View allAll Photos Tagged Discretization
Lac du Salagou, le 07 Août 2014. Nous sommes un jeudi. Fin de journée.
Avec une envie forte de se rafraichir par un bain dans le lac du Salagou
pour clore cette journée sur les chemins d'écoliers du haut Languedoc.
Paysages presque lunaire à cette heure
où seul un vent léger nous accompagne.
Vous ne verrez pas le lac mais les éléments de sa proximité,traités comme au couteau pour en trancher chaque détail.
Il fait doux, le soleil commence sa chute vertigineuse alors que, blanche et discrète, la lune s'est déjà installée dans ses quartiers.
...
Lake Salagou, August 7, 2014. We are a Thursday. End of day.
With a strong desire to refresh with a dip in the lake Salagou
to end the day on the roads of pupils of high Languedoc.
Almost lunar landscape at this time
where only a light wind with us.
You will not see the lake but the elements of its proximity, treated like a knife to slice each detail.
The weather is mild, the sun begins its steep decline while white and discreet, the moon is already installed in its neighborhoods.
I was combing Chinatown looking for the perfect fortune cookie. I'd been down on my luck lately, and was looking to grab a more optimistic outlook on my prospects. I'd met a fellow in a bar who gave me the address of the guy who supposedly creates the fortunes for the local fortune cookie industry. I was banking that a twenty dollar bill placed discretely in the palm of his hand might buy me the fortune I needed, the one that said. "Your golden opportunity is coming shortly."
I found the address inside a dark alleyway. It was the kind of alley where the doors opened into the kind of places they don't tell you about in the tourist guides. There was a woman standing at the door. I figured she was also there to exchange a little money for a better outlook. Then it hit me. For twenty bucks i could have an entire Chinese dinner with a fresh chance at a new fortune. So off I went. Unfortunately, my new fortune offered little help. It said, "The fortune you seek is in another cookie."
Happy Slider's Sunday everyone.
San Fan Francisco CA
Soatanana (Madagascar) - Je ne suis pas enclin à adopter le mode de vie des communautés religieuses Hamish ou des Berger blancs. Je dois cependant leur reconnaître au moins une qualité éducative : les enfants n’ont pas le nez penché toute la journée sur leur smartphone. Autre avantage, pour le photographe cette fois, ils ne posent pas stupidement en prenant des airs de rappeurs.
Au cours de mon bref séjour au sein de « l’Eglise du Réveil », j’ai pourtant aperçu un membre du conseil des sages me photographier discrètement avec un téléphone. Preuve qu’ils ne vivent pas sur une autre planète. Mais après avoir pris sa photo, il s’est empressé de ranger son appareil dans sa poche. C’est la seul fois où j’ai vu un smartphone. Je n’en ai plus revu jusqu’à mon départ.
Children without smartphones
Soatanana (Madagascar) - I am not inclined to adopt the lifestyle of the Hamish or White Shepherd religious communities. However, I must recognize at least one educational quality: the children do not have their noses bent over their smartphones all day. Another advantage, for the photographer this time, is that they do not pose stupidly and take on the airs of rappers.
During my brief stay in the "Church of Awakening", I nevertheless saw a member of the council of elders discreetly photograph me with a phone. Proof that they do not live on another planet. But after taking his photo, he quickly put his camera back in his pocket. This is the only time I saw a smartphone. I did not see one again until I left.
Thymelicus sylvestris
This golden skipper is often found basking on vegetation, or making short buzzing flights among tall grass stems. Despite its name, 4 skipper species found in the British Isles are the same size or smaller than the Small Skipper. The male is distinguished from the female by the sex brand on its forewings, which is a slightly curved line of specialised scent scales. This butterfly is widespread on the British mainland, south of a line running between Westmorland in the west and North Northumberland in the east. It is absent from Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. This species lives in discrete colonies of both small and large populations.
(source: UK Butterflies www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/index.php)
Early morning joggers footprints on a West Country beach. Best viewed large. This is Sandy Bay, Exmouth, Devon UK.
©2023 Peter Mardie, all rights reserved. Protected by Pixsy.
‘I was non-committal. Nowadays, one never knows who is a secret agent.’
(From: Julian, by Gore Vidal, 1964).
SHE emerges from the secret time portal and like a shadow SHE moves through the megacity’s aqueduct system, silently and deadly. Overhead the muffled sound of the metropolis when, unexpectedly, SHE encounters a fellow agent of the shadowy Mardie Industrial Complex moving in the opposite direction. It is Mission Sunday. Silently they pass each other, like ships in the night, a short nod and a discrete salute, and on they continue on their respective missions, their futuristic night vision goggles signaling goodbye and Godspeed. These are the true professionals, helping us to sleep soundly at night as we browse our Flickr feeds before bedtime. They are Major Tom and ….
Agent: ZodaZoul
-
From our developing, highly unstable and explosive series 'Série Noire'. Welcome to Megatropolis - raw, hungry, at dusk, at dawn, always on the edge of darkness - surreal, expressionist, ripe with the smell of danger and the scream of victims. This megacity is always ready to pose for a movie director, a starlet and a loaded gun. Film noir shot in hardboiled color and occasional B&W. You have been warned.
-
Our incipient web page:
Madera Canyon--Proctor Rd., Pima County, AZ.
This white-throated thrush was our main target in Arizona. This thrush is an ABA code 4 bird which likely moved up from the mountains of northern Mexico because of a cold snap. It's the first record for Arizona. This bird associated with a group of robins, often discretely foraging on the ground. Definitely a hard bird to photograph as it didn't perch up in the hackberries as it has in the past.
The brand-new ultra-luxury hotel is situated on the world-famous Palm in Dubai. The architects describe the striking look as "a series of discrete human-scaled blocks arranged for optimal views, stacked to span over dramatic voids." The Royal Atlantis is divided into two towers, with one devoted to a resort and the other to residences. They are connected by a bridge filled with pools, lounges, and cabanas – Dubai, United Arab Emirates
A melanic male on a green female Timema.
This picture symbolize well the topic of my researchs in the past 5 years. I study colour variation within different species of stick insect. An exciting result we found is that host plant colour variation (colour of leaf and stem) induced genetic changes in multiples Timema stick insect species to produce very discrete colour morphs (green and brown). These changes genetically lock combinations of genes together to prevent unfit colours to occur in progeny resulting from heteromorphic couples: when a brown individual reproduce with a green individuals.
In stick insect the male is usually way smaller than the female and can stays on the female back for weeks. 'Guarding' her from any other male that could be interested in mating her.
The couple shown here is heterospecific. Male: Timema cristinae. Female: Timema chumash. Picture taken in the lab.
On Sunday I went to mass at Notre Dame in Paris, which was an experience and a half. Afterwards I took a look around and the next mass had started - so a sneaky photo was taken. Discretely, unlike the hordes of Japanese tourists taking pictures with flash.
The central, lower portion of the stained glass window is damaged, or dirty, or both - it wasn't me!
So, I am happy enough with the start to the 52, but where do I go from here?!
“It is very exciting, isn’t it Bertie?”
“It certainly is Sky, I never thought that Posh would allow us to decorate the Christmas Tree. Just imagine it Sky, Santa Claus will admire our tree and if it is extra good, he may award us extra jars of honey.” Said Bertie.
“Yes, that would be soooo good. We’ll have to do exactly what Posh suggests for we can’t afford to make mistakes where extra honey is concerned.”
“Sky, after yesterday I wouldn’t have thought you would be too worried about honey. When Wellington said that you could help yourself, he didn’t mean you could eat all his honey. What did he say when he saw it was all gone, Sky?”
“I don’t know Bertie; I’d made a discrete exit by then. I didn’t mean to eat it all, I just started and then one jar led to another. I’ll have to order extra and so I can replace some of it for him. I don’t want him to go all military and grumpy on me again, he gets frightfully bossy when he does that.”
“Hello Bertie, Sky, I think Wellington is looking for you Sky.” Said Posh as he sat down beside his friends.
“Sky is trying to keep out of his way at the moment Posh.” Explained Bertie.
“Why is that Sky?”
“Just a tiny misunderstanding, Posh. I’ll sort it out once we have finished decorating the tree. What do you think so far?”
“It is nice but I do think we need to get those extra lights on it somehow. They are too long though; I wonder if we could shorten them?” Asked Posh.
“I don’t know Posh; might it not be dangerous to try cutting through the cable when dealing with electrickery? You did tell us never to touch any electrickery Posh and if the lights don’t have an end because we have cut it off, where will it end up going?” Said Bertie looking concerned.
“You’re right Bertie, if there is to be any cutting to be done, we’ll let the man do it.” Said Posh.
“I put the star on top Posh, it was hard climbing up there and took ages.” Said Sky.
“It was much easier coming down and you did it so fast too, Sky.” Said Bertie giggling.
“Just as well you had a soft landing then Sky.” Said Posh smiling.
“Ah, Sky, there you are, I’ve been looking for you, don’t you know?” Said Wellington as he hurried to join the other bears.
“Hi Wellington, don’t worry I have got replacements all lined up and it will be delivered very shortly.” Explained Sky.
“Replacements? What are you on about? I wanted to know if you had seen Icecap about? I’ve been to his usual home and he wasn’t there, so I thought he might be with you.” Explained Wellington.
“No Wellington, I haven’t seen Icecap since he gave me those jars of honey just before you saw me yesterday and offered me your honey too.”
“Heaven help your tummy Sky, no wonder you had tummy ache yesterday evening. I would think that you not only filled your hollow legs up but filled up right to the top of your head with honey.” Said Bertie shaking his head.
“It was very ouchie Bertie, I shouldn’t have eaten it all and I know that now.”
“Just how much honey did you eat then Sky?” Asked Wellington.
“I’m not sure but a few jars I guess.”
“I had three jars Sky, so how many are left now?” Asked Wellington.
“I’m not sure exactly Wellington, I didn’t exactly count. I’ll order you some more later today when the man places his food order.”
“Well, approximately, how many are left Sky?”
“Approximately, Wellington, I’d say about none. Don’t worry though, as I said, I’ll replace them.”
“I’m not worried one bit, don’t you know? It wasn’t my honey for starters, what? I had ordered it specially as Christmas presents for Posh, Bertie and yourself. I’m not sure how pleased Posh and Bertie are going to be when they open their presents and find empty jars though.”
“Whoops…” said Sky as he looked first at Posh and then at Bertie. “It was very good honey if that helps.”
🇫🇷 La libellule de l'hiver
A la sortie de l'hiver, vous est-il déjà arrivé d'apercevoir une libellule très discrète aux couleurs ternes ? Oui, c'est une demoiselle qui passe l'hiver au-dehors, assez difficile à voir dans la 🌳roselière🌳 car elle prend la couleur des débris végétaux sur lesquels elle se pose. Mais quand les premiers beaux jours du printemps arrivent, elle apparait en tandem pour pondre sur des tiges sèches par exemple. Elle a un joli nom tout de même : "Brunette hivernale"
🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿 🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿
🇺🇸 ️The winter dragonfly
At the end of winter, have you ever seen a very discreet dragonfly with dull colors? Yes, it is a damselfly that spends the winter outside, quite difficult to see in the 🌳reed bed🌳 because it takes the color of the plant remains on which it rests. But when the first beautiful days of spring arrive, it appears in tandem to lay eggs on dry stems for example.
Brunette hivernale / Common winter damselfly / Sympecma fusca
Milieu naturel, écosystème :🌳 Roselière 🌳
Natural environment, ecosystem:🌳 Reed bed 🌳
Lieu : Espace Naturel de la Motte / Seine-et-Marne
📷ISO 250, 105mm, f/4.8 1/320
web site : pascalechevest.com
Giselle Garland Clematis, Clematis Evipo / Clématite Giselle Garland, Clématite Evipo
My garden / Mon jardin
🇬🇧 The path narrows into shadow.
A few lamps remain, trembling against the dark —
fragile guides pointing somewhere unseen.
Every journey ends in light, even if the light is small.
👉 Album complet In the Wake of Light – Shadows and Structures: www.flickr.com/photos/201798544@N06/albums/
🇫🇷 Le chemin se rétrécit dans l’ombre.
Quelques lampes demeurent, vacillant contre la nuit —
fragiles repères vers un lieu qu’on ne voit pas.
Tout voyage s’achève dans la lumière, même la plus discrète.
A close encounter with nature's tiny powerhouse.
This bumblebee was fully immersed in its mission, and I was lucky enough to capture every detail — from the soft hairs to the pollen-covered legs.
Shot in natural light on a chive flower, this image reveals the intense texture, structure, and beauty often invisible to the naked eye.
Un gros plan sur la puissance discrète du vivant.
Ce bourdon, totalement absorbé dans sa tâche, m’a laissé le temps de capter chaque détail : poils, pattes, grains de pollen…
Lumière naturelle et photo prise sur une fleur de ciboulette.
Long exposure light design in the air at night with the help of 24 among candles & lanterns, my two hands & arms and my Canon EOS 250D. No editing nor post-production (except my #WhiteANGEL watermark made with another long exposure shot of light painting).
I painted these wings in a wide portion of my garden, so, they are very large :-) With many light painting sessions I became more skilled in painting in the air at night, till reaching discrete results of shapes and even lettering. My monogram logo was obtained writing with fire, in fact. But I like this early attempt because I can see the raw spontaneous strokes and just in the digital processing I happened to realize they looked like wings.
Ref.027_S.Mart3
©WhiteAngel Photography. All rights reserved.
Manually Explored on monthly TakeOver day, selection dedicated to the Four Elements, April 24 2025 # 31
Mist rising from the River Lathkill on a rather chilly morning last week.
If you look closely in the bottom right of the frame you can see the sun being diffracted (?) by ice on the vegetation, showing up as discrete points of colour.
Specimen spotted by Otto (my Swedish friend)
Location: Sumatra, Indonesia (Endemic)
Toxicity: Mildly venomous
Length: about 60 cm
Reproduction: Oviparous
Diagnosis: “the Sumatran population is discretely diagnosable from the unbanded lineage in having 199–204 ventral scales as opposed to 167–190. Therefore, we no longer consider A. tropidonotus a junior synonym of A. vertebralis and resurrect it to its previous species status. It is diagnosable by the unique combination of having a maximum SVL of 549 mm in males (females unknown); 15/15/15 dorsal scale rows; 199–204 ventral scales; 73–76 subcaudal scales; a single postocular; 2+1–2 temporals; six or seven supralabials and infralabials; the presence of a single anterior inframaxillary; and having dorsal bands as adults” [LOREDO et al. 2013: 513].
Diet: Like all slug snakes, this species has a unique and specialized teeth that allows it to corkscrew the flesh of the snails.
Source: www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Cryptic-speciation-within-A...
Fondation Vasarely. Aix-en-Provence. France. European Union.
43.521154°N 5.424693°E
provence-alpes-cotedazur.com/en/things-to-do/culture-and-...
This little guy must have fallen from his/her nest a bit early on this windy day. Mom (or dad) was doting over him/her while also fighting off a pair of robins who did not like the little baby's presence. Don't worry, I didn't touch him/her and I used my zoom to maintain a discrete distance. This was right on my front walk.
An evening of slithering in and about my old neighborhood. Some places discretely and others where there was nowhere to hide and the night had eyes. Here was total comfort. 10/30/2022.
Lac du Salagou, le 07 Août 2014. Nous sommes un jeudi. Fin de journée.
Avec une envie forte de se rafraichir par un bain dans le lac du Salagou
pour clore cette journée sur les chemins d'écoliers du haut Languedoc.
Paysages presque lunaire à cette heure
où seul un vent léger nous accompagne.
Vous ne verrez pas le lac mais les éléments de sa proximité,traités comme au couteau pour en trancher chaque détail.
Il fait doux, le soleil commence sa chute vertigineuse alors que, blanche et discrète, la lune s'est déjà installée dans ses quartiers.
...
Lake Salagou, August 7, 2014. We are a Thursday. End of day.
With a strong desire to refresh with a dip in the lake Salagou
to end the day on the roads of pupils of high Languedoc.
Almost lunar landscape at this time
where only a light wind with us.
You will not see the lake but the elements of its proximity, treated like a knife to slice each detail.
The weather is mild, the sun begins its steep decline while white and discreet, the moon is already installed in its neighborhoods.
Lac du Salagou, le 07 Août 2014. Nous sommes un jeudi. Fin de journée.
Avec une envie forte de se rafraichir par un bain dans le lac du Salagou
pour clore cette journée sur les chemins d'écoliers du haut Languedoc.
Paysages presque lunaire à cette heure
où seul un vent léger nous accompagne.
Vous ne verrez pas le lac mais les éléments de sa proximité,traités comme au couteau pour en trancher chaque détail.
Il fait doux, le soleil commence sa chute vertigineuse alors que, blanche et discrète, la lune s'est déjà installée dans ses quartiers.
...
Lake Salagou, August 7, 2014. We are a Thursday. End of day.
With a strong desire to refresh with a dip in the lake Salagou
to end the day on the roads of pupils of high Languedoc.
Almost lunar landscape at this time
where only a light wind with us.
You will not see the lake but the elements of its proximity, treated like a knife to slice each detail.
The weather is mild, the sun begins its steep decline while white and discreet, the moon is already installed in its neighborhoods.
Of course the Perkeo didn't make me forget the discrete charm of the Ikonta 521.
Zeiss Ikonta 521 and Novar-Anastigmat 1:4,5 f=7,5cm, Ilford HP5 in Rodinal 1+50 for 13min @ 21°C and digitalized using kit zoom and extension tubes.
Thank you everyone for your visits, faves and comments, they are always appreciated :)
Our Little Heart Planter will be available at the Atomic Love Fest.
This planter is Mystory compatible and will boost your happiness and provide you with a slight boost to your social as well.
Optimized for discrete gardening.
Pick up here: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holograms/212/223/3501
The self-portrait of a shadow is a paradox. It is not the face we expose, but an absence—a fleeting silhouette cast upon the ground. The shadow is a shifting sketch, elusive and intangible. The photographer withdraws, leaving behind a trace without detail, without a face, as if seeking to disappear within his own portrait.
Photographing one’s shadow is an embrace of the idea that we can never fully capture ourselves. The shadow escapes, distorts, stretches under the influence of light, becoming the reflection of a being always in motion, never fixed. It is a self-portrait without narcissism, where the essence lies not in what is shown but in what is left to be imagined. Where the face might seek to assert itself, the shadow fades away.
This photo is not a shout but a whisper. It is a way of saying “I am here,” while accepting that this “I” remains blurred, elusive. The shadow speaks to who we truly are: a transient being, anchored in time yet always vanishing into the next moment. It follows the contours of the body without revealing it, bending to the whims of light, much like the fleeting reality of our existence.There is a quiet wisdom in this practice. The shadow reminds us that what defines us is not always what we show to the world, but what we cannot show, what we carry within. Like a traveler moving at the edge of light, the photographer allows himself to be guided by the idea that the essential can only be glimpsed, never captured. The self-portrait of a shadow is not an exercise in vanity, but a tribute to that part of ourselves which remains always in the background, silent, revealed only in fragments by the play of light.
*******
L’autoportrait de l’ombre est un paradoxe. Ce n’est pas le visage qu’on expose, mais une absence, une silhouette fugace projetée sur le sol. L’ombre est une esquisse mouvante, insaisissable. Le photographe se retire, laissant derrière lui une trace sans détail, sans visage, comme s’il cherchait à disparaître dans son propre portrait.
Photographier son ombre, c’est embrasser l’idée que l’on ne peut jamais vraiment se saisir. L’ombre échappe, se déforme, s’étire sous l’effet de la lumière, et devient le reflet d’un être toujours en mouvement, jamais fixe. C’est un autoportrait sans narcissisme, où l’essentiel n’est pas dans ce que l’on montre mais dans ce que l’on laisse deviner. Là où le visage pourrait chercher à s’imposer, l’ombre, elle, s’efface.
Cette photo n’est pas un cri, mais un murmure. C’est une manière de dire « je suis là », tout en acceptant que ce « je » reste flou, insaisissable. L’ombre renvoie à ce que l’on est vraiment : un être de passage, ancré dans le temps, mais toujours en train de s’évanouir dans l’instant qui suit. Elle épouse les contours du corps sans le dévoiler, se pliant aux caprices de la lumière comme à la réalité fuyante de notre existence. Il y a dans cette pratique une sagesse discrète. L’ombre rappelle que ce qui nous définit n’est pas toujours ce que l’on montre au monde, mais ce que l’on ne peut pas montrer, ce que l’on porte en soi. Comme un voyageur qui avance à l’orée de la lumière, le photographe se laisse guider par l’idée que l’essentiel ne peut qu’être entrevu, jamais capturé. L’autoportrait de l’ombre n’est pas un exercice de vanité, mais un hommage à cette part de nous-même qui reste toujours en retrait, silencieuse, et que seule la lumière sait révéler à demi.
Eén van mijn favoriete plantjes. Nederig, onopvallend staan ze, in de schaduw van andere planten, wonderschoon te zijn.
One of my favourite small plants. Humble, discrete, in the shadow of other plants, they stand just being gorgeous.
Please don't use my images on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. All rights reserved - copyright © Stefano Scarselli
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you happen to walk along the Pest Quay, between the Parliament and the Chain Bridge, you will find an enigmatic and discrete monument, remarkable for its eloquence. Just on the border of the quay, facing the Danube, a row of 60 cast iron shoe pairs mimic the exact appearance of true shoes. They seem to be made of real leather, but their rigid hardness conveys a deep concern. This sculpture by Gyula Pauer and Can Togay was placed here in 2005. Its aim is to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the assassination of innocent civilians in Second World War Budapest. In the night of January 8,1945 , the Nyilaskeresztes Párt (Arrow Cross) militia men shot hundreds of men, women and children into the Danube, just because they were, or were supposed to be, Jewish. They were victims of the terror wave that devastated Central Europe during those terrible years.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Se vi capita di passeggiare lungo la banchina di Pest, tra il Parlamento e il Ponte delle Catene, si trova un monumento enigmatico e discreto, notevole per la sua eloquenza. Proprio sul bordo della banchina, di fronte al Danubio, una fila di 60 paia di scarpe in ghisa hanno l'aspetto esatto di scarpe vere. Sembrano essere fatte di vero cuoio ma la loro rigidita' trasmette una profonda inquetudine. Questa scultura di Gyula Pauer e Can Togay è stata posta qui nel 2005. Il suo scopo è quello di commemorare il 60 ° anniversario dell'assassinio di civili innocenti a Budapest durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale. La notte dell'8 Gennaio 1945, i miliziani della Nyilaskeresztes Pàrt (Arrow Cross) spararono a centinaia di uomini, donne e bambini nel Danubio, proprio perché erano, o avrebbero dovuto essere, ebrei. Furono vittime dell'onda di terrore che devastò l'Europa centrale durante quei terribili anni.
Gangly raptor with long wings and tail; local in marshes and wetlands with extensive reed beds. Mainly seen in flight, quartering fairly low over marshes, with wings raised in shallow V. Commonest plumage dark brown overall with variable creamy cap, throat, and narrow leading edge to wing.
Brightest adult males have tricolored upperwings, greyish tail, pale head and breast contrasting with rusty-brown belly. Extremely similar to closely related Eastern Marsh-Harrier; males of that species are darker-headed and browner-chested, and females are warmer brown and streakier on the chest, without Eurasian's discrete white 'cap' and dark line through the eye.
Lac du Salagou, le 07 Août 2014. Nous sommes un jeudi. Fin de journée.
Avec une envie forte de se rafraichir par un bain dans le lac du Salagou
pour clore cette journée sur les chemins d'écoliers du haut Languedoc.
Paysages presque lunaire à cette heure
où seul un vent léger nous accompagne.
Vous ne verrez pas le lac mais les éléments de sa proximité,traités comme au couteau pour en trancher chaque détail.
Il fait doux, le soleil commence sa chute vertigineuse alors que, blanche et discrète, la lune s'est déjà installée dans ses quartiers.
...
Lake Salagou, August 7, 2014. We are a Thursday. End of day.
With a strong desire to refresh with a dip in the lake Salagou
to end the day on the roads of pupils of high Languedoc.
Almost lunar landscape at this time
where only a light wind with us.
You will not see the lake but the elements of its proximity, treated like a knife to slice each detail.
The weather is mild, the sun begins its steep decline while white and discreet, the moon is already installed in its neighborhoods.
Marbella is well known through the world as a luxury holiday destination in the “Costa del Sol” in the South of Spain. From 7 to 8 figures Villas, Ferrari, Porsche, RR, Hermés, Louis Vuitton and Rolex in gold with gold overload in option as well as paying 3,000 Euros/Dollars for a bottle of Möet & Chandon in a disco at night. Plenty of beautiful young and not so young girls available. You name it. Soon you start to ask yourself, as Henry-Cartier Bresson once did: “where the money came from”?
I’m not interested in that vision of Marbella. With my Leica I’m much more intrigued in how the authentic people from Marbella lives. And when we speak about living in Marbella we should observe how people behaves in the beaches. The true treasure of Marbella is neither on champagne nor in fine dresses. The jewel of Marbella is the sun itself. The authentic people from Marbella knows it perfectly well. They know people come and go and they know too the sun is the only thing that remains.
My “Marbella Collection” tries to gather the ambiance in the beach. I usually arrive with my Leica inside a discrete black bag. No space for more than an M body and a 50mm Summicron with a 10 stops neutral density filter. I take seat below my sun-umbrella everyday day and the Leica goes out the bag to see light. In less than five minutes I take three or four shots, no more. No need for being in a hurry. Everything is calm as are the tiny waves from the Alboran’s Sea. I take the pictures and then the Leica goes inside the black sand-proof bag. Next comes the solar protection cream and the sunbath. The Leica knows that she can rest until next morning.
We love these restaurant fronts that are both discrete and original...`
* * *
On aime ces devantures de restaurants à la fois discrètes et originales…
Brown Argus / aricia agestio, *(Peak District race). Longstone Edge, Derbyshire. 06/07/16.
I was delighted to get good views of this Peak District variety of the Brown Argus. A persistent breeze made for challenging macro photography but determined efforts rewarded me with a couple of reasonable record images.
The identification of a specific Peak District race/population has been the subject of much debate. Opinion varied as to whether it should be regarded as a Northern Brown Argus or a Brown Argus. Eventually, genetic research confirmed it to be a variety of Brown Argus.
Derbyshire holds small, discrete populations of this tiny butterfly. The small black spots are present on the forewings, but edged with variable amounts of white. The Derbyshire colonies favour sunny, sheltered dales, hillsides and old quarries containing unimproved limestone grassland where Common Rock Rose grows.
That lovely, sunny day of an August morning , a certain part of my back garden was full of butterflies! Different families, 2-5 butterflies of each family… They were mainly visiting two happily blooming Buddleias, a white one, and a pink one.
But this lovely Lady finally landed on the leaves of our Willow Tree, who is growing close-by. She was the only one of her kind that day in the garden, so I was following her everywhere very discretely….
The American Robin or North American Robin (Turdus migratorius) is a migratory songbird of the thrush family. It is named after the European Robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely related, with the European robin belonging to the flycatcher family. The American Robin is widely distributed throughout North America, wintering south of Canada from Florida to central Mexico and along the Pacific Coast. It is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin. It has seven subspecies, but only T. m. confinis in the southwest is particularly distinctive, with pale gray-brown underparts.
The American Robin is active mostly during the day and assembles in large flocks at night. Its diet consists of invertebrates (such as beetle grubs, earthworms, and caterpillars), fruits and berries. It is one of the earliest bird species to lay eggs, beginning to breed shortly after returning to its summer range from its winter range. Its nest consists of long coarse grass, twigs, paper, and feathers, and is smeared with mud and often cushioned with grass or other soft materials. It is among the first birds to sing at dawn, and its song consists of several discrete units that are repeated.
The adult robin is preyed upon by hawks, cats and larger snakes, but when feeding in flocks, it can be vigilant and watch other birds for reactions to predators. Brown-headed Cowbirds lay eggs in robin nests (see brood parasite), but robins usually reject the cowbird eggs.
Los Angeles. California.
Gangly raptor with long wings and tail; local in marshes and wetlands with extensive reed beds. Mainly seen in flight, quartering fairly low over marshes, with wings raised in shallow V. Commonest plumage dark brown overall with variable creamy cap, throat, and narrow leading edge to wing. Brightest adult males have tricolored upperwings, grayish tail, pale head and breast contrasting with rusty-brown belly. Extremely similar to closely related Eastern Marsh-Harrier; males of that species are darker-headed and browner-chested, and females are warmer brown and streakier on the chest, without Eurasian's discrete white 'cap' and dark line through the eye. eBird
Discrète, la Gorge-bleue à miroir vit retirée dans la végétation, mais elle peut apparaître en chassant en lisière ou brièvement perchée en évidence. Elle cherche sa nourriture à terre en sautillant. De temps à autre, elle fait volte-face et se dresse sur ses pattes fines, les ailes pendantes et la queue relevée en éventail. La base de la queue de couleur rouille est alors bien visible. Le mâle peut chanter sur un perchoir dissimule dans les fourrés ou les buissons bas proches de l'eau, ou tout à fait à découvert. Son vol bas est papillonnant, il est souvent bref et vif, vers le couvert proche.
*****************************************************************
Discreet, the Mirror-Throated Throat lives removed in the vegetation, but it can appear by hunting on the edge or briefly perched in evidence. She looks for food on the ground while hopping. From time to time she turns and stands on her thin legs, her wings hanging down and her tail raised in a fan. The base of the rusty tail is then clearly visible. The male can sing on a perch hidden in thickets or low bushes close to the water, or quite uncovered. Its low flight is fluttering, it is often short and sharp, towards the close cover.
Durante lo Star Party del Gruppo Astrofili Catanesi astrofilicatanesi.net/ (02-04/08/2024), il cielo pur essendo discreto a causa dell'Inquinamento luminoso non mostrava bene la Via Lattea a declinazione negativa. Ho dovuto scegliere un target vicino allo zenit: il Muro del Cigno. Una vasta e ricca nebulosità che fa parte della grande nebulosa Nord America (NGC7000) it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebulosa_Nord_America.
La prima notte purtroppo ho acquisito (non so cosa sia successo) senza raffreddare il sensore della ASI533MC-pro (circa 15°C). Speravo nella seconda notte ma a causa delle nuvole ho acquisito solo 5 frame.
Ciò malgrado l'immagine combinata era abbastanza buona. Ho deciso allora di riprendere da casa un pò di segnale in banda stretta per aggiungerlo all'immagine RGB ed enfatizzare il segnale H-alfa.
Sono rimasto piacevolmente sorpreso nel vedere durante l'elaborazione che la prima sessione di 43 frame a +15° aveva un segnale sufficente per regalarmi questo risultato.
______________________________
During the Star Party of the Gruppo Astrofili Catanesi astrofilicatanesi.net/ (02-04/08/2024), the sky, although discrete due to light pollution, did not show the Milky Way well at negative declination. I had to choose a target close to the zenith: the Cygnus Wall. It is a large and bright nebulosity that is part of the great North American nebula (NGC7000) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America_Nebula#:~:text=The%20...(NGC,its%20shape%20resembles%20North%20America.
Unfortunately the first night I acquired (I don't know what happened) without cooling the sensor of the ASI533MC-pro (about 15°C). I was hoping for the second night but due to the clouds I acquired only 5 frames.
Despite this the combined image was quite good. I then decided to take some narrowband signal from home to add it to the RGB image and emphasize the H-alpha signal.
I was pleasantly surprised to see during the processing that the first session of 43 frames at +15° had enough signal to give me this result.
__________
Optic: Rifrattore APO Scopos TL805 80mm/f7 + WO 0.8X
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro
Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5 Synscan
Narrowband filter Optolong L-eNhance 2"
Seeing: 3 (scala Antoniadi inversa)
RGB 43x300s 121gain / 12 dark /20 flat / 21 darkflat /0 bias sensor +15°C
RGB 5x300s 121gain / 12 dark /20 flat / 21 darkflat /0 bias sensor -5°C
Ha+OIII 13x600s 121gain / 15 dark /21 flat / 21 darkflat /0 bias sensor -5°C
Date: 3-4-21/08/2024
Integration: 6h 10min
Temperature: 21°C (media)
Location for RGB: Maniace (CT) , monti Nebrodi (Sicily-Italy) 890m slm
location for Ha+OIII: Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm
Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding
Processing: DSS, GraXpert, SIRIL, PS.