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60002 is on the approach to Nottingham having just passed Sneinton 'box with an unidentified fuel tanks train.
8th June 1993.
The land beyond the stone retaining wall was once occupied by tracks of the Great Northern Railway.
©Dave Peachey.
SAC 01 Pápa NATO Strategic Airlift Capability
Boeing C-17A Globemaster III
08-0001 (F-207)
477FF1
BRK Hungarian Air Force
EYSA 211350Z 12012KT CAVOK 31/18 Q1013 BLU NOSIG
EEEI LROP
Technology drives exploration for future human missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. For spacecraft to journey farther and live longer, we’ll need to store and transfer super-cold liquids used for fuel and life support systems in space. The Robotic Refueling Mission 3 (RRM3) launched to the International Space Station to do just that — transfer and store cryogenic fuel in space for the first time.
Last week astronauts Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques posed with RRM3 tools aboard the International Space Station before assembling them onto the RRM3 tool pedestal.
The space station’s robotic arm, Dextre, will soon transfer these assembled tools to outside Station, where they will be attached to the other, washing-machine-sized part of RRM3. Once the pieces are combined, the mission can begin demonstrating the transfer of cryogenic fuel—a capability that will help spacecraft live longer and humans journey deeper into space.
Read more: go.nasa.gov/2tIhHcG
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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Port Noarlunga South Australia
I went out last weekend to test a new product provided to me by Nisi Filters. Their new Titanium CPL was used to take this shot which shows the capability it has to provide 'see through' water giving the motion definition. It's the first shoot locally I've done in a while and locations definitely were a great welcome back!
CORAL SEA (July 21, 2021) The forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) transits the Coral Sea during Exercise Talisman Sabre 21. Talisman Sabre 21, the ninth iteration and conducted since 2005, occurs biennially across Northern Australia. Australian, U.S. and other multinational partner forces use Talisman Sabre to enhance interoperability by training in complex, multi-domain operations scenarios that address the full range of Indo-Pacific security concerts. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jonathan D. Berlier)
Blenheim sits in a huge park of about 2000 acres that was originally a 12th century deer park, The Palace of Woodstock was actually a hunting lodge and Elizabeth I was briefly imprisoned there by her elder half sister Mary I when the latter was queen. Its ruins were demolished under the orders of the imperious Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (See the film 'The Favourite') as she felt it spoilt the view from the new palace.
The rather curious proportions of the bridge are due to the fact it pre-dates the lake engineered by 'Capability' Brown. It was originally built as a huge triumphant arch carrying the roadway across the steep sided valley high above the small River Glyme. Contemporary opinion was it looked ridiculously incongruous in such a setting. It reputedly has 30 rooms, the vast majority flooded when the artificial lake was created post-1760.
SAC 01 NATO Strategic Airlift Capability Boeing C-17A Globemaster III - cn F-207 take- off @TRD/ENVA 02.03.18
I took off the top to my hummingbird feeder to let the other critters have a chance at it. Ended up rescuing three Easter Yellowjacket hornets/wasps. Not my intent to drown anything so I was sympathetic and got a small twig for them to grab hold of and moved them out of the liquid.
While one was recovering, I took some macro shots of it at a 2:1 ratio (clear image zoom on Sony's effectively doubles the zoom capability). Even at a 1/1600 shutter speed, the Yellowjacket shaking its wing to dry off is a blur.
Operator: NATO - Strategic Airlift Capability
Aircraft: Boeing C-17A Globemaster III
Registration: 08-0001 (SAC 01)
C/n: F-207
Time & Location: 03.11.2017, EFTP, Finland
My first visit to this beautiful garden near Bromyard with interconnected lakes and mature trees designed by Capability Brown.
The ruins of Roche Abbey (by Maltby Beck), a ruined Cisterian monastery situated near Maltby, in South Yorkshire. The abbey is at the Northern edge of what was once Sherwood forest, and Robin Hood is said to have taken mass there regularly.
Like most other abbeys, it was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538, following which the local community despoiled it for timber, stone and lead, as well as the property within. The remains were left to fall to ruin, and the land came into the hands of the Earl of Scarborouh, who emplyed the famous landscape gardener Capability Brown who buried much of it under turf in the late 1700s. There it remained for two centuries until excavated in the 1920s, and is now cared for by English Heritage.
Taken on a walk with the NTU Chaplaincy, using a Pentax Optio S and converted to black and white using Picasa's maroon B&W filter on the advice of Brian @ Bury St Edmunds (UK). Do you prefer this one, or the colour version?
More of my photos can be found here.
EWSs 47757 'Capability Brown' rolls into London Euston station top and tailed with 47733 with a serco test train from Derby RTC on 26/3/03.
Day two of my year long project and all is well. So far ;)
Went for a wander to the cascades in the grounds of Harewood House in Leeds. The area around Harewood was designed and landscaped by Capability Brown in the 18th Century ... did quite a good job of it if I say so myself!!!
We shall see what tomorrow brings ...
The church on the hill… St Mary Magdalene Church, now a redundant 18th century Anglican church at Croome d’Abitot in Worcestershire.
It stands in the Lancelot 'Capability' Brown-designed gardens of Croome Court, once the ancestral home to the Earls of Coventry – now in the care of the National Trust, which is spending a small fortune on restoring the house which the family allowed to fall into serious disrepair. The church itself is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.
Photographic note: Incidentally, I took this photograph in 1:1 (square) format, and I wanted to capture lots of sky. I'm rather pleased with the result.
Most of this Gothic building with its four turrets dates from the 1850s. It was the home of the Rhys (or Rice) family, descendants of the Princes of Deheaubarth who’d ruled from the nearby Dinefwr Castle overlooking the Towy valley. Situated near Llandeilo in West Wales, it’s now part of the National Trust’s Dinefwr Estate. Capability Brown advised on the layout of its parkland.
NATO - Strategic Airlift Capability Boeing C-17A Globemaster III 03 on Static Display during the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford in 2018.
Landscaped gardens and tree plantings by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown
Luton Hoo is an English country house and estate between the towns of Luton, Bedfordshire and Harpenden, Hertfordshire. Most of the estate lies within the civil parish of Hyde, Bedfordshire. The unusual name "Hoo" is a Saxon word meaning the spur of a hill, and is more commonly associated with East Anglia.
Early history[edit]
Luton Hoo is not mentioned in the Domesday book, but a family called de Hoo occupied a manor house on the site for four centuries, until the death of Lord Thomas Hoo in 1455. The manor passed through many notable Someries' families through the centuries, from the family de Hoo, to the family Rotherham, to the family Napier. Successive houses on the site seem to have changed hands several times until in 1762 the then owner, Francis Hearne (MP for Bedford), sold the estate for £94,700 to John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute. Following an unhappy period as Prime Minister from 1762 to 1763, Bute decided to concentrate his energies on his Bedfordshire estate at Luton Hoo.
18th century[edit]
Luton Hoo as designed by Robert Adam. Two major sets of alterations were made after this image was published in 1829.
The present house was built for the 3rd Earl of Bute by the neoclassical architect Robert Adam. Work commenced in 1767. The original plan had been for a grand and magnificent new house. However, this plan was never fully executed and much of the work was a remodelling of the older house. Building work was interrupted by a fire in 1771, but by 1774 the house, though incomplete, was inhabited. Dr. Samuel Johnson visiting the house in 1781 is quoted as saying, "This is one of the places I do not regret coming to see....in the house magnificence is not sacrificed to convenience, nor convenience to magnificence".
Luton Hoo was one of the largest houses for which Adam was wholly responsible. While Adam was working on the mansion the landscape gardener Capability Brown was enlarging and redesigning the park; formerly approximately 300 acres (1.2 km²) it was now enlarged to 1,200 acres (4.9 km²). Brown dammed the River Lea to form two lakes, one of which is 60 acres (240,000 m²) in size. In the early 20th century, part of the park overlooked by the south-west facade mansion was transformed into formal gardens.
19th century[edit]
Luton Hoo, picture published in 1855
Robert Adam's completed mansion was transformed by the architect Robert Smirke (later Sir Robert, 1781–1867) circa 1830, following the occupation of the 3rd Earl's grandson, the 2nd Marquess of Bute. Smirke redesigned the house (with the exception of the south front) to resemble its present form today, complete with a massive portico, similar to that designed by Adam but never built. Smirke was a leading architect of the era. His early work and domestic designs, such as that at Eastnor Castle, were often in a medieval style; he seems to have reserved his Greek revival style for public buildings such as the British Museum. Hence Luton Hoo, neither gothic nor strictly Greek revival, is an unusual example of him using a classical style for domestic use, which perhaps he felt would be sympathetic to Adam's original conception.
In 1843 a devastating fire occurred and much of the house and its contents were destroyed. Following the fire the house remained a burnt shell until the estate was sold in 1848 to John Shaw Leigh, a Liverpool solicitor and property speculator. He rebuilt the derelict shell in the style and manner of Smirke, rather than to Adam's earlier plan. The Leigh family continued to own Luton Hoo until 1903, when on the death of John Leigh's daughter-in-law, who had late in life married Christian de Falbe, the Danish ambassador to England, the estate was sold to the diamond magnate, Sir Julius Wernher.
In around 1863 "there was found a Hoard of Roman Coins near Luton, on the estate of John Shaw Leigh, Esq., of Luton Hoo. The coins, which must have been nearly a thousand in number, had been deposited in an imperfectly burnt urn composed of clay and pounded shell, and consisted of denarii and small brass, ranging from the time of Caracalla to that of Claudius Gothicus".[1] Luton Hoo, beginning in the 19th century, began an association with the British royal family. It was here that, in 1891, the future Queen Mary, wife of King George V, was proposed to by her first fiancée, George V's elder brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, who would die soon after the engagement.
20th century[edit]
In 1903 the house was bought by Sir Julius Wernher, who had made his fortune from the diamond mines of South Africa. Wernher had the interior remodelled in the early 20th century by the architects of the Ritz Hotel, Charles Mewes and Arthur Davis. It was at this time that the mansard roof was added, to increase the amount of staff accommodation. This alteration, coupled with the newly installed casement windows was in the Second Empire style of architecture.
The lavish redesigning of the interior in the belle epoque style resulted in a magnificent backdrop for Wernher' acclaimed art collection. The marble-walled dining room was designed to display Beauvais tapestries, while the newly installed curved, marble staircase surrounded Bergonzoli's statue "The Love of Angels". At the centre of the house the massive Blue hall displayed further tapestries, Louis XV furniture, and Sèvres porcelain. Sir Julius Wernher's widow, later Lady Ludlow, added her collection of English porcelain to the treasures of the house.
The Wernhers' great art collection, equal to that of their neighbours in nearby Buckinghamshire, the Rothschilds, was later further enhanced by the marriage of Julius Wernher's son Harold Augustus Wernher to Anastasia de Torby, the morganatic daughter of a member of the former Russian Imperial family, generally known as "Lady Zia". She brought to the collection an incomparable assembly of renaissance enamels and Russian artefacts, including works by the Russian Imperial court jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé. For many years the collection and house were open to the public. Many of the Fabergé items were, however, stolen in the 1990s.
During the Second World War the Wernher family allowed the house to serve as Headquarters Eastern Command.[2] Luton Hoo's grounds were also used as a tank testing ground for the Churchill tanks that were produced in Luton's Vauxhall factories.
Following Lady Zia's death in 1977, the estate passed to her grandson Nicholas Harold Phillips, whose untimely death in 1991 caused the sale of the mansion house. The priceless collection is now on permanent display at Ranger's House in London. In 1997 the grounds were rented out for that year's Tribal Gathering dance music festival, and again in 2005 (although the latter event was cancelled due to the 7 July 2005 London bombings).
The dining room in the new hotel – April 2008
21st century[edit]
Part of the Luton Hoo Estate—notably the mansion house—has been converted into a luxury hotel called Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf, and Spa, which opened on 1 October 2007. It has 228 bedrooms and suites. Part of the restoration project involved rebuilding the second floor of the house, which was included in the plans drawn up by the original architects. The owners, Elite Hotels, say that furnishings have been selected with the aim of restoring the house to its former glory.
. Singapore Chinese Garden, : Location Yuan Ching Road
Canon EOS 5D Mark2
Canon 24-105 F4L @24mm.
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Landscaped by Lancelot “Capability” Brown,
this estate is crowned by a Neo-Greco-Roman mansion,
now used as part of Stowe Public School.
Brown ensured that from the house a number of Classical structures would provide, eye-line, focal points within the Park Landscape.
These include the scaled-down copies of Greek Temples, like the one shown,
Obelisks, Columns with statues and a Corinthian Arch,
centred on the house, nearly a mile to the south-east.
The lakes and valleys provide slopes and water, to further enhance the vistas and present a variety of eco-systems.
Copse woodland and mature trees lining vast, sweeping lawns.
Wood-fringed lakes, streams and waterfalls.
Wild meadow land, farm-land and a maze of interconnecting drives and paths.
This lake is known as the Octagonal Lake.
A brood of Coot chicks briefly swam out into the open, but lily-covered, expanse of water.
Mum and Dad Coots ushered them back into the safety of the nest amongst the reeds, rushes and Water-Irises.
The adults then swam out to forage for food before returning to the nest.
Although far from natural, the Estate has matured and provides a very pleasant and relaxing environment, managed in recent times by the National Trust.
As you enter Croome Court, the pathway takes you past the manor's church, St Mary Magdalene. This Grade I listed building was built in 1763 by Capability Brown for the Earl of Coventry. A medieval church nearer the Court was demolished to make way for this church, the interior of which was designed by Robert Adam.
Inside the church members of the the family are intered with very ornate memorials.
2016 02 19 125002 Worcestershire Croome Court PM1
I am currently familiarising myself with Luminar Neo, for which I have purchased a two-year subscription, having become a little tired of the increasing cost of maintaining my ON1 Photo RAW product for seemingly minor incremental gains in capability. As part of my familiarisation, I decided to look at testing background removal and layer masking by taking a previously posted shot (‘Done Shopping’) and making an ‘Adamski Effect’ image out of it.
The Adamski Effect uses multiple images, combined to create a single, composite image. The most common application is to render one element of the photo in focus, with the remainder of the image subjected to motion add/or gaussian blur effects. It is named after the Polish photographer and digital artist Antoni Adamski.
The original image was shot using a (manual focus) Samyang 85mm f/1.4 lens mounted to a A7 with using a Pentax K mount adapter form Fotodiox. It was shot at f/1.4 with and exposure of 1/400that ISO 400.
Copyright © Dave Sexton. All Rights Reserved.
This image is protected under international copyright laws and agreements. No part of the image or the Flickr Photostream to which is belongs may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the Copyright owner’s prior permission.
The Chance Vought F4U Corsair was a carrier-capable fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Demand for the aircraft soon overwhelmed Vought's manufacturing capability, resulting in production by Goodyear and Brewster: Goodyear-built Corsairs were designated FG and Brewster-built aircraft F3A. From the first prototype delivery to the U.S. Navy in 1940, to final delivery in 1953 to the French, 12,571 F4U Corsairs were manufactured by Vought, in 16 separate models, in the longest production run of any piston-engined fighter in U.S. history (1942–53).
You may view more of my images of Ickworth House, Park and gardens, by clicking "here" !
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Ickworth Park. With over 1,800 acres of parkland designed by Capability Brown, the house and its grounds were created as an homage to Italy, the country so beloved by Frederick Augustus Hervey, the 4th Earl of Bristol. The Earl-Bishop spent his life travelling the continent, gathering together a vast collection of paintings, sculpture and artefacts. Already possessed of several houses, he conceived Ickworth primarily as a museum for his treasures. At his death only the Rotunda - the giant circular structure at the centre of the two wings, described by Hervey's wife as 'a stupendous moment of Folly' - was nearing completion. The house was eventually finished by his son. Although Hervey's treasures, confiscated during the French invasion of Italy, were destined never to occupy Ickworth, his descendants made it their life's work to rebuild what has become an exceptional collection of art and silver. Paintings housed in the galleries include works by Velázquez, Titian and Poussin, while the collection of 18th-century portraits of the family is exceptionally fine, featuring canvases by Gainsborough, Reynolds, Vigée-Lebrun and Hogarth. In addition to one of the very best British collections of Georgian Huguenot silver, Ickworth is also home to an impressive array of Regency furniture, porcelain, and domestic objects. More made a career of producing idealised Italian landscapes. His Landscape with Classical Figures, Cicero at his Villa, painted in 1780 and funded in 1993, is a typical work, the misty soft-focus and pastel light adding to its appeal. Hugh Douglas Hamilton's The Earl Bishop of Bristol and Derry Seated before the Prospect of Rome shows Hervey seated at what is thought to be the southern tip of the Borghese Gardens. Ickworth's parklands and gardens can provide a day's activity in their own right. The south gardens are modelled on the formal Italian style, while the gardens to the west of the house are more informal. Visitors can walk or cycle out into the park itself and up to the Fairy Lake. Bright and modern, The West Wing Restaurant overlooks the gardens and can be guaranteed to catch any sunlight on offer. It serves everything from hot meals to snacks, and at weekends the restaurant is open for breakfast. If you're after something rather more formal, try Frederick's restaurant at Ickworth Hotel in the grounds.
The sheep is a quadrupedal, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries. Numbering a little over one billion, domestic sheep are also the most numerous species of sheep. An adult female sheep is referred to as a ewe (/juː/), an intact male as a ram or occasionally a tup, a castrated male as a wether, and a younger sheep as a lamb. Sheep are most likely descended from the wild mouflon of Europe and Asia. One of the earliest animals to be domesticated for agricultural purposes, sheep are raised for fleece, meat (lamb, hogget or mutton) and milk. A sheep's wool is the most widely used animal fiber, and is usually harvested by shearing. Ovine meat is called lamb when from younger animals and mutton when from older ones. Sheep continue to be important for wool and meat today, and are also occasionally raised for pelts, as dairy animals, or as model organisms for science. Sheep husbandry is practised throughout the majority of the inhabited world, and has been fundamental to many civilizations. In the modern era, Australia, New Zealand, the southern and central South American nations, and the British Isles are most closely associated with sheep production. Sheepraising has a large lexicon of unique terms which vary considerably by region and dialect. Use of the word sheep began in Middle English as a derivation of the Old English word scēap; it is both the singular and plural name for the animal. A group of sheep is called a flock, herd or mob. Many other specific terms for the various life stages of sheep exist, generally related to lambing, shearing, and age. Being a key animal in the history of farming, sheep have a deeply entrenched place in human culture, and find representation in much modern language and symbology. As livestock, sheep are most often associated with pastoral, Arcadian imagery. Sheep figure in many mythologies—such as the Golden Fleece—and major religions, especially the Abrahamic traditions. In both ancient and modern religious ritual, sheep are used as sacrificial animals. Domestic sheep are relatively small ruminants, usually with a crimped hair called wool and often with horns forming a lateral spiral. Domestic sheep differ from their wild relatives and ancestors in several respects, having become uniquely neotenic as a result of selective breeding by humans. A few primitive breeds of sheep retain some of the characteristics of their wild cousins, such as short tails. Depending on breed, domestic sheep may have no horns at all, or horns in both sexes, or in males only. Most horned breeds have a single pair, but a few breeds may have several. Another trait unique to domestic sheep as compared to wild ovines is their wide variation in color. Wild sheep are largely variations of brown hues, and variation within species is extremely limited. Colors of domestic sheep range from pure white to dark chocolate brown and even spotted or piebald. Selection for easily dyeable white fleeces began early in sheep domestication, and as white wool is a dominant trait it spread quickly. However, colored sheep do appear in many modern breeds, and may even appear as a recessive trait in white flocks. While white wool is desirable for large commercial markets, there is a niche market for colored fleeces, mostly for handspinning. The nature of the fleece varies widely among the breeds, from dense and highly crimped, to long and hairlike. There is variation of wool type and quality even among members of the same flock, so wool classing is a step in the commercial processing of the fibre. Depending on breed, sheep show a range of heights and weights. Their rate of growth and mature weight is a heritable trait that is often selected for in breeding. Ewes typically weigh between 45 and 100 kilograms (99 and 220 lb), and rams between 45 and 160 kilograms (99 and 353 lb). When all deciduous teeth have erupted, the sheep has 20 teeth. Mature sheep have 32 teeth. As with other ruminants, the front teeth in the lower jaw bite against a hard, toothless pad in the upper jaw. These are used to pick off vegetation, then the rear teeth grind it before it is swallowed. There are eight lower front teeth in ruminants, but there is some disagreement as to whether these are eight incisors, or six incisors and two incisor-shaped canines. There is a large diastema between the incisors and the molars. For the first few years of life it is possible to calculate the age of sheep from their front teeth, as a pair of milk teeth is replaced by larger adult teeth each year, the full set of eight adult front teeth being complete at about four years of age. The front teeth are then gradually lost as sheep age, making it harder for them to feed and hindering the health and productivity of the animal. For this reason, domestic sheep on normal pasture begin to slowly decline from four years on, and the average life expectancy of a sheep is 10 to 12 years, though some sheep may live as long as 20 years. Sheep have good hearing, and are sensitive to noise when being handled. Sheep have horizontal slit-shaped pupils, possessing excellent peripheral vision; with visual fields of approximately 270° to 320°, sheep can see behind themselves without turning their heads. Many breeds have only short hair on the face, and some have facial wool (if any) confined to the poll and or the area of the mandibular angle; the wide angles of peripheral vision apply to these breeds. A few breeds tend to have considerable wool on the face; for some individuals of these breeds, peripheral vision may be greatly reduced by "wool blindness", unless recently shorn about the face. Sheep have poor depth perception; shadows and dips in the ground may cause sheep to baulk. In general, sheep have a tendency to move out of the dark and into well lit areas, and prefer to move uphill when disturbed. Sheep also have an excellent sense of smell, and, like all species of their genus, have scent glands just in front of the eyes, and interdigitally on the feet. The purpose of these glands is uncertain, but those on the face may be used in breeding behaviors. The foot glands might also be related to reproduction, but alternative reasons, such as secretion of a waste product or a scent marker to help lost sheep find their flock, have also been proposed.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I went for a walk around Petworth Park to see the deer during the rutting season, strange groaning and belching sounds echoed around the park. The clash of antlers could be heard for miles as the males showed off their virility to potential mates. This stag bellows shortly after winning a dual with a rival, then struts off to take over the harem.
The fallow deer (Dama dama) is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. This common species is native to western Eurasia, but has been introduced widely elsewhere. It often includes the rarer Persian fallow deer as a subspecies (D. d. mesopotamica), while others treat it as an entirely different species (D. mesopotamica).
Petworth House and Park in Petworth, West Sussex, England, has been a family home for over 800 years. The estate was a royal gift from the widow of Henry I to her brother Jocelin de Louvain, who soon after married into the renowned Percy family. As the Percy stronghold was in the north, Petworth was originally only intended for occasional use.
Petworth, formerly known as Leconfield, is a major country estate on the outskirts of Petworth, itself a town created to serve the house. Described by English Heritage as "the most important residence in the County of Sussex", there was a manorial house here from 1309, but the present buildings were built for the Dukes of Somerset from the late 17th century, the park being landscaped by "Capability" Brown. The house contains a fine collection of paintings and sculptures.
The house itself is grade I listed (List Entry Number 1225989) and the park as a historic park (1000162). Several individual features in the park are also listed.
It was in the late 1500s that Petworth became a permanent home to the Percys after Elizabeth I grew suspicious of their allegiance to Mary, Queen of Scots and confined the family to the south.
The 2nd Earl of Egremont commissioned Capability Brown to design and landscape the deer park. The park, one of Brownâs first commissions as an independent designer, consists of 700 acres of grassland and trees. It is inhabited by the largest herd of fallow deer in England. There is also a 12-hectare (30-acre) woodland garden, known as the Pleasure Ground.
Brown removed the formal garden and fishponds of the 1690âs and relocated 64,000 tons of soil, creating a serpentine lake. He bordered the lake with poplars, birches and willows to make the ânaturalâ view pleasing. A 1987 hurricane devastated the park, and 35,000 trees were planted to replace the losses. Gracing the 30 acres of gardens and pleasure grounds around the home are seasonal shrubs and bulbs that include lilies, primroses, and azaleas. A Doric temple and Ionic rotunda add interest in the grounds.
Petworth House is a late 17th-century mansion, rebuilt in 1688 by Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, and altered in the 1870s by Anthony Salvin. The site was previously occupied by a fortified manor house founded by Henry de Percy, the 13th-century chapel and undercroft of which still survive.
Today's building houses an important collection of paintings and sculptures, including 19 oil paintings by J. M. W. Turner (some owned by the family, some by Tate Britain), who was a regular visitor to Petworth, paintings by Van Dyck, carvings by Grinling Gibbons and Ben Harms, classical and neoclassical sculptures (including ones by John Flaxman and John Edward Carew), and wall and ceiling paintings by Louis Laguerre. There is also a terrestrial globe by Emery Molyneux, believed to be the only one in the world in its original 1592 state.
For the past 250 years the house and the estate have been in the hands of the Wyndham family â currently Lord Egremont. He and his family live in the south wing, allowing much of the remainder to be open to the public.
The house and deer park were handed over to the nation in 1947 and are now managed by the National Trust under the name "Petworth House & Park". The Leconfield Estates continue to own much of Petworth and the surrounding area. As an insight into the lives of past estate workers the Petworth Cottage Museum has been established in High Street, Petworth, furnished as it would have been in about 1910.
C-17A SAC HEAVY AIRLIFT WING 01/080001 PÁPA (RIAT)
"Strategic Airlift Capability"
--------------------------------------
The Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) is a multinational initiative that provides its participating nations assured access to military airlift capability to address the growing needs for both strategic airlifts and tactical airlifts.
SAC, established in 2008, is an independent, multinational program that provides the capability of transporting equipment and personnel over long distances to its 12 member nations by owning and operating three Boeing C-17 Globemaster III long range cargo aircraft. The SAC is based at the Hungarian Defence Forces Pápa Air Base in Western Hungary. Each participating nation owns a share of the available flight hours of the SAC C-17's that can be used for missions to serve the needs of their national defense, NATO, EU or UN commitments as well as humanitarian relief efforts.
Hungary plays a special role in the SAC as the host nation. The SAC C-17's are registered and flagged in Hungary bearing the national military aircraft insignia of the nation.
Although the Strategic Airlift Capability relies on certain NATO support structures, it transcends the military and political alliances like the NATO and the European Union.[1] The governing bodies of the program are the SAC Steering Board and the NATO Airlift Management (NAM) Programme Board. The operational organization of SAC, the Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW), is a multinational force, commanded by a colonel of a member nation.
The Nikon F3, Nikon's first pro-level camera with an electronic shutter, was in production from 1980 through 2001. The pictured camera is fitted with the HP High-Eyepoint prism.
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The Nikon F3 was the first professional level Nikon SLR to incorporate an electronic shutter and automatic exposure capability. Of course, the F3 provides the same high-quality materials, refined fit and finish, and durability for professional use as all F-Series cameras. Like its predecessors, the F3 was part of a remarkably broad and advanced professional camera system.
When used in the new aperture priority mode, shutter speed range is a stepless 8 sec. to 1/2000 sec. An F3HP is an F3 body with a so-called "High-Eyepoint" DE-3 prism. Compared with the original F3 standard DE-2 eyelevel finder, the F3HP has a larger viewfinder eyepiece. Actually, most of the F3s that I have seen incorporate the HP viewfinder. Of course, the F3HP viewfinder provides a 100% frame coverage, like all F-series cameras, and a large, bright image with 0.8x magnification. Nikon offered 21 interchangeable focusing screens for the F3, but for general photography, the standard K screen (with split image, microprism collar, and matte field) is satisfactory.
Back in the day, I waited years to upgrade to the F3HP because I liked my F2AS so much. However, since I, like many, had been using a Nikon FE as my second body together with the F2AS, I eventually succumbed to the desire to have aperture priority auto exposure metering on my main camera body, as well.
The F3HP, particularly without the optional MD-4 motor drive attachment, has a perfect shape, body size, and weight for comfortable and stable holding as well as all-day carrying. The F3's built-in handgrip allows a firm grasp.
One advantage of the F3 over the F and F2 is that the exposure meter is incorporated into the camera body instead of the prism. As a result, you can now change viewfinders and still keep the exposure meter. The F3HP's easy-to-view High Eyepoint DE-3 prism is perfect for most purposes, but for various specialized professional applications, Nikon offered other types, such as the DW-3 Waist-Level Finder, the DA-2 Action Finder, and the DW-4 6x Magnification Finder. Nikon even produced the DX-1 AF Finder, with an electronic focus-aid indication!
The exposure meter on/off switch is a plastic lever that is incorporated around the shutter release button. This is something of a precursor to a similar switch on the future F4 and other newer Nikon camera bodies. However, I find the switch on the F3 quite tight and hard to turn. In fact, my original switch got damaged from long use and became stuck in the off position. I had get the switch replaced at my local repair shop. Fortunately, there is no reason why the switch could not just be left in the on position during periods when the camera is in frequent use. Even with the switch in the on position, the meter circuit does not actually activate unless the film wind crank is pulled slightly away from the body and the shutter release button pushed part way down. The shutter and meter are locked off when the film advance lever is pressed into the lock position. The F3 is the first F-level camera to utilize a standard ISO shutter release thread in the center of the shutter release button, instead of the older AR-2 style connector. The shutter release button is positioned just right, in the middle of the body, and has a silky-smooth feel.
As indicated above, the F3 is the first F-series camera body to support aperture priority automatic exposure instead of just manual exposure adjustment. Simply turn the shutter speed dial to "A" to enter this mode, then adjust the aperture ring appropriately. A really cool feature of the F3 is the 80% center-weighted exposure meter, concentrated within the viewfinder's 12 mm outer reference circle area. The 80% central weighting is a great compromise between Nikon's standard 60/40 weighting and a spot meter. The 80% weight allows you to easily meter on the most important section of the image, while still incorporating some exposure information from the remainder of the frame. You can center the 80% central spot on the metering target, then hold down the exposure memory lock button on the front of the body and re-frame. However, since I personally find it uncomfortable to use the exposure lock button in this position, I usually use manual exposure mode in these cases unless I am in a rush to shoot.
The F3 viewfinder includes at the top of the frame an ADR readout of the aperture setting on all Nikon F-mount lenses that have an aperture ring (basically any pre-G lens will work on the F3). To the left is an LCD display of the automatically or manually selected shutter speed, in full stop increments. One thing that I don't like about the F3's manual exposure mode is the compact-style manual exposure indicator display in the viewfinder. When in manual exposure mode, correct exposure is shown by small +- indicators to the left of the shutter speed display. You adjust the exposure until both the + and - indicators are visible at the same time. This system, while extremely accurate, is not as clear or quick as the match needle setup in the Nikkormat EL/FE/FE2/FM3A or the three diode (-o+) setup in the F2AS/FM/FM2n system. The F3's viewfinder display is illuminated by ambient light. However, you can push a small button on the prism to electronically illuminate the display in the dark.
The F3 is the last F-series body to have manual film wind, unless you attach the optional MD-4 Motor Drive (with up to 6 frames per second performance). Starting from the F4, the F-Series evolved to built-in automatic film advance. This is great if you need to often shoot rapidly. However, if you just want a high-end film camera for slower, more deliberative shooting, manual film advance provides quieter film operation, much better battery life, and a smaller and lighter package compared with the auto-advance F4, F5 and F6. Unlike the semi-pro bodies like the FE and FM, the film advance lever on the F3 may be operated in one complete stroke or a series of shorter strokes. The F3 can be used without a battery in an emergency. Just push the mechanical shutter release lever on the front of the camera, although the mechanical shutter speed is limited to only 1/60 second. That is certainly a far cry from a full range of shutter speeds, but at least flexible enough for many situations, if needed. Nevertheless, lack of power is almost never going to become an issue. My F3HP battery and shutter have never died throughout decades of use, and a single battery seems to last forever with the camera's low power usage.
The meter coupling lever on the F3 can be locked up to allow mounting of prehistoric non-AI lenses, although most users probably converted their non-AI lenses to AI decades ago. As a pro-level camera, the F3 has a proper mirror lock-up feature for certain specialized lenses and for slow exposure times. Of course, multiple exposures on a single frame are also supported.
Since the camera has an electronic shutter, it also has an electronic self-timer, complete with a flashing red light, just like modern SLRs.
The eyepiece has the usual shutter lever, but still no adjustable diopter. This is no problem, however, since Nikon still makes screw-in diopter lenses for the F3. Actually, the F3HP works fine with diopter lenses for the F90X, F100, etc. These diopter lenses have screw-in rings that are slightly thinner than harder to find ones that are actually designed for the F3. The large F3HP viewfinder eyepiece is relatively easy to use with glasses. On the F3 without the HP prism, use diopters that are designed for the FM/FE series of cameras.
In order to use an electronic flash unit, just like the earlier generation F and F2 bodies, the F3 still requires that an accessory shoe be mounted over the rewind knob, or that a special Nikon F3 flash unit be mounted directly onto the camera in the same position. (Of course, you could also use a side-bracket flash with a synch terminal cable.) Interestingly, the maximum flash synchronization speed is 1/80 sec., slightly slower than the 1/90 sec. maximum synch speed on the Nikon F2. The new advance is that the F3 offers TTL automatic flash exposure, although the F3 can't simultaneously meter ambient light. The powerful F3-era Nikon SB-16a Speedlight is a perfect match for the camera. Newer Nikon flash units can also provide TTL flash functionality with the F3, when used with the special adapter AS-17, which also allows convenient flash exposure compensation.
If you don't have the AS-17, you can do balanced fill flash the old way, as follows. First, set the background exposure manually, with a shutter speed at or below the maximum electronic flash synchronization speed. Then set the appropriate camera distance based on the film ISO, selected aperture and guide number. Finally, fill flash is achieved by further shutting down the aperture by 1-2 stops, and correspondingly adjusting the shutter speed. You can also set the SB-16a to TTL and adjust the flash exposure down by 1-2 stops using the exposure compensation dial. The compensation dial does not adjust the background exposure in this case because both shutter speed and aperture are set manually. All that being said, for fill flash, it would frankly be easier and faster to use a more modern body such as the F90X, F100, F5 or F6, which all provide various forms of 3D matrix automatic balanced fill-flash, Nikon's most advanced flash system. The F4 also has a pretty good flash capability, but it is still one generation older pre-3D technology (i.e., no communication of subject distance from D-type lenses.)
The basic Nikon F3 and F3HP were available in black. The Nikon F3 was also available in a few special variants, all of which had the High-Eyepoint viewfinder, such as the Nikon F3/T with a titanium exterior, the Nikon F3 Press, and various limited edition models. The F3/T was produced in both champagne and black colors.
As a pro-level camera, the F3 offers the benefits of aperture priority auto exposure, basic TTL flash, and a more compact and elegant design than the prior-generation F and F2 bodies. Compared with its later descendants, the F3 does not provide such benefits as matrix (multi-segment) metering, automatic balanced fill flash, multiple exposure modes, and built-in automatic film advance. On the other hand, the core F3 is significantly smaller and lighter than those later pro-level bodies. And, when used properly, the F3's exposure metering system can be just as effective, or even more so, compared with the early-generation matrix metering systems in some later Nikon cameras. For deliberative photographers who still like to shoot film, the F3 and F3HP provide a highly-refined and relatively compact manual focus platform for the extensive universe of "Pre-G"-type Nikon F-Mount lenses.
Copyright © 2015 Timothy A. Rogers. All rights reserved.
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You may view more of my images of Ickworth House, Park and gardens, by clicking "here" !
Please do not insert images, of group invite, thank you!
Ickworth Park. With over 1,800 acres of parkland designed by Capability Brown, the house and its grounds were created as an homage to Italy, the country so beloved by Frederick Augustus Hervey, the 4th Earl of Bristol. The Earl-Bishop spent his life travelling the continent, gathering together a vast collection of paintings, sculpture and artefacts. Already possessed of several houses, he conceived Ickworth primarily as a museum for his treasures. At his death only the Rotunda - the giant circular structure at the centre of the two wings, described by Hervey's wife as 'a stupendous moment of Folly' - was nearing completion. The house was eventually finished by his son. Although Hervey's treasures, confiscated during the French invasion of Italy, were destined never to occupy Ickworth, his descendants made it their life's work to rebuild what has become an exceptional collection of art and silver. Paintings housed in the galleries include works by Velázquez, Titian and Poussin, while the collection of 18th-century portraits of the family is exceptionally fine, featuring canvases by Gainsborough, Reynolds, Vigée-Lebrun and Hogarth. In addition to one of the very best British collections of Georgian Huguenot silver, Ickworth is also home to an impressive array of Regency furniture, porcelain, and domestic objects. More made a career of producing idealised Italian landscapes. His Landscape with Classical Figures, Cicero at his Villa, painted in 1780 and funded in 1993, is a typical work, the misty soft-focus and pastel light adding to its appeal. Hugh Douglas Hamilton's The Earl Bishop of Bristol and Derry Seated before the Prospect of Rome shows Hervey seated at what is thought to be the southern tip of the Borghese Gardens. Ickworth's parklands and gardens can provide a day's activity in their own right. The south gardens are modelled on the formal Italian style, while the gardens to the west of the house are more informal. Visitors can walk or cycle out into the park itself and up to the Fairy Lake. Bright and modern, The West Wing Restaurant overlooks the gardens and can be guaranteed to catch any sunlight on offer. It serves everything from hot meals to snacks, and at weekends the restaurant is open for breakfast. If you're after something rather more formal, try Frederick's restaurant at Ickworth Hotel in the grounds.
The sheep is a quadrupedal, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries. Numbering a little over one billion, domestic sheep are also the most numerous species of sheep. An adult female sheep is referred to as a ewe (/juː/), an intact male as a ram or occasionally a tup, a castrated male as a wether, and a younger sheep as a lamb. Sheep are most likely descended from the wild mouflon of Europe and Asia. One of the earliest animals to be domesticated for agricultural purposes, sheep are raised for fleece, meat (lamb, hogget or mutton) and milk. A sheep's wool is the most widely used animal fiber, and is usually harvested by shearing. Ovine meat is called lamb when from younger animals and mutton when from older ones. Sheep continue to be important for wool and meat today, and are also occasionally raised for pelts, as dairy animals, or as model organisms for science. Sheep husbandry is practised throughout the majority of the inhabited world, and has been fundamental to many civilizations. In the modern era, Australia, New Zealand, the southern and central South American nations, and the British Isles are most closely associated with sheep production. Sheepraising has a large lexicon of unique terms which vary considerably by region and dialect. Use of the word sheep began in Middle English as a derivation of the Old English word scēap; it is both the singular and plural name for the animal. A group of sheep is called a flock, herd or mob. Many other specific terms for the various life stages of sheep exist, generally related to lambing, shearing, and age. Being a key animal in the history of farming, sheep have a deeply entrenched place in human culture, and find representation in much modern language and symbology. As livestock, sheep are most often associated with pastoral, Arcadian imagery. Sheep figure in many mythologies—such as the Golden Fleece—and major religions, especially the Abrahamic traditions. In both ancient and modern religious ritual, sheep are used as sacrificial animals. Domestic sheep are relatively small ruminants, usually with a crimped hair called wool and often with horns forming a lateral spiral. Domestic sheep differ from their wild relatives and ancestors in several respects, having become uniquely neotenic as a result of selective breeding by humans. A few primitive breeds of sheep retain some of the characteristics of their wild cousins, such as short tails. Depending on breed, domestic sheep may have no horns at all, or horns in both sexes, or in males only. Most horned breeds have a single pair, but a few breeds may have several. Another trait unique to domestic sheep as compared to wild ovines is their wide variation in color. Wild sheep are largely variations of brown hues, and variation within species is extremely limited. Colors of domestic sheep range from pure white to dark chocolate brown and even spotted or piebald. Selection for easily dyeable white fleeces began early in sheep domestication, and as white wool is a dominant trait it spread quickly. However, colored sheep do appear in many modern breeds, and may even appear as a recessive trait in white flocks. While white wool is desirable for large commercial markets, there is a niche market for colored fleeces, mostly for handspinning. The nature of the fleece varies widely among the breeds, from dense and highly crimped, to long and hairlike. There is variation of wool type and quality even among members of the same flock, so wool classing is a step in the commercial processing of the fibre. Depending on breed, sheep show a range of heights and weights. Their rate of growth and mature weight is a heritable trait that is often selected for in breeding. Ewes typically weigh between 45 and 100 kilograms (99 and 220 lb), and rams between 45 and 160 kilograms (99 and 353 lb). When all deciduous teeth have erupted, the sheep has 20 teeth. Mature sheep have 32 teeth. As with other ruminants, the front teeth in the lower jaw bite against a hard, toothless pad in the upper jaw. These are used to pick off vegetation, then the rear teeth grind it before it is swallowed. There are eight lower front teeth in ruminants, but there is some disagreement as to whether these are eight incisors, or six incisors and two incisor-shaped canines. There is a large diastema between the incisors and the molars. For the first few years of life it is possible to calculate the age of sheep from their front teeth, as a pair of milk teeth is replaced by larger adult teeth each year, the full set of eight adult front teeth being complete at about four years of age. The front teeth are then gradually lost as sheep age, making it harder for them to feed and hindering the health and productivity of the animal. For this reason, domestic sheep on normal pasture begin to slowly decline from four years on, and the average life expectancy of a sheep is 10 to 12 years, though some sheep may live as long as 20 years. Sheep have good hearing, and are sensitive to noise when being handled. Sheep have horizontal slit-shaped pupils, possessing excellent peripheral vision; with visual fields of approximately 270° to 320°, sheep can see behind themselves without turning their heads. Many breeds have only short hair on the face, and some have facial wool (if any) confined to the poll and or the area of the mandibular angle; the wide angles of peripheral vision apply to these breeds. A few breeds tend to have considerable wool on the face; for some individuals of these breeds, peripheral vision may be greatly reduced by "wool blindness", unless recently shorn about the face. Sheep have poor depth perception; shadows and dips in the ground may cause sheep to baulk. In general, sheep have a tendency to move out of the dark and into well lit areas, and prefer to move uphill when disturbed. Sheep also have an excellent sense of smell, and, like all species of their genus, have scent glands just in front of the eyes, and interdigitally on the feet. The purpose of these glands is uncertain, but those on the face may be used in breeding behaviors. The foot glands might also be related to reproduction, but alternative reasons, such as secretion of a waste product or a scent marker to help lost sheep find their flock, have also been proposed.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Nikon FM2n is the best medium-compact mechanical shutter SLR camera ever made. There are other bodies from other manufacturers that have been favorably compared, such as the Olympus OM-3 and the Leica R6.2. These other cameras indeed have certain features, e.g., spot metering capability, that are not found on the FM2n. However, they have disadvantages, too. The Olympus system is smaller than Nikon, and lenses and accessories are presumably less abundant on the used market. The Leica system is substantially more expensive used, especially the lenses, and the Leica R series never became that popular (as opposed to Leica's M-Series). The design of the FM2n has been highly refined over several generations of the FM product line. It is part of the enormous Nikon system of manual focus and auto focus cameras. Many Nikon bodies are available on the used market. And the FM2n is just an absolutely great camera.
The FM2n is the final all-mechanical version of the FM Series that began with the FM in 1977 as an upgrade to the classic Nikkormat FT3 (early 1977). The FM was subsequently updated and modernized with various versions of the FM, FM2 (1982) and FM2n which were developed over the years, with the FM2n finally introduced in 1984. The FM2n remained in production until 2001. There was actually one additional major upgrade after the FM2n, which was the FM3A (2001-2006; 1991). The FM3A is the most advanced of the FM Series, with a hybrid mechanical/electronic shutter, an FE2 style readout, and all of the other features of the FE2. From a technological point of view, the FM3A is really cool and unique. However, due to some of the feature advantages that I will discuss below, the FM2n is still a very attractive option for all manual film shooting . The FM3A is relatively more expensive on the used market, with relatively high prices for the occasional NIB sample, or even very clean used camera.
Check out the FM3A here:
www.flickr.com/photos/trphotoguy/23145338649/in/album-721...
The standard FM2n was available in silver chrome and black paint. Both look great.
There were a few special versions of the FM2n that were introduced. The most interesting one is the FM2/T (1993-1997). The FM2/T is exactly the same mechanically as the latest FM2n, except that the top and bottom covers are made out of titanium. Please refer to my separate page on the FM2/T, which is one of the most beautiful SLR cameras ever made:
www.flickr.com/photos/trphotoguy/16514084188/in/album-721...
My own experience with the FM line actually started with the FM2n. Previously, I had been using the Nikon F2 Photomic AS and Nikon FE combination; my F2 was the reliable all-mechanical body, and I used the FE as an electronic backup when needing something smaller than the F2, or when wanting to shoot quicker with the FE in aperture priority mode, or just for a different kind of film. (Back then, photographers still looked askance at electronic cameras compared with tried and true mechanical ones.) However, when I finally upgraded from the F2 to the new F3HP, it was time to switch around and get the FM2n as a mechanical backup to the electronic F3HP.
Since my experience with the FM Series started with the FM2n, and given that the FM2n would be the best body of the series to go with on the used market today, I will focus my comments on the FM2n.
As with the prior models of the FM Series, the FM2n takes either a 3V lithium battery, two 1.55V silver oxide batteries, or two 1.5V alkalines. Quite standard for Nikon bodies of the that era. I usually prefer to just go with a single 3V lithium to enjoy the long shelf life, but of course the other two types work fine too, as needed. Since the small batteries are used only for the light meter, they seem to last forever and are not necessary for camera operation at all shutter speeds.
The FM series is built with a copper-aluminum-silicon (copper-silumin) alloy body. I find the size and weight of the FM2n to be perfect, especially with wide-angle through medium telephoto Nikkor manual focus prime lenses. The body size is not too big or too small. Its size is large enough to hold securely, but still smaller than full size professional bodies like the concurrent F3HP. It is not as small as the Contax S2, Pentax MX, or even the Olympus OM-3, which are considered small compact bodies and sometimes feel a bit too small to get a good grip. The FM2n weighs in at only 540g without lens, and of course the weight of the batteries is insignificant, compared with the multiple AA batteries or other larger batteries in future electronic bodies. The FM2n fits great in a dedicated case, or a spongy snug-fit case, or a small camera bag with a few lenses. It is an excellent size for travel use.
The FM2n body by itself, like all those in the FM Series, feels a bit light and even insubstantial when held without a lens attached. However, once a lens is attached, the lens/camera combination has the perfect balance, size and weight. It has a highly luxurious and precision feel and sound when held in your hands and used. I most often use Ai-S primes from 20/2.8 to 200/4 and the system is wonderful to operate with all of those lenses. However, once you start getting into bigger and heavier lenses such as, for example, the 80-200/2.8, the camera feels a big too light and out of balance. Also, on fatter lenses, you may need to use a rubber tripod filler ring to keep the lens rings from touching the tripod head.
Operation of the FM2n is really smooth. All of the top controls are on the right side of the camera. The shutter speed ring is tall, large and has an easy-to-turn knurled grip. It is easy to grab with thumb and forefinger when the film advance lever is pulled out to turn on the camera. The film advance lever motion is amazingly smooth, although the lever is single-stroke only, unlike the levers on the F, F2 and F3. But the stoke is not very big, so a quick easy stroke quickly winds to the next frame. ASA/ISO setting is embedded into the top of the shutter speed dial. Shutter speed and ISO markings are clear and easy to read. The ISO range of the FM2n is 12 - 6400, wide enough to handle virtually all situations. The small multiple-exposure lever is located under the film advance lever, out of the way but easy to turn when you need it. The mechanical shutter release button is large and located at just the right location near the front of the body. It takes a standard mechanical cable release. The shutter release button has a fairly long travel, but it works well with just the right amount of resistance to allow you to half press for an exposure reading, and then make a short continued push to achieve an immediate shutter release. The shutter has a relatively quiet, pleasing and precision-like sound. The film counter is just in front of release crank and is easy to read.
One of the biggest advantage of the Nikon film SLR lens mount (the "F mount") is that it is the only SLR camera mount that has stayed virtually the same from the time of the first Nikon F and Nikkormat FS/FT through to the most current small and full frame Nikon digital SLRs. Except for the requirement that relatively newer Nikon film SLRs require Ai or Ai-converted lenses, all manual focus Nikon F mount lenses can be used on autofocus bodies, and most full-frame auto-focus Nikon F mount lenses (pre-G type) can be used on all old manual focus bodies. I don't know of any other SLR manufacturer that can make such a claim. Thus, it is convenient to use the FM2N together with a modern Nikon autofocus film or digital SLR because you can often use the same lenses on both bodies.
Loading Nikkor lenses onto any FM Series is quick and positive. Just line up the black dot on the lens with the dot on the camera body and twist the lens counter-clockwise. Of course, there is no need to line up the claw on Ai Nikkor aperture rings with an exposure meet pin on the body; this old system became obsolete after the Nikkormat FT2/EL generation. Unfortunately, the FM Series lens mount lost the retractable meter coupling lever after the original FM body; thus the FM2n won't accept (in stop down mode) any pre-Ai or non-Ai's lenses that you might own. To remove a lens, just press the lens release button on the left front of the body and twist clockwise.
The only control on the top left of the camera is the film rewind/back opening mechanism. Twist the back opening lever counter-clockwise and put the rewind crank upwards to open the camera back. Since the camera only has a manual exposure meter mode, unlike the FE/FE2, the rewind crank mechanism includes no exposure compensation dial. Film loading is traditional style and almost foolproof. Like many Nikon and other cameras of this generation, you need to stick the film leader into a slot on the take-up spool and insure that the latch in the spool engages a film perforation. This system is more reliable than that on newer Nikon bodies where you simply lay the film leader flat next to an index line. With the FM2n, if you are careful when you load the film, you can get an extra exposure on frame 0.
The viewfinder of the FM Series has been gradually improved over the life of the series, but remains essentially the same in the FM2n version. A slight disadvantage of the FM series viewfinder is that, unlike the 100% frame coverage of a pro-level Nikon F series camera, the FM's frame coverage is only 93%. This is not unusual in a pro-sumer level camera, but you need to be aware that objects that are outside the field of view in will be captured on your film. (Maybe it wasn't a problem with mounted slides?) The viewfinder contains all of the information that you need for convenient camera setting. There is a mechanical readout for the selected shutter speed on the left side of the viewfinder. There is also a aperture direct readout (ADR) at the center top of the viewfinder. The exposure meter indicator on the right of the viewfinder utilizes three red light emitting diodes. This is my favorite type of exposure meter readout design, which I learned to like on the earlier Nikon F2 Photomic AS. It is also the same system as that on cameras such as the Leica M6TTL or current MP. First of all and most importantly, the diodes are easy to see in all lighting conditions, light and dark. The LEDs are bright enough to be clearly visible on a sunny day, but also not so bright that they blind you in a dark location. Also, exposure adjustment is extremely rapid and precise.
I normally set the shutter speed first, depending on what I am trying to do. Then push the shutter release button down half way and twist the lens aperture ring on the lens until only the center LED circle lights up. As you move away from correct exposure, the LED display changes to a combined +o or o- (when you are over or underexposed by between 1/5 and one stop-), and finally to a single + or - (when you are over or underexposed by more than one stop).The three-diode system of the FM Series is superior to the match needle system of the aperture priority capable FE Series and the hybrid FM3A. While the match needle system is nice and clear in bright light, it is almost impossible to see the display to adjust exposure in dark environments - although the meter itself is very sensitive. On the other hand, an advantage of the match needle system is that you receive direct visual indication of a wider range of exposure divergence, compared with the LED system. Also, you can directly see intermediate shutter speeds in Aperture Priority mode.
The FM2 and FM2n exposure meter uses a pair of silicon photodiodes (SPDs) for exposure measurement. This was the latest generation of exposure meter technology, after Cadmium Sulfide (CdS) technology in the Nikkormat FT (1965) through the FT3 (1977) and gallium-arsenide-phosphide photodiodes in the original FM (1977). Silicon photodiodes provide quick response and stability, and apparently lower manufacturing cost for Nikon, compared with the prior generation. Exposure measurement range of the FM2n is EV 1 to EV 18 at ASA/ISO 100 and with a 50mm f/1.4 lens. This supports a aperture/shutter speed range of 1 sec. at f/1.4 through 1/4000 sec. at f/8. That range is pretty good for most situations, and a step up from the Nikkormat FT - FT3's range of EV 3 - EV 17. The FM2n is exactly on par with the Nikon F3HP. However, it is not as sensitive as the EV -2 to EV +17 range on the F2 Photomic AS, or the EV 0 to EV 21 range of the Nikon F4.
Since the FM Series cameras have manual exposure mode only, there is obviously no exposure lock button. Exposure lock is one thing that can be frustrating on cameras like the F3HP and FE/FE2. It is often easier, even on these cameras with aperture priority mode, to just use manual exposure mode and set the exposure directly. It is quicker and more comfortable than pointing the camera to where you can measure the proper exposure, pushing the exposure lock button an holding the button down will recomposing a shooting. Anyway, you don't need to worry about any of that on the manual mode only FM2n.
The center of the viewfinder display, with the standard K2-Type focusing screen, contains a small central horizontal split image, surrounded by a microprism donut, which is further surrounded by a large matte donut and a 12mm diameter circle. But utilizing both the split-image and microprism collar, you can manually focus on almost any subject very quickly. Turn the camera at a slight angle when focusing if necessary to find a straight line. I can't resist pointing out that with well-maintained manual focus Nikkor primes, such as Ai-S lenses, focusing ring operation is buttery smooth, with just the right amount of viscous resistance. With the no-slip knurled focusing rings, focusing is quick and accurate. The FM2n system provides three different interchangeable focusing screen types for various applications.Mostly, the standard K2-Type screen is sufficient. The B2 type screen removes the split image and microprism focusing aids, while the E2 type is the same as the B2, except with horizontal and vertical etched lines. FM/FE series focusing screens were improved (from the "K" series to the "K2" series) to provide a brighter viewfinder image starting with the FM2/FE2 generation. Focusing screens were further improved on the final FM3A to avoid split-image blackout with lenses with maximum aperture of f/5.6 or less.
The outer circle encloses the central area which carries a 60% exposure meter weight, with the area outside the circle comprising the remaining 40%. The most important thing to know about an exposure measurement system is how it weights various areas of the viewfinder image so that you can determine how to use it in each situation. The 60/40 system works fine for most situations. It is vast improvement over the classic full-frame averaging system, which was used on Pentax Spotmatic models, the earliest Nikkormat FT, and other cameras. For these averaging systems, if you wanted a proper exposure, you could not include a bright light or big sky in any area of the frame. Still, with the 60/40 system, you need to determine where to point the camera when manually setting the exposure. Find an areas that is representative of the subject, but which is not overly influenced by a bright light, a bright sky, a dark background, etc. Also make sure to select an area that approximates 18% gray, such as a dense area of green trees in a landscape image. If you cannot find an area that is equivalent to 18% gray that fills the 12mm circle, for example, inside the Haleakala volcano crater on Maui, HI, or a bright snowscape, then you need to manually compensate the exposure by appropriately changing the aperture or shutter speed.
Two contemporaneous Nikon bodies with the FM2n, the F3HP and the FA had different exposure metering patterns. The F3HP applies a heavier weight of 80% to the viewfinder's 12mm circle, making it easier to isolate an area that is 18% gray, without surrounding high-contrast areas influencing the exposure reading too much. The FA is the first Nikon body to include a multi-segment metering pattern, in addition to 60/40 centerweight. The 5-segment pattern on the FA and first generation software were the first Nikon attempt to correct the weaknesses of the traditional center-weight averaging system. While early multi-pattern systems on cameras such as the FA, F4, F800 and F90/F90x did a pretty good and steadily improving job in most low contrast situations, in difficult situations, they still didn't work as well as the center weight system with appropriate exposure compensation, which was found on the FM2n. Of course, you have to know what you are doing in such situations! On later-generation cameras, the more highly refined high-tech multi-pattern (matrix) systems, such as on the F5, F6 and the newest digital SLRs, finally do a good job even with difficult lighting. Modern Nikon bodies generally use a 75/25 weight in their default center-weight metering modes.
The latest FM2n incorporates a vertical-travel, metal focal plane shutter with aluminum curtains. Older versions of the FM2N have shutters with titanium curtains. Shutter speed range on the FM2N is 1 sec. through 1/4000 sec. For those of us who started back when the fastest shutter speed as 1/1000 sec. or even slower, 1/4000 sec. sounds amazingly fast. In fact, 1/4000 sec. is plenty fast enough for most situations with film. On the slow end, the camera itself can only operate up to 1 sec., but it is an easy matter to calculate and shoot exposures of any length at the Bulb setting, using a tripod, a standard shutter release cable, and a hand-held light meter. Of course, since the camera has a mechanical shutter, you can shoot exposures of any length and never worry about draining your battery. One slight disadvantage of the FM2n's mechanical shutter is that it cannot be set for intermediate shutter speeds. On an electronic body such as the FE2 or FM3A, you can utilize any intermediate shutter speed in aperture priority mode. (Of course, unlike the FE/FA series, the FM-series meters can't measure Bulb setting shutter speeds.)
There are just a few more features that should be mentioned. On the right front side of the body are located a depth-of-field preview lever and a self timer lever. Like many other cameras, you can check actual depth of field at the set aperture by pressing the depth-of-field lever. The image darkens if the lens is not set to maximum aperture, but you can get a good idea of the expected DOF with your lens/aperture combination. Actually, this lever is not really required with manual focus Nikkor lenses, because such lenses include an easy to read DOF index on the lens barrel. Many AF Nikkor lenses also have DOF index marks. The FM Series bodies have a mechanical self-timer with a delay of up to approximately 10 seconds. While these cameras do not have a mirror lock-up switch per se, you can simulate MLU by using the self-timer lever. When the shutter release button is pressed after the self-timer is set, the mirror swings up at the start of the timer count.
Finally, a hot-shoe contact is installed on top of the prism housing for flash photography. The FM2n does not support automatic TTL flash control. You need to use an FE2 or FM3A if you want that feature. (If you know how to use guide numbers and manual flash, you can still do full-flash or fill-flash photography without any problem, of course). However, the FM2n, like the FE2, has a very fast maximum flash synch speed of 1/250 sec. There is an extra contact on the hot shoe that communicates the flash charging status to the camera a lights a red diode "ready light" in the viewfinder when the flash is ready to shoot. Of course, the FM2n works with any Nikon flash unit. The contemporaneous SB-24 and SB-26 work great. However, if you will be doing a lot of flash photography in the FM line, the FE2 and FM3A are more useful as they both offer automatic TTL flash control.
In addition to the vast selection of Nikkor (and third-party) lenses that are available for the Nikon F mount, the FM2n also accepts various other useful Nikon accessories. One of the most useful is the MD-12 motor drive. This motor drive unit works on all FM Series bodies (and even the Nikon FA) and allows rapid fire or remote shooting up to 3.2 frames per second. Years ago, I used to keep it attached to the camera and carried it around much of the time. However, the MD-12 is quite heavy, especially when loaded with the eight required AA batteries. These days, it would obviously be better to use a more modern camera is you want portable and higher-speed motor drive. Other useful optional accessories (which work with all FM and FE series bodies) are the MF-16 data back, the DB-2 Anti-Cold Battery Pack (particularly useful for the FM2n, which would be the perfect camera to take on a dog sled expedition to the North Pole!), the DR-3 and DG-2 viewfinder eyepieces, and various eyepiece correction lenses.
Copyright © 2013 - 2016 Timothy A. Rogers. All rights reserved.
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Visit White Horse Hollow in the Shangrilah region for free rides on our lovely romantic ramblers. Each horse and cart carries at least two people with built in single and cuddle capability - perfect for that special date with your special someone.
Ride through a Capability Brown-inspired landscape full of flowers, butterflies and of course, horses.
The National Trust’s Dinefwr estate in West Wales contains an extensive collection of ancient oak trees. The ruined Dinefwr castle, once the centre of the Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth, is visible on the hill to the right. Capability Brown advised on the layout of its parkland.
Corsham Court is an English country house in a park designed by Capability Brown. It is in the town of Corsham, 3 miles (5 km) west of Chippenham, Wiltshire, and is notable for its fine art collection, based on the nucleus of paintings inherited in 1757 by Paul Methuen from his uncle, Sir Paul Methuen, the diplomat. It is currently the home of the present Baron Methuen, James Methuen-Campbell, the eighth generation of the Methuens to live there.
Early history
Corsham was a royal manor in the days of the Saxon kings, reputed to have been a seat of Ethelred the Unready. After William the Conqueror, the manor continued to be passed down through the generations in the royal family. It often formed part of the dower of the Queens of England during the late 14th and early 15th centuries, becoming known as Corsham Reginae. During the 16th century, the manor went to two of Henry VIII's wives, namely Catherine of Aragon until 1536, and Katherine Parr until 1548.
During the reign of Elizabeth I the estate passed out of the royal family; the present house was built in 1582 by Thomas Smythe. The owner of Corsham Court in the mid-seventeenth century was the commander of the Parliamentarian New Model Army in Wiltshire; his wife, Lady Margaret Hungerford, built what came to be known as the Hungerford Almshouses in the centre of town.
An entrance archway was built to the south of the house c. 1700–20. The arch, in baroque style. is flanked by massive ashlar piers with ball finials.[3]
Methuen family
The house was bought in 1745 by Sir Paul Methuen for his cousin, also named Paul Methuen, whose grandson became Baron Methuen. The house remains the seat of the Methuen family.
In 1761–64, Lancelot 'Capability' Brown was commissioned to redesign and enlarge the house and landscape the park.[4] Brown set the style of the present-day building by retaining the Elizabethan stables, the Riding School,[3] and the great gabled front to the house, which he doubled in depth and provided gabled wings at either end of the house, creating the Picture Gallery and State Rooms in the east wing and a library and new kitchens in the west wing. The Picture Gallery was designed as a triple cube and has a coffered plasterwork ceiling over a high cove stuccoed in scrolls, designed by Brown[5] and carried out by Thomas Stocking of Bristol (1763–66). The Long Gallery contains Italian Old Masters, with a notable marquetry commode and matching pair of candlestands by John Cobb (1772) and four pier glasses designed by Robert Adam (1770).
File:Corsham Court about 1880
Capability Brown also worked as a landscape architect for his commission at Corsham.[6] His 1761 plan for laying out the park separated it from the pleasure grounds using a ha-ha (sunken fence) so that the view from the house would not be obstructed. Brown planned to enlarge the fish ponds to create a lake and constructed an orangery (neither of which survive) and built a Gothic Bath House (which does survive).[7] He created a "Great Walk" stretching for a mile through clumps of trees. An ornamental arch was built so that the family and their guests could walk underneath the public right of way without having to cross it. Brown also planted screens of trees around the park to obscure roads and fields beyond, making the view more arcadian. The layout of grounds and gardens by Brown represents his most important commission after Blenheim Palace.[8]
In 1795, Paul Cobb Methuen commissioned Humphry Repton to complete the landscape, left unfinished at Brown's death with the lake still to be completed, and in 1796 commissioned John Nash to completely remodel the north façade in Strawberry Hill Gothic style, beating the experienced James Wyatt for the commission. Nash further embellished other areas of Brown's external building works, including Brown's Gothic Bath House in the North Avenue, as well as reorganising the internal layout to form a grand hall and a library, at the centre of which is the large library table associated with a payment to Thomas Chippendale's partner Haig, in 1779.[9] By 1808 much of Nash's work was replaced with a more solid structure, when it was discovered that he had used unseasoned timber in beams and joists; all of Nash's work at Corsham save the library was destroyed when it was remodelled by Thomas Bellamy (1798–1876) in 1844–49[4][10] during the ownership by Paul Methuen, 1st Baron Methuen, who was Member of Parliament for Wiltshire and Wiltshire North.
The Sham Ruin
Brown planned to include a 50,000 m2 lake. This lake, however, was not completed until some forty years later, by Repton, who formed his long working relationship with Nash at Corsham Court. They laid out avenues and planted the specimen trees, including American oaks, Quercus coccinea and Q phellos, and the magnificent oriental plane. The grounds also incorporate a folly ruin, built by Nash c. 1797, incorporating some medieval stonework and some material from the eighteenth-century Bath House built by Brown.[11]
In 1960, the house and the Bath House were recorded as Grade I listed[12][7] and the ensemble of stables, riding school and entrance arch as Grade II*.[3] The park was recorded as Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens in 1987. Wikipedia
NATO - Strategic Airlift Capability C-17A 08-0003 as "BARTOK 01" buzzing over my head on departure out of Eindhoven .
Still mucking about testing my capability to make effective use of the 2x extender and 300/2.8 combo for handheld raptor photography. A few of us have been sharing experiences and I think progress is being made.
No need for comments.
This was taken during an hour of good light this morning. Handheld, not cropped 'cept for the slightest wafer off bottom and left side. This bird was at top pace - so firstly the AF did well ( I took a number of shots, not multi-burst, and 70% were sharp); and secondly I was lucky to keep him in the frame. The most noticeable thing in using the 2x instead of the 1.4x extender is how much harder it is to initially get the bird in the frame. Still I guess that part just comes down to practice.
Black-shouldered Kite, A.C.T.
A light vehicle for zipping around in. :)
I was trying to mix together a modern jeep and futuristic influences. I think it turned out alright.
Inspired by Tromas' excellent vehicles. Admittedly this is 6 studs wide rather than 5... >.<
Following in his style, I tried to jam in as many details as possible. Though you can't see it, there's a joystick, steering wheel, slight turning capability (because of the front wheel configuration), moderately detailed seats, and additional ammunition for the MG. :)
Broadway Tower sits atop Fish Hill and was a Folly designed by Capability Brown. It has been used as a home, farmhouse and by the Royal Observer Corps to track Bombers during WW2 as well as provide a lookout for nuclear explosions should the "Balloon" go up. You can (on a good day!) see for 60 miles and see 16 counties. The views from the tower are stunning. There is also a Nuclear Bunker on the site, but sadly not open the day I visited.
Charlecote Park
Superb Tudor house and landscape deer park
Charlecote has been home to the Lucy family since the 12th century. Their stories are told throughout the house with their portraits as well as through the objects they collected from around the world. See the design influence they had on the house and parkland. Step into the house today and you will see how Mary Elizabeth Lucy spared no expense furnishing it in Victorian times.
The gardens include a formal parterre, colourful herbaceous planting, woodland walk and the wider parkland (inspired by 'Capability' Brown), which offers miles of walks and views across the River Avon. A herd of fallow deer has been in the park since Tudor times.
Ickworth House, Horringer, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
The House was built between the years of 1795 and 1829 to the designs of the Italian Architect Mario Asprucci, his most noted work being the Villa Borghese. It was this work that Frederick Hervey, the then 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry had seen.
Asprucci’s plans were then taken up by the brothers Francis & Joseph Sandys, English architects.
The Parkland, of which there is 1,800 acres in total, was designed by Capability Brown and was Italianate in style. This style much loved by the 4th Earl.
Most of the friezes running around the rotunda were based upon John Flaxman’s illustrations of The Iliad and The Odyssey although, within the entrance portico there are some panels designed by Lady Caroline, the Earl’s Granddaughter and are based upon the Roman Olympic Games.
There are many works of art inside the house and very much well worth the visit.