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I parked by the Coastguard Station and excitedly grabbed my camera gear and strided out towards the small stone building on top of the headland hill. What a stunning view as I stood next to St Michaels Chapel looking northwards to Whitsand Bay.
It's been several years since I saw the striking panorama of Rame Head that just blew me away. I longed to attempt my version.
I had the image engrained in my head so ,looking at the chapel and the path then the chapel again and the path, I'm wondering how on earth did this photographer create the image!
The sun was dropping while I had a few practice runs at photos that were going to be merged/stitched together at home. I still wasn't sure whether it was possible to join them cleanly in Photoshop.
So, here's the resulting panorama with the wonderfully warm evening light shining across the sea, along the cliffs and onto the stone-built chapel.
I would like to mention Paul Morgan of Blurredvisionz who had the extraordinary vision and skills to create this composition originally. I continue to be inspired.
The Milky Way rises over a sunflower field during twilight on a recent night.
Young sunflowers follow the sun through the sky each day, turning back east during the night to greet the sun again the next day, but when they mature they stop that and only face east. This makes it a little challenging to find a composition with sunflowers at least somewhat facing the camera when the Milky Way is in the south/southwest, but I liked this angle with the road going by the field, leading toward the Milky Way core, which lined up nicely late in twilight when the sky still had a lot of blue. I really love shooting during twilight because of the blue tones, and of course it makes getting foreground exposures quite a bit easier, especially with flowers that could move with any little hint of wind. And with enough ambient light, I can stop down the lens for greater depth of field without the exposure taking an eternity.
Nikon Z 7 with FTZ lens adapter and Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 14mm and f/2.8 for all shots.
Sky: Star stack of 20 exposures, each at 10 seconds and ISO 3200.
Foreground: Focus stack of two exposures, one at 2 minutes and one at 1 minute, both at f/5.6 and ISO 1600.
This one took quite a while to process, which isn’t unusual for my night landscapes, but I was trying a few new techniques.
When I was out shooting, I made the decision to skip long exposure noise reduction for the foreground shots, which gets rid of most of the hot pixels at the expense of the exposure taking twice as long, since I wanted to move onto the next shot while there was still good ambient light during twilight, and/or capture the Milky Way before it moved too much. I decided I would try editing the raw files in Capture One Pro, instead of Lightroom, for two reasons. First, it has much better hot pixel reduction than Lightroom. Not only does it reduce hot pixels much more effectively as part of its normal raw processing, but it also has a “Single Pixel” slider in the noise reduction panel that you can use to eliminate the more stubborn hot pixels. I had tried it in the past and found it worked amazingly well, so I figured I could skip long exposure noise reduction and just rely on Capture One to get rid of the hot pixels, and it did (your mileage may vary, I didn’t have that many hot pixels to begin with). Second, Capture One allows you to completely disable the built-in lens corrections that are embedded in Nikon Z camera raw files (and the raw files of many other mirrorless cameras from other manufacturers). These built-in lens corrections cause no end of pain in Lightroom on dark images, resulting in banding artifacts that can’t be fixed. Even if you completely disable the lens corrections panel in Lightroom, it will still apply the built-in lens profiles. If you use Lightroom, the only way around this problem is to convert the raw files to DNG and then strip the built-in lens profiles from the DNG files using the exiftool command line tool, and import those DNG files into Lightroom. It’s an annoying although doable workaround, but given that Capture One can also easily get rid of the hot pixels, I went the Capture One route this time. Another way around this with Lightroom is to use a non-OEM lens so that the camera won’t embed a lens correction profile in the raw file.
After doing basic adjustments in Capture One on the two foreground shots, I exported them as TIFF files for focus stacking using Helicon Focus, which often works far better than Photoshop for complex focus stacks, such as a field of flowers.
The sky shots were stacked using a beta version of Starry Landscape Stacker that supports reading raw files, which gets around the Lightroom lens corrections profile issue for the sky shots since Starry Landscape Stacker will ignore the built in profiles.
The biggest pain was getting the sunflower that sticks up into the sky to focus stack cleanly. In the sky image the focus is on the stars of course, so the sunflower is way out of focus and blurred quite a bit beyond the sharp edges of the in focus sunflower in the foreground image. I ended up using a combination of warping and clone-stamping to manually do that part of the focus stacking.
Visit my website to learn more about my photos and video tutorials: www.adamwoodworth.com
The Eisbach (German for "ice brook") is a small man-made river, 2 kilometres long, in Munich. It flows through the park known as the Englischer Garten and is a side arm of the Isar River. A manmade wave has been created on one section.
Swimming in the Eisbach is not allowed, but the rule is not enforced, and swimmers can be seen especially on warm summer days. At least two people have drowned in the lower part of the Eisbach, a swimmer in 2003 and a non-swimmer, who may have slipped or fallen asleep near the river, in February 2007.
Just past a bridge near the Haus der Kunst art museum, the river forms a standing wave about 1 metre high, which is a popular river surfing spot. The water is cold and shallow (sometimes only 40 cm deep), making it suitable only for experienced surfers and playboaters (whitewater kayakers). The wave is predominantly used by surfers, and animosities of surfers towards kayakers have occasionally been reported.
The wave has been surfed by river surfers since 1972, and surfing competitions have even been held. Due to the more recent development of playboating, kayakers have only more recently and so far not in great numbers started to surf the wave.
Surfing is now (2010) officially allowed. A new sign next to the wave warns that "Due to the forceful current, the wave is suitable for skilled and experienced surfers only". In previous years there have been issues between the authorities, who threatened to demolish the wave, and a group of wave supporters who organized activities and a website to save the wave, including an online petition to leave the wave intact.
Being a standing wave it can be surfed for as long as one's balance holds, and in busy times a queue of surfers forms on the bank. In the past surfers tied a leash to the bridge to hold onto, but a sign announces that this is both dangerous and forbidden.
The local surfers have forced the wave to break more cleanly, with increased height, by attaching ropes to the bridge which trail submerged planks, creating two large "U"-shapes. Such a shape makes the wave easier to surf for river surfers (playboating makes fewer demands of the wave shape).
A better wave for beginners is in Floßlände near the Thalkirchen U-Bahn station. It has also been surfed since 1972, and it is wide enough to take a few surfers at a time. A third standing wave in Munich forms on the Isar itself near the bridge Wittelsbacherbrücke, but only at flood levels of the river. Due to the dirt, manure and objects like tree branches drifting in the flood in the first days, this wave is usually surfed only a few days after the water level has risen.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1933 Packard 1004 Super Eight 7 Passenger Sedan.
Chassis no. 654-I63
Engine no. 751263
385ci Side-Valve Inline 8-Cylinder Engine
Single Stromberg Carburetor
145bhp at 3,200rpm
3-Speed Manual Transmission
Front and Rear Leaf Spring Suspension
4-Wheel Servo-Assisted Drum Brakes
*Subject of a $250,000 restoration
*2013 AACA Senior First Place winner
*High quality Packard from the peak of the classic era
*CCCA Full Classic™
1933 Packards are wonderfully made and styled automobiles – it was only a shame there were so few who could afford to buy them. 10th series production totaled a meager 4,800 units, a far cry from the 16,613 for the 9th series, and way down from the nearly 55,000 sold in 1929. The 10th series would represent Packard’s smallest output of the Classic era.
Built on the 142-inch wheelbase, the model 1004 was offered with 14 individual body styles. Priced at $3,090 at new, the 7-Passenger Sedan was one of the more expensive body styles available but was still one of the more popular ones for its luxurious practicality. All the same, only 1,327 Super Eight chassis were built, 788 of which were the longer wheel base models.
This specific sedan has been the fortunate recipient of a restoration the likes of which is usually reserved for custom bodied open topped examples. About a quarter of a million dollars was spent turning this Packard into the true jewel it is today. Inside and out, the car is just resplendent. The driver and passengers enjoy soft, fine light tan cloth upholstery and highly polished wood trim throughout. All of the chrome has been carefully prepped and professionally redone. The gauges look as if they have just been installed at the Detroit factory. All of the correct fittings are present and the jump seats in the back look unused.
Outside, the Thistle Green Dark paint is rich and lustrous, the product of meticulous preparation and application that the factory could have only dreamed of in ’33. The chrome is all highly polished as well. A set of Trippe Speedlight graces the front, flanked by a set of auxiliary horns. Above them and astride the fenders are headlights and driving lights from a 1005/6 Packard Twelve. The bumpers front and back are sourced from a ’33 Packard Twelve as well with their recognizable counterweights at the ends. The side mount spares are topped by optional side mirrors too. Opening the hood reveals a cleanly present, highly detailed and correctly finished straight eight motor.
Blackhawk Collection
1092 Eagle Nest Place
Danville, California 94506
Little snail I spotted underneath a fallen tree trunk.
I'm quite happy with the detail and noise rendition of the D7500, it's a clear step up compared to my previous D3300. I would have never been able to shot cleanly in this low light, ISO 6400 condition and get a decent result!
Although it was built in the early 1950s as part of a landmark modernist housing project, Berthold Lubetkin's constructivist staircase inside what is now known as Bevin Court still possesses an incredible space-age quality. Post-war budgetary constraints severely limited the project while Lubetkin was working as part of the architecture practice Tecton, but there's a subtlety and elegance in the final design which give it remarkable impact, and which, besides adding to the location's historical and architectural significance, also make it a surreal scene to photograph.
I visited Bevin Court on a day with mixed weather conditions, when dark clouds seemed to be adding a sinister tone to the shadows inside the building's cylindrical hall, but with occasional bursts of intense sunshine also lighting up the beautiful rich red surface along the underside of the central three-armed staircase. With hindsight, these were the ideal conditions for me to shoot the location in, as my idea for this image from the outset was a muted blue in the shadows that could offset the vibrant warm colour running through the centre of the frame.
Blending multiple exposures via luminosity masking in Photoshop, I used darker exposures to tone down the highlights, and brighter exposures to recover the details along the edge of the walls and in particular along the staircase's balustrade. I then used the Pen Tool to create a selection of the underside to the staircase, as well as the surrounding curved edges of the hall. This allowed me to cleanly blend in and alternate brighter and darker exposures, emphasising the contrast between the parts of the ascending floors that remained hidden in the shadows and the parts where vivid late-afternoon sunlight was falling.
Using the selections I'd created, I was then also able to selectively edit the separate portions of the image. A brighter exposure set to Soft Light was incorporated to bring out the contrast along the underside of the staircase, as well as a hint of magenta via a Colour Balance layer for a slightly moodier shade of red. Next, I applied a combination of Hue/Saturation, Selective Colour and a Gradient Map adjustments to the surrounding parts of the hall for a shade of blue that would complement the dominant red, as well as a soft, pale yellow where the sun was striking the edges of the building's interior. Dipping into Silver Efex Pro and setting the adjustments to Luminosity, I used local control points to amplify the whites and to add further emphasis to the dramatic light that was illuminating portions of the hall, and finally, I used Colour Efex Pro's Pro Contrast and Darken/Lighten Centre filters for a hint of extra definition to the staircase and to add a gentle vignette around the edge of the frame.
The final result plays up the drama and innovation behind the building's design, but hopefully preserves its spirit and character, which were shaped by Lubetkin's ethos that "Nothing is too good for ordinary people."
You can also connect with me on Facebook, 500px, Google+ and Instagram.
Having spent the past few weeks working on architectural and interior projects, it was a fun change of pace to spend a couple of evenings this week with fellow photographers shooting from London's rooftops. This image was captured from the Attic Bar, a champagne and cocktail bar on the 48th floor of Pan Peninsula, which is the UK's tallest residential building and is located at the centre of the Docklands.
The bar has terraces offering 360-degree views across London, with the O2 Arena, Thames Barrier and Greenwich Royal Naval College nearby, and with the Shard, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, the Walkie Talkie and the BT Tower all visible in the distance. I was drawn to this view from the north terrace, partly because I liked how the warm lights inside the buildings complemented the chilly tones during blue hour, and partly because I've always loved photographing Canary Wharf. The sun had been obscured by heavy clouds, but I felt that the muted colours and limited visibility on the horizon added to the scene's mood and, having recently mentioned the forever-transforming state of the Docklands, it somehow felt appropriate to capture a scene that also included a few cranes.
The image is a blend of eight bracketed exposures, captured using a miniature tripod perched on the ledge of the bar's terrace. Strong winds meant the exposures needed to be re-aligned in Photoshop, and these were then blended using luminosity masks, with the darker exposures ensuring I'd be able to preserve every detail in the building windows while maintaining a clean finish in the shadows, as well as cleanly cutting through some of the mist beyond the Thames. After this, I colour-graded the image using a combination of Hue/Saturation, Colour Balance and Selective Colour adjustments, shifting the image towards a colder temperature that reflected the atmosphere on the rooftop that evening, but also desaturating both the blues and the cyans so they wouldn't overpower the subtler reds and oranges across the cityscape.
I applied several low-opacity Colour Lookups using the Soft Light blend mode, applying the Bleach Bypass preset to the shadows to enhance their contrast and the Foggy Night preset to the highlights, softening the glow in the building lights at the same time as allowing the horizon to fade away, which I liked because it seemed to emphasise the idea of the Docklands' isolation from Central London. With Nik's Silver Efex Pro set to the Luminosity Blend mode, I added Selective Control Points to the buildings and amplified the whites and structure to bring out their details and to emphasise the light emanating from neighbouring buildings. I then used Colour Efex Pro's Tonal Contrast filter to gently increase the Shadow Contrast, which added a little more definition to the foreground cityscape without affecting the misty texture in the distance.
Residents near the Tate Modern are taking the gallery to court over claims that its 10th-floor viewing platform invades their privacy by leaving their nearby apartments in a state of constant surveillance. For this reason, I felt a mixture of delight and mortification when scrutinising the images I'd captured from the Attic Bar. It was gratifying to see that my camera was able to render details vividly enough that, in a couple of instances, it was possible to see inside people's homes, but also faintly alarming to see the concerns of Neo Bankside residents reaffirmed from a different rooftop terrace on the other side of London.
You can also connect with me on Facebook, 500px, Google+ and Instagram.
In between groups of golfers I was assigned to shoot the other day, I sat on my golf cart and played around with timing the capture of images at the point of impact as golfers were driving off the first tee.
Most golfers whacked the tee out of the ground. This young fella smacked the ball cleanly.
Here's the large version.
1933 Packard Super Eight Model 1004 7-Passenger Sedan photographed at the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, CA.
*Subject of a $250,000 restoration
*2013 AACA Senior First Place winner
*High quality Packard from the peak of the classic era
*CCCA Full Classic™
1933 Packards are wonderfully made and styled automobiles – it was only a shame there were so few who could afford to buy them. 10th series production totaled a meager 4,800 units, a far cry from the 16,613 for the 9th series, and way down from the nearly 55,000 sold in 1929. The 10th series would represent Packard’s smallest output of the Classic era. Priced at $3,090 at new, the 7-Passenger Sedan was one of the more expensive body styles available.
The Thistle Green Dark paint is rich and lustrous, the product of meticulous preparation and application that the factory could have only dreamed of in ’33. The chrome is all highly polished as well. A set of Trippe Speedlights graces the front, flanked by a set of auxiliary horns. Above them and astride the fenders are headlights and driving lights from a 1005/6 Packard Twelve. The bumpers front and back are sourced from a ’33 Packard Twelve as well with their recognizable counterweights at the ends. The side mount spares are topped by optional side mirrors too. Opening the hood reveals a cleanly present, highly detailed and correctly finished straight eight motor.
The Eisbach (German for "ice brook") is a small man-made river, 2 kilometres long, in Munich. It flows through the park known as the Englischer Garten and is a side arm of the Isar River. A manmade wave has been created on one section.
Swimming in the Eisbach is not allowed, but the rule is not enforced, and swimmers can be seen especially on warm summer days. At least two people have drowned in the lower part of the Eisbach, a swimmer in 2003 and a non-swimmer, who may have slipped or fallen asleep near the river, in February 2007.
Just past a bridge near the Haus der Kunst art museum, the river forms a standing wave about 1 metre high, which is a popular river surfing spot. The water is cold and shallow (sometimes only 40 cm deep), making it suitable only for experienced surfers and playboaters (whitewater kayakers). The wave is predominantly used by surfers, and animosities of surfers towards kayakers have occasionally been reported.
The wave has been surfed by river surfers since 1972, and surfing competitions have even been held. Due to the more recent development of playboating, kayakers have only more recently and so far not in great numbers started to surf the wave.
Surfing is now (2010) officially allowed. A new sign next to the wave warns that "Due to the forceful current, the wave is suitable for skilled and experienced surfers only". In previous years there have been issues between the authorities, who threatened to demolish the wave, and a group of wave supporters who organized activities and a website to save the wave, including an online petition to leave the wave intact.
Being a standing wave it can be surfed for as long as one's balance holds, and in busy times a queue of surfers forms on the bank. In the past surfers tied a leash to the bridge to hold onto, but a sign announces that this is both dangerous and forbidden.
The local surfers have forced the wave to break more cleanly, with increased height, by attaching ropes to the bridge which trail submerged planks, creating two large "U"-shapes. Such a shape makes the wave easier to surf for river surfers (playboating makes fewer demands of the wave shape).
A better wave for beginners is in Floßlände near the Thalkirchen U-Bahn station. It has also been surfed since 1972, and it is wide enough to take a few surfers at a time. A third standing wave in Munich forms on the Isar itself near the bridge Wittelsbacherbrücke, but only at flood levels of the river. Due to the dirt, manure and objects like tree branches drifting in the flood in the first days, this wave is usually surfed only a few days after the water level has risen.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
My prediction for 2012: Better than 2011.
Shot handheld with the plastic fantastic, in very low light, at a medium ISO, with a lot of patience. (And it's still not in focus cleanly, but I actually preferred this to the in-focus shots in the set. More ... ethereal.)
Post-processing was just a little color work in Aperture.
Hi friends! I really need your vote, here:
ta.canon-europe.com/?pg=gallery&cc=gb&lc=en&p...
The Assignment entries will be judged both by you - the user - and a panel lead by award-winning photographer Vicki Couchman.
Vicki Couchman has worked as a photographer for such renowned publications as The Sunday Times Culture and Style magazines, The Independent magazine, The Observer magazine, Rolling Stone, and Loaded.
After several years learning her trade as a staff photographer on newspapers, Vicki forged a successful career as an independent photographer.
Vicki will be looking at several key factors when judging entries:
* An original eye
* Thoughtful composition
* An element of storytelling
* Clean, sharp exposure and a strong, simple image
* Originality
* An emotional connection
* A captured moment revealing something special
The Eisbach (German for "ice brook") is a small man-made river, 2 kilometres long, in Munich. It flows through the park known as the Englischer Garten and is a side arm of the Isar River. A manmade wave has been created on one section.
Swimming in the Eisbach is not allowed, but the rule is not enforced, and swimmers can be seen especially on warm summer days. At least two people have drowned in the lower part of the Eisbach, a swimmer in 2003 and a non-swimmer, who may have slipped or fallen asleep near the river, in February 2007.
Just past a bridge near the Haus der Kunst art museum, the river forms a standing wave about 1 metre high, which is a popular river surfing spot. The water is cold and shallow (sometimes only 40 cm deep), making it suitable only for experienced surfers and playboaters (whitewater kayakers). The wave is predominantly used by surfers, and animosities of surfers towards kayakers have occasionally been reported.
The wave has been surfed by river surfers since 1972, and surfing competitions have even been held. Due to the more recent development of playboating, kayakers have only more recently and so far not in great numbers started to surf the wave.
Surfing is now (2010) officially allowed. A new sign next to the wave warns that "Due to the forceful current, the wave is suitable for skilled and experienced surfers only". In previous years there have been issues between the authorities, who threatened to demolish the wave, and a group of wave supporters who organized activities and a website to save the wave, including an online petition to leave the wave intact.
Being a standing wave it can be surfed for as long as one's balance holds, and in busy times a queue of surfers forms on the bank. In the past surfers tied a leash to the bridge to hold onto, but a sign announces that this is both dangerous and forbidden.
The local surfers have forced the wave to break more cleanly, with increased height, by attaching ropes to the bridge which trail submerged planks, creating two large "U"-shapes. Such a shape makes the wave easier to surf for river surfers (playboating makes fewer demands of the wave shape).
A better wave for beginners is in Floßlände near the Thalkirchen U-Bahn station. It has also been surfed since 1972, and it is wide enough to take a few surfers at a time. A third standing wave in Munich forms on the Isar itself near the bridge Wittelsbacherbrücke, but only at flood levels of the river. Due to the dirt, manure and objects like tree branches drifting in the flood in the first days, this wave is usually surfed only a few days after the water level has risen.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
After a discussion on my Ahsoka Trooper pic with Raven and Tim, I came across the concept art for what was to be Yoda's troopers and recreated it in LEGO! The SWCA Untold Clone Wars Panel revealed some really interesting designs that I hope to undertake into LEGO projects, with this trooper included.
From what I could gather, he had a design of Yoda's head silhouette painted onto his helmet with a couple other green markings that patterned his chest and shoulder pads. The designs came out really cleanly and I believe I'm the first to make this trooper, if I'm not mistaken. He's topped off with CAC's new Ranged backpacks, making for a great match to the concept art.
I planned only on making the trooper, but decided to make Yoda to go with it (foreshadowing future projects), especially since I haven't seen many Yoda customs. I loved the shape of the new Yoda head but couldn't stand the lack of hair detail, so I sculpted hair onto our little green friend. I also disliked the proportions of the official figure, so I modified the torso, legs, and arms to all be more accurately scaled, sculpting feet and hands on these modified parts and topping it off with a custom robe (with custom cloth sleeves!). I'm really liking how it turned out.
So, as seen here and on my Instagram (shamelessly self-promoting @avxtc_designs), clones won't be the only Star Wars customs I'll be making! So as always, expect more, and I'd love to hear your thoughts!
-Andrew
Jutting down from the lands of the Union of Waterland, a federation of towns (1619-1817) to the north aross the IJ from Amsterdam, is a peninsula now the southern part of the suburb of Amsterdam-Noord. Its tip was called Volewijck, a name derived apparently from a farm that bred horses (in Dutch: 'veulens'). On water's edge from 1404 stood the city's gallows over a well-pit. Once the rope holding up a dead victim of justice rotted through what remained after crows' feasting dropped neatly and cleanly into that well. The inset has a rendition of the mise-en-scène by Gerrit Lamberts (1776-1850) after a drawing by Reinier Vinkeles (1741-1816). In Napoleontic times, these gallows gave way to the efficient guillotine. The first execution in Amsterdam using that instrument took place in front of the Waag on the Nieuwmarkt in 1812 (the last in 1854).
The inset is more or less right above the place where those gallows stood just to the east of the A'dam Tower (Toren Overhoeks) where they're building a set of new towers: Y-Torens. Guess of what those cranes reminded me...
This view is from the central railway station looking towards Amsterdam-Noord. I've never seen the IJ frozen over as in the inset.
Rust on the exposed end of a park bench.
On most of the benches in this park the paint on the ends has delaminated and snapped off cleanly, exposing the steel to the elements.
Finally, after all the fighting, killing, and surviving, I was getting a chance to relax with some new friends. I was getting to know this group of soldiers better, and "coming out of my shell," so to speak. Anyway, we were now lounging by a campfire, sharing tales of the war. Earlier in the day, I had shown Crypid some new Martial arts techniques, and Klip how to aim and shoot in the same motion. Now, we were reminiscing about our exploits in the war. Currently, the woman named "Selbz" was telling of a rather comical story of seeing an Urag fly... I looked over to Klip. He was watching and listening in rapture. I could tell that he had a thing for Selbz; between his gaze, the pink scrap of paper just poking out of one of his pockets, and the *mostly* rubbed off lipstick on his face. Obviously, something had happened between them...
I smiled to myself, which quickly turned to a grimace as I thought of my wife. I quickly sent away the thought, as now was not the time to think of sadness. Then, Klip began a tale, one of notorious Urag...
"Back in the early days in the war, before I joined up, there was talk of a single Urag responsible for thousands of deaths. They called him the General, as no one could pronounce his name. He led his troops with great success against us, using tactics that were brutal as much as they were effective. His elite cadre of soldiers decimated our lines, until we met head on at the Fifth Battle of Sacramento. Again and again we met in battle, with hundreds on each side dead. But this time, we had come up with a commander brilliant enough to challenge The General. All his troops lost, he fled in shame. The Urags rejected him for his failure. Still determined to kill and maim humans, he continued to fight us, by himself. From what few reports, he is known to be nearly seven feet tall, with armor made of human bones. Rumor is, he is supposed to be haunting this area... But of course, he is just a fairy tale."
All were enthralled by his story, all except me. "Don't joke about what you don't fully understand," I told him. "I fought in the Fifth Battle of Sacramento, and saw the horrors that he committed. He is very real, and the reports are true. I don't know what happened to him. Maybe he died, but I think that he is still out there, biding his time."
After my warning, all were silent for a few minutes. Then Cryptid started into a tale of haunting loss, and I zoned out again.
I was staring, staring into the darkness. I had always been fascinated by the night, the murky depths left unfathomed. At the same time,it scared me. I had a fear of what I could not know, and the endless shadow frightened me. No matter how much I saw, I would never know everything beyond my limited field of vision. So I concentrated on the circle of light cast by the fire, and just listened to the story, coming to terms with my fear.
The stories had been going on for a while. Cryptid was telling another story, which I hadn't picked up much from. Klip and Selbz were beginning to doze off. And then, I heard a noise, like a branch snapping in the dark, just outside the circle of light cast by the fire. Instantly alert, I raised by hand to stop Cryptid, and picked up my rifle. Concerned, he followed suit. I leaned over to nudge Klip, and then a figure exploded out of the darkness. It was an Urag, very tall, with bleached white shoulder pads. I looked at his face, and saw the scar where one of his eyes should be...
In the time it took for me to observe this, the Urag had closed the distance between himself and us, grabbing Selbz by the neck, and dragging her backwards to use as a shield. He then leveled his gun at us, a massive contraption of iron and steel. By this time, Klip was fully alert, pistol in his hand, and a look of worry on his face. He began to rush forwards, but I blocked him with my hand. Cryptid couldn't take the shot with his launcher, and Klip wouldn't risk the chance of hitting Selbz. I raised the sniper rifle, and said as menacingly as possible, "Drop. The. Lady."
The Urag began to smirk at this, then changed his mind as he looked cleanly down the barrel of my rifle. Growling, he then kicked Selbz back towards us, and into the fire. Klip and Cryptid immediately rushed in to rescue her, and in the commotion the Urag fled into the night. We stood in silence for a while, scanning the area, until Cryptid said, "Was that who I think it was?..."
The Jacobite (built in 1945) travels the short R/T from Ft. William to Millaig twice a day. Most of the passengers are Harry Potter fans enjoying the connection to the movies. Fans line the train route as it passes over the Glenfinnan Viaduct. This is a genuine steam engine running on coal. It appears to burn the coal cleanly with little or no soot. This is the Fort William Station.
潔淨依立湖中傲，清芬荷香為蓮醉。
Standing cleanly and proudly in the lake, the fragrance of the lotus makes the photographer drunk.
Whether you’re braving sub-zero street levels or cutting through vacuum-silence between stations, this thermo-quilted shell keeps the cold from ever finding you. Built for mages, mechanics, drifters, and anyone wandering the edges of reality.
Featuring:
⟡ Rigs for Jake, Legacy M & F, and Reborn bodies
⟡ Dual-surface HUD with 16 chroma variants for both interior & exterior
⟡ Mod/Copy enabled for infinite tone-mapping and colour experiments
⟡ Priority-6 carry animation designed to sync cleanly with nearly any AO
⟡ Pocket-bound nano-ghosts providing a frictionless, satiny micro-float texture
⚠️ Notice: Lunette-Co. is not liable for bodily harm, dimensional disturbances, or haunt-related anomalies initiated by resident nano-ghosts. Proceed with cozy caution.
Launching Dec. 12 @ 1PM SLT
國立台灣文學館 - 島田莊司推理小說展 / 線索如麻旋繞羅列 - 名偵探御手洗潔看出中間的真相
National Museum of Taiwanese Literature - Shimada Syouzi ratiocination novels exhibition / The Clue like hemp circle display - The famous Detective Mitarai Kiyoshi sees the truth inside cleanly
Museo Nacional de la literatura taiwanesa - Exposición de las novelas del ratiocination de Shimada Syouzi / La pista como la exhibición del círculo del cáñamo - El Mitarai detective famoso Kiyoshi ve la verdad dentro de limpio
台湾の文献の国立博物館 - 島田庄司の推理小説展 / もし手がかりは麻は回って並ぶならば - 有名な探偵の御手洗潔中間の真相を見抜きます
Nationalmuseum der taiwanesischen Literatur - Shimada Syouzi Ratiocination-Romanausstellung / Der Anhaltspunkt wie Hanfkreisanzeige - Der berühmte Detektiv Mitarai Kiyoshi sieht die Wahrheit innerhalb sauber
Tainan Taiwan / Tainan Taiwán / 台灣台南
原圖JPG直出無後製
Original picture JPG is straight has no children the system
El JPG original del cuadro es recto no tiene ninguÌn niño el sistema
原図JPGはずっと跡継ぎがいなくてつくることを出します
Ursprünglicher Abbildung JPG ist hat keine Kinder das System gerade
本圖無合成無折射
This chart does not have the refraction without the synthesis
Esta carta no tiene la refracción sin la síntesis
当合成がないことを求めて屈折がありません
Dieses Diagramm hat die Brechung nicht ohne die Synthese
可用放大鏡開1:1原圖
The available magnifying glass opens 1:1 original picture
La lupa disponible abre el cuadro de la original del 1:1
利用できる拡大鏡は1:1の原物映像を開ける
Die vorhandene Lupe öffnet 1:1vorlagenabbildung
{My Blog / The Never Ending Times - Japanese Times}
{Mi blog / Los tiempos interminables - épocas japonesas}
{Mein Blog / Die immer währenden Zeiten - japanische Zeiten}
The USS Edson, now a museum ship, was commissioned into the Navy on November 7th, 1958. After serving in Vietnam, she was decommissioned in 1988. Since then, the Edson has been a museum ship first in New York City and now in Bay City, Michigan. The Herbert C Jackson entered service for Interlake Steamship on May 14th of 1959, only half a year after the Destroyer. Unlike the museum ship, the "Herbie" is still earning revenue for her owners as a working Laker. More than 63 years of commercial service is an impressive lifespan for this classic Laker. I went higher to cleanly show both, but that also reveals Saginaw Bay spanning the horizon which is where the Herbie is headed. Bay City, MI 10/28/2023
A less successful attempt at focus stacking. Still gained much more detail, but it didn't blend as cleanly as I had hoped.
Masai Mara (MNC) | Kenya
I have to say that I was pretty chuffed to capture this shot so cleanly as the eagle came swooping down towards a small snake that it had spotted in the grass. The next image just before it touches down is my favourite though from the short sequence, and I'll post that one tomorrow.
Blackhawk Museum > 1933 Packard Super Eight Model 1004
1933 Packards are wonderfully made and styled automobiles – it was only a shame there were so few who could afford to buy them. 10th series production totaled a meager 4,800 units, a far cry from the 16,613 for the 9th series, and way down from the nearly 55,000 sold in 1929. The 10th series would represent Packard’s smallest output of the Classic era.
Built on the 142-inch wheelbase, the model 1004 was offered with 14 individual body styles. Priced at $3,090 at new, the 7-Passenger Sedan was one of the more expensive body styles available but was still one of the more popular ones for its luxurious practicality. All the same, only 1,327 Super Eight chassis were built, 788 of which were the longer wheel base models.
This specific sedan has been the fortunate recipient of a restoration the likes of which is usually reserved for custom bodied open topped examples. About a quarter of a million dollars was spent turning this Packard into the true jewel it is today. Inside and out, the car is just resplendent. The driver and passengers enjoy soft, fine light tan cloth upholstery and highly polished wood trim throughout. All of the chrome has been carefully prepped and professionally redone. The gauges look as if they have just been installed at the Detroit factory. All of the correct fittings are present and the jump seats in the back look unused.
Outside, the Thistle Green Dark paint is rich and lustrous, the product of meticulous preparation and application that the factory could have only dreamed of in ’33. The chrome is all highly polished as well. A set of Trippe Speedlight graces the front, flanked by a set of auxiliary horns. Above them and astride the fenders are headlights and driving lights from a 1005/6 Packard Twelve. The bumpers front and back are sourced from a ’33 Packard Twelve as well with their recognizable counterweights at the ends. The side mount spares are topped by optional side mirrors too. Opening the hood reveals a cleanly present, highly detailed and correctly finished straight eight motor.
Another image of the hovering blackbird...
Capturing birds in flight against a bright sky is a real challenge:
-- to freeze the rapid motion cleanly, shutter speeds must be 1/2000 or above
-- the fast shutter speed demands either lots of light: a lens with a large aperture, as in very expensive. My lens is f/5.6 at its widest opening, the Nikkor 80-400. This is not considered a 'fast' lens, but any telephoto lens with f/4 or f/2.8 does not come cheaply.
-- I shoot in Manual mode and usually set my ISO to Automatic, meaning it decides what the proper exposure is for any given shot. This frees me up to decide what shutter speed and Aperture I want, and then I don't worry about the ISO. The Full Frame D600 does a great job of handling fairly high ISO's without much grain and noise, much better than my cropped sensor D7000 ever did.
-- aiming the camera straight into the bright sky like this against a dark bird gives fits to the exposure light meter in the camera, usually producing a silhouette of the bird, quite dark. I usually compensate with a +1/3 or +2/3 of a stop to brighten up the bird. Even then I have to brighten up the bird in post processing, as I have done here.
I'm fairly happy with this image, but I always strive to do better!
The beautiful Mallard styled locomotive is visiting the NYMR for a short while and is showing for a couple of trips per day. The weather wasn't kind at my favourite venue, today but I have opportunities for better shots and will try again. These engines were built in the 1930s to power high speed trains at speeds up to 120 mph and over. Its shape was crafted using wind tunnels to cut through the air as cleanly as possible and in their time they were the fastest in the world. The Gresley bears a plaque which celebrates a speed of 112 mph.
"The larger of two look alikes, the Hairy Woodpecker is a small but powerful bird that forages along trunks and main branches of large trees. It wields a much longer bill than the Downy Woodpecker's almost thornlike bill. Hairy Woodpeckers have a somewhat soldierly look, with their erect, straight-backed posture on tree trunks and their cleanly striped heads. Look for them at backyard suet or sunflower feeders, and listen for them whinnying from woodlots, parks, and forests"
"Persevere in your endeavor and you will find what you are looking for, follow your goal without straying and you will achieve your commitment, fight with energy and you will win." Buddha.
The Longshan Temple, one of the oldest in Taipei, has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, the last after being bombed in World War II. Dedicated, like most of Taiwanese temples, to Buddhist and Taoist divinities, it is one of the temples with more devotees in the city, which continually visit it to make offerings and worship the various deities.
The photographer, always respecting the faithfuls, is well received and the architecture of the temple is really worthy to immortalize. The biggest problem is that, even at dusk, the influx of visitors between worshipers and tourists is enormous. Therefore, it is necessary to be filled with patience and make a great number of photographs, to be able to mix them and eliminate in the post-processing, as cleanly as possible, the trail of people who will pass continuously in front of us.
---------------------------------------------------------------
"Persevera en tu empeño y hallarás lo que buscas, prosigue tu fin sin desviarte y alcanzarás tu empeño, combate con energía y vencerás." Buda.
El Templo Longshan, uno de los más antiguos de Taipei, ha sido destruido y reconstruido en varias ocasiones, la última después de sufrir bombardeos en la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Dedicado, como la mayor parte de templos taiwaneses, a divinidades budistas y taoístas, es uno de los templos con más fieles de la ciudad, que lo visitan continuamente para realizar ofrendas y rendir culto a las diversas deidades.
El fotógrafo, siempre respetando a los fieles, es bien recibido y la arquitectura del templo es realmente digna de inmortalizar. El mayor problema es que, incluso al anochecer, la afluencia de visitantes entre fieles y turistas es enorme. Por tanto, hay que llenarse de paciencia y realizar una gran cantidad de fotografías, para ser capaz luego de mezclarlas y eliminar así en el post-procesado, lo más limpiamente posible, el rastro de las personas que pasarán continuamente frente a nosotros.
This is my cover version of Crazy and a video I made of some of my photographs. Also I have written rather a long poem!! ; 0) Possibly the longest one I ever posted. I hope you enjoy it. I am taking a scheduled break now from flickr. I am getting very tired again and I am back to the hospital on Monday, but I am sure it will be good news and then I will travel to my little island later in the week where there will be nothing to do but immerse myself in nature and I hope to take many new photographs and come back well rested and happy. Please take care of yourselves and thank you so much for all your support and friendship. Please keep an eye out for the person who has used my name. I hope it is all sorted out by the time I get back. There is only one Poppy Cocqué and that's me!! ; 0)) Lots of love, Poppy xo
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts … “
- William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII
“Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and adventures are the shadow truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes and forgotten.”
- Neil Gaiman
THE PLAY
If I'd had even the slightest inkling
that I was not alone in this relationship with you
I would have bowed out immediately
instead of kowtowing;
kneeling to metaphorically kiss your feet
bend at your will and lose myself so deeply in you
that I never knew where you began and I ended
but once I began to realise it was too late
I was already lost and in deep, above my head
I felt myself drowning and losing all my senses
and yet it was exquisite; sweet torture
stepping into your shoes just for a moment
I found them rather warm and comfortable
disconcerting to say the least
to think that I had far more in common with you than not;
the subtle differences now harshly underlined
stood out like silhouetted birds at nightfall
plumped out against the cold hard reality of this moment
punctuated blackly and well-defined
in marker ink that had no antidote or means for it's removal
it would not smudge over time
nor would the inky blots that marred the perfection
of your imaginary copy book
an illusion; smoke and mirrors
reflected and echoed my delusions
we created a perfect moment
but as with all perfection
when placed on a slide
beneath the microscope
we did not bear up well to close scrutiny
and the turning of the screws bore down
cracking the fragile glass of our reality and fragmenting;
cutting through the lies and deception
splintering shards that sliced and diced
our mortal flesh and as we bled out
so did our lives begin to unfurl and separate
our limbs uncurled and straightened
and like the wind that blows the Autumn leaves away
we went our different ways and found a new beginning
yours looked much the same as mine
and even though we still remain separated in time
I hope that we will always retain sweet memories
of what we were and what we did and where we dared to go
we felt back then invincible;
no thoughts were allowed to fester
stray ones that were tempted to fall from our tongues
were halted subtly in their tracks and found refuge in our souls
twisting and juxtaposing the reality we invented for ourselves
we were like stage directors of the longest-running play
little mice scurrying and hurrying about
sneaking this way and that; avoiding the trap door
the little traps with succulent titbits tempting our appetites
insatiable, irreplaceable feelings; nerves and muscles taut
with anticipatory sensations and fraught with tension
exploding our minds and bodies; fusing us together
tighter than ever our love remained our priority for so long
that we blocked out the world
and thought that we were invisible
because of that sweet oblivion
we did not pay attention to the eyebrows raised
and glances cast in our direction;
no, on our stage the play rolled ever on and forward
the bright lights darkened the staring faces of the audience
and the band played on;
louder and louder until the ringing in our ears
was like nature's echoing of tinnitus
like crickets chirruping on a sultry Summer's night
humidity, warm, damp and trickling down our sinful flesh
like the raindrops on window panes
in the London flat so cold; so damp
and we were back there in
that exotic place in the tropical jungle
and not here in the concrete one,
so necessary to our real lives
in this altered state we remained; partners in crime
visions shared and lies perpetuated; back and forth
like a game of tennis while the audience
turned their heads this way and that
and the umpire oversaw the webs we wove
within the London flat
tangled; deceitful and yet, we did not think so at the time
we justified each wrong with another superficial lie
morally we had sunk to within an inch
of ever redeeming our immortal souls
derived a way of telling our stories that fit our inner narrative
this was our love; this was our story
and weren't we in perfect harmony
and in control of our destiny;
overruled each softly whispered argument
the torment of our souls was never in dispute
it was exquisite; it was the ultimate of pleasures
selfishly we carried on until that fateful day
once a bubble is burst,
you know it can never be made whole again
the close shaves were exciting;
we outran them; giggling like children
diving in and out of the shadows
before the shadows caught up with us
now I see them on your face; beneath your eyes
How I wish I could erase those deep dark marks
like make-up smudged
and wiped away so cleanly, but not these … these I cannot
and it breaks my heart to look at you,
so I turn my head away
and the smile that once melted
the darkness in my heart is no longer there
it is turned down at the corners
as a line appears between your brows
vertical and deeply furrowed; a permanent reminder
of the suffering that was wrought because that day of parting
though not wanted by either one of us,
it was the only real and true thing we could do
we could not get back all that we lost;
we loved and fought and now we count the cost
the lights went up; the people we had hurt were there
the band stopped playing
and the trap door opened and shut silently
it had nothing left to say and
as we looked into each other's eyes
we knew the game was up and the curtain was about to fall
there would be no bravo; no encore;
no comfort derived from anyone at all
so there we stood; I exited stage left and you took the right
and the play closed and was cancelled
and no refunds were allowed to anyone that night.
- AP - Copyright remains with and is the intellectual property of the author
Copyright © protected images please do not reproduce without permission'
The Eisbach (German for "ice brook") is a small man-made river, 2 kilometres long, in Munich. It flows through the park known as the Englischer Garten and is a side arm of the Isar River. A manmade wave has been created on one section.
Swimming in the Eisbach is not allowed, but the rule is not enforced, and swimmers can be seen especially on warm summer days. At least two people have drowned in the lower part of the Eisbach, a swimmer in 2003 and a non-swimmer, who may have slipped or fallen asleep near the river, in February 2007.
Just past a bridge near the Haus der Kunst art museum, the river forms a standing wave about 1 metre high, which is a popular river surfing spot. The water is cold and shallow (sometimes only 40 cm deep), making it suitable only for experienced surfers and playboaters (whitewater kayakers). The wave is predominantly used by surfers, and animosities of surfers towards kayakers have occasionally been reported.
The wave has been surfed by river surfers since 1972, and surfing competitions have even been held. Due to the more recent development of playboating, kayakers have only more recently and so far not in great numbers started to surf the wave.
Surfing is now (2010) officially allowed. A new sign next to the wave warns that "Due to the forceful current, the wave is suitable for skilled and experienced surfers only". In previous years there have been issues between the authorities, who threatened to demolish the wave, and a group of wave supporters who organized activities and a website to save the wave, including an online petition to leave the wave intact.
Being a standing wave it can be surfed for as long as one's balance holds, and in busy times a queue of surfers forms on the bank. In the past surfers tied a leash to the bridge to hold onto, but a sign announces that this is both dangerous and forbidden.
The local surfers have forced the wave to break more cleanly, with increased height, by attaching ropes to the bridge which trail submerged planks, creating two large "U"-shapes. Such a shape makes the wave easier to surf for river surfers (playboating makes fewer demands of the wave shape).
A better wave for beginners is in Floßlände near the Thalkirchen U-Bahn station. It has also been surfed since 1972, and it is wide enough to take a few surfers at a time. A third standing wave in Munich forms on the Isar itself near the bridge Wittelsbacherbrücke, but only at flood levels of the river. Due to the dirt, manure and objects like tree branches drifting in the flood in the first days, this wave is usually surfed only a few days after the water level has risen.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shot from last Summer of my friend Crystal. She's funny cause she doesn't realize how beautiful she really is. It was her first photoshoot and we both had a great time. My nickname for her is Ms. Wingy due to the huge wings she has tatted on her back. We have plans to shoot them coming up here, once I can figure out how to accomplish the idea I have cleanly.
RAW file below for comparison
5D
17-40L
Hitech .3 Soft GND
W.L. X3200 into large softbox from camera left
[]Please comment if you favorite[]
As Deadpool thanks the fans, Batroc regains his balance and gets ready to continue the fight. Batroc charges at Deadpool. This causes the crowd to gasp and point towards Batroc to warn Deadpool.
Deadpool turns to Batroc and quickly blocks his attack. Batroc sends a knee towards Deadpool. He's successful and lands his attack on Deadpool's chest, knocking him backwards.
"Get him Deadpool!" A kid from the crowd yells.
"I might need a hand though!"
Deadpool unsheaths his sword and twirls it around. Batroc charges him and attempts to punch him. Deadpool quickly and skillfully swings his sword towards Batroc's arm, cleanly slicing off his hand.
"Aahh!
Batroc drops to the ground and grabs his wrist. The crowd cheers as Deadpool sheaths his sword and turns to them. Deadpool bows and waves to the crowd.
"Thank you, thank you! Tell your friends! Your friendly neighborhood Deadpool is here to help!"
The larger of two look alikes, the Hairy Woodpecker is a small but powerful bird that forages along trunks and main branches of large trees. It wields a much longer bill than the Downy Woodpecker's almost thornlike bill. Hairy Woodpeckers have a somewhat soldierly look, with their erect, straight-backed posture on tree trunks and their cleanly striped heads. Look for them at backyard suet or sunflower feeders, and listen for them whinnying from woodlots, parks, and forests.
This photo was a real struggle to create.
At the power plant, there’s always something happening at night. Ships come and go, others try to hold their position in the strong current, cranes are constantly moving, and every few minutes a ferry crosses the scene and destroys the reflections on the water. On top of that, the bridge I stood on vibrates every time a heavy truck drives over it – ruining any long exposure instantly.
And as if that wasn’t enough, some ships kept turning their spotlights directly toward me. I got blinded several times.
It was also the coldest night of the last few months: –3.5°C, very strong wind, and rain earlier that day. Everything was frozen. Even my jacket stuck to the icy railing when I leaned on it for a moment. Despite four layers of clothing and two layers of gloves, it was brutally cold.
But only this kind of weather makes this atmosphere possible. The extremely clear, humid air lets the light of the power plant rise up into the sky. The countless water droplets in the air refract and reflect the light, creating the very special mood of this photo.
After so many decades of night photography, you know exactly what you need. You can almost smell when the air is right. You feel it immediately. The light doesn’t come from above like with moonlight or blue hour – it comes from below. And this works best in a truly dark night, when the plant’s own light illuminates the sky.
That gives the scene so much more power than photographing it at blue hour, but it also makes exposure extremely difficult because of the harsh contrasts.
A single exposure can’t capture this. The dynamic range is simply too extreme.
So I shot eight images as a bracketing series and merged them in Lightroom into a linear 32-bit HDR RAW. Only then do the lights, the sky, the extreme contrasts, the smoke plumes, and all the fine structures come together cleanly in one image.
The biggest challenge, however, was the wind. The smoke plumes looked different in every frame, and for a series like this, the photos should be reasonably well aligned. It took almost three hours until everything matched and I finally had a usable set.
Giving up wasn’t an option. I would have stayed six hours if necessary. I wanted to capture this scene exactly the way I had envisioned it.
A word about the lens: the Sony 28–70 mm f/2.0 GM.
I’m still amazed by it – no, impressed. Brilliance, contrast, ghosting control – this is another league. To me it even looks cleaner than my former GM prime lenses. You can clearly tell Sony is using a new generation of coatings here.
And despite all that technical performance, the lens doesn’t produce a “digital” look. The colors stay elegant and calm, exactly how you want them to be. It’s an absolute dream lens, and that’s why I sold almost all my primes. My 35mm would never have handled this scene at night with this level of control.
You can really see that the older primes from 5 or 10 years ago can’t quite keep up anymore. Their older anti-reflective coatings are simply not in the same league. That will change again with new primes, of course, but right now the 28–70mm f/2.0 GM is still a very new lens – and these qualities matter more to me than 2% more sharpness.
I don’t know any lens that performs better at night than the Sony 28–70 mm f/2.0 GM. It’s a true reference – in the way it controls light, contrast, and color.
📷 Camera: Sony Alpha 7R V
🔭 Lens: Sony FE 28–70 mm F2.0 GM
📍 Tripod: Benro Cyanbird Carbon Tripod + FS20PRO Head
🔍 Focal Length: 53 mm
🌞 Aperture: f/5.6
🌙 ISO: 100
⏳ Exposure Bracketing (HDR-RAW): 2 s, 4 s, 7 s, 25 s, 42 s, 60 s
HDR Merge: Lightroom Classic – Linear 32-Bit HDR-RAW
🎨 Color Space Export (Web): sRGB
🏭 Location: Großkraftwerk Mannheim (GKM), Mannheim, Germany
Ça fait déjà un moment que j'ai découvert ce balai magique des moucherons le soir dans les derniers rayons du soleil. mais je voulais capturer cette danse proprement .Voici un premier essai .Merci pour votre visite et/ou commentaire .
It's been a while since I discovered this magic broom of the gnats in the evening in the last rays of the sun. But I wanted to capture this dance cleanly. Here is a first try. Thank you for your visit and / or comment .
Growing on the base of an 18 month old stump. Unusual growth pattern in dry conditions early in the season. The base is unusually swollen and the cap has a cylindrical shape. There apparatus to be a partial skirt under the cap but I believe it to be formed by fragments of the cap due to a failure of the partial veil to break cleanly.
When the second bridge was built alongside the original main at Deerfield Beach for the Brightline service it put the rails at a higher elevation than the original which created this unique benefit of putting the train cleanly above the walkway railing on the lower bridge. Here the "Bright Green" train set is northbound heading towards their next stop in West Palm Beach. 12/10/18
Red Dao street portrait.
"The origin of the Red Dao, pronounced Red Yao, is not clear. They originally came from China. They are one of the 54 ethnic groups that are officially recognized in Vietnam. In the last census taken in the year 2000, there were found to be ... approximately 470,000 in Vietnam. .. Their writing utilizes Chinese characters...
These people still wear their tradition[al] ethnic costumes and live lives unchanged little, for centuries. Both men and the women generally cover their heads with black or red scarves. The women will sometimes substitute this scarf for a turban. The traditional dress of the women is a brightly colored blouse worn over long trousers. The blouse is an intricately embroidered affair, which is normally decorated with silver. Both men and women wear their hair in a similar way; long on top, with the rest cleanly shaved. In addition, most women will also shave their eyebrows.
The Red Dao practice their own form of Taoism. They [also] still practice all the traditional customs connected to their tribe. Among these is their practice of arranged marriage.
The Red Dao practice and are experts in the field of herbal medicine. They use many treatments especially medicinal baths and know which plants from the forest to use to treat many illnesses."
- this edited extract from "trekkingsapa.com" on 1 June 2021.
I have also seen references to the Red Dao as the "Children of God", but I have been unable to pin that down or source its origins.
Not all Port is aged in wooden casks. Some is aged in bottles, and this variety of Port is called Vintage Port. As the bottled Port matures, the bottle's cork may deteriorate, and may fracture upon opening. To avoid this, a quasi-ceremonial technique can be employed, in which a set of heated metal tongs is applied to the neck of the bottle, followed by a bathing of the bottle's neck with ice-cold water. Performed by experienced hands, the neck of the bottle can then be cleanly fractured just below the cork, avoiding any contamination of the wine. I composed this photograph of a Port wine expert accomplishing the above.
Another attempt at folding the subject of Star of Bethlehem, this time using the Lucky Star molecule (invented independently with Fujimoto, Haligami and many others). In order to fold this model cleanly, I devised a non-standard method of constructing the 60 degree angle — slightly less precise than the classical methods used in folding a hexagon from a rectangle or from a square, but leaving no marks behind (if the paper is flexible enough).
Epiphany III is, obviously, the big model in the center. The one on the left is Just Stars and the one on the right is Maltese Cross.
This is a large model, folded from an almost complete B1 sheet of Fabriano Accademia 120 gsm paper which I found in a local art supply store. I’m not sure how the paper would behave with a smaller model and grid size, but for the big one, I found it really nice. The surface is slightly textured and the folds came out clean. The collapse went well. The data on the producer’s page indicate that the paper is ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free) which should give it a good shelf life. One drawback is that only white color is available. White models look OK in real life, but are really hard to take good pictures of, especially since due to its size, I had to photograph this model outside of my lightbox. I haven’t checked how the paper behaves when painted.
After leaving Beartooth Pass I headed SE on the Chief Joseph Highway Scenic Byway. Highly recommended if in the area.
Some history if you're interested:
"Dead Indian Pass is associated with the flight of the Nez Perce Indians during the Nez Perce War in 1877.
Pursued by several hundred soldiers led by General O.O. Howard, Chief Joseph led 700 Nez Perce men, women, and children and 2,000 horses through Yellowstone Park eastward and into the Absaroka Mountains. From the Absarokas the Indians looked for a route to the Great Plains. However, the U.S. army had anticipated that the Nez Perce would attempt to break out of the mountains onto the Plains and had stationed General Samuel D. Sturgis and 600 cavalry near the base of the mountains to intercept the Indians. Sturgis's forces were strategically placed where he could move quickly south or north toward known trails along Clarks Fork or the Shoshone River.
Sturgis discounted the Clark's Fork exit from the mountains, "finding that no trail could possibly lead through it." The lower several miles of Clark's Fork passed through a narrow canyon with vertical walls.
On September 8, 1877, the Nez Perce reached Dead Indian Pass, about six miles from Sturgis's force on the Plains below. Their advance scouts observed the soldiers far below awaiting their appearance. If the Indians took the open and easy route to reach the Plains, they would be easily visible. Instead, they attempted a difficult maneuver to mislead the soldiers. They feinted going south toward the Shoshone River by milling their horses in a big circle to kick up visible dust and sell Sturgis on the idea that they were heading south. Then, invisible to army scouts, they sneaked back north, concealed by heavy timber, and traversed Dead Indian Gulch down to the Clark's Fork River. Dead Indian Gulch was a narrow, steep-sided slit in the rock, dropping almost vertically for 1,000 feet and barely wide enough for two horses to go side-by-side. "In a cleanly executed maneuver," said a military historian, "the Nez Perce had countered an extremely serious threat and won a brilliant, though temporary respite.
Sturgis took the bait and led his soldiers away from the Clark's Fork and headed south to the Shoshone. The Nez Perce passed out onto the Great Plains unopposed. Sturgis quickly realized his error and turned around. He met up with Howard on September 11 who had descended the Clark's Fork following the Nez Perce's route, but the two military forces were now two days and 50 miles behind the Nez Perce. The U.S. army would not finally corner and defeat the Nez Perce until nearly a month later at the Battle of Bear Paw." Wikipedia.
Friday's here! Have a fabulous Friday and weekend!
Highest position in Explore = #2 on April 6th, 2009, thank you for all comments and support!
This is a shot of a surfer taking on a big wave in the famous “Pipeline” area of the North Shore on Oahu. I was just fascinated with the surfers on the North Shore and spent 2 whole days on my last vacation there. The ocean was chaotic this day and there was a big swell that had moved in that had many of the waves reaching about 15 feet in size! The waves were very difficult to judge and many of the barrels would close on the surfers before they could make it out. I also heard on the news that there were several injuries this day. Glad to report that this guy took on one of the biggest waves I saw and made it out cleanly! It was just awesome to watch and I really like how you can see the spray as he put his hand out to touch the wave, almost like he was feeling it.
For this shot, I used my 70-200mm f2.8 lens with a 2x extender on my Nikon D300, which allowed me to get the equivalent focal length of about 600mm. This is a pseudo-hdr created from 1 RAW file. Then, just standard post processing (levels, curves, contrast) in Photoshop. Hope you all have a fantastic week!
I was at a friends place on the 40th floor looking south across the lake and enjoying the setting sunlight when he pointed and said, "You can see Niagara Falls today." Sure enough, I looked s-w and there it was. I could clearly make out the Skylon Tower and surrounding buildings. As the crow flies, that's about 50km. I didn't feel like going downstairs to grab my 100-400mm but I expect it would have picked it up cleanly.
Toronto Waterfront
"The larger of two look alikes, the Hairy Woodpecker is a small but powerful bird that forages along trunks and main branches of large trees. It wields a much longer bill than the Downy Woodpecker's almost thornlike bill. Hairy Woodpeckers have a somewhat soldierly look, with their erect, straight-backed posture on tree trunks and their cleanly striped heads. Look for them at backyard suet or sunflower feeders, and listen for them whinnying from woodlots, parks, and forests."