like, but - like many small scale Bandai Valkyrie kits - anything you ask for is actually there. When you use glue and put some effort into the kit and some donor parts, you can make a very good model from it.
The kit's box is pretty oversized, though (any sprue is shrink-wrapped, horrendous garbage pile and wasted space!), and the kit offers just a single decal (water-slide decals, not stickers) option for a Skull Squadron VF-4A – AFAIK it’s Hikaru Ichijoe’s machine that appears in one of the Macross Flash Back 2012 music videos, as it escorts the SDF-02 “Megaroad” colonial ship after launch from Earth towards the center of our Galaxy.
The parts are crisply molded, and I actually like the fact that the kit is not as uber-engineered as the Hasegawa Valkyries. You can actually call the WAVE kit simple - but in a positive sense, because the parts number is reduced to a minimum, material strength is solid and the kit's construction is straightforward. Fit is excellent – I just used some putty along the engine gondolas due to their complex shape, but almost anything else would either fit almost perfectly or just call for some sanding. Impressive!
Surface details etc. are rather basic, but very crisp and emphasized enough that anything remains visible after adding some paint. However, after all, this aircraft is just a fictional animation mecha, and from this perspective the kit is really O.K..
After building the kit I most say that it's nothing that leaves you in awe, and for a retail price of currently roundabout EUR 50-70,- (I was lucky to get it for an early bird deal at EUR 40,-, but still pricey for what I got) the kit is pretty expensive and has some weaknesses:
The model comes with a decent (= simple) cockpit and a very nice and large pilot figure, but with no ordnance except for the semi-recessed long-range missiles (see below). The cockpit lacks any side consoles, floor or side wall details. If you put the pilot into the cockpit as intended, this is not a big issue, since the figure blocks any sight into the cockpit’s lower regions. However, the side sticks are molded into the pilot’s hands, so that you have to scratch a lot if you want to present the cockpit open and with an empty seat.
The landing gear is simple, too, and the wells are very shallow (even though they feature interior details). As a special feature, you can switch with some extra parts between an extended or retracted landing gear, and there are extra parts that allow the air intakes and some vectoring nozzles to be closed/extended for orbital operations. However, detail fetishists might replace the OOB parts with the landing gear from an 1:72 F-18 for an overall better look.
Provisions for underwing hardpoints are actually molded into the lower fuselage part (and could be punched/drilled open - another indication that more VF-4 boxings with extra sprues might follow?), but the kit does not come with any pylons or other ordnance than the dozen fuselage-mounted AAMs. Furthermore, the semi-recessed missiles are just that: you only get the visible halves of the only provided ordnance, which are simply stuck into slits on the model’s surface. As a consequence, you have to mount them at any rate – building a VF-4 for a diorama in which the missiles are about to be loaded would require massive scratch-building efforts and modifications.
Another problem indirectly arises when you put some effort into the kit and want to clean and pre-paint the missiles before assembly: every missile is different and has its allocated place on the VF-4 hull. The missiles are numbered – but only on the sprue! Once you cut them out, you either have to keep them painstakingly in order, or you will spend a long evening figuring out where which missile belongs! This could be easily avoided if the part number would be engraved on the missiles’ back sides – and that’s what I actually did (with a water-proof pen, though) in order to avoid trouble.
The clear canopy is another issue. The two parts are crystal-clear, but, being a snap-fit kit, the canopy parts have to be clipped into the fuselage (rear part) and onto a separate canopy frame (front part). In order to fit, the clear parts have cramps molded into their bases – and due to the excellent transparency and a magnifier effect, you can see them easily from the outside – and on the inside, when you leave the cockpit open. It’s not a pretty solution, despite the perfect fit of the parts.
One option I can think of is to carefully sand the cramps and the attachment points away, but I deem this a hazardous stunt. I eventually hid the cramps behind a thin line of paint, which simulates a yellow-ish canopy seal. The extra windscreen framing is not accurate, but the simplest solution that hides this weak point.
The kit itself was built OOB, because it goes together so well. I also refrained from adding pylons and ordnance – even though you can easily hang anything from Hasegawa’s VF-1 weapon set under the VF-4’s wings and fuselage. A final, small addition was a scratched, ventral adapter for a 3.5 mm steel rod, as a display for the flight scene beauty pic.
With the blue shadow of a number sticker on top, courtesy of my lab :)
Happy weekend everyone!
Con la sombra azul de la pegatina con el número de película, cortesía de mi laboratorio :)
Feliz fin de semana!
Rolleiflex Old Standard 621
Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 75mm 1:3.8
Fujichrome Velvia 50, ISO 50/18º
The Fountains of the Marquis is a recreation park near Caravaca de la Cruz. It is a beautiful natural setting whose prominence lies in the numerous streams of crystal clear waters.
It has installed in the Tower of the Templars a Center for the Interpretation of nature where it shows the species of birds, fish and small mammals that inhabit the site.
On walks through the Marquis Fountains you can see squirrels climbing the trees and crossing the ground. An excellent environment to get in contact with nature.
Coordinates:
Latitude 38.101798191438 - Longitude -1.878114617813
Located in Caravaca dela Cruz, Murcia, Spain
went to Tioman Island, Malaysia last week for class trip....we had so much fun and tonnes of wonderful photos...we'd been blessed with superb weather along the trip.....no matter how u click the shutter, the photo will turn out beautiful....its naturally heaven...huhu...
now i got sunburn....cuz too excited snorkeling...i put on sunblock but looks like SPF 30 is not good enough for malaysian sun...lolz.....
so....enough retreat....now back to work....^^
Till that moment, I wasn't really sure as to how crystal clear water looks like. My mere words can never explain how beautiful the whole experience was.
The white sand, the blue water, the corals, the fish, the view....
I shall never look at beaches the same way again.
Madayaw!!!
PARADISE VISITED
White Beach (Boracay)
Barangay Balabag, Boracay Island,
Province of Aklan, Island Visayas, Philippines
October 31 to November 2, 2012
“Traditionally, men woo women, with chocolates and flowers. But if I were a woman, I’d prefer more than a box of sweets and a bouquet of flowers. I would long for a man with a plan – one who goes to the trouble of preparing a perfect beach gateway with all the trappings: the beach, a lovely sunset, good place and delight in food, with the soothing sound of waves on the background.”
I found all these elements for a romantic beach holiday in White Beach popularly identify “Boracay Beach.” Having visited for the first time, I consider this island a “must visit” destinations not just seekers and even local tourists as well. The beach has Boat Station 1 in the north, Boat Station 2 in the center and Boat Station 3 in the south.
After all, how many islands in the world offer 4 kilometers of pure powder white sand with its beautiful crystal clear turquoise waters deepen so progressively, that you may find yourself 50 meters from the shore, but the water will only be up to your waist. Boracay Island is about 7 kilometers long and has several remote beaches around the island.
During my journey, I noticed the majority of visitor arrivals are coming from Korea with Germans, Australian and Dutch National Russian and other European nationalities following suit. The Japanese are of course the most total as what I observed during my stayed in the place. Of course, no place can ever live up to the hyped-up excellent of this island called paradise.
White Beach is where the action begins and the fun never ends. It’s been called the “most cosmopolitan strip of sand in the world” as mentioned to many destinations magazine and it is easy to see why – there is no shortage of places to stay, eat, shop and have a good time. There are many fantastic restaurants in the island with favors from around the world. Boracay is above all else famous for its nightlife, with pubs, bars and dance clubs that are jumping late into the night.
The beach offers activities like scuba diving, para sailing, surf boarding, snorkeling or even kayaking, the action, fun and exciting really is on the white sands of Boracay itself.
The most exclusive resorts like Fridays, Waling-Waling Beach Hotel, Shangrila Boracay Resort and Spa, Zuzuni Botique Hotel and Restaurant are located along Boat Station 1 has held sway over the imagination of all who seek to be by and, sea and sky. There is also Boracay Regency Beach Resort and Convention Center and The Tides..etc., along Boat Station 2. Just across the narrow street of Boat Station 3 is Asya Boracay which was has managed to carry its own private space “tyangihan” in this busy area of the island.
D Mall, the convenient stop of tourists, which has more than a hundred shops and restaurant that you could roaming around, eventually found along Boat Station 2.
Boracay Island is also getting popular not just for its white sands but also for its spa treatment offerings that you could found in all Boat Stations.
AT DAY TIME - Boracay is known to the world for its magnificent beaches. Its pristine white sand, crystal blue waters and its majestic view of sunset are the natural wonders that Boracay is most sought after for. Boracay has a handful of notable beaches worth visiting. From the busiest beach where you can watch people playing volleyball, jogging and building sandcastles to a more idyllic and secluded beach where you can relax and enjoy as you watch the beauty of nature that Boracay offers.
AT NIGHT TIME - For such a small island, White Beach offers a number of nightlife options to its visitors. Listening to classical guitarist or pianist while having romantic candle light dinner to jamming with the local bands while dancing on sandy grounds are just a few options, like showcasing the different salsa style and version of the fire dancing. Fire dancing (also known as "fire performance") is a group of performance arts or disciplines that involve manipulation of objects on fire. Typically these objects have one or more bundles of wicking, which are soaked in fuel and ignited. www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151127772628301
Most of the big resorts and hotels at White Beach offer live entertainment. Starting from the northern end of Beach and going south, you'll see 24-hour spots and entertainment places. Generally, White Beach is the hotspot but you'll find entertainment and music almost every night somewhere on Boracay Island.
Boracay Island is located about 200 miles south of Manila and 2 kilometers off the northwest tip of Panay in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. Boracay is under the Municipality of Malayand is comprised of three Barangays (similar to village) called the Manoc-Manoc, the Balabag, and the Barangay of Yapak and is under the administrative control of the Department of Tourism (DOT) in coordination with the Provincial Government of Aklan.
Thanks to:
Mam Caroline Espejon and Joy Mae
www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10151133590528301.43...
Nothing on reverse.
Outdoors portrait of a Landsturmmann from Landsturm Infanterie Ersatz Bataillon 21 (XIII. 21). Looking at the limited information available on this outfit, it's probable that this fellow was assigned guard duties of a POW worker battalion, number 88 or 89.
This chap is wearing a corduroy tunic, a material generally reserved for trousers. He is armed with a Gew 98 rifle and an all-steel, ersatz knife-bayonet.
The Universal Medicine Chest, allowing your vet to cure what ails your livestock. From circa 1850. Apologies again for them not being crystal clear, it's just a holiday snap from a museum.
Thursday 27 October 2011 - Day 06 - Trek Sete (2,575m / 8,448ft) to Junbesi (2,700m / 8,858ft) via the Lamjura La (3,530m / 11,581ft)
The day dawned clear and bright, which made for a lovely ongoing ascent. Not long after leaving Sete we passed yesterday's donkey train, loading up with gaz bottles at the farm where they'd spent the night. As we climbed the fields gave way to alpine forest - rhododendrons and pines, mani walls and moss.
Every now and then the path broadened out into a collection of houses and simple lodges-cum-teahouses, set around a paved courtyard. From the lodge at Dagchu (where there was a thick frost on the tables) we got good views of Numbur to the north and as we climbed towards Goyom it felt like we were levelling up with the twin peaks of Pike peak. Looking back we had fine views of Deurali with the route down to Bhandar and onwards through the string of farmhouses clear to see. Every now and then we'd be overtaken by speedier uphill trekkers, including the English chaps from yesterday, and a dreadlocked pair of Kiwis. But we'd find ourselves passing them at rest stops and viewpoints.
At Goyom we stopped in a teahouse to try butter tea, as mum and daughters kneaded, rolled out and cooked the day's chapattis. Climbing onwards we met our first yak (or more likely a Dzo at this low-for-yaks altitude), duly adorned with a Tihar marigold, and our first patches of snow. Contouring along the rhododendron-shaded north side of the ridge towards the lodges at Lamjura, the snow had compacted to ice, which made for slow going to avoid slipping over, and we fell into step with the English gents.
Refreshed by al fresco elevenses (tea and Mars bars) at Lamjura (3,330m / 10,925ft) we all continued onwards along the ridge, past the circular and square mani walls and the Namgyal stupa built by Mr Tsering Sherpa of the Lamjura Sherpa Guest House and then up to the pass itself.
Plenty of time for photos to mark the crossing of the Lamjura La (3,530m / 11,581ft), with the small twin prop planes that shuttle between Kathmandu and Lukla skimming the pass - not quite low enough for us to see the passengers but the Agni Air, Yeti Air, Tara Air etc livery was crystal clear. At foot level, beautiful blue alpine Gentians.
And then downhill... lots of it... through forest and then out into farmland ... and a long wait for lunch as the family running the teahouse where Daa Waa had planned to stop had shut up shop for festival time. Instead, in the village of Taktok (2,680m / 9,383ft), he found a local teahouse where we were cooked tasty Dal Bhat, from scratch, which allowed plenty of time to stroll back along the path to take another look at the inscribed boulder and new (closed) gompa.
It took us another hour or so to reach Junbesi, mostly on the flat as the river continued to drop below us. We passed beneath a large rocky outcrop, decorated with giant Om Mani Padme Hum, and shortly afterwards turned north and got our first sight of the day's destination, Junbesi (2,700m / 8,858ft), nestled on the banks of the Junbesi Khola in the valley below. Above us, the monastery at Serlo loomed large.
Junbesi was the largest place we'd seen since Shivalaya, and there were plenty of lodges. Daa Waa settled on the Apple Garden Guest House, which provided a lovely large bedroom, and free electricity. Perfect for recharging batteries human and camera.
After tea and biscuits in the dining room, and a photo shoot for Daa Waa featuring him and a strangely stuffed Red Panda, before Daa Waa asked us to accompany him on his quest to find the headmaster of the village school in order to hand over accumulated donations from Mountain Legends - a substantial wodge of notes.
We returned to the lodge as night fell, and were greeted by the lovely sight of candles set out on each of the steps of the stairs up to the bedrooms. In the time between dusk and dinner we indulged in a hot shower - this time with plenty of water. Bliss.
After dinner in the stove warmed dining room the TV was turned on and we watched BBC World coverage of the floods in Bangkok, an earthquake in Turkey and another deal in the Euro financial crisis (to bail out Greece). It always feels odd to have these occasional dollops of big news when I'm away from it all.
It would have been nice to have had longer in Junbesi, and a few of the independent trekkers we met did spend a rest day there, exploring the local attractions and doing washing. I'd certainly plan to do that if I ever return to this lovely part of the world.
Read more: www.sparklytrainers.com/blog/archives/2012/03/17/three_hi...
DSC00304
"Winter, a bad guest, sitteth with me at home; blue are my hands with his friendly hand-shaking.
I honour him, that bad guest, but gladly leave him alone. Gladly do I run away from him; and when one runneth WELL, then one escapeth him!
With warm feet and warm thoughts do I run where the wind is calm--to the sunny corner of mine olive-mount.
There do I laugh at my stern guest, and am still fond of him; because he cleareth my house of flies, and quieteth many little noises."
....
"Impatiently do I wait then, that the clear sky may finally dawn for me, the snow-bearded winter-sky, the hoary one, the white-head,--
--The winter-sky, the silent winter-sky, which often stifleth even its sun!
Did I perhaps learn from it the long clear silence? Or did it learn it from me? Or hath each of us devised it himself?"
~ Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900 ~
From "Thus Spake Zarathustra" - 'On the Olive Mount'
For an out-of-camera (OOC) challenge for the S5 group - ie no post processing allowed at all.