Most churches and cathedrals offer many photogenic opportunities and the cathedral at Southwell, Nottinghamshire called Southwell Minster is no exception. These magnificent stained glass windows are a joy to behold and can be appreciated by anyone of any religion!

A fitting entry to this weeks Window Wednesday!

We had been experiencing typical Alaska weather; clouds and intermittent misty rain. Sunny days are the exception, not the usual. Our stay at the first scheduled lodge (where there can be prime views of Denali) was not different. Thick clouds. No view of the "the Mountain".

On top of the weather that we were experiencing, Denali apparently affects the weather around it, and is more often than not shrouded in clouds anyway.

We hoped that we’d get a quick view of Denali as we embarked on a 4-5 hour bus trek into the six million acre park. Full access by road has been hampered by a rockslide that occurred in 2022. The bus driver informed us that (more) clouds blocked the usual views and that 70% of people who visit the park do not see Denali. We had resigned ourselves to the fact that we wouldn’t see the 'Great One', as Alaskans have called it for centuries.

Then, as we were travelling back out of the park, the clouds parted long enough for us to enjoy this view from about 70+ miles away. It’s only a fraction of it. The base and the peak are still hidden. The afternoon light obscures it, as if it’s part of the clouds.

Still, it was a wonderful feeling to be a part of the 30%.

In the notes I’ve provided for these “peeps in the ‘hood” and “street where I live” Flickr albums, I usually write that I don’t include photos of drunks, bums, or homeless people. But since this photo is an exception to that self-imposed policy, I thought it would be a good idea to see how often it has happened; and by searching for “homeless” as a tag attached to my photos, I found that there are just under 50 in my overall Flickr archives of roughly 50,000 photos. Only about 7,000 of those photos are “public,” so you probably won’t even see a lot of the homeless people that I’ve photographed; but I hope that the ones you do see show a respectful and fairly sympathetic perspective.

Of course, not everyone does feel respectful or sympathetic toward the homeless people they see on the street; and that is just as much true here in New York City as it is in other cities across the country and around the world. New Yorkers are constantly being pushed, shoved, bothered, accosted, and harassed for money; and many of us have grown rather cynical about the presence of beggars, panhandlers, and other forms of homeless people. Indeed, just yesterday there was an article in our New York Post newspaper about a 43 year old former theater stagehand who says that he “rakes in up to $200 an hour” from kind-hearted New Yorkers by panhandling outside Grand Central Terminal (see “ New York City panhandler says he makes $200 an hour").

Obviously, I don’t know how common this situation really is. And I don’t know how many people are begging for money simply to buy more alcohol, drugs, or whatever pushed them onto the streets in the first place. I certainly have had the experience of seeing the same person in the same spot, day after day, always asking for a quarter or a dollar to buy some food. And I have had the experience — as have many well-intentioned people — of offering to bring an allegedly hungry person into a deli or MacDonald’s to buy him/her some food that can be eaten on the spot, only to have the offer scornful rejected. And I have to admit that I, too, have experienced the knee-jerk reaction that the homeless people on the street should just “get a job” and “work for a living,” in order to function in society the way most of my friends and I have done throughout our lives.

But I’ve been around for a long time now, and I’ve lived in this city for a long time; and while I may have only 50 photos of homeless people in my Flickr archives, I’ve seen several hundred more, if not several thousand. And while some may be phonies or scam artists, it seems to me that many of these people are overwhelmed and broken by the circumstances in which they find themselves. It may have been drugs or alcohol that pushed them over the edge; but it may also have been mental illness (or PTSD), or a physical injury, or an abusive spouse, or a string of bad luck that they didn’t anticipate, and simply couldn’t handle. I’ve also seen enough TV documentaries to appreciate that, in most cases, people don’t “flip” overnight from productive members of society, to people on the street. For most, it’s a long, slow, gradual descent into a world that they never imagined would happen to them. For others, I suppose, it may be a continuation of a life that was miserable even when they were children.

I don’t have the time, or the psychological energy, to stop and talk to every one of these people I see on the street. And if they were truly gifted con artists, I’m sure they could convince me that they were a victim of unfortunate circumstances, no matter how cynical a New Yorker I might be. Anyway, I only have a second or two to make a snap judgment as I walk by; and sometimes I decide to give them a dollar, or a pocket full of coins, while other times I shrug and just keep walking.

But I’m also a strong believer in the old adage that “what goes around, comes around”; and even though I think of myself as strong, tough, resilient, and resolute … I also realize, after seeing so many broken people on the street, that it could happen to me, too. Years ago, I stumbled across a book by Catherine Ryan Hyde called Pay It Forward, and while I don’t practice it as much as I should, the principle has stuck with me.

So, every time I see someone like this man on the street, I say to myself: pay it forward. Make someone’s like a little better today. Repeat.

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

Sometime in 2014, I created Flickr album for photos that I had started taking with my iPhone5s; and a year later, in the fall of 2014, I started a new Flickr album for photos that I’ve begun taking with my iPhone6, and iPhone6+. But progress doesn’t stop (at least with Apple): as of October 2015, I’ve upgraded once again, to the iPhone6s and 6s+ (yes, both of them) and this new album contains photos created with those camera-phones

In last year’s Flickr album, I wrote, “Whether you’re an amateur or professional photographer, it’s hard to walk around with a modern smartphone in your pocket, and not be tempted to use the built-in camera from time-to-time. Veteran photographers typically sneer at such behavior, and most will tell you that they can instantly recognize an iPhone photo, which they mentally reject as being unworthy of any serious attention.

“After using many earlier models of smartphones over the past several years, I was inclined to agree; after all, I always (well, almost always) had a “real” camera in my pocket (or backpack or camera-bag), and it was always capable of taking a much better photographic image than the mediocre, grainy images shot with a camera-phone.

“But still … there were a few occasions when I desperately wanted to capture some photo-worthy event taking place right in front of me, and inevitably it turned out to be the times when I did not have the “real” camera with me. Or I did have it, but it was buried somewhere in a bag, and I knew that the “event” would have disappeared by the time I found the “real" camera and turned it on. By contrast, the smart-phone was always in my pocket (along with my keys and my wallet, it’s one of the three things I consciously grab every time I walk out the door). And I often found that I could turn it on, point it at the photographic scene, and take the picture much faster than I could do the same thing with a “traditional” camera.

“Meanwhile, smartphone cameras have gotten substantially better in the past few years, from a mechanical/hardware perspective; and the software “intelligence” controlling the camera has become amazingly sophisticated. It’s still not on the same level as a “professional” DSLR camera, but for a large majority of the “average” photographic situations we’re likely to encounter in the unplanned moments of our lives, it’s more and more likely to be “good enough.” The old adage of “the best camera is the one you have with you” is more and more relevant these days. For me, 90% of the success in taking a good photo is simply being in the right place at the right time, being aware that the “photo opportunity” is there, and having a camera — any camera — to take advantage of that opportunity. Only 10% of the time does it matter which camera I’m using, or what technical features I’ve managed to use.

“And now, with the recent advent of the iPhone5s, there is one more improvement — which, as far as I can tell, simply does not exist in any of the “professional” cameras. You can take an unlimited number of “burst-mode” shots with the new iPhone, simply by keeping your finger on the shutter button; instead of being limited to just six (as a few of the DSLR cameras currently offer), you can take 10, 20, or even a hundred shots. And then — almost magically — the iPhone will show you which one or two of the large burst of photos was optimally sharp and clear. With a couple of clicks, you can then delete everything else, and retain only the very best one or two from the entire burst.

“With that in mind, I’ve begun using my iPhone5s for more and more “everyday” photo situations out on the street. Since I’m typically photographing ordinary, mundane events, even the one or two “optimal” shots that the camera-phone retains might not be worth showing anyone else … so there is still a lot of pruning and editing to be done, and I’m lucky if 10% of those “optimal” shots are good enough to justify uploading to Flickr and sharing with the rest of the world. Still, it’s an enormous benefit to know that my editing work can begin with photos that are more-or-less “technically” adequate, and that I don’t have to waste even a second reviewing dozens of technically-mediocre shots that are fuzzy, or blurred.

“Oh, yeah, one other minor benefit of the iPhone5s (and presumably most other current brands of smartphone): it automatically geotags every photo and video, without any special effort on the photographer’s part. Only one of my other big, fat cameras (the Sony Alpha SLT A65) has that feature, and I’ve noticed that almost none of the “new” mirrorless cameras have got a built-in GPS thingy that will perform the geotagging...

“I’ve had my iPhone5s for a couple of months now, but I’ve only been using the “burst-mode” photography feature aggressively for the past couple of weeks. As a result, the initial batch of photos that I’m uploading are all taken in the greater-NYC area. But as time goes on, and as my normal travel routine takes me to other parts of the world, I hope to add more and more “everyday” scenes in cities that I might not have the opportunity to photograph in a “serious” way.”

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

Okay, so now it’s October of 2015, and I’ve got the iPhone 6s/6s+. The the camera now has a 12-megapixel lens (instead of the older 8 MP version), and that the internal camera-related hardware/firmware/software is better, too. Obviously, I’ve got the newer iOS9, too, and even on the “old” phones, it now supports time-lapse videos along with everything else.

I’ve still got my pocket camera (an amazing little Sony RX-100 Mark IV, which replaces the Mark III I had last year), and two larger cameras (Sony RX-10 II, and Sony A7 II), but I have a feeling that I won’t even be taking them out of the camera bag when I’m out on the street for ordinary day-to-day walking around.

That will depend, obviously, on what kind of photos and videos the iPhone6s/6s+ camera actually capable of taking … so I’m going to try to use at leas one of them every day, and see what the results look like …

Like I said last year, “stay tuned…”

Sunflower (Drosera) is a genus of carnivorous plants in the Sunflower family (Droseraceae). The botanical name Drosera is derived from the ancient Greek δρόσος (drosos) = dew. The sundew lures, catches and digests insects through a glistening sticky substance on its tentacles. The prey serves to provide the plant with nutrients that are virtually absent in the soil where the plants live. Most sun dying lives in swampy areas, but there are exceptions in extremely dry areas.

In de Botanicel garden Leiden

Please do not use my images without my explicit permission.

Entice - Only Exception Skirt & Top @ Designer Showcase

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/West%20Amber/77/110/25

scarlettsstylez.blogspot.com/2021/01/waiting.html

Crested francolin are the exception to the ‘francolin-spurfowl’ rule having the red legs of the spurfowl group and being prone to roosting in trees at night (not on the ground as other francolins do). It also tends to flee danger at a run into thick vegetation rather than being primarily flushed like other francolin. When it does take to the sky it flies low and weaves between the trees until out of sight. Its small size and rhythmical (although not musical) call make it a francolin. Crested francolin are especially territorial and the monogamous pair proclaim their turf by use of a duet that supposedly sounds like they’re saying ‘Beer and cognac… beer and cognac…beer and cognac’.

Most mist photograph were taken with morning lights and fog flowing around small hills. But this is an exception, the cliff you see in the left are only 20 meters high, and this was taken on a early-spring afternoon. Incredible low level of sea of clouds appears at Rhossili, South Wales, GB.

There will be more cracking photographs to follow, so stay tuned!

------------------------------

The behind story that wants you to read:

------------------------------

Experiencing a heavy sea fog in Swansea on the 13th March afternoon, I realise it may have a chance to get something unique on that evening.

When I arrived at Rhossili, I was thinking, em...there might be a chance of capturing something interesting - sea fog. After only 10 minutes of hike to Rhossili Down, I was shock by the scene. The ocean I normally see turned into clouds. The scene you can only see on few thousands meters mountains, showing in front of you with a height of only 150 meters. One of the most incredible moment over all the journeys, of all time in my memory.

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Rhossili, Gower, South Wales, GB

An exception to the sacro-sainct no crop rule...

Cropped from a 6x7 shot

With the notable exception of the Cape Town Waterfront gulls were surprisingly scarce around the South African coast. This is one of two species present in numbers there, especially around the fish dock and market. It is a small gull around the size of a black-headed gull in the UK.

One of the general exceptions to the widespread aversion to portrait photographs being taken in Morocco, was where one might be about to spend some cash. This was taken when we were being given a tour of a ceramics factory in Fès.

I was very pleasantly surprised how well this turned out, as there was very little light to work with (this was taken indoors, in one of the workrooms). It's the kind of shot where I would have had to use flash for in my pre-digital days...but this was taken at 1600 ISO and 1/40th sec. As always with the Canon EOS-5D, noise just isn't an issue....gotta love that full frame sensor. :-)

I rarely post two images in one day, but am making an exception here. I know photos of litter have limited appeal. I'm sort of compulsive with photography - I shoot just about everything. The current image set kind of fascinates while also repelling me. This particular shot has always intrigued me, so the back story may be worth telling...

It was a wet day in November and I was poking around the forest with a macro lens, looking for fungi to photograph. Something white caught my eye, resting atop an ancient red-cedar stump. I realized right away it wasn't a mushroom.

It was a book. It had been out there for a while. The pages lay open, and rain had thoroughly soaked them so that they were stuck together, returning to pulp. I worked in a pulp mill for two years in the 1970s, so I know what wood pulp looks like.

The ink was smeared, the words mostly illegible. An abstraction. I photographed it as such, with tripod and macro; fascinating. Now here's the kicker - and some of you may have guessed what the book was. It was a Bible. Why would someone do this? Was it an act of faith? An attempt to share The Word? Was it sacrilege? A political statement, however obscure? I have no idea.

Last year I posted a rodeo shot and received a scolding from someone who shouted at me from across the world that this was abuse, adding, "Shame! Shame on you!" As if I were responsible for the event I was photographing. So... if anyone feels angry that I would take this picture and share it, maybe stop and think for a moment. I am a reporter: I observe and report. This is a found object. Make of it what you will.

Photographed in Goldstream Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, BC (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2009 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

With the exception of a shortlist article covering the best of April, TMAXparty 2017 is all but over. Long Live TMAXparty!

At the risk of film party fatigue, it;s time to announce our next celebration: it’s time for #NEOPANtastic.

As ever, the rules are simple:

Shoot a roll or sheet of any...

Large version at: emulsive.org/articles/neopantastic/welcome-to-neopantasti...

Filed under: #Articles #Neopantastic #Fuji #NEOPANtastic

Stylist, Graphics & Photography :::: Clix Credits

"When I was younger I saw my daddy cry

And curse at the wind.

He broke his own heart and I watched

As he tried to reassemble it.

||||The Only Exception||

Bigger is MUCH Better

[CZ] Jeskyně Býčí skála - vstup

[EN] With the exception of the Days of Open Doors, the Bull Rock Cave is not open to the public. The Bull Rock Cave (jeskyně Býčí skála) is located in the Josefov area of the Křtiny Valley in the central part of the Moravian Karst. It represents approximately a half of the total length of the Jedovnice Creek cave system. The system is ca. 15 km long, second longest in the Czech Republic. It is located under the Rudice Plateau, 60 - 220 m beneath the surface. The 3.8 km long (straight length) Rudické propadání is the ponor cave. The Bull Rock Cave is the resurgence (emergence) cave. It consists of several distinguished units, each of them bearing its own name. The first section of the cave, the Old Bull Rock Cave, represents a paleo-resurgence passage of the underground Jedovnice Creek. However, during extraordinary floods it also serves as an active karst spring.

The Bull Rock Cave is frequently called "the most memorable cave of the Moravian Karst", mostly on the account of its prehistory. The Southern Branch yielded evidence of Paleolithic (Magdalenian) settlements. The entrance part, called the Hall (also Entrance Hall, Hallstatt Hall, Předsíň in Czech), is the site of the famous "Hallstatt burial". The burial was discovered by Jindřich (Heinrich) Wankel, M.D., in 1872.

The cave is also a well-known paleontological station. In addition, it belongs to the best studied caves in the Moravian Karst as far as cave biology is concerned. More than 2000 bats regularly winterize in the cave, making it one of the largest such places in the Czech Republic. The bibliography of the Bull Rock Cave begins in 1663 and is probably the most extensive of all caves in the Moravian Karst.

Systematic speleological exploration of the Bull Rock Cave began in 1902. It was carried out by members of the Verein der deutschen Touristen in Brünn, Gruppe für Höhlenforschung (VDT-GfH, a German caving group in Brno). In 1912, the cavers focused their attention on the key problem - the then terminal point of the cave, the Šenkův (Šenk's) siphon. In 1920 their effort was crowned with a success - the overcoming of the siphon and the discovery of the New Bull Rock Cave with the underground Jedovnice Creek. Since 1947, namely from 1973 to 1985, Czech cavers gradually discovered the underground stream of the Jedovnice Creek between the New Bull Rock Cave and the Rudické propadání. They also have discovered the underground course of the creek between the Bull Rock Cave, the Bar (Barová) Cave and the springs in Josefov.

Knoxville, Tennessee has lost most of its early structures. Two exceptions are the Craighead-Jackson House, an 1818 brick structure, and the Blount Mansion (NRHP #66000726), a 1792 clapboard dwelling. The houses are situated on the southeast and southwest corners of the busy intersection of Hill Avenue and State Street.

John Craighead built this house in 1818. It is a simple two story brick structure in the Federal style. There are two exterior end chimneys. The openings on the front facade are evenly spaced with twelve-over-eight panes in the windows which are shuttered. Stone lintels surmount the windows and the front entrance and the cornice Is carved. The Craighead family owned the property until 1855, when it briefly changed ownership once prior to being purchased by Dr. George Jackson whose family lived in the house until the late 1870's. From this time until the 1950's, the house had many owners. It was both deteriorated and altered by 1957 when the Blount Mansion Association peaked the interest of the State of Tennessee & the City of Knoxville in acquiring the property for restoration. The Association was given title to the house on August 28, 1962 and in April 1966, it was opened as a museum house. The overall thought was that preservation of one would be aided by preservation of the other in a city experiencing the changes brought about by urban renewal & new highways.

The Craighead-Jackson House serves as a setting for the superb furniture & silver collection of the late William Perry Toms (1884-1965). Toms, a native Knoxvillian, was a successful industrialist who was known also for his civic & cultural philanthropies. His collection is displayed in the Craighead-Jackson House through the charitable Toms Foundation, which he established in 1952.

After its acquisition, restoration, and opening as a museum and based on it's history relating to Knoxville, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on March 20, 1973. All of the information above was found on the original documents submitted for listing consideration that are located here: npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/AssetDetail/58c70920-04b1-49c6-b83...

Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D7200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6.

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the following link: www.flickriver.com/photos/photojourney57/

Be the exception.

A rare exception on our recent visit to the Military Cemetery, on the same site as the former Chapel, were these daffodils planted beside a grave. Mostly the green landscape just shows rows of white headstones. Soldiers of many nationalities are buried here and the information on some of the headstones is just a name.

"Netley Military Cemetery is a permanent military cemetery, the property of the Ministry of Defence. The cemetery was at the back of the Royal Victoria Military Hospital and was used during both wars for burials from the hospital. The cemetery contains 637 First World War burials but only 35 from the Second World War. In addition to the Commonwealth graves, there are a number of war graves of other nationalities including 69 German graves dating from the First World War.

source: Commonwealth War Graves Commision

location : Gaunzan Sokusyu-in ,Tohukuji Kyoto city, Japan

With the exception of special openings, this temple is not ordinarily open to the public.

（京の冬の旅　特別公開寺院）関白の山荘跡・西郷隆盛ゆかりの寺　東福寺　即宗院

Founded by priest Gochu Genju 剛中玄柔(the 54th abbot in residence of Tofuku-ji東福寺 / 1318-1388),Guanzan Sokushu-in 臥雲山即宗院　was established in 1387 for the salvation of Daimyo (feudal load) of Satsuma domain薩摩藩 ( presant-day Kagoshima Prefecture).With a history of over 800 years,the site was once court noble Fujiwara no Kanezane's villa - Tsukinowaden palace,built his retirement from the service of Kampaku 関白( chief adviser to the Emperor) in 1196.

During the closing days of Tokugawa bakufu,Satsuma domain's Saigo Takamori 西郷隆盛was said to have hidden in Saishintei,the tea house,and schemed to overthrow the Tokugawa regime.Chased by the Tokugawa army,Saigo lead an attack at the top of the back hills and consequently attained the Meiji Restoration. a gravestone Saigo dedicated to the 524 members who died for the battle of the restoration can be found in the back hill. There are also several gravesites of Son'nojo-i 尊王攘夷(Revel the Emperor ,Expel the Barbarians- a movement to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu) heroes.　Especially known for the beauty of its fresh mosses and autumn foliages,the historidal garden is a famous site that has been painted repeatedly.During the winter seasons,fruits of coral berries are also in site. - Gaunzan Sokusyu-in

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Tofukuji Temple Sokushu-in

Sokushu-in is a sub-temple of Tofukuji Temple built by Shimazu clan of Satsuma (Kagoshima prefecture at present). Shimazu of Satsuma played an initiative role in the Meiji Restoration and took part in the anti-Shogunate movement in 1860's. It is said that a famous samurai of Satsuma, Takamori Saigo, had confidential talks on anti-Shogunate movement in Sokushu-in. When a war broke out in Kyoto, the Satsuma army fired at the army of Japanese feudal government from the top of the hill at the back of Sokushu-in.

Garden :

Before this temple was built, the current place was a mountain villa called "Tsukinowaden" of Kanezane Fujiwara, an emperor's chief advisor of the 10-11th century. The pond garden of the villa mostly remains as it was at that time with its stone arrangement of waterfall, location and shape being the same.

Cenotaph of Eastern Expedition :

In the woods of the innermost part of the temple, there is a cenotaph of Eastern Expedition by Takamori Saigo. This is a monument for the Satsuma 524 war dead and all the engraved names were written by Saigo.

www.kyoto-magonote.jp/en/kwt_2016/kwt_2016.html#kwt11

(KYOTO WINTER TOUR 2016)

Rinzai Gigen, a Chinese monk, established Rinzai School which is one of the famous Buddhist sects in Japan. This year 2016 is the 1150th anniversary of his death. In commemoration of it, some of private architectures, paintings, and gardens of Rinzai Zen temples will be specially opened during the period of "Kyoto Winter Tour."

庭園は撮影可能。ただし建物内部は全て撮影不可。

With one exception, all these 23 images (#0826 through #1063) were created on 9 November 2013 at a branding on a cattle ranch in Lake County, Oregon.

I am attempting to post these as a sequence, from beginning to end.

Lake County, Oregon was my home for four and a half years. I am a city guy from San Francisco. As a consequence all this "cowboy stuff" was always of great fascination.

The kids are told to stay out of the way so that they do not get hurt.

If you want to see these images in order, go to the Album:

www.flickr.com/photos/brockhampton-usa/albums/72157657236...

Except for a handful of notable exceptions the SOO GP30 fleet took on a rusty appearance as the 80's progressed. 709 was one of the worst for rust/dirt and faded paint. I caught it in all its glory in the hole at Gilchrist on February 10, 1984 leading a better looking 704 on 910 as they await the arrival of 909 before continuing on to Sault Ste. Marie. The white cab door occurred on a couple GP30's and U-boats in the late 70's as someone at Shoreham decided it was easier/cheaper to swap the door from the back of cab(where apparently the weather strip was in better shape) to the front to try to keep out drafts rather than replace the weather stripping.

click for black, then click F11 (thanks M. Seidman) for large. And remember to hit F11 again when you're done.

www.flickriver.com/photos/cariocando/

Majestic Durham Cathedral Night shot Alanpt2016©

Built between 1093 and 1490, Durham Cathedral, with the exception of the upper parts of its towers, the eastern extension known as the Chapel of Nine Altars, and the large west window of 1341, is entirely Norman and is regarded by Alec Clifton-Taylor as "the incomparable masterpiece of Romanesque architecture". The interior is “overwhelmingly impressive”.The western Lady Chapel known as the Galilee Chapel is a unique Norman building different in style to the cathedral itself. The view of the cathedral from the south west is particularly famous because of its “incomparable setting” on a steep promontory above the River Wear.

Durham Cathedral has been featured in the Harry Potter films as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where it had a spire digitally added onto the top of the famous towers.

As a nature photographer, I make it a rule never to show images with feeders in them. Soooooo... this would be the exception, then.

Watermarked

100-400mm canon

Female Flicker

beach grasses and sky, Lake Ontario, Pickering beach

Stellar nurseries are cloudy and dusty places that shine brightly in infrared light. The G305 star-forming complex is no exception. It features a number of bright, intricate gas clouds heated by infant stars in their midst. In this spectacular image by ESA’s Herschel space observatory, these star-forming hotspots stand out in a blue tone that contrasts with the red-brownish colour of cooler regions.

While there are several star-formation sites dotted throughout this scene, the most striking ones surround the dark, heart-shaped area in the top right of the image. Hidden at the centre of the dark region lie the massive star WR48a and its two neighbours, stellar clusters Danks 1 and 2. All three play an important role in triggering the formation of new stars, even if they themselves are relatively young objects no older than a few million years (for comparison, the Sun is around 4.6 billion years old).

Strong winds and radiation from WR48a and the high-mass stars in the two clusters have pushed away the gas remnants from the cloud where they originated. The swept-away gas, gathered together at the edge of the heart-shaped bubble, is now forming new stars.

Using Herschel, astronomers have identified 16 sites where high-mass stars are forming in this stellar nursery. The region is one of the brightest and most plentiful star-forming complexes in the Milky Way, and an ideal ground to observe and study massive stars at different stages of formation and evolution.

The G305 complex is about 12 000 light-years away and gets its name from its location at around 305º longitude in the plane of our Galaxy. In the night sky, it appears near the Coalsack Nebula, a large interstellar cloud of dust visible to the naked eye and located in the constellation of Crux, the Southern Cross. A very prominent dark nebula, Coalsack shows up in the southern skies as a black patch against the bright, starry backdrop of the Milky Way.

This image, obtained as part of Hi-GAL – the Herschel infrared Galactic Plane Survey, combines observations at three different wavelengths: 70 microns (blue), 160 microns (green) and 250 microns (red).

Launched in 2009, Herschel operated for four years observing at far infrared and submillimetre wavelengths. This spectral range allowed it to observe the glow of dust in gas clouds where stars are born to investigate this process and observe their early evolution.

Credits: ESA/Herschel/PACS, SPIRE/Hi-GAL Project. Acknowledgement: UNIMAP / L. Piazzo, La Sapienza – Università di Roma; E. Schisano / G. Li Causi, IAPS/INAF, Italy

Deception by Chop Zuey, worth rising from the dead for details @ thefallenpath.wordpress.com/2018/10/30/deception-there-ar...

gabbyjaws.blogspot.com/2021/01/entice-only-exception-top-...

Hong Kong island.

It starting to seem like nearly all of my photos uploaded lately were shot in Venice and this will be no exception. This is another shot from my trip to Venice back in mid september and is still one of my favorite days at the beach since arriving in Los Angeles. It was my second time in Venice in two days after the brutal sunny summer ended and I could've have chosen much better conditions if I wanted to. For the most part, much of this trip was perfect. The previous night had a really colorful, constantly changing sky and sunset and conditions were amazing for all sorts of shooting but on this night, the tide was even lower, winds calm, and a mostly consistent sunset. The cloud layers seen didn't alter much, outside of slow drifting and the color on the horizon stayed well lit even as it changed to darker hues.

A big difference on this night was that I really wanted more people wandering through frame--something I never thought I'd hope for--so I could get some variation on a mostly static view. The water level was as low as I've seen here and it seemed like no matter where I set up on the shoreline, I was in the full reflection and it felt like I was standing on a giant mirror. Other people noticed this as well, and I saw plenty of them crouched on the shore looking at their reflection or or taking images of the shore with their phones rather than just the sunset. Normally the way around those rocks is from behind them as waves often crash against the end, but the tide level receded well before it so quite a few people took advantage of this, and entered into frame as a result.

I posted at least one of a similar scene to this but this shot was taken about 5 minutes. The people in the other image were well down the beach or wherever they wandered off to at this point and this particular shot has a bit more detail and better lighting in the foreground and right side. I did have a bunch of images from this night that suffered from some odd glare and it may have been from a slightly off circular polarizer which I generally leave on at sundown and occasionally bump when making adjustments. The last 2 visits here--one during a really stormy afternoon and then the last trip on just a gross, gloomy, colorless day--were much different than the other trips since back in September. The tide has gotten dramatically higher on each subsequent visit and on the last trip, I didn't really get any reflections at all which was such a letdown. I'm optimistic for some more favorable conditions this week. It looks like it will be some degree of cloudy nearly every day and hopefully the afternoon skies will help give me some indication of what to expect at sundown and leave me with enough time to drive somewhere interesting. I'm anxious for another night like this one!

WHEN & WHERE

Venice Beach

Venice, California

September 20th, 2016

SETTINGS

Canon T4i

EF-S 18-135mm IS STM

@18mm

ISO 100

f/10

1/10th second

CPL

I rarely photograph trains here despite working a mile away but made an exception because I wanted to photograph 1030. While waiting around I shot 14 trains in 50 min including four different models of locomotive...I suppose it's not that boring after all!

Here's the sixth train I lensed, inbound Keolis/MBTA train 012 from Rockport is crosing the drawbridge over the Charles River on Main 2 into North Station with F40PH-3C 1064 shoving on the rear.

For now the last relics from Boston and Maine days remain clustered here including the vintage dwarf signals, the drawbridges and the tower itself which was built during the B&M's 1926-1932 reconfiguration of the terminal and the then new Boston Engine Terminal. The two story steel frame and brick structure replaced an earlier tower located on the south side of the Charles. It was placed in service on September 27, 1931 with an original electrical board containing 211 levers! Until 2021 the drawbridge operator still worked out of it but today it serves no purpose at all.

The two bascule bridges also date from that same year when the navigable channel of the Charles River was shifted 300 feet to the north of its former route to allow the platforms at North Station to be extended. At the time of their construction two additional spans were built just to the west with a total of 8 tracks crossing the river serving 22 platform tracks vs only 10 today.

All of this is on borrowed time however, as the MBTA is embarking on a nearly one billion dollar project to replace the aging and failure prone spans and reconfigure Tower A. Ultimately these last vestiges of the Route of the Minuteman will fall to the wrecking ball and cutting torch and three new vertical lift spans are supposed to rise in their place allowing for six tracks to cross the river and the addition of two more platform tracks.

Rising above at left can be seen the obelisk towers and cable stays of the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial suspension bridge built in 2003 as part of the infamous Big Dig project that saw Interstate 93 removed from its elevated pathway through the heart of the city and buried beneath it.

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Wednesday September 24, 2025

They say the weather is very changeable in Scotland , which I've always found to be true, today being no exception, the day started off in a full on blizzard in Glencoe and I didn't even get the camera out at sunrise as you couldn't see a thing, driving was hazardous to say the least as well as just narrowly missed an oncoming lorry on the A82 which had swerved onto my side of the road to avoid a large ice deposit off a previous lorry right into my path, luckily it missed me.

Headed out again after breakfast through it once again and decided to head South towards Taynuilt and Oban, once out of the snow it just didn't stop raining, all day apart from a few moments at Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe where I managed a few shots. After spending the afternoon in Oban I decided to scout out the best vantage point for Castle Stalker for a better day as the advertised viewpoint is really poor in my view, once I found my spot the rain was easing off but the weather was still pretty poor with low cloud, and hardly any light apart from a promising tiny patch

over towards Mull, with nothing spoiling I decided to just wait here on the offchance of a break.

about 40 minutes it really picked up and I was rewarded with what turned out to be a phenomenal sunset, this image was just the start of it before the sun had fully dropped under the large bank of cloud at the top of the frame, the light was just sublime, there is no way you could have envisaged this sunset at the start of the day or even an hour before, just goes to show you really cannot predict the changes in the weather up here off sight alone, I'll post a few more of these images in the coming weeks as they are quite different, the afterglow after sundow was a stunner as well with some great pinks and purples kicking off over the loch. Spent about 2.5 hours here and loved every minute of it, only realised how cold I was once I'd got back to the car!

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With the Exception of a few figs these are simply updates. Most of these updates are small so I'll keep these short.

Arsenal: Gave him a painted Hood Piece and the Hawkeye head.

Sebastian Blood: New figure. Simply Lord Business' torso and a head idk who.

Green Arrow: Gave him the Boxing glove arrow and I've started using silver Arrows instead of gunmetal.

Onamonapia: Gave him a completely black torso. Last time I posted him it was a black torso I borrowed from another figure.

Cupid: I'm annoyed that I forgot to order more quivers but here she is! Based off of her Comic appearance with some tweaks! I used Pink ponytail hair, A lone Ranger head(?) a painted Leia Torso and Brickforge Bow and Gauntlets!

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EXPLORE November 29, 2010 #64

torganiel.com

With the exception of three former EMD SD45 demonstrators, which were informally traded to sister Dereco railroad Erie-Lackawanna, the Delaware and Hudson roster was entirely Alco and GE until the formation of Conrail. When that occurred on April 1, 1976, the D&H became owner of twelve former Lehigh Valley GP38-2’s, twenty former Reading GP39-2’s, and twenty brand new lightning stripe GP39-2’s. Here one of each team up to lead a 66-car train out of the west end of Allentown yard.

gabbyjaws.blogspot.com/2022/02/entice-original-mesh-valen...

Having flown the whole Family (with the exception of a Daughter-In-Law who stayed behind to look after a dog and an International Student!) to Whangarei to spend the weekend with Mrs Lance's elderly mother, we all went out for lunch on the banks of the Whangarei Marina!

We couldn't have wished for a more picturesque setting! Although not especially a Christmas scene as such, this scene does sum up a New Zealand Summer, namely boats (for some!), warm sunny days, flowering flax bushes, hardy New Zealand Cabbage Trees and bright crimson blossom on Pohutukawa (which is affectionately known as New Zealand's Christmas Tree because it flowers at this time of the year!).

Something to hum along to:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSRAFe6WwLA

And right now, Mrs Lance joins me in wishing you all a very blessed and joy-filled Christmas, and safe and happy New Year celebrations. Thank you for all the kind Comments left beneath my photos throughout the last 12 months, and thank you also for sharing your photos with me.

In closing, an especially big "Thank You" for being a Flickr Friend throughout the last 12 months. Your friendship (wherever you are in the world) is greatly appreciated and valued, and I look forward to keeping in touch with you throughout 2017!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

They represent all that is left, with exception of a few isolated spots where there are still a few blooms and trees that are holding on to their leaves.

Today the balmy weather left us it's cold out right now, ( in the 30's ). We got one last shot of summer type weather ( called indian summer ) That is over now and from here on in we can expect dropping temperatures. They say we could get some snow flurries tonight. save for some photos of a heavy snow, witches frost , or going to the store I will probably not venture outside much.

We never know exactly the type of weather to expect. They say a harsh winter and it is a mild one, they say mild and it feels like the inside of a deep freezer. They predict little snow fall and we get buried. Calm weather and we get storms that tear up trees, knock down houses and sink ships on the lakes.

Over the course of the winters I have seen around here it would be safe to say...expect everything ! Winds can be terrible,driving the wind chill into the sub-zeros. I have seen 700 foot lake boats sitting on mud where the Maumee river was flowing. The wind has blown all the water toward Buffalo N.Y. At the other end the very reverse is happening, the water is piling up. These are not occurrences that happen every winter, but they do happen and you never know just when.

Worsdell NER class K, LNER Y8 dock tank

Five locomotives of this type were built - and with one exception, all of them were employed at Hull docks until two were withdrawn from service in 1936/7 The exception was the loan of one locomotive (NER 559 subsequently BR 68090) for military work during the First World War (Royal Arsenal at Woolwich.

It then returned to Hull and undertook Royal Engineer work at the mouth of the Humber. This locomotive was moved to Hull Springhead shed at the start of 1945.

The traffic at Hull docks reduced significantly as a result of the Second World War so in 1942 NER 560 (later 68091) was relocated to York

Of the two taken into BR stock only 559 (68090) lasted in BR service at Hull until November 1948.

NER 560 (68091) worked as the shed pilot at York and was taken into departmental stock in July 1954 but continued in its role at York until it was withdrawn from service in November 1956.

A new build replica locomotive is being built by North Bay Railway Engineering Services.

from an old print in my collection, photographer unknown.

Travel days are always difficult days for me to shoot and this day was no exception. Already jet lagged from being up since 3:45am (EST) to catch my 6am flight to Calgary, I felt like I was in a fog by the time we finally reached Banff and started hitting the lakes up the Icefields Parkway. Our goal was to shoot Peyto Lake at sunset, but we made a wrong turn coming out of Lake Louise and ended up on Trans-Canada Hwy 1, which took us west into British Columbia. It was about 30 minutes before we realized we were off course so Bill summoned his inner Dale Jr. to make up some time and get us back into the sunset race to Peyto (Bill’s “inner Dale Jr.” would make a few more appearances during the trip). We pulled into the parking area with no time to spare and all grabbed our gear and hit the trail running. More specifically, Mark, Tom and me did that. Bill, on the other hand, grabbed his gear, threw down a smoke bomb, and vanished into thin air like a ninja not to be seen again until we all met back at the van at the end of the shoot (this is another common occurrence if you ever shoot with Bill). As Mark, Tom, and myself ran up the trail, we started passing other photographers coming the opposite way. Crap. We missed the sunset. After a few more minutes of trail running, we made it to one of the rocky overlooks in the Bow Summit area that overlooked the dog-shaped Peyto Lake. We managed to catch the last glimmer of the fleeting sunset but better still, managed to catch our breaths for what felt like the fist time all day. As tired as I was, I managed to take in the gorgeous scenery before me. I took a few deep breaths and watched the distant color fade into blue. It helped wipe the slate of my mind clean from all the noise of the travel day and reset my psyche for the next couple of days to come. For this one, I have several compositions with the rocks in the foreground in both landscape and portrait/vertical orientations, but felt the balance of the layers worked best here in the vertical.

Thanks for looking! I appreciate all your views, comments, and faves!

youtu.be/-J7J_IWUhls

With the exception of the terminal operations between Provo and Salt Lake City, this is the state of the Utah Railway today. The URY mainline is mothballed from the Wildcat coal and oil loadout to the end of the track with no hope in sight. The coal they were known for is dying off and they generally only run one or two trains of the stuff a week now, with UP power.

One this day, part of the train has pulled up to Colton to do a crew change, after dropping the swing helpers off. They'll reassemble the train and fight gravity and rain to get the train the remainder of the way to Soldier Summit.

Anytime at the lake, if the birds are active, I try to get some in flight captures. Christmas Eve was no exception, and there was activity. Should mean a lot of great shots.

But...from time to time people ask me to compare the D7000 consumer camera with the D300 PROsumer camera. I say, honestly, that the D7000's 16mp makes it a winner, since that is the best Nikon offers. However, the D7000 is a mass market camera, much lower priced, and missing many features and subtleties of the prosumer line.

For wildlife action shots, the burst mode is essential to me. The D300 with battery pack will shoot at 8fps, in LARGE numbers, with almost no change in cold weather. I discovered -- my first cold weather using the D7000, that it isn't the same. At its best, it will do about 5fps, in short bursts. Christmas Eve, late in the afternoon, saw the temperature hovering around freezing. The burst mode ended up being no faster than I could trip the shutter release manually and send individual images to the buffer. NOT great for trying to get fast low-flying birds moving in front of me.

Still, it IS a poor workman who blames his tools, and so I was happy that I captured some of the flying beauty.

The memorial is made of Scotch grey granite, all fine axed with the exception of the four panels which are polished. One panel bears the inscription ““The names of the dead are inscribed in the Roll of Honour kept among the archives of the Borough,” that on the opposite side is inscribed “To the memory of our Fallen Comrades, 1914-1918 1939 -1945” In the panels on the other two sides are the badges of the York and Lancaster and the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry regiments, who garrisoned Pontefract Barracks Four steps lead up to the monument, which is surrounded by 12 granite pillars connected by 8 iron chains, all mounted on a York stone plinth. Above the main four panels are two ornamental cornices, over which are four wreath stones, each bearing a bronze laurel wreath, surmounted by a large dome, at the top of which is a four-way cross. The Memorial was erected at a cost of £1230 funded by public subscription and was constructed by E. Raynor & Sons of Woodlesford. It was unveiled by Brigadier-General C.B. Ingham Brooke C.M.G., D.S.O and Richard Husband the Mayor. of Pontefract on Thursday 27th September 1923 at Town End in front of the Robin Hood Pub. It was moved from Wakefield Road to its present location at Cornmarket when Jubilee Way was built in 1977. The New Inn was also demolished at this time. The original columns were removed at some time and they were repurposed at Pontefract Park Lake. Recently they have been reinstalled to the memorial in its present location hower some were missing so had to be remade. it is suspected that at least 2 are in local gardens. The roll of honour is kept in the towns library and a new page of the book is turned every day.

deuxlooks.com/i-made-an-exception-for-a-romper/

I don't normally post animals, but I thought I would make an exception. Hardly the expert on animals, the running joke on this trip was that I could not recall which were Mountain Sheep, and which were Mountain Goats. I finally gave up and called them all Mountain Sheepgoats. However, for this post, I clarified that this is indeed a Mountain Goat. We found this medium sized fella all alone on a trail near Logan's Pass in Glacier National Park. The elusive Mountain Goat was on the top of my wife's list of must see's for the trip, so at every turn on every trail we asked those coming down the hill if they had seen any.

The crowds alone should have been enough to tell where they could have been. There was a mob scene where this guy was. I pulled out my biggest lens and started shooting away. Some gal next to me with a point and shoot said that it was cheating using lenses like mine, because that's not what we actually saw. I chuckled and said that when you lug these heavy lenses up a mountain, you earn the right to use them.

The air was still quite smokey which gave this unique color cast to the skylight that made it through the smoke. The colors in this image are not that exaggerated, the smoke was boosting the color with odd orange and other almost ghostly colors. I tried to normalize them a little, but I was actually quite pleased with what was left.

Enjoy!

Wet Plate Collodion negative, on glass. Old Workhorse Collodion used, with UV Photographics Copper Developer diluted 1:2

Lens used: Voigtlander Petzval, wide open (No waterhouse stops. Exposure was 4minutes and 30 seconds.

I don’t usually post more than one take on locations unless it’s a different day, but this time I want to make an exception. The reason? Well I want you to look at this open space, appreciate that 99% of what you see is natural, ok it has been heavily influenced by man, but if left for a few decades would return to a fully natural environment. What you do not see is much concrete, because it would turn into a town or city, (like it does just a few miles downriver in Ilkley and then Otley).

Now this brings me to why the second post. Well a few miles downstream is the little town of Otley, it’s where I grew up. It’s a rather small market town with a strong sense of community, people watch out for each other, people talk to you in the street, they smile, they welcome, and they get on with their lives and enjoy the small town environment. Anyway I will stop before I begin to sentimentalise about times gone by…Anyway, the town has a proposed development that will increase its size by 20% and many of the green fields that are used by children, dog walkers and people just wanting to enjoy the fresh air are at risk of becoming concrete. I won’t even go into the extra traffic, the lack of a train station and a totally unprepared infrastructure for 2400 extra people. Now I know that people need to live somewhere, we need more affordable housing, but not on green fields! There are plenty of old industrial sites ripe for redevelopment in nearby Leeds and Bradford, but regrettably developers want to build on green fields because it increases their revenues!

Anyway, I better stop before I get too perturbed! I’ve set up a FB group that if you have any support or ideas, or live locally and would wish to get involved in trying to stand against the erosion of our community. Link in first comment, end of lecture!

This moth was perched on grass seeds strand. The comb-like antennae showcases that it is a moth and not a butterfly. Though moths have their wings parallel to the ground while perched, as an exception, this moth holds its wings at 45-degree angle.