View allAll Photos Tagged Dozen
A full dozen little snowmen hiding in their little gourds, ready to step out to dance & sing "Merry Christmas!" and "Happy Holidays!" to all -- and quickly return to their places :)
17 December 2021
Indiana
Several were active on a decaying tree stump - along with half a dozen bald-faced hornets! I don't know what drew them there but I decided to not investigate any further.
Ref: www.carolinanature.com/butterflies/npearlyeye.html and www.carolinanature.com/butterflies/spearlyeye.html.
Shot with pop-up flash.
22 Sep 2018, Saluda Shoals Park, Irmo, SC, USA.
We started at the Meadows Diner, seventh of our Dozen Diners, popular and busy.....the place was ALL chrome and mirrors, very retro and cute but hard to compose photos. I gobbled down my corned beef sandwich and off we went to explore Blackwood and take some pictures. It was REALLY cold and the wind was gusting and brutal. My plan was to drive around, roll down the windows and shoot from the car ^_^
But wait, what's that noise? It's your camera, Mom.....battery dead, wind too strong to hold my phone still. Plan B, drop in on son's friend and stop at the nearby Premium Outlets, a maze of shops. I got a white top at JCrew, a fleece jacket for my son, and a teeny tiny bathing suit at GAP for my soon-come grandaughter. And then we couldn't find the car....who knew Section D had 6 parts? We walked 0.7 miles, according to his fitbit, into that savage wind, no hat or gloves.....it ended badly or all's well that ends???
#52 - End, 52 in 2017 Challenge
A variety of Winchelsea doors. A much better collage of doors can be seen in the local tea rooms but it inspired me to go and collect some of my own.
Big Ben, a red bus, Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column all come together to shout "We are LONDON!"
One rule of photography I live by, and always have great success with, is this:
No matter what you are shooting, always turn around 180° and shoot what's there!
I was set up on a small, triangular island in the middle of an incredibly busy intersection during evening rush hour in front of Nelson's column at Trafalgar Square. I had already rattled off about a couple dozen shots when I turned around and saw this! If only I would have turned sooner (since the oncoming traffic/bus was held by the light) I could have lowered my tripod about three feet and got Nelson himself in the reflection... Instead, this shot will be "the one that got away!"
Another shot where I was setup to shoot one thing, and then turned around to shoot another was this one. Neither of the intended subjects have been post-processed or posted by me yet, as their counterparts stole the show!
What’s that caught in our Webb? A giant space tarantula!
Take a moment to stare into thousands of never-before-seen young stars in the Tarantula Nebula. The James Webb Space Telescope reveals details of the structure and composition of the nebula, as well as dozens of background galaxies.
Stellar nursery 30 Doradus gets its nickname of the Tarantula Nebula from its long, dusty filaments. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy, it’s the largest and brightest star-forming region near our own galaxy, plus home to the hottest, most massive stars known.
At the longer wavelengths of light captured by its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), Webb focuses on the area surrounding the central star cluster and unveils a very different view of the Tarantula Nebula. In this light, the young hot stars of the cluster fade in brilliance, and glowing gas and dust come forward. Abundant hydrocarbons light up the surfaces of the dust clouds, shown in blue and purple.
Why is this nebula interesting to astronomers? Unlike in our Milky Way, the Tarantula Nebula is producing new stars at a furious rate. Though close to us, it is similar to the gigantic star-forming regions from when the universe was only a few billion years old, and star formation was at its peak — a period known as “cosmic noon.” Since the Tarantula is close to us, it is easy to study in detail to help us learn more about the universe’s past.
Read more: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/a-cosmic-tarantula-caug...
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team
Image description:
A space image captured by the Webb telescope. Wispy pale pink and yellow nebula clouds are highlighted with purple, ghostly pink, and glowing electric blue streaks. These clouds surround a large black cavity. A few small blue stars are sprinkled at the right edge of the cavity and in the cloud. A large clump of blue dust floats amid the small blue stars. There are a few occasional bright pink spots and larger, brighter white stars. One large blue star stands out at the top of the cavity, featuring short blue spikes and snowflake-like arms. A couple other stars in the cloud also appear like tiny snowflakes instead of points of light.
After going through my collection, this is a dozen of my favorite photos I've taken in 2020.
This has been a very hard year for so many of us, and in both small and for some, very big ways. We've lost loved ones, lost work, lost homes, and I'm sure for some, lost a lot of the spirit that brings a smile into our lives.
Personally, I have felt very blessed in this year. And although I usually sell a lot more photos, I have actually artistically had a good year. And my challenges have been so very minor than many I know. I have snuck out socially distant from time to time to see the wonders we have in our state. All of the photos below are from at most 75 miles from where I live, and many within just a few miles.
To see beauty sometimes in times of hardship seems frivolous and self centered. I'm sure like many of you, I feel like I should be doing more in terms of making the world a better place. But also at the same time, there is something about nature devoid of man's influence, enduring and ever present like it has for a millenium that gives me perspective, that this too shall pass.
I wish for you all a very happy New Year, and that 2021 will offer, perhaps slowly, a better tomorrow for us all.
Happy holidays.
2/5.
A very unexpected find in Rome. I saw this from a distance and didn't initially think it could be a Skoda, assuming it was likely an old Fiat or Lancia. I've been spotting in this area several times and it always throws up interesting things, last time I visited there was an active market behind with a dozen or so pre 1985 vans and lorries parked up.
Best spot coming up later.
My grandfather took this picture in the late 1970s of my great grandfather (background, left in white suit) and some of his riding friends. This was taken in Sevier County, TN. Use of this photo without permission is strictly prohibited because our local newspaper has been known to steal old photographs put on flickr without permission from the photographer.
Bradgates male deers are starting to lose the velvet that covers their antlers. This doesn’t seem to hurt the deer but because the velvet has a blood supply it does attract dozens of flies.
See more of Bradgate Park at: www.facebook.com/BradgateParkBlog/
A dozen Red-billed Oxpeckers on a Giraffe. Their habit of clinging to large mammals (except elephants who reject them) in search of parasites such as ticks (but also feed on blood from wounds) makes oxpeckers unmistakable. The use of pesticides has (in part) reduced their numbers dramatically and they are now regarded as Near-threatened. (best in large for details)
Kruger NP, South Africa.
For last week's Station Saturday I shared a photo of the wonderfully restored Knife River passenger and freight depots. So for today continuing the Missabe Monday theme here is a complementary shot featuring the little village's namesake.
The North Shore Scenic Railroad's First Class Two Harbors Fall Colors Tour is on its return run to Duluth as they pass over the Knife River bridge at its outlet into Lake Superior at about MP 19.7 on the Lake Division just west of the depot. Leading the way very much on home rails is DMIR 193 an EMD SD18 blt. Apr. 1960 as the last of nineteen of the model purchased by the road. Chop nosed in 1992 the the locomotive was donated to the museum in 1998 and then repainted in 2002 at the Missabe's Proctor shops.
The North Shore Scenic Railroad operates on 26 miles of government owned track which was originally the Duluth and Iron Range Railway's mainline built as an extension from Two Harbors (then known as Agate Bay). Opened in 1886 only two years after Charlemagne Tower's road hauled its first trainload of ore down from the Soudan Mine, this extension provided the D&IR with a physical connection to the rest of the national rail network. Known as the Lake Division under the auspices of the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range it had revenue passenger service until 1961 between Duluth and Ely. As it was not a route for ore trains the line's utility diminished until it was shuttered in 1982 and then petitioned for abandonment a few years later. St. Louis and Lake County banded together to form a regional railroad authority and then purchased the line from the DMIR in 1988. Tourist trains began running in 1990 and for the first half dozen years it was attempted to operate as a for profit entity. Today the railroad is a volunteer run non profit arm of the museum running over 700 trains during the regular May to October season and then more around the holidays!
Unincorporated Knife River
Lake County, Minnesota
Friday October 6, 2023
Dozens of SpaceX Starlink satellites passing over southern Oklahoma through the Milky Way's galactic center and towards the Moon lined up with Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. These satellites launched on the SpaceX Starlink-5 mission and are currently in the process of maneuvering into their final orbits. Multiples exposures stacked to get all satellites in one image.
There were dozens of these in the air above Talaimannar beach. Swooping down, trying to snatch what they could from the surf. I’m really amazed that I managed to get some passable shots with a 12-100mm (24-200mm) lens.
LOGO-Ariel (Bento Evox Head)
Ariel comes with regular and freckled skins in 5 tones along with dozens of makeup, eye, eyelash and hair base options. She also comes with 12 mix and match animations and 9 head movements with more mocap animations available at the main LOGO store.
Logo Mainstore: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Eventide%20Far%20East/127/...
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Truth-flutter
Guapa-Saylor Chantilly
Tres Blah-Open back sweater
I got this Rabid Wolf Spider and about a dozen of her babies at Walmart in Graham. I had just checked out a few items and was leaving by the door leading to the tire & lube bays when I spotted this little lady creeping slowly across the parking lot. She was big enough to be seen from about 60 feet away. Someone walking through the service area had seen her also and changed his direction to give her a quick stomp. Moving faster than the stomper I got to her first and with my foot gently directed her to a place of relative safety... against the wall outside a service bay. I hurried back into the store and grabbed a paper cup and lid from near a coffee maker and returned to find her moving toward the service bay. By redirecting her back to the wall again I was able to get her to walk into the cup. Driving back to Newcastle I discovered a few babies had crawled out of the straw hole in the lid and were sitting on top.
After getting to town I rigged up my camera to get a few anamorphic photos and discovered that this spider was not ready for any kind of photo shoot. She was irritated and totally uncooperative. She wouldn't stay in a deep bowl I had placed her in... scooted up and over the rim and sprinted for a folding porch chair. I caught up with her as she was crawling across the underside of the seat. Putting the bowl under her and tapping the top side of the seat had her drop back into the bowl. Shaking the bowl slightly so her feet couldn't grip the sides, I walked out onto the grass and dumped her out. She immediately began running toward a low stack of galvanized metal roofing panels and I knew I had better get my photos before she zipped beneath them. I managed to grab two quick shots before she vanished. Her mad dash for freedom caused a few babies to "bail out", leaving about eight remaining on her back end.
UPDATE >>> IN RESPONSE TO AN EMAILED QUESTION:
No, spiders do NOT get rabies. "Rabid" refers to the frenetic, sometimes violent behavior it shows when dealing with its prey. A Rabid Wolf Spider, like many hunting spiders, doesn't gently poke its prey and "give it a nip". They violently pounce, seizing the creature, delivering a bite almost immediately, the action taking place so fast it can be hard to follow. If observed closely the event is truly an arachnophobe's worst nightmare.
Nikon D3500, Nikkor-H 85mm f/1.8 lens fitted with an Iscorama anamorphic lens (1968 version). The objective lens from a junk Bushnell telescope was reverse mounted on the isco allowing for close focusing.
DSC-2948K-WS