On Monday 21st. February 1944 the 385th. BG, part of the 4th. Bombardment Wing, 8th. Air Force was tasked to provide 34 aircraft to carry out a diversionary raid on the Diepholz aircraft depot in N.W. Germany while the main force would attack an aircraft components works at Brunswick in Lower Saxony.

Two of the aircraft that took off from USAAF Station 155 at Great Ashfield, near Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk to fly to Diepholz were B-17G, 42-31370, coded SG-O, from the 550th. BS commanded by Capt. John Hutchison and B-17G, 42-37963, coded XA-O, from the 449th. BS commanded by 1st. Lt. Warren Pease. The Hutchinson crew were flying on their 25th. combat mission and cameraman 'Bud' Creegan was aboard to capture the completion of their tour of duty. Hutchinson's regular bombardier, Ed Gamble had been ill and his place was taken by Clarence Soucek, but during the briefing Gamble asked Soucek to swap as he didn't want to miss the 25th. mission.

German defences were light and despite inclement weather severe damage was inflicted on the target.

At 15.39 the returning bombers crossed the East Anglian coast at a height of 8,000 ft. at 52-43N, 01-41E, north of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. The cloud base was at 4,000ft and was up to 3,000 ft. thick. The weather conditions were poor and Lt. Col. James McDonald, group leader that day, reduced the danger of collision by ordering the descent through the cloud in three-ship elements.

Capt. Hutchinson led one vic of three aircraft, Lt. Pease flew off his starboard wing and Lt. John Terrace flew on the port wing. Due to his position in the cockpit Lt. Terrace gave command of his bomber to Lt. Eugene St. John who had a better view of the lead bomber from his co-pilots seat. In the cloud, with no horizon, each pilot had to fly on their instruments. In the cloud it is thought that Lt. Pease may have suffered virtigo and lost control of his aircraft which entered a spin. To recover from a spin full rudder is applied in the opposite direction and the aircraft is placed in a dive, when the turn-and-slip indicator is centred the aircraft is pulled up and returned to level flight. The flight manual requires that the manoeuvre must be 'smooth and gradual' but with low height Pease and his co-pilot were struggling to do this.

When the formation emerged from the cloud St. John notice Pease's bomber was missing, then the bomber broke cloud in a very steep dive astern of Hutchinson's aircraft. With the altitude now at less than 1,000 ft. Pease flew under his leader and pulled up sharply into the path of the on-coming bomber. The starboard propeller (No. 3) of Hutchinson's bomber tore into the spine of Pease's aircraft completely severing the tail section that fell to earth. Seeing this happening St. John instinctively broke hard to port to save his aircraft. Continuing upwards, the front two-thirds of Pease's aircraft looped uncontrollably above Hutchinson's aircraft before cutting back onto it and breaking it in half, sending it crashing to the ground at Mill Dyke where it exploded on impact. The tail-less Pease aircraft swung 180 degrees towards the village of Freethorpe, miraculously flying level and making as if to crash land near Decoy Carr. The bomber slithered across the marsh before smashing into a dyke edge and exploding.

All twenty-one crew on the two bombers were killed.

B-17G Flying Fortress 42-37963, 449th BS, 385th BG

Pilot: 1st. Lt. Warren Jay Pease. Service number O-677864. Air Medal with 1 oak leaf cluster. Purple Heart. Buried at Cambridge American Cemetery in Plot B Row 5 Grave 40. He was born 19th. March 1922, at Juniata, Adams County, Nebraska. He married Marcia Kraschel in 1943.

Co-pilot: 2nd. Lt. Edward Blase Brown. Born 17th. Service number O-682781. February 1918 at Fort Benton, Chouteau, Montana and appears to have been repatriated to Fort Benton and buried in Riverside Cemetery. Enlisted in the Army Air Corps at San Francisco on the 17th. April 1942 as a Private, service number 19884120. He was single without dependants, had completed 4 years of college and worked as a clerk in a general office.

Navigator: 2nd. Lt. Bernard Kaplan. Service number O-808074. Born in Canada on 14th. June 1914. The body was returned to the States and reburied in Evergreen Cemetery, Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida. On 2nd. January 1949 the body received a military escort from the US to the Beth Isreal Cemetery & Memorial Garden, Burnaby, Greater Vancouver Regional District, British Columbia, Canada where it was reburied in Row 54 A.

Bombardier: 2nd. Lt. Robert E. Jenkins. Service number O-683138. Born 25th. August 1921 at Taylor, Pennsylvania, enlisted at Greensburg, Pennsylvania on the 25th. March 1943, as Private 33441288. He was single with dependents. He had completed 4 years of high school and his occupation in civilian life was classified as semi-skilled mechanic & repairman. His body was returned to the US and reburied at Taylor Cemetery, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.

Flight engineer./top turret gunner: Tech. Sgt. William R. Clift. Service number 14134324. Air Medal with 1 oak leaf cluster. Purple Heart. He is buried at the Cambridge American Cemetery in Grave A.7.17, having come from Hamilton County, East Tennessee. Born 1921 in Tennessee, enlisted on the 17th. August 1942 at Camp Forrest, Tennessee as Private 14134324. A married man who had completed 4 years of high school, he worked as a carpenter in civil life.

Radio operator: Tech. Sgt. William Gill Jr. Service number 15324283. Born 13th. October 1924 at Triadelphia, West Virginia. Enlisted on 7th. November at Columbus, Ohio. The body was returned to the US and he is now buried in Saint Clairsville Union Cemetery, Belmont, Ohio.

Ball turret gunner: Staff Sgt. Franklin Charles Owsley. Service number 19056375. The body was returned to the states and interred at Alamosa Municipal Cemetery, Alamosa, Colorado. He was born on the 27th. May 1910 at Grain Valley, Jackson County, Missouri. Single without dependents, he enlisted at Fort Macarthur, San Pedro, California on the 21s.t February 1941 as Private 19056375. He had previously been an actor and had completed 3 years of college.

Tail gunner: Staff Sgt. Junior Matthew Falls. Service number 35539769. The body was returned to the US and now rests in the Oak Grove Cemetery, at Bowling Green, Wood County, Ohio. He is buried next to his brother, Lt. James R. Falls, who also died in combat. He was born on the 10th. October 1922 at Cygnet, Wood County, Ohio. Single and without dependents, he enlisted at Toledo, Ohio, on the 2nd. January 1943 as Private 35539769. He had completed 3 years of high school. Prior to enlistment his employment was classified as “semiskilled structural and ornamental metal worker”.

Left waist gunner: Staff Sgt. Harold E. Dickason. Service number 35339290. Air Medal. Purple Heart. Buried in Cambridge American Cemetery. Born Illinois in 1921, enlisted at Toledo, Ohio on the 8th. September 1942 as Private 35339290. A married man who had 1 year of college education, his civilian employment was classified as “semi-skilled occupations in manufacture of miscellaneous lumber products”.

Right waist gunner: Staff Sgt. Gail Farrell Bruner. Service number 17166484.The body was returned to the US and was buried at Ruhamah Cemetery in Rantoul, Franklin County, Kansas. He was born on the 6th. September 1919. Enlisted in November 1942.

B-17G Flying Fortress 42-31370, 550th. BS, 385th. BG.

Pilot: Capt. John Neal Hutchinson Jr. Service number O-795135. The body was subsequently returned to the US and buried at Greenville Cemetery, Washington County, Mississippi. He was born on the 10th. February 1920 and enlisted at Jackson, Mississippi on the 17th. January 1942 as an Aviation Cadet. His serial number was 14070803. He had completed 2 years of college and was working as a farm hand. He was single and without dependants.

Co-pilot: 2nd. Lt. Charles Gordon Curtis. Service number O-742971. Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters. Purple Heart. Born 13th. December 1923 at Danvers, Essex County, Massachusetts, is buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery in Plot F, Row 3, Grave 22. Enlisted at Boston on the 7th. April 1942 in the Army Air Corps as Private 11068766. Single, without dependants, he had completed 4 years of high school and was then working as a semi-skilled mechanic and repairman.

Navigator: 1st. Lt. John Ellis Epps. Service number O-673516. Born 5th. February 1918 at Richmond City, Virginian. Buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery.

Bombardier: 1st. Lt. Edmond J. Gamble. Service number O-669266. The body was subsequently returned to the US and now lies in the Mausoleum at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Southfield, Oakland County, Michigan. The memorial plaque records that he was born in Michigan in 1918. Enlisted at Detroit on the 14th. April 1941 and was given service number 36110224. Single, and without dependants, he was a machinist prior to signing up.

Flight engineer./top turret gunner: Tech. Sgt. Roy Clark Kitner. Service number 33237387. Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart. Born 3rd. November 1921 at New Bloomfield, Perry County, Pennsylvania, buried at the Cambridge American Cemetery, Plot C Row 6 Grave 40. He is also remembered in the Bloomfield Cemetery. Enlisted at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on the 31st. July 1942. He was previously a farm hand and was single without dependants.

Radio operator: Tech. Sgt. William Jerry Dukes. Service number 14108210. The body was subsequently returned to the US and now rests in Potomac Cemetery, Potomac, Vermilion County, Illinois.. He was born on 11th February 1921 at Collison Illinois. Enlisted at Fort McClellan, Alabama on the 17th. July 1942 as Private 14108210. Single and without dependants, William is stated to have completed 4 years of high school and his previous job was classified as “general farmer”.

Ball turret gunner: Staff Sgt. John Homer Erhardt. Service number 13023397. The body was returned to the US and now rests in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia in Section 12, Site 8122. He was born on the 9th. June 1920 in Washington, District of Columbia. Enlisted at Washington on the 4th. June 1941. Single and with no dependants, he had completed one year of high school and was then working as an insurance salesman.

Tail gunner: Staff Sgt. Joseph John Carpoinette. Service number 33349646. Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart. Born 7th. August 1920 at Sugar Notch, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, was buried at the Cambridge American Cemetery, Plot A Row 3 Grave 12. Enlisted at Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania on the 25th. July 1942. He’d completed 4 years of High School, was single without dependants and his civilian occupation was recorded in the group “managers and officials”.

Left waist gunner: Staff Sgt. Emilio M. Corgnatti. Service number 11009774. Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters, Purple Heart. Born 2nd. October 1915 in Springfield, Massachusetts and is buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery in Plot B, Row 6, Grave 59. Enlisted at Springfield, Massachusetts on the 23rd. January 1942. Single and without dependents, he was educated to grammar school level, and had previously worked as a machinist.

Right waist gunner: Staff Sgt. Peter Bobulsky Jr. Service number 35324186. Air Medal with 2 oak leaf clusters. The body was returned to the States in 1948 and he now rests in Holy Spirit Cemetery, Parma, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, He was born 26th. April 1921. Enlisted in Cleveland on the 9th. September 1942. Single and without dependents, he had completed 4 years of high school. It’s not known what his pre-enlistment occupation was.

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Frank Leo Creegan Jr. Service number 17075825. The remains were returned to the US and he is now at rest in El Reno Cemetery, El Reno, Canadian County, Oklahoma. He was born in Henryetta, Oklahoma on 13th. April 1922. Enlisted at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri on the 13th. July 1942. Single and without dependents, he had completed 2 years of college, and his previous job was classified as “unskilled occupations in printing and publishing”.

The crash sites were excavated at various times from January 1964 to July 1978. The engine and collision scared propeller from the Hutchinson B-17 are displayed at Parham airfield, near Framlingham, Suffolk. Other artefacts can be seen in the Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum at Flixton, Suffolk and the 100th. Bomb Group Museum at Thorpe Abbotts, near Diss, Norfolk.

The Channel 4 TV programme 'Time Team' did an episode on this crash, first broadcast 21st. February 1999. Series 6, Episode 8.

The memorial is on Riverside in Reedham and is placed next to the village war memorial.

Island of Arran . Scotland

008_GHP_SoireeCandids_2019.JPG -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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161_GHP_Airports_5Oct22 - Greater Houston Partnership State of the Airports with Mario C. Diaz, Director of Aviation, Houston Airports held at the Marriott Marquis October 5, 2022. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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What was first thought to be a recently passing meteorite condensation trail through the high altitude clouds.. turned out to be the shadow of the straight vapour trail from a passing passenger jet plane cast on the cloud base slightly below ( c. 30 - 35,000 ft )

Sometimes you should just go find out. Rarely do I ever stick to a route as planned, it's nice to have a general direction but often times I'll see a path leading somewhere or a feature on the map and say to myself "I wonder what's down there".

I've been looking at Crowden Tower in this way on the map for some time and I finally went to find out what was there. There's a lovely path not marked at all on any maps) that winds its way along the col, which on a clear day would have great views of Grindslow Knoll but the cloud base was around 500-600m obscuring most of the view. One of the things that I did find was the remains of an old sheepfold and a view up to the Woolpacks, with dry stone providing a lovely bit of foreground interest and the cloud a good deal of atmosphere.

The Air Force team have different routines depending on weather conditions. “If it is cloudy we can fly under the cloud base and we open our parachutes straight away.”

When they jump from the aircraft at 9000feet, they hold onto each other in a star formation. “We then break and track away from each other at around 5,500 feet and at 4,000 feet we deploy our shutes,” said Kevin.

All members of the Display Unit are full-time instructors. Once they are ‘free fall’ qualified and have gained the appropriate experience they are gradually introduced into the display team.

202_GHP_SoireePortraits_2019.jpg -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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Virtual Panorama of Reiter Berry Farms, in Watsonville, CA, on Thursday, August 27, 2015, are working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to improve on the 30% water savings they already achieve with precision micro subsurface irrigation. The use of a Wireless Irrigation Monitoring Network (WIN) to collects data from wireless solar powered soil tensiometers, and weather field stations positioned throughout farms in three counties enable them to track soil, temperature, and humidity conditions with a cloud-based irrigation management system, to better manage watering and soil conservation efforts in more than 700 acres. They actively share their data, methods, and experiences with other producers. Better management by producers using a currently dwindling supply and quality of ground water (wells) in this county will help recharge the aquifer and prevent the migration of nearby Pacific Ocean salt water into the ground water they use. This is one of the ways growers are extending the water supply. Reiter Affiliated Companies (RAC) has been involved with family farming since 1868; is a leading fresh, multi-berry producer in the world; and a leading supplier of fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries in North America.

Wireless soil tensiometer are buried at multiple specific distances and depths from the subsurface water emitters and the root balls. The tensiometer measures how strongly the soil absorbs water. The tensiometer’s porous probe is buried into the soil and a pump pulls some air out, creating a vacuum. Water and moisture from the surrounding soil enters the probe. Low amounts of water entering the tensiometer indicate plants (and evaporation) are pulling water from the soil and may need to be watered. High levels of water entering the tensiometer indicate the plants have enough water. This information is then transmitted to a company’s cloud-based irrigation management system that makes the data available on customer’s mobile device in the field. If this data is combined with historical data and other information, it can help determine when, how long and how fast watering needs to be for best efficiency, soil health and electrical economy to improve a business’s yield and profitability. These measurements helps ensure ideal watering and for soil conservation. The farms have been using the tensiometers for 5 years. USDA Photo Illustration by Lance Cheung.

This image shows the Musca molecular clouds based on a combination of data from ESA’s Herschel and Planck space telescopes. The bright areas in the picture shows the emission by interstellar dust grains in three different wavelengths observed by Herschel (250, 350, and 500 microns) and the lines crossing the image in a ‘drapery pattern’ represent the magnetic field orientation (based on the Planck data.)

The Musca clouds are part of the Chamaeleon cloud complex, where the vast star-forming region overlaps with the constellation of Musca, the Fly. Resembling a streak of lightning, the well-defined, elongated molecular cloud spans three degrees across the sky. It is also sometimes called the Dark Doodad Nebula.

Magnetic field lines clearly appear to be perpendicular to the main filament in the cloud. Striations are present, although not necessarily connected to the main filament, and there are also denser hair-like strands – structures attached to the main filament. Strands are distributed all along the main filament.

Musca is similar to the B213 filament in the Taurus Molecular Cloud in terms of perpendicular striations, however Musca lacks the fine substructure of the Taurus filament.

Credits: ESA/Herschel/Planck; J. D. Soler, MPIA

49 xenon searchlights firing into the London sky. Ryoji Ikeda's work was commissioned as part of the centenary of the outbreak of World War One and was switched on at 10pm on 4th August 2014.

I have been passing this every day while it was being constructed over the last week or so. I expected it to be impressive but hadn't bargained on the thousands of moths, bats and birds that cause the beams of light to twinkle right up to the cloud base like spirits ascending into heaven.

This image shows the Perseus molecular cloud, based on a combination of data from ESA’s Herschel and Planck space telescopes. The bright areas in the picture shows the emission by interstellar dust grains in three different wavelengths observed by Herschel (250, 350, and 500 microns) and the lines crossing the image in a ‘drapery pattern’ represent the magnetic field orientation (based on the Planck data.)

This nearby molecular cloud complex is made up of two components, Perseus North and Perseus South, both of which contain a large amount of dark nebulae. The northern component is located in the lower left of the image, while the southern one is visible towards the upper right.

Perseus North includes B5 which is an extensively studied dark cloud, and also contains the IC 348 open cluster of stars. Perseus South is home to the NGC 1333 nebula – the brightest area in the image – which is one of the most actively star-forming regions in the complex. Perseus South also includes the Barnard Object B1, along with the Lynds Dark Nebulae L1448, L1455, and L1451.

Credits: ESA/Herschel/Planck; J. D. Soler, MPIA

We had some stunning optical effects visible on our way back from Limoges to Stanstead on 25th September 2017. This was the first time I'd ever seen optics reflected on the cloud base below; that was quite a special experience!

665_GHP_SoireePortraits_2019.jpg -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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This image shows the Chamaeleon I molecular cloud based on a combination of data from ESA’s Herschel and Planck space telescopes. The bright areas in the picture shows the emission by interstellar dust grains in three different wavelengths observed by Herschel (250, 350, and 500 microns) and the lines crossing the image in a ‘drapery pattern’ represent the magnetic field orientation (based on the Planck data.)

The Chamaeleon cloud complex consists of three molecular clouds of very different morphology and stages of evolution: Chamaeleon I, II and III, with Chamaleon III having no young stars. An image of Chamaeleon II is available here.

Chamaeleon I is a star-forming region with more than 200 young stars. A massive, newly-formed star powers the IC 2631 reflection nebula, visible at the top of the image. Two other reflection nebulae, called Cederblad 110 and Cederblad 111, are located in the centre of the image.

At the end its star formation phase, Chamaeleon I has a central ridge-like structure, and there are dense clumps embedded in the ridge. Faint striations can be seen in the cloud, aligned with the magnetic field.

Credits: ESA/Herschel/Planck; J. D. Soler, MPIA

Clouds Co. Dublin Ireland

This thunderstorm reached severe intensity as it move over my area. Its developing supercell structure was quite evident with the distinct lowering and semi-rotating cloud base. Within a few minutes after this timelapse ends, 0.41 inch fell in just 9 minutes with 2 minutes of pea and marble sized hail.

Taken with YI 4K action cam in video mode

a) San Jose y Niño Jesus

b) La Inmaculada Concepcion

Binondo, Manila and San Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan

ivory, silver, velvet, baticuling wood

1890s

a) San Jose y Niño Jesus

head to toe: 11" (28 cm)

body: 5" x 4" (13 cm x 10 cm)

Virina:

H: 22" (56 cm), D: 9" (23 cm)

Base:

H: 6" (15 cm), D: 14" (36 cm)

b) La Inmaculada Concepcion

head to toe: 11" (28 cm)

body: 5" x 4" (13 cm x 10 cm)

Virina:

H: 22" (56 cm), D: 9" (23 cm)

Base:

H: 6" (15 cm), D: 14 (36 cm)

Opening bid: PHP 300,000

Property from the Don Maximo Viola Collection

Provenance: Maximo Viola, Descendants of Maximo Viola

About the Work

by Augusto Marcelino Reyes Gonzalez III

Commissioned by D Maximo Viola y Sison (1857–1933): an exceptional tabletop “San Jose y Nino Jesus.”

The San Jose has a serious, fatherly expression and the Nino Jesus he is carrying on his left hand has a playful but respectful mien. The father carries a solid silver staff of lilies on his right hand. Both San Jose and the Nino Jesus have long hair of “jusi” fibers; the father wears a solid silver “paraguas” halo and the son wears solid silver “tres potencias” symbolizing the three powers of the Lord --- Authority (Exousia in Greek), Ability (Dunamis in Greek), and Strength (Kratas in Greek). The San Jose wears a traditional green robe and yellow cape and the Nino Jesus wears a traditional yellow robe, both are embroidered with floral and foliar designs of the 1890s genre. The father stands on an exceptional “peana” pedestal base of the rare type: a lily emerging from four acanthus leaves which are supported by smaller leaves on a base of foliar forms. The finely–gilded peana is found only with the highest quality ivory statuary. In Roman Catholicism, Saint Joseph is the foster father of Jesus Christ and the Patron of the Universal Church. During the Spanish period and up to prewar (up to 1940), the center of devotion to El Glorioso Patriarca San Jose was at the San Nicolas de Tolentino church (“Recoletos”) in Intramuros; there were weekly devotions on Wednesdays and a big fiesta every 26 November. Unfortunately, the Recoletos church, the 26 November fiesta tradition, and the image of San Jose Patriarca were all destroyed by aerial bombs in February 1945. The other important, traditional centers of devotion to San Jose remain with “Tata Hosep” in Las Pinas, “Tata Bukot” in Navotas, and “Senor San Jose” in Mandaue, Cebu. There is a renewed, worldwide devotion to Saint Joseph as Pope Francis has acknowledged that he often leaves a petition to the saint overnight and receives a resolution in the morning.

Commissioned by D Maximo Viola y Sison (1857–1933): a beatific tabletop “La Inmaculada Concepcion.” The Virgin Mary has a gentle downward gaze, reminiscent of the “La Purisima” festejada at the Iglesia de San Francisco de Asis (Franciscanos) in Intramuros (destroyed during World War II). It has long hair of “jusi” fibers, a silvergilt crown, and an aureole of twelve stars. The long, slender hands are held together in prayer. The image is dressed in the traditional white robe and blue cape, “palikpik” style, embroidered with floral and foliar designs of the 1890s genre. An enameled, silvergilt sun and silver crescent moon are at its feet. The statuette stands on a (deliberately) oversized, silver–leafed, Ming–style “ensaimada” cloud base with the serpent interspersed between. The cloud is supported by a traditional gilded “peana” pedestal with foliar forms. The Roman Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception states that: “We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.” During the Spanish era (up to 1898), and up until prewar (to 1940), the 08 de Diciembre procession of “La Purisima” (“La Inmaculada Concepcion”) at the Iglesia de San Francisco de Asis (Franciscanos) was one of the much – awaited events in the Manila calendar. Although it was La Catedral de Manila that was under the patronage of “La Inmaculada Concepcion,” and although the Jesuits fervently venerated her under that title at the Iglesia de San Ignacio de Loyola on Calle Arzobispo, it was the Franciscanos who organized the annual fiesta in her honor. The late afternoon procession started at San Francisco on Calle San Francisco esquina a Calle Solana, through Calle Solana, entered the Iglesia de Santo Domingo de Guzman (Dominicanos) on Calle Beaterio esquina a Calle Solana for prayers and hymns, through Calle Beaterio, passed La Catedral on Calle Beaterio esquina a Calle Cabildo, then returned to San Francisco via Calle Real del Palacio (currently General Luna street). It was a joyous affair as “Navidades” (Christmas) was already in the air with the cool December breezes; five days later would be the 13 de Diciembre fiesta of Santa Lucia de Siracusa (Saint Lucy of Syracuse) at the Iglesia de San Nicolas de Tolentino (Recoletos) on Calle Cabildo Recoletos, a time when country folk from the surrounding provinces --- Bulacan, Pampanga, Morong, Laguna, Batangas, Cavite --- descended on the church patio with their fresh delicacies and charming wares, to the delight of the city folk who eagerly purchased them, for even then, Manilenos inevitably suffered from “mal de ville” (“city illness”).

Lot 140 of the Leon Gallery auction on June 17, 2023. Please see leon-gallery.com/auctions/The-Spectacular-Mid-Year-Auctio... for more information.

A long exposure taken in the Brecon Beacons.

The cloud base was really low and make for a surreal sight!

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093_GHP_EcoOutlook_1Dec21 — 2021 Houston Region Economic Outlook shares perspectives on the region’s economy and future outlook. Speakers include Northern Trust Chief Economist Carl R. Tannenbaum,

and Partnership Senior VP of Research, Patrick Jankowski, December 1, 2021 at the Royal Sonesta in Houston. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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Royal Air Force Boeing Sentry E.3 ZH101 on finals to land after 'opening' the RAF Waddington 2014 Airshow along with the RC-135W and a Sentinel.

Unfortunately with the cloud-base virtually on the deck at that point we didn't get to see their flypast but managed a shot or two as she returned later as the cloud began to lift and the temperature increased.

(Virtual Panorama) Color-coded flags mark strategic locations where soil tensiometers are buried at Reiter Berry Farms, in Watsonville, CA, on Thursday, August 27, 2015, who are working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to improve on the 30% water savings they already achieve with precision micro subsurface irrigation. The use of a Wireless Irrigation Monitoring Network (WIN) to collects data from wireless solar powered soil tensiometers, and weather field stations positioned throughout farms in three counties enable them to track soil, temperature, and humidity conditions with a cloud-based irrigation management system, to better manage watering and soil conservation efforts in more than 700 acres. They actively share their data, methods, and experiences with other producers. Better management by producers using a currently dwindling supply and quality of ground water (wells) in this county will help recharge the aquifer and prevent the migration of nearby Pacific Ocean salt water into the ground water they use. This is one of the ways growers are extending the water supply. Reiter Affiliated Companies (RAC) has been involved with family farming since 1868; is a leading fresh, multi-berry producer in the world; and a leading supplier of fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries in North America.

Wireless soil tensiometer are buried at multiple specific distances and depths from the subsurface water emitters and the root balls. The tensiometer measures how strongly the soil absorbs water. The tensiometer’s porous probe is buried into the soil and a pump pulls some air out, creating a vacuum. Water and moisture from the surrounding soil enters the probe. Low amounts of water entering the tensiometer indicate plants (and evaporation) are pulling water from the soil and may need to be watered. High levels of water entering the tensiometer indicate the plants have enough water. This information is then transmitted to a company’s cloud-based irrigation management system that makes the data available on customer’s mobile device in the field. If this data is combined with historical data and other information, it can help determine when, how long and how fast watering needs to be for best efficiency, soil health and electrical economy to improve a business’s yield and profitability. These measurements helps ensure ideal watering and for soil conservation. The farms have been using the tensiometers for 5 years. USDA Photo Illustration by Lance Cheung.

Martha Romero guides husband Salvador Prieto as he drives and dumps a load of mulch at their Hass avocado trees; she’ll then toss the mulch into place near the tree trunks and under the canopy, in Somis, CA, on Nov 15, 2018. All the while, they ensure the micro irrigation sprinklers are not damaged.

Salvador Prieto grew up watching and helping his father grow corn and beans on a small farm in Mexico. The journey from bean fields to 20-acre orchard owner with his wife Martha Romero was not a straight and narrow path to Somis, Calif. In fact, it was music that brought him to the United States. Today the passion is agriculture.

Similarly, Romero didn’t follow a career in agriculture to her beautiful and healthy avocado and lemon orchard. Romero grew up a city girl in the heart of Los Angeles. Now sharing this farm with her husband and two children, she quickly credits her success to the support and assistance from her family to navigate the learning curve.

Constantly seeking improvement on the family’s orchard, Romero discovered the local Farm Bureau and the Ventura County Agricultural Irrigated Land Group (VCAILG) coalition. VCAILG put Romero in touch with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Ventura Resource Conservation District, for technical and financial assistance to implement conservation and management practices.

NRCS California District Conservationist Dawn Afman, Soil Conservationist Elizabeth Keith, and Resource Conservationist Brooks Engelhardt, have all provided technical assistance and invested their time and expertise in helping Prieto and Romero incorporate conservation practices in their orchard. Prieto and Romero were immediately intrigued by NRCS’s efforts to improve soil health.

“At first it was overwhelming, but many other farmers I know are members, so it is comforting to know that I am not alone,” said Romero. “We need to make a profit, obviously, but, for me, I want to do it while protecting mother nature and precious resources like water. I am able to do this with NRCS’s help.”

Prieto and Romero learned a lot from trial and error. Romero admits that she even bought her trees before the land was ready. But learning opportunities, like an early community garden project, gave them critical knowledge and experience.

A big first conservation practice they learned was mulching to save water and reduce weeds. NRCS helped Prieto and Romero with this, through an Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contract, to apply mulch to their orchard floor to conserve soil moisture and improve soil health in the Fall of 2018.

“Every time we have a question or need assistance, NRCS has been nothing but helpful,” added Romero. “They let us know about other programs out in the community and invited us to their annual Latino Farmer Conference, where my husband and I learned about other helpful resources.”

Recently, Prieto and Romero entered into a new NRCS contract to implement Irrigation Water Management (IWM) to their orchard. The IWM plan includes installing moisture sensors into the ground, which transmit continuous data to cloud-based storage, and accessed through a smart device app on their phones. The information lets them know when, where and how long to irrigate. This knowledge will help them toward their goal of producing 6,000 pounds of produce per acre.

Looking toward the future, Romero expressed that knowledge is key. “Before we plant further, we need to get educated on how to do it best,” concluded Romero. “From the planting of a seed or planting of a tree, we need the entire process to be profitable. It's not just about planting it. It's about preparing the land and using the resources wisely.”

In the meantime, Romero enjoys the weekends because she does not need to be worried about picking up the kids from school or rushing around. She just wants to be out in the orchard, making it better From mulching to pruning or irrigating and weeding. The family’s goal is to make the farm “better tomorrow than it was today.”

Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) is the Department’s focal point for the nation’s farmers and ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands. FPAC agencies implement programs designed to mitigate the significant risks of farming through crop insurance services, conservation programs, and technical assistance, and commodity, lending, and disaster programs.

The agencies and services supporting FPAC are Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and Risk Management Agency (RMA).

NRCS has a proud history of supporting America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners for more than 80 years. USDA helps people make investments in their operations and local communities to keep working lands working, boost rural economies, increase the competitiveness of American agriculture, and improve the quality of our air, water, soil, and habitat.

From weather to pests, and from a lack of time to markets, each American farmer faces a unique set of challenges. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) helps agricultural producers confront those challenges – all while conserving natural resources like soil, water, and air.

This voluntary conservation program helps producers make conservation work for them. Together, NRCS and producers invest in solutions that conserve natural resources for the future while also improving agricultural operations.

Through EQIP, NRCS provides agricultural producers with financial resources and one-on-one help to plan and implement improvements, or what NRCS calls conservation practices. Using these practices can lead to cleaner water and air, healthier soil and better wildlife habitat, all while improving agricultural operations. Through EQIP, you can voluntarily implement conservation practices and NRCS co-invests in these practices with you.

USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.

For more information, please see:

USDA

www.usda.gov

FPAC

www.usda.gov/our-agency/about-usda/mission-areas

NRCS

www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/site/national/home/

EQIP

www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/program...

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About

Right.

I was on my way to visit David, when I saw this cloud forming out to sea... Next stop Nudgee beach.

This storm cloud has to be the best I've even seen. Amazing!

How big was this cloud? well if you look closely, you can see a plane approaching the airport to the right.

Now you know why my gear comes with me everywhere I go.

Enjoy.

- Canon 50D.

- ISO 100, f8, 1/640, 70mm.

- Canon 70-200 f/4 L lens

- Cokin p121 Medium Grad.

Processing

- 20 Images (shot at 70mm) stitched in AutoPano Pro.

- Saturation and Contrast in Photoshop 6.0 and Lightroom 2.2.

About Clouds

A cloud is a visible mass of droplets, in other words, little drops of water or frozen crystals suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of the Earth or another planetary body. A cloud is also a visible mass attracted by gravity, such as masses of material in space called interstellar clouds and nebulae. Clouds are studied in the nephology or cloud physics branch of meteorology.

On Earth the condensing substance is typically water vapor, which forms small droplets or ice crystals, typically 0.01 mm (0.00039 in) in diameter. When surrounded by billions of other droplets or crystals they become visible as clouds. Dense deep clouds exhibit a high reflectance (70% to 95%) throughout the visible range of wavelengths. They thus appear white, at least from the top. Cloud droplets tend to scatter light efficiently, so that the intensity of the solar radiation decreases with depth into the gases, hence the gray or even sometimes dark appearance at the cloud base. Thin clouds may appear to have acquired the color of their environment or background and clouds illuminated by non-white light, such as during sunrise or sunset, may appear colored accordingly. Clouds look darker in the near-infrared because water absorbs solar radiation at those wavelengths.

The color of a cloud, as seen from the Earth, tells much about what is going on inside the cloud. Clouds form because warm air tends to absorb water vapor, which is lighter than air, thus helping the mixture to rise. As it rises the air containing it cools and the vapor tends to condense out of the air as micro-droplets. These tiny particles of water are densely packed and sunlight cannot penetrate far into the cloud before it is reflected out, giving a cloud its characteristic white color. As a cloud matures, the dense water droplets may combine to produce larger droplets, which may combine to form droplets large enough to fall as rain. By this process of accumulation, the space between droplets becomes increasingly larger, permitting light to penetrate farther into the cloud. If the cloud is sufficiently large and the droplets within are spaced far enough apart, it may be that a percentage of the light which enters the cloud is not reflected back out before it is absorbed. A simple example of this is being able to see farther in heavy rain than in heavy fog. This process of reflection/absorption is what causes the range of cloud color from white to black. For the same reason, the undersides of large clouds and heavy overcasts can appear as various degrees of grey shades, depending on how much light is being reflected or transmitted back to the observer.

Other colors occur naturally in clouds. Bluish-grey is the result of light scattering within the cloud. In the visible spectrum, blue and green are at the short end of light's visible wavelengths, while red and yellow are at the long end. The short rays are more easily scattered by water droplets, and the long rays are more likely to be absorbed. The bluish color is evidence that such scattering is being produced by rain-sized droplets in the cloud.

A greenish tinge to a cloud is produced when sunlight is scattered by ice. A cumulonimbus cloud emitting green is an imminent sign of heavy rain, hail, strong winds and possible tornadoes.

Yellowish clouds are rare but may occur in the late spring through early fall months during forest fire season. The yellow color is due to the presence of pollutants in the smoke.

Red, orange and pink clouds occur almost entirely at sunrise/sunset and are the result of the scattering of sunlight by the atmosphere. The clouds do not become that color; they are reflecting long and unscattered rays of sunlight, which are predominant at those hours. The effect is much like if one were to shine a red spotlight on a white sheet. In combination with large, mature thunderheads this can produce blood-red clouds.

Stratocumulus Clouds

A Stratocumulus cloud belongs to a class of clouds characterized by large dark, rounded masses, usually in groups, lines, or waves, the individual elements being larger than those in altocumuli, and the whole being at a lower altitude, usually below 2,400 m (8,000 ft). Weak convective currents create shallow cloud layers because of drier, stable air above preventing continued vertical development.

Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-41R G-VXLG with flight VS128 from New York (JFK) appears out of the low cloud base on approach to Manchester Airport on the 13th August 2018

0837 Glasgow Central-Carlisle.

In awful weather for photography, low cloud base, heavy rain and strong winds.

Set 450 makes the stop at SANQUHAR.

4 Oct 17

Old Winchester Hill 2

My first upload of this image didn’t look right, so I decided to rework it and add a little more drama. I’ve also gone for a cloud base with more punch!

Thank you for taking the time to look at my work, which I hope you have enjoyed

074_SoireeWall_11Nov21 - Greater Houston Partnership Soirée annual gala celebrating Houston as a truly global city at Hotel ZaZa chaired by Margaret and Thad Hill November 11, 2021. (Photo by Richard Carson)

***DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS***

Download full resolution individual photos/videos by clicking the "down-facing arrow" below the preview image on the right hand side of the page. You will then be prompted to select a destination for the photo on your local computer.

This cloud based gallery will be available for three months in order to enable you to download all of the photos to your computer for safe long term storage. While the gallery may be in the cloud for longer than this time you should endeavor to file and secure the photos for future use in whatever manner you deem appropriate.

A spectacular day on the mountain with Marcus Conway. Due to the late spring, these birds had only arrived on the mountan tops a few days earlier and as the window between their arrival and the start of nesting is so narrow we were very fortunate indeed. With the cloud base also above the top of the mountains all day, we couldn't have timed it better and I finally had the chance to photograph these beautiful birds. Huge thanks to Marcus www.ebirder.net

A beautifully photogenic tornado that touched down ~3 miles south of Campo, in far south-eastern Colorado, around 18:09 local time on 31 May 2010. The tornado moved slowly southeast, crossing highway 287/385 around 8 miles south of Campo. The tornado was on the ground for 16 minutes and was rated EF2.

These photos are a revised set posted nearly 11 years after the event, showing the development and evolution of the tornado. Most were taken from the intersection of highway 287/385 and County Road F, but the latter 5 shots (no. 18 - 22) were taken further southeast along the highway. The tornado became partly rain-wrapped and lifted a mile or two east of the highway very near the Oklahoma border.

For more information about the event, see the summary by the NWS Pueblo Office here: www.weather.gov/pub/tornado31May2010_BacaCounty and this conference paper by Monteverdi et al. ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/175862.pdf

(2) The condensation funnel broadens at the surface. The funnel was incredibly smooth and featureless all the way from cloud base to the ground at this early stage.

039_GHP_SoireePortraits_2019.jpg -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

***DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS***

Download full resolution individual photos/videos by clicking the "down-facing arrow" below the preview image on the right hand side of the page. You will then be prompted to select a destination for the photo on your local computer.

This cloud based gallery will be available for three months in order to enable you to download all of the photos to your computer for safe long term storage. While the gallery may be in the cloud for longer than this time you should endeavor to file and secure the photos for future use in whatever manner you deem appropriate.

115_GHP_SoireePortraits_2019.jpg -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

***DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS***

Download full resolution individual photos/videos by clicking the "down-facing arrow" below the preview image on the right hand side of the page. You will then be prompted to select a destination for the photo on your local computer.

This cloud based gallery will be available for three months in order to enable you to download all of the photos to your computer for safe long term storage. While the gallery may be in the cloud for longer than this time you should endeavor to file and secure the photos for future use in whatever manner you deem appropriate.

IMAGE INFO

- The original magnificent "Guardian Lions" of Ehden were donated by an emigrant named Boutros Sheikha Douaihy (in 1939) & sculpted by artist Georges El Selou. A relative of Boutros, Youssef Sheikha Douaihy, helped Georges build the statue bases.

- Sadly, the original sharply detailed hand-sculpted lion statues seen in this photo are no longer there. The whole area has since been urbanized & new road system built, becoming a tourist mecca in later years. I have no idea where the original sculpted lions may have ended up. However, a replacement lion (appears to be a concrete cast replica) now exists on top of the original left stone plinth (now white-washed). The original right stone plinth (sans lion) was removed to allow for road widening & it appears a replacement plinth (not the same quality carved stones) with another poorer quality, replica concrete lion statue sitting atop it has been positioned much further to the right. See this Google Street View link for how the replica lions & replacement right plinth are now situated (note the original Shrine building in the background is still there!):

www.google.com.au/maps/@34.2920144,35.9541683,3a,51.1y,74...

- Saydet el Hosn basilica (aka the "Lady of the Fortress" shrine & monastery) is atop the peak of the mountain, which can be seen rising to the cloud base in the background of the photo.

- Ehden is located 30km east of Tripoli, on the Mar Sarkis (Saint Sarkis) Mountain, overlooking coastal towns and villages as far as Akkar to Shikka.

************************

SOURCE INFO

- This very rare, unique original image was captured by my late father-in-law, Driver Tom Beazley of the 2/4 Anti Malaria Control Unit, 9 Division, 2 Australian Imperial Force, using a KODAK folding 120 roll-film camera while on local leave to Ehden & surrounds.

************************

PROCESS INFO

- Very grainy, faded & blurry original print was digitized using a Canon Canoscan 8800F scanner.

- Colourized using MyHeritage app.

- Image quality enhanced using Topaz Gigapixel AI, Skylum Luminar Neo AI & Adobe Photoshop CS2.

Taken off the Norwegian coastline

231_GHP_SoireePortraits_2019.jpg -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

***DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS***

Download full resolution individual photos/videos by clicking the "down-facing arrow" below the preview image on the right hand side of the page. You will then be prompted to select a destination for the photo on your local computer.

This cloud based gallery will be available for three months in order to enable you to download all of the photos to your computer for safe long term storage. While the gallery may be in the cloud for longer than this time you should endeavor to file and secure the photos for future use in whatever manner you deem appropriate.

016_GHP_SoireePortraits_2019.jpg -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

***DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS***

Download full resolution individual photos/videos by clicking the "down-facing arrow" below the preview image on the right hand side of the page. You will then be prompted to select a destination for the photo on your local computer.

This cloud based gallery will be available for three months in order to enable you to download all of the photos to your computer for safe long term storage. While the gallery may be in the cloud for longer than this time you should endeavor to file and secure the photos for future use in whatever manner you deem appropriate.

This atmospheric optical phenomena was unusual because it occurred with surface air temperatures near 40F. Ice crystals are usually required with upper level (cloud base) temperatures colder than -20F.

The 1st still shows the mock sun (with pillar). The actual sun rose ~10 minutes later. The 2nd still shows the fading pillar.

The weather was forecast to be pretty awful throughout the entire of the UK this weekend. Regardless of where we decided to visit we knew that there was greater than 90% chance of rain with a cloud base of 300-500m ASL. Pants!

For a change, we decided to head to my Dad's place in North West Cumbria.

Having been there before, I decided it'd be nice for me to take gemma to Crummock Water, famous for its leaping salmon in the autumn. After capturing a few shots at Crummock we drove into the Borrowdale Valley via Keswick to capture the popular Ashness Jetty on Derwent Water. The weather was terrible. What you can't see is the umbrella above the camera, however I'm happy with the result!

Hopefully it'll be a little clearer for us to head back here tomorrow

Salvador Prieto gets nearly ground level to see how well this micro-sprinkler is working under one of his avocado trees, in Somis, CA, on Nov 15, 2018.

Salvador Prieto grew up watching and helping his father grow corn and beans on a small farm in Mexico. The journey from bean fields to 20-acre orchard owner with his wife Martha Romero was not a straight and narrow path to Somis, Calif. In fact, it was music that brought him to the United States. Today the passion is agriculture.

Similarly, Romero didn’t follow a career in agriculture to her beautiful and healthy avocado and lemon orchard. Romero grew up a city girl in the heart of Los Angeles. Now sharing this farm with her husband and two children, she quickly credits her success to the support and assistance from her family to navigate the learning curve.

Constantly seeking improvement on the family’s orchard, Romero discovered the local Farm Bureau and the Ventura County Agricultural Irrigated Land Group (VCAILG) coalition. VCAILG put Romero in touch with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Ventura Resource Conservation District, for technical and financial assistance to implement conservation and management practices.

NRCS California District Conservationist Dawn Afman, Soil Conservationist Elizabeth Keith, and Resource Conservationist Brooks Engelhardt, have all provided technical assistance and invested their time and expertise in helping Prieto and Romero incorporate conservation practices in their orchard. Prieto and Romero were immediately intrigued by NRCS’s efforts to improve soil health.

“At first it was overwhelming, but many other farmers I know are members, so it is comforting to know that I am not alone,” said Romero. “We need to make a profit, obviously, but, for me, I want to do it while protecting mother nature and precious resources like water. I am able to do this with NRCS’s help.”

Prieto and Romero learned a lot from trial and error. Romero admits that she even bought her trees before the land was ready. But learning opportunities, like an early community garden project, gave them critical knowledge and experience.

A big first conservation practice they learned was mulching to save water and reduce weeds. NRCS helped Prieto and Romero with this, through an Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contract, to apply mulch to their orchard floor to conserve soil moisture and improve soil health in the Fall of 2018.

“Every time we have a question or need assistance, NRCS has been nothing but helpful,” added Romero. “They let us know about other programs out in the community and invited us to their annual Latino Farmer Conference, where my husband and I learned about other helpful resources.”

Recently, Prieto and Romero entered into a new NRCS contract to implement Irrigation Water Management (IWM) to their orchard. The IWM plan includes installing moisture sensors into the ground, which transmit continuous data to cloud-based storage, and accessed through a smart device app on their phones. The information lets them know when, where and how long to irrigate. This knowledge will help them toward their goal of producing 6,000 pounds of produce per acre.

Looking toward the future, Romero expressed that knowledge is key. “Before we plant further, we need to get educated on how to do it best,” concluded Romero. “From the planting of a seed or planting of a tree, we need the entire process to be profitable. It's not just about planting it. It's about preparing the land and using the resources wisely.”

In the meantime, Romero enjoys the weekends because she does not need to be worried about picking up the kids from school or rushing around. She just wants to be out in the orchard, making it better From mulching to pruning or irrigating and weeding. The family’s goal is to make the farm “better tomorrow than it was today.”

—

Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) is the Department’s focal point for the nation’s farmers and ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands. FPAC agencies implement programs designed to mitigate the significant risks of farming through crop insurance services, conservation programs, and technical assistance, and commodity, lending, and disaster programs.

The agencies and services supporting FPAC are Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and Risk Management Agency (RMA).

NRCS has a proud history of supporting America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners for more than 80 years. USDA helps people make investments in their operations and local communities to keep working lands working, boost rural economies, increase the competitiveness of American agriculture, and improve the quality of our air, water, soil, and habitat.

From weather to pests, and from a lack of time to markets, each American farmer faces a unique set of challenges. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) helps agricultural producers confront those challenges – all while conserving natural resources like soil, water, and air.

This voluntary conservation program helps producers make conservation work for them. Together, NRCS and producers invest in solutions that conserve natural resources for the future while also improving agricultural operations.

Through EQIP, NRCS provides agricultural producers with financial resources and one-on-one help to plan and implement improvements, or what NRCS calls conservation practices. Using these practices can lead to cleaner water and air, healthier soil and better wildlife habitat, all while improving agricultural operations. Through EQIP, you can voluntarily implement conservation practices and NRCS co-invests in these practices with you.

USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.

For more information, please see:

USDA

www.usda.gov

FPAC

www.usda.gov/our-agency/about-usda/mission-areas

NRCS

www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/site/national/home/

EQIP

www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/program...

Breaking light over Bamford Moor and High Neb, Stanage Edge.

A morning of frustration and beauty in equal measure! Set off for Stanage Edge only to find it completely encased in hill cloud. I dropped down to Hook's Car, managed to get below the cloud base and decided to go to Carhead Rocks instead. No sunrise to speak of, then my camera shutter started jamming! Fortunately, got it working again. Finally, the light began to break around an hour after sunrise!

www.ahgphotography.co.uk

June 15th the approach of the lunar eclipse off the Northumbrian coast. Nature's own light show.

taken from here:

www.flashearth.com/?lat=55.079559&lon=-1.463976&z...

Here the moonrise began its approach, its rays underlighting the clouds and seeming to radiate from behind the lighthouse. The colours were unusual. The rainbow became full but there was no vantage point reachable in time back inland far enough off the coast to catch its spread.

It was so exciting anticipating its show . Ahead of me was this view, directly behind me was the simultaneously setting sun. As if they were poles apart and different worlds!

The thick dark cloud base in the offing however moved up from south easterly and the next hour was very wet showers. A night of some frustrating just out of reach viewpoints for compositions as for this I was already a two/three feet off the edge on the furthest safe point, down a part of the cliff face not often frequented and the rain meant the loose earth was mud and slippery. I did use a tripod but the knee deep grasses there for this shot are very thick and bouncy on uneven ground. So not the sharpness I wanted. But I couldn’t miss those rays, I just loved the contrast it gave behind the horizon.

So a documentary shot for my scrapbook. An evening of spectacular skies changing by the moment. And not until around 11pm did Lady Lune eventually show, high but full and misty blooming, but as I was driving home….there was even briefly the rare “moon dog” to be seen, an effect of hexagonal ice crystals, ….then gone till next time.

475_GHP_SoireeCandids_2019.JPG -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

***DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS***

Download full resolution individual photos/videos by clicking the "down-facing arrow" below the preview image on the right hand side of the page. You will then be prompted to select a destination for the photo on your local computer.

This cloud based gallery will be available for three months in order to enable you to download all of the photos to your computer for safe long term storage. While the gallery may be in the cloud for longer than this time you should endeavor to file and secure the photos for future use in whatever manner you deem appropriate.

047_GHP_SoireeCandids_2019.JPG -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

***DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS***

Download full resolution individual photos/videos by clicking the "down-facing arrow" below the preview image on the right hand side of the page. You will then be prompted to select a destination for the photo on your local computer.

This cloud based gallery will be available for three months in order to enable you to download all of the photos to your computer for safe long term storage. While the gallery may be in the cloud for longer than this time you should endeavor to file and secure the photos for future use in whatever manner you deem appropriate.

152_GHP_EconomicOutlook2018.JPG - Greater Houston Partnership Houston Region Economic Outlook featuring Ellen Zentner, Managing Director and Chief U.S. Economist with Morgan Stanley Research, on the national economy. In addition, the following panel of local experts will share their perspectives on the region's economyDecember 5, 2018. (Photo by Donna Carson)

***DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS***

Download full resolution individual photos/videos by clicking the "down-facing arrow" below the preview image on the right hand side of the page. You will then be prompted to select a destination for the photo on your local computer.

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Camera Model Name:Canon EOS 5D Mark III

Artist:SARAH H. ALSAYEGH

Copyright:SARAH H. ALSAYEGH

Exposure Time:1/4

F Number:14

Exposure Program:Manual

ISO:100

Max Aperture Value:2.8

Metering Mode:Multi-segment

Flash:Off, Did not fire

Focal Length:16.0 mm

Lens Model:EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM

124_GHP_Airports2018.JPG - Greater Houston Partnership State of the Airports address at the Hilton Americas December 14, 2018 at Partnership tower. (Photo by Richard Carson)

***DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS***

Download full resolution individual photos/videos by clicking the "down-facing arrow" below the preview image on the right hand side of the page. You will then be prompted to select a destination for the photo on your local computer.

This cloud based gallery will be available for three months in order to enable you to download all of the photos to your computer for safe long term storage. While the gallery may be in the cloud for longer than this time you should endeavor to file and secure the photos for future use in whatever manner you deem appropriate.

111_GHP_SoireePortraits_2019.jpg -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

***DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS***

Download full resolution individual photos/videos by clicking the "down-facing arrow" below the preview image on the right hand side of the page. You will then be prompted to select a destination for the photo on your local computer.

This cloud based gallery will be available for three months in order to enable you to download all of the photos to your computer for safe long term storage. While the gallery may be in the cloud for longer than this time you should endeavor to file and secure the photos for future use in whatever manner you deem appropriate.

156_SoireeWall_11Nov21 - Greater Houston Partnership Soirée annual gala celebrating Houston as a truly global city at Hotel ZaZa chaired by Margaret and Thad Hill November 11, 2021. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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Taken in Llandudno, Wales. This image is available to buy from Getty Images

Yesterday afternoon had one of the best skies I'd seen in ages.

This was the incredible view from the top of The Great Orme ( you can drive up in 1st gear ; ) as the sun came under the cloud base.

Please press 'L' to view large.

Canon EOS 60D | ISO 100 | f/10 | 1/125 | AEB -2.-1.0.+1+2 | 18-135mm at 216mm APS-C

T23-10 '31-30' Airbus A400M Ala30 AME, on approach for runway 05, arriving with groundcrew and armament for the forthcoming EF2000 deployment. 200 foot cloud base so late break through on approach.