Captured earlier this week in a chapel at Mdina. I was actually testing the IBIS capabilities of this machine and considering (a) it's a handheld shot (b) the coffee I drink (c) kept the ISO at 200; I was pretty surprised at the result achieved by both machine & lens. Furthermore, the interior of this chapel was in reality quite close to pitch darkness.

Thank you for your time to view.

Wish you all a splendid weekend.

Black-throated Mango - Male - Occurring throughout the tropics of South America from Panama to northeast Argentina, the Black-throated Mango is the most widespread member of its genus, and among the most widespread of all hummingbirds. It is primarily found in open vegetation with bushes and scattered trees in many kinds of humid and dry habitats. Despite it widespread distribution it shows almost no geographic variation due perhaps to its impressive dispersal capabilities. Within its large range, the Black-throated Mango is fairly distinctive being the only predominantly green hummingbird with extensive black throat and underparts. Although they are common and widespread, and despite the fact that their plumage may seem "drab" compared with many tropical hummingbirds, male Black-throated Mangos are certainly worth a second look if the opportunity arises to view them in direct sunlight or at close range (Birds of the World) - as shown in my picture - LOL!

Happy Tuesday!

Thanks a lot for your visits, comments, faves, invites, etc. Very much appreciated!

© All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission. All rights reserved. Please contact me at thelma.gatuzzo@gmail.com if you intend to buy or use any of my images.

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Another view of our handsome visitor. I'm endlessly grateful for the high-ISO capabilities of our modern cameras...

Blohm and Voss Bv 238 was an extremely large flying boat with tremendous payload capabilities.

For this frame I used the original shot of the diorama plus two other photos to achieve the photorealism.

“The greatest tragedy in life is not death; the greatest tragedy takes place when our talents and capabilities are underutilised and allowed to rust while we are living.”

Mata Amritanandamayi

Sometimes called “sea parrots” as well as “clowns of the sea,” Atlantic Puffins sport large, brightly-colored beaks on their substantially-sized heads. Crisp black and white markings on their plumage, as well as superior diving capabilities, have led people to compare the northern seabirds to penguins.

About 25,000 Puffins can be seen on Skomer Island off the Pembrokeshire coast of west Wales.

Thanks for your visit… Any comment you make on my photograph is greatly appreciated and encouraging! But please do not use this image without permission.

On digital cameras there is often a Macro Focus mode which switches the auto focus system to attempt to focus on subjects much closer to the lens.

Flash: Flash did not fire

Helmond Castle is a square medieval castle located in the city of Helmond in the province of Brabant. The design of the castle features four corner towers and is without a central tower, or a donjon. The layout of the castle is very similar to other fortresses in the area, including Radboud Castle, Ammersoyen and Muiderslot. In terms of defensive capabilities, Helmond and other castles with similar designs proved to be better defended.

History

Construction of the castle began somewhere around 1325. Helmond was the replacement of an older castle, known as ‘t Oude Huys, which stood hundreds of yards west of the castle. In 1981, excavations revealed the original structure’s dungeon and a few artifacts.

In the 12th century, Helmond was in possession of the Hornes and the castle’s original owners were the Berlaer family, who were then succeeded by the Cortenbach family. In the late 1600s, the castle would fall into the hands of the Arberg family and later Frederik Carel Wesselman in 1781.

A terrible fire damaged the west wing of the castle in 1549, but the structure was not demolished. In the late 1500s, attempts to besiege the castle were unsuccessful as the castle’s defenses were able to withstand the attacks. However, in the early 1600s, the castle was sieged by Prince Mauritis and State troops after the attackers launched 6 cannons at the castle. The damaged was repaired, but shortly after, the castle was once again besieged by Walen’s troops.

In 1921, the castle was sold to the municipality of Helmond by the last Lady of the family under the stipulation that the castle would be used for municipal purposes. The Lady’s wishes were respected and the castle served as a town hall from 1923 until the 1970s.

Very little remains of the original interior of the castle as the structure had continually been updated throughout history. A few stucco ceilings and several fireplaces are the only original features.

Today, the castle still hosts weddings and houses a small museum that educates visitors on the history of the castle.

Still playing with ImageJ capabilities other than microscope imaging

One more from my gloomy late evening trip along Glen Etive and Glencoe. This really tested the famed low light capabilities of the Fuji X-series cameras.

I have a bunch of odd projection lenses in my drawer. From time to time I have that urge to see what they can and can not do.

This one is smaller than microscope lenses but bigger than D- mount ones. Reversed it has some macro capabilities. Ratio is good but it lacks the sharpness to be seriously used as a macro.

Big CSX power is being fueled at the south end of the Wisconsin Central’s ore yard in Escanaba, Michigan on February 23rd, 2001 - Because of their DPU capabilities, eleven of these ex-Conrail EMD SD80MACs were leased by the WC from CSX in early 2001 for winter ore train service. ~~ A Jeff Hampton Photograph ©

Composite of two images shot last night. On the shot of the moon, I was testing out the capabilities of my new Nikon 200-500mm lens; this was shot at the full 500 which on my Nikon D7500 is equivalent to 750mm.

The River Helle, or Hill in German, springs at the Signal de Botrange and runs for 25 km to Eupen. I was lucky enough to walk along its banks on a beautiful sunny but not too hot day. Though the path itself was treacherous and at times literally swept away by the devastating floods that occured here a while ago, it was still a worthwhile walk through utter wilderness.

It would be remiss to not warn against taking this path for a planned hike. The route is treacherous and dangerous at the best of times, but in the aftermath of the floods it was at times near impossible. Don't do it unless you fully trust your hiking capabilities based on prior experience.

The Zooby Animesh Babies have been given the ability to fly. I got the flying capabilities for the triplets today so they could be fairies like Mummy.

Ashes

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Arabella Victoria

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{Aurelia} (Search {Aurelia} in the Zooby Texture Hud)

Lilac Lace Cardy Dress

Baby Purple Leather Crib Shoe

Lacey Lilac Head Ruffle Wrap

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Ariana Charlotte

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{Aurelia} (Search {Aurelia} in the Zooby Texture Hud)

Pink Lace Cardy Dress

Baby Pink Leather Crib Shoe

Lacey Pink Head Ruffle Wrap

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Ariella Elizabeth

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{Aurelia} (Search {Aurelia} in the Zooby Texture Hud)

Blue Lace Cardy Dress

Baby Blue Leather Crib

Lacey Blue Head Ruffle Wrap

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Things I Rezzed

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8f8

Green Grocers - Pavillion RARE

Konoha

Hesperis river

Cosmos Mouse

Papaver alby (Poppy)

Botanical

Sunflowers

Half-Deer

English Ivy

Secret Garden Bunny

HPMD

Sweet Garden Grass08 (Fatpack)

Apple Fall

Flagstones (Free! but I love them anyway)

Nutmeg

Apple Terrace Armchair

Revival

grass field lush

Meri tests out the capabilities of BackBone's new Pole Dancing Platform - or some of them anyway! Come see more about it on the blog readmeri.wordpress.com/2019/08/21/i-got-pole-burn/

One of my attempts at the "Macro Mondays" theme "Radiant".

This tiny ghost (we'll call it "Ellie D." for its self-illuminating capabilities) might haunt you in your dreams. But rest assured: It's all in your head! (The last part perhaps quite literally, as it might enter via your nose or ear at any time, being only 3 mm in size!).

Shot with a Tokyo Kogaku "Dietzgen-Topcor 25 mm F 2.8" on a Canon EOS R5.

Testing the macro capabilities of this lens

and if you have overrated their strength, try again, going more slowly :-)

Minna Thomas Antrim

HFF!!

japanese camellia, 'White by the Gate', sarah p duke gardens, duke university, durham, north carolina

While I am impressed by the additional mask capabilities of Lightroom I would say the Sky selection masking needs some work IMHO, on every image where I have used it has left a halo when I bring the image into Photoshop for final tweaking. Oct and early November are great times of the year to capture lake mist or more technically radiation fog, this occurs because the water has absorbed and retained the suns heat as air that has been cooled by the night temperatures that is moisture laden passes over warmer water of the lake. This scene is of my favorite places to welcome the morning and take in the light show as the sun rises at least when I don’t have a camera in hand and a cup of steaming coffee instead.

I took this on Oct 23rd, 2021 with my D850 and Tamron 15-30 f2.8 G2 Lens at 30mm, 1/5s, f8 ISO 64 processed in LR, PS +Topaz ,and DXO

Disclaimer: My style is a study of romantic realism as well as a work in progress

Capabilities of the 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS lens handheld. Our busy little friend is SOOC, I have just tidied up some background distractions and cropped square.

Our garden, Essex UK

(Tigrisoma mexicanum) B28I7702 Caño Negro - Costa Rica

We stayed at least 20 minutes to observe and photograph this young heron with its huge catch. He squirmed in every direction to try to swallow it and finally he had to give it up, because even with the expansion capabilities of his beak, the fish was too big.

Nous sommes restés au moins 20 minutes à observer et à photographier ce jeune héron avec son énorme capture. Il s'est tortillé dans tous les sens pour essayer de l'avaler et finalement il a du renoncer, car même avec les capacités de dilatation de son bec, le poisson était trop gros.

Macro photo of a dandelion blowball, taken with an Olympus Tough TG-6 compact camera. This camera offers superb macro capabilities. For this shot I used the microscopic mode, hand held.

The common dandelion is well known for its yellow flower heads that turn into round balls of many silver-tufted fruits that disperse in the wind. These balls are usually called "clocks" in both British and American English. The name "blowball" is also used.

The common dandelion grows in temperate regions of the world in lawns, and on roadsides, disturbed banks, shores of waterways, and other areas with moist soils. The common dandelion is most often considered a weed, especially in lawns and along roadsides, but the leaves, flowers, and roots are sometimes used in herbal medicine or as food.

Testing out the macro capabilities of the new Iphone 13 Pro

Like border patrol. As he should be, his family is in need of his intimidating capabilities to ensure their safety. On this early morning he was coming to check me out in my kayak. It felt like he was going to ask for my passport. lol Not gonna lie, I was nervous, If he didn't like what he was seeing he would come at me with a vicious flapping of wings and ear piercing vocal sounds, but he let me pass to take pics of his new family. If he didn't want me there I would have turned around, his approval meant more than the shot. I have more Loon images than anything else, it is apparent how much I love them. I pray he makes it back this Spring to raise another family.

The ancient Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System demonstrates incredible engineering capabilities predating the Industrial Revolution by over a thousand years. Constructed in the 5th century CE under the Persian Sassanid Empire, this complex irrigation system was designed with weirs, dams, canals, tunnels, and watermills to harness the power of the Karun River. It provided water across the arid landscape for agriculture, industry, and human consumption. The system connected to an underground water supply via a spectacular cliffside waterfall to power watermills. Its network of channels and tunnels stretched for many kilometers, showcasing the advanced hydraulics achieved centuries before modern technology. UNESCO designated Shushtar a World Heritage Site, recognizing it as a masterpiece of creative genius demonstrating the sustainable use of natural resources in ancient times.

The MAN TGA 35.350 is a model of truck, specifically a heavy-duty truck, known for its robust design and performance. It is commonly found as a tipper (dump truck) with an 8x4 configuration, meaning it has four axles, with eight wheels, and drive on four of them. The "350" in the name typically refers to the engine's horsepower, indicating 350 horsepower. These trucks are often used in construction, mining, and other industries requiring heavy hauling and dumping capabilities

This truck seen in Rīga, at the building site.

Happy Truck Thursday!

USAF showing off their capabilities at nellis afb.

Another shot testing the capabilities of my XF 90 and its reach.

Taken during a 25km walk back and forth across the peaks of the Malvern Hills (beginning and ending at the Swinyard car park). The wind was the most notable aspect of our second trip - the wind reaching speeds with enough force to nearly push us over!

I was able to test out the close focus capabilities of my new Canon 100-400L IS ii lens a couple of days ago whilst shooting at the Hunter wetlands Center (Shortland, NSW; Australia).

Most of the Grevilleas have lost their flowers, but this worked out in my favour - as it meant that the birds were congregated around only a handful of bushes instead of many more!!

I captured this close up of a Scarlet Honeyeater - hope you like it!

Sorry the DOF isn't deeper, but it is what it is....

Thanks for any comments, views or favorites - much appreciated!!!!

Hope you have an awesome day and week everyone!!!

Testing the macro capabilities of my Minolta AF 100-300mm.

I wasn't aware of the reflection capabilities of black marble before this shot. Also, all these different light temperatures of artificial light are amazing.

Another image with a Canadian Coast Guard Helicopter overhead.

The following vessels are reported as being part of the response to the stricken vessel:

Canadian Coast Guard

CCGS Cape Calvert 47 Motor Lifeboat - Evacuated Crew

CCGS Cape Naden 47 MLB - Evacuated Crew

CCGS Captain Goddard M.S.M - Hero Class Patrol Vessel - Monitoring/Response

CCGS Atlantic Raven - Emergency Offshore Tow Vessel (under charter) - Monitoring/Response

Canadian Tug

Seaspan Raven - Direct support fire suppression

USA

Contracted by ships owners

Resolve Marine - Emergency response and salvage company

They appear to have contracted the following vessels which are on scene providing fire fighting.

MV Maersk Tender -Direct support fire suppression

MV Maersk Trader - Direct support fire suppression

Both built as Tug/Offshore Supply Vessel, which typically have excellent towing and fire fighting capabilities.

Without a doubt there very well may be omissions as I have gathered the information from public sources. Cheers

In the absence of a tripod, it is not bad to have the help of Artificial Intelligence. The detail recovery capabilities of the new noise cleanup and detail recovery processing tools are amazing. Here I have worked with several of them.

The blue hour came to me without having any decent support to stabilize the camera. Just a year ago I would have put my hands down and put the equipment in my backpack. But in Delhi he knew that he could count on several alternative assets. First, the sensor on my mirrorless camera is noticeably less noisy, at high ISO, than on the traditional full-frame SLRs I was shooting with until recently. And here I needed to take the photo at 10,000 ISO, if I wanted to have a speed that would freeze the image.

Before starting the processing I have cleaned the noise from the negative and recovered information with PureRaw from DxO. At the end of the processing I have returned to enrich the image information using Topaz's Sharpen AI. Two wonders that tempt me to forget the tripod at home on my next trips (just kidding for now).

The photo was taken with a 14mm lens, an aperture of f8 and a speed of 1/125 s. The recovery of the normal appearance of the perspective I worked with "adaptive width angle" of Photoshop and the light, contrast and everything else with Luminar AI (because Luminar Neo fails as a Photoshop plugin in its last update) and Camera Raw (which I more and more excited).

Strongly reminiscent of Back to the Future 3 but sans time travel capabilities.

(Z8 low light capabilities seem pretty good)

USAF showing off their capabilities at nellis afb.

Taken for the Macro Mondays theme of 'New'

Over the Christmas period I had another birthday ending in '0'

My family very kindly bought me a new tablet, as my old one had reach the end of its capabilities.

It made a very colourful image for the theme.

Testing out the flaring capabilities of my Helios 40-2 ;-) Sometimes the flare (and also the bokeh) is weirdly cut off at the edge of the image, but shooting at the right angle gives some beautiful rainbow colored rays. Unfortunately, there is quite some dust inside my lens and hence I had to remove a lot of dust spots in post, but I think it was worth the effort. Hope you like it!

Caernarfon is architecturally one of the most impressive of all of the castles in Wales. It's defensive capabilities were not as overt or as powerful as those of Edward I's other castles such as Harlech and Beaumaris (which indicate the pinnacle of castle building and defences in Britain), but Caernarfon was instead intended as a seat of power - and as a symbol of English dominance over the subdued Welsh.

Caernarfon is located at the southern end of the Menai Strait between north Wales and Anglesey, 8 miles south west of Bangor. During Edward I's invasions of Wales, this was strategically an excellent place to build a castle; Anglesey was referred to as the garden of Wales, providing agriculturally rich land close to the poorer land on north Wales. The Menai Strait also allowed speedy access between the north Welsh coast and the western coast, and was therefore important for Edward to control for supplying outposts such as Harlech and Aberystwyth.

Text source: www.castlewales.com/caernarf.html

Mount Evans, Colorado

September/October 1992

Taken with film many years before scanning, I would have been unable to identify the location without the amazing capabilities of today's Internet image search ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summit_Lake_Park

shot by KHWD

want to see more images or read the blog?

www.motorhome-travels.net/post/blog-100-our-scandinavia-h...

The Afsluitdijk is a remarkable engineering feat in the Netherlands, stretching 32 kilometers (20 miles) across the Wadden Sea to separate it from the IJsselmeer12. Constructed between 1927 and 1932, this major dam and causeway was designed to protect the Dutch inland areas from the sea and to facilitate land reclamation.

Here are some key points about the Afsluitdijk:

Purpose: It was built to dam off the Zuiderzee, a saltwater inlet of the North Sea, transforming it into the freshwater lake IJsselmeer.

Construction: The dike was largely built by hand and has been protecting the Netherlands from the sea for over 90 years.

Dimensions: The dike is 90 meters (300 feet) wide at the crest and initially stood at a height of 7.25 meters (23.8 feet) above sea level.

Upgrades: Since its construction, the Afsluitdijk has undergone several height increases to enhance its protective capabilities.

Recreational Use: There are cycle paths and footpaths along the dike, offering scenic views of both the Wadden Sea and the IJsselmeer.

It’s a vital part of the larger Zuiderzee Works, showcasing the Dutch expertise in water management and engineering

we stopped in eth middle where there is a jetty and a whole lot of lovely flowers. snap , snap, snap

G-APSA Douglas DC-6A/C Air Atlantique - showing her capabilities as an oil spill sprayer

Beyond description - Wearing Jewelry

Army Aviation Heritage Foundation Sky Soldiers showing off the capabilities of this Bell UH-1 series Iroquois helicopter, more commonly known as the "Huey". This particular helicopter was manufactured in 1969 and served with 191st Assault Helicopter Company during the Vietnam War with over 1200 combat flight hours. The 191st was nicknamed the "Boomerangs" because boomerangs always come home. Considered to be the most widely used helicopter in the world, with more than 9,000 produced from the 1950s to the present, the Huey is flown today by about 40 countries.

Delivered as a HC-144A but upgraded in 2022 to HC-144B standard, which encompasses the Ocean Sentry Refresh (OSR) modifications (installation of a new flight management system, which serves as the primary avionics computer for communication control, navigation and equipment monitoring) and the Minotaur mission system, which integrates installed sensors and radar and provides dramatically improved data fusion as well as information-processing and sharing capabilities.

On a cold, moonless night on the Crowsnest Subdivision, a venerable EMD SD40-2 and the sensor capabilities of my Canon EOS R5 were pushed to their limits.

With an extra 6,000 feet of tonnage out of Lethbridge (including an entire ballast train!), this lone 45-year-old locomotive faced the daunting task of hauling this massive load. Here, 5922 strains under the weight, engulfed in a thick cloud of exhaust as it shoves nearly 50 cars of mixed freight into the siding at Chokio.

From a nearby farmer’s field, I watched in awe as the scene unfolded. With virtually no available light — save for the soft glow reflecting off the snow and the locomotive’s headlights — I cranked my camera’s ISO to 8000, slowed the shutter to 1/6th of a second, opened the aperture to f/2, and hoped for the best. The resulting image was perhaps one of my most ambitious attempts to turn nothing into something.

And as for that aging EMD? Well, it performed just as its manufacturer intended. After dropping off nearly half its train, 5922 limbered out of Chokio and disappeared into the inky blackness, bound for points west.

The California towhees are molting. This image shows the capabilities of the amazing Nikon 500mm PF lens even when combined with a 1.4x teleconverter.

I'm exploring the capabilities of the new Rolleiflex 2.8E (Planar). Can't beat spring clouds and blue skies for a camera test.

The resolving power of the Planar lens is exceptional. Pairing the Delta 100 with Pyrocat emphasizes the preservation of small details.

Film: Ilford Delta 100 rated at 50 ASA, plus a medium orange filter. Exposure was 1/125th at f5.6 & 1/2

Film developed in Pyrocat HD, for 15 minutes.

At least I think it was called this!

I'd travelled down with Mark the day before and did the Elidir Trail so Wednesday was the Four Fall Trail with Clive joining us. I've only met Clive once before, in London, but was well aware of his walking capabilities....after half a day with him where we covered the same distance but 5 times the elevation of the entire previous day I have come to the conclusion Clive is in fact a machine!

He doesn't stop, well apart from to take photos and to wait for me to catch up.

Looking forward to the next trip!