View allAll Photos Tagged ImranAnwar,
{My 68th Photo In Explore!)
What a blessed moment to savor and give thanks to God for.
Check out this full 360 degrees 16000x2500 stunning panorama view seen from my drone. It was taken while the Phantom 4 was flying over the Great South Bay private beach of Heron Pointe, a community I am blessed to call home for 22 years. Keep me in your prayers for the blessings to continue.
© 2016 IMRAN™
IMRAN_HeronPointe_LongIsland_NewYork_PrivateBeach_Sunset_20161003
Sorry, I've been traveling and fighting flu, so not been able to visit friends' pages.
Just a few meters/yards in distance - and a few moments in time (the distance between two events) - away from the Golden Gate (Sun Hanging On A Wire) photo, of a universe seemingly divided, was this surreal Godly vision. (Human operated camera at 1/2500th second f/25 at ISO1600).
A setting sun, but rising new horizons, railings glowing red hot but with a soothing welcoming tone. A bird soaring on a heavenly rich colored sky, from what you see to shining sea a red hot molten lava color but so cool to soak in the view of, a pacific ocean of calmness emanating from the Pacific Ocean waters, glowing through clear airborne fluids and fogginess of moist inviting and approaching night.
O'. what a wonderful world.
© 2010 IMRAN
DSC_1387
Thank you all. My 25th Explore! September 16, 2010.
I've been traveling with limited access so I am sorry not to have responded to several hundred comments, dozens of emails, and have also not had a chance to comment on friends' photos
I love boating. I love yachting. I've taken both my Sea Ray SunDancers (23' and 40') to NYC from Long Island, several times over the years. Motorboating around Manhattan, especially at sunset, when the sun reflects on Manhattan's stunning skyline, is best seen from the New Jersey side. Nothing more spectacular than to see My Boat, Bay, Sun and the NY Boat Basin.
Well, technically speaking, this is not a Bay. But, the width of the Hudon River, between Manhattan, NY and New Jersey, is wider than some Bays I have boated in.
The NY Boat Basin at 79th Street, is a delightful and unexpected vision in one of the world's busiest cities. Joggers and bikers zip by you as you walk along the waterfront. The marina has a few decent sized boats, but not the mega-yachts you would expect to see line the slips.
The area is not far from where the Miracle On The Hudson flight crash-landed safely in the river.
This image of the setting sun, reflecting on the water, tinging everything with liquid Gold light, was captured near the end of Summer 2010.
The arch of the structure I took this photo from (where I also photographed the dazzling Daisy) makes a delightful curved silhouette almost as if it was done by a computer.
© 2010 IMRAN
DSC_6183PSF
loc: 40.786872N, -73.9841W
This shot was taken with a NIkon D300 on a (by my standards) early morning of this Long Island, New York, summer of 2010.
The grass in my backyard provided the ideal nearly uniform green backdrop. The interesting thing was the way a growing patch of drying grass (the sprinkler guy needs to adjust the way they distribute water) makes the background look like a fake gradient fill in Photoshop! It is not. It's, sadly, a patch of dry grass I need to manually water soon but looks great in this photo!
Against this really natural gradient of a somewhat chloride tinged backdrop, a fluoride tinged yellow bee, made more bright by the rising sun's rays from the left, savored the glowing purple flowers on the butterfly bush on my back deck.
I actually had to reduce the saturation on this photo or you would have thought the original photo was a fake colored image.
This 2' tall bush I planted has now grown to 10-12' and hosts a flood of butterflies in the summer months. Enjoy the rest of summer.
© 2010 IMRAN
DSC_5082
SOOC Image Straight Out Of Camera!! NO editing, tweaking, or color processing of ANY kind. Only framed & titled in Photoshop..
The stunning sky on fire ringing in the end of the day with the ring of the fiery sun. It silhouetted my neighbor's home and the trees around our property. The masts of sailboats in the marina stood silent, in awe of the patterns in the firelit sky, but ready to sail.
The Nikond D300 captured this unedited, unprocessed, JPG at 1/1250 second f/18.0 ISO 200 and exposure bias of -1.33 for the pure darkness of the silhouettes but still managing to capture the tree branch crossing in front of the sun. A part of the branches seems to crown the sun even as it bows out for the night.
© 2010 IMRAN
DSC_3621
Tags: Framed,Long Island,Trees,Clouds,Patchogue,Red,Marine,D300,2009,Seasons,IMRAN,ImranAnwar,New York,Silhouette,Yachting,Yellow,East Patchogue,Night,Sky,Suffolk,Nikon,Sunset,Boating,Solar,peaceful,tranquility,Outdoors,Sun,Lifestyles,Nature,Landscapes,Square
Osprey Soars Over Stunning Sunset Tampa Bay Florida - IMRAN™
A gorgeous moment in time as an osprey, ready to dive in, hovers over its prey in Tampa Bay waters just as the bay gets ready to devour the sun ready to dive into the oceans of time. Look closely. It seems like nature's hand is holding and gently handing the sun to a beloved lover, so like the emoji of a hand giving someone their heart.
© 2019 IMRAN™
I took this photo YWM. Yachting While Mesmerized.
I idled the twin 8.1 liter Mercruisers of the Sea Ray Sundancer 360. Their roaring energy turned into a rippling purr of silent power, awaiting my further commands.
The Nikon D300 shutter snapped to attention, as if clicking heels at the snap of my finger.
I was in command of my life, my camera, my ship, my ship of life. The world lay before me, and the waves danced at my feet. I'd been everywhere, and I was going anywhere I chose.
This 11MB JPG is from the 35MB TIFF Nikon D300 image from that moment. It was captured at a stunning sunset on my last day of yachting in Miami, Florida, before many challenging times came into my life.
As the sun sets on many aspects of a life in turmoil, and I lose, one after the other, many homes, possessions, properties, rewards of my life's work, I shed not a tear, which would be lost in the oceans on which I am yet to sail to brighter tomorrows.
Good or bad, I have no regrets about any choices I have made in life. Nor would I trade any of the experiences, or people, I have been blessed by having in my life, for anyone else's life and experiences.
As the winter sun set to my right, over Coral Gables in Florida, the silky textures it painted on the sky set this Stiltsville home in dramatic contrasts of dark and light.
The condemned golden wood, the inviting pink railing. The pelican watching the sun from the roof, another stretching its wings to catch the breeze and warmth for life, while sitting on a dead piling.
The deepening blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean at Biscayne Bay Channel had a mild chop, but it too was dying down with the setting sun. Over the silent din of the chop, the reflection of the bird possessed house, unlike the possessed creatures of Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds, still made itself known to the atoms of the camera sensor.
Just like the memories and reflections of this magical life shine bright in my soul, deep into the darkest nights, long after the life giving sun is gone and the passing birds of shared nests have disappeared into the tide of time ebbing, receding into history.
But the best is still ahead. The best of love. The best of Life. The best of Times. The best News' weeks. The best, of everything.
Goodnight, Night.
Come Tomorrow, for I humbly but confidently await you. Come Sailmate, future Soulmate, adrift alone on the ocean of life tonight, flying solo on some other horizon today.
My eyes peel the horizons, of the seven seas and seasonal skies, for your sight. My fingers yearn for your future touch.
Come take my hand as I take you, on board, for the incredible journey that lies ahead, for us.
The ship under my command, I will now captain as our love boat, where your wish, my love, is my command!
© 2010 IMRAN
DSC_1944
There truly are no words to describe this magical moment's colors, shades, layers and hues that God created for me to witness in this lifetime.
This absolutely unedited image without any color processing or tweaking of ANY kind, was taken with my now nearly 10 years old Nikon D300 at Smith Point Beach on Fire Island, off Long Island, New York.
Even though the weather was frigid New York winter cold, the ocean was in constant motion, even though the few waves rolling in to the beach reflected light as if they were glistening heaps of ice and snow.
SOOC image (Straight Out Of Camera) only watermarked with my name in PhotoShop. NO other editing was done.
© 2017
SOOC Image Straight Out Of Camera!! NO editing, tweaking, of ANY kind. Only framed in Photoshop & saved ~13.6MB Nikon RAW image as a 4.5MB JPG.
As the days get shorter and shorter, as the nights get longer and longer, time remaining in the year, and in life, gets shorter and shorter, and the list of things to do gets longer and longer.
Having a list of things to do still open from 1989, I knew there were many tasks that needed immediate attention. At the same time, I also suspected that the windy, chilly shortened Sunday on this holiday weekend, would soon be a memory.
The cold weather, fairly clear sky, but some distant low clouds on the horizon suggested to me that driving to Smith Point Beach and Bridge, on William Floyd Parkway, in Suffolk, Long Island, was a worthy investment of time, soul and life.
After a few photos taken at the newly erected boardwalk/jetty, I walked towards the top of the bridge with the blinding sun to my side.
I stopped every now and then - so blinded by the brightness, with fingers so frigid from the cold, I could only randomly rotate the Nikon D300's Aperture and Shutter speed knobs, take a picture, walk some more, rotate the knobs some more, and do it all over again. I could not really tell how well focused the 300/450mm lens was by then, how crooked the horizon might be, or even if I was standing straight when walking up the bridgeway.
This stunning un-retouched, unedited, unmodified Straight Out Of Camera image at 1/800 second and f/14 was one result.
The hot white sun ended the Sunday in a perfect StunDay sunset.
I hope you love the colors as much as I do.
© 2010 IMRAN
DSC_6920_PSF
This sunset to the side of my house, silhouetting my neighbor's home and the mast of my sailboat next to others others, was an interesting contrast of solid colors.
It seemed as if the masts' as black rods were levitating a white hot solar mass floating above them, in a red hot sky on a cool November evening.
As I reflect at Dawn on this bright image of dark silhouettes of Sunset one year ago, I am reminded of the power of miracles. Surreal events in our life that can make the impossible become possible. Guaranteed things that we take for granted that do not transpire. Such is the magic of life. Such is the drama of living.
All we can do is live every day, knowing, believing, that nothing is impossible. And, Impossible is Nothing.
© 2009-2010 IMRAN
DSC_3608_PSF
I am so blessed to call this place home. The cold temperatures of winter in Long Island, New York, make it much tougher to stay out from before sunset through dusk into blue hour, especially when it is windy. But, the colors can be such incredible shades of pastels. This panorama was made from 24 iPhone 6S+ photos, photomerged and edited in PhotoShop, and posted here. The problem with cell phone photos is that the exposure between the first scene opening and last closing photo can be markedly different as you can see the more reddish tinge on the left and more pink on the right edge. It becomes much more noticable in the full 360 degree Virtual Reality immersive panoramas I make. But, this being just a casual hobby, I do not have the time to go crazy trying to make them match perfectly. :-)
© 2016 IMRAN™
IMRAN_HeronPointe_Beach_Sunset_Panorama_PSP_DM
I am writing these words, and posting this photo, while visiting San Francisco, California.
This photo was taken just about 2 years ago, just 3 weeks before the passing away of my beloved Father in Pakistan.
A lot of difficult things were going on in my life, but I was not worried. I have always remembered the advice he gave me.
Prepare for the worst, but always Hope for the best.
I have therefore always believed in "crossing that bridge when I get to it" and knowing that life can always surprise you.
Even then, I had no idea on that day, as I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset, that my life would so quickly unravel.
A few weeks later, my Father was dead, gone forever, but living forever in my heart and memory. People who had seemed to be a part of my life showed their true colors, in my time of direst need, when an economic downturn led me to lose almost everything I had worked 21 years to get. But, other human beings, some good people, and some angels in disguise, continued to hover nearby with their love and support.
The next nearly 18 months were a surrel experience. I could be tempted to say, it was a living hell, but it was not.
Every day, every loss, every negative news, every lost opportunity, every closing door, every humbling experience, made me realize how very lucky I was, and am.
I realized that the worst day of that life was better than not being alive. The most difficult situation I faced was nothing compared to not having my health and abilities.
And, the roads were narrow and long, the lonely walks, in snow and rain, were cold and brutal.
And the shaky, fog covered, rickety bridges, kept on coming in the road ahead... And I kept on.... as my father would have wanted.... as I knew no other way.
I kept crossing the bridge, but believing in God that he would never let me ever experience, or feel, like I had hit Rock Bottom.
These rocks at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge are a poignant reminder of where I was, the dark alleys of life I passed through in the last 2 years in the time after this photo was taken, the journey I am still on, and, at every step, confidently and boldly looking up at new horizons.... with my head bowed down in complete surrdener and gratitude. Thank You, God.
Beyond Breathtaking Sunset Paints Tampa Bay Florida Sky In Infinite Colors Of God's Magic - IMRAN™
(My 107th Flickr Explore!)
I am blessed beyond words to see God's magic painted in the sky above my Apollo Beach home on Tampa Bay, Florida. NO editing was done to change any color or texture of this perfect moment. I only added my name, (Can you see it?)
How incredible are Tampa Bay sunsets? This was actually captured literally five years ago, in July 2016, with my Nikon D300. I bow my head in gratitude as Maghreb five years later gives me an opportunity to give thanks to Almighty Allah for having let me see this moment then, and again today.
© 2016-2021 IMRAN™
Radiant Red Glowing Gold Stunning Sunset Spans Skies & Seas Scene - IMRAN™
(My 108th Flickr Explore!)
I was setting up the Nikon D850 to capture this sunset in a timelapse, which I will post later, when I clicked to take at least one still shot to share with you. K2, my playful soon to be adolescent German Shepherd puppy, managed to get his horse-sized ears into the picture. Kennedy, the suaver of the two, stood to my side.
I just had to share this moment with you. The glowing gold radiant red stunning sunset colors spanned the scene from sky to sea to swimming pool on Tampa Bay and reflected doubly in the windows of my blessed Apollo Beach home. Another moment of gratitude as Maghreb prayer time approached.
© 2021 IMRAN™
Breathtaking Sunset Tampa Bay Florida At Apollo Beach - IMRAN™
A mind-blowing sunset over Tampa Bay captured from Apollo Beach, Florida. A super-detailed panorama from 8 handheld photos taken with a 16 years old Nikon D300.
© 2023 IMRAN™
K2 Sits Poolside As Stunning Sunset Washes Over Apollo Beach Florida Home - IMRAN™
(My 101st Explore!). This was a 200MB high-resolution panorama created from about a dozen handheld iPhone 11 Pro Max photos. It is hard to imagine the level of detail that exists in the original image. I had to reduce it to 20% size, and sites like FaceBook will literally show barely tolerable quality with something like a 5MB version of a 200MB file.
The sunset is the magical subject of attention, but I just loved how well-behaved and attentive then almost six-month-old puppy K2 was sitting poolside. Kennedy, my older German Shepherd, was behind me as I captured this stunning panorama of a blessed moment in time I have experienced living in this life of mine.
© 2020-2021 IMRAN™
Hunter Carries Its Prey In Silhouette Against Blood & Gold Sunset Sky - IMRAN™
Gold, and blood, so different, yet so intertwined. One a cold solid metal unless molten, the other a warm liquid unless coagulated by death and destruction, often brought about by man's greed and desire for gold, actual and figurative. These were the colors that filled the sky as I got to see no less than a dozen different ospreys have successful treasure-hunting runs, fish for food in this case.
I shot the bird, with my camera, while the killer osprey carried the fish on its final journey aerodynamically aligned to the direction of flight. I only had the 18-200mm lens on my 13-years old Nikon D300 and did not even have time to check and change any settings. I zoomed in the most I could and clicked away. This was one of the two best pictures I kept from that spontaneous shoot.
© 2020 IMRAN™
#ApolloBeach, #birdsofprey, #D300, #Fish, #fishing, #Florida, #Flying, #seafood, #humor, #hunting, #IMRAN, #ImranAnwar, #Lifestyle, #Nature, #Nikon, #osprey, #predator, #seaside, #Sunset, #Tampa, #TampaBay, #wildlife, #wordplay
Absolutely Unedited Perfection Of Tampa Bay Florida Dusk At Apollo Beach Home - IMRAN™ (SOOC)
[My 92nd photo in Flickr Explore!]
As Depeche Mode's song goes, "Words Are Very... Unnecessary."
I was blessed to soak-in this moment at my blessed home on Tampa Bay, Florida. A magnificent painting inspired by the roaring flames of a solar fire was emerging from the heavens rendering me silent in gratitude at Maghreb prayers. A few boaters on the calm water also quietly took in the experience.
Straight out of camera (SOOC) -- from my 13 years old Nikon D300 -- a photo ironically I did later straighten the horizon on a degree or two. Otherwise, my watermarked name would make it stand out as slanted. But NO editing of any kind to even a single pixel's colors.
© 2020 IMRAN™
Ground To Air Photography Of Drone's Air To Ground Photography From Sea To Air Sunset Scene - IMRAN™
(My 143rd Flickr Explore!)
Everyone knows picture in picture. I love taking camera (picture) in camera (picture) photos.
To capture this breathtaking sunset at my blessed home on Tampa Bay, in Apollo Beach, Florida, I launched my not-used-enough new DJI M3P drone. Then I let it hover as I took two photos with the iPhone 14 Pro Max (stitched into this stunning panorama).
Later I flew the drone and captured a lot more imagery. No idea when I will have time to share the nearly 100,000 "To Post" items from a lifetime of photography! Grateful, and blessed, as I bowed my head in gratitude at Maghreb (sunset) prayers.
© 2023 IMRAN™
Sunset Ends At Day's End At Winter's would End At Land's End Across Tampa Bay Florida - IMRAN™
The inexorable passing of the days, weeks, months, years, and life itself, is easy to remember seeing a stunning sunset like this. As the sunset was ending, on the end of a busy weekday, at the end of winter, of the fast-flying year 2021, life itself is sliding by like the ship crossing the horizon from left to right.
A casual glance does not indicate any motion of the ship. Neither does a typical day itself yell out to remind us of the flight of time. But, look up a short while later, and the ship will be where the sun is, but won't be in that time. And not too long after that, as night falls, the ship will have reached its destination, just as the lives of all of us, no matter how different, even opposite, from each others', will all end at the same destination.
It is about making every minute, every hour, every day, and every year count. It is about appreciating every moment of tranquility and every minute of serenity but also finding something to be grateful for even when there is a dark cloud above or the waves of fate are buffeting our lives.
Live, laugh, love, lust, long as we all can, my friends, and readers.
© 2021 IMRAN™
Our Universal Alignment - Sunset Light Shafts, Boat, Palm Tree, & I, All Lined Up At Tampa Bay Florida Home - IMRAN™
[My 98th Explore! And same day as reaching 7 Million Views!]
As a magnificent late November sunset was filling the sky with God's magic at my blessed home in Apollo Beach, I was recording the scene with my iPhone 11 Pro Max. A boat was coming into view from my right. I managed to click the still-photo button during the video-recording to capture this frame, just as the boat had intersected the light shafts from the sun almost 92 million miles (147.5 million km) away at that time of year.
For the briefest and only moment in the space-time continuum, those photons, the boat and its occupants, the palm tree, and I, -- all on our separate journeys through the universe -- were in perfect alignment. An ordinary moment that could have easily been missed. Or a memory of a lifetime, captured for all to see even when many or almost all the living beings in this frame are long gone.
Remember, life is a ceaseless opportunity to find magical alignments. You can let them pass by, or watch them sink under the horizon into the past. But, if you choose, you can grab every such moment, and make something magical happen, even for the briefest of times. Each of those precious magical moments and memories, woven together, are the fabric of an incredible life lived as no one else could have, can, or will,.... except you, right here, right now, every spot, every moment.
Are we in alignment? Let's make it happen. Let's make it count. Let's make magic. Drop me a line, and align!
© 2020-2021 IMRAN™
Pink Shafts Of Light Hungry To Touch Beauty Of Teal Penetrate Rich Gold Cloud Layers Across Tampa Bay Florida Horizon At Apollo Beach Home - IMRAN™
(My 95th photo in Flickr Explore!)
It was one of the usual lovely Florida sunsets over Tampa Bay, which I missed while out for a walk with the dogs. I was talking to two beautiful neighbors at the beach park as we saw the sunset. But on my return home I could not help but be enamored by the scene unfolding outside. The sharp light beams of soft pink seemed to penetrate their way through sold gold layers across the horizon past Tampa Bay. The golden yellow colors gave way to deeper orange red tones to the edges of the view. The Teal blue swimming pool against the multi-shaded blue sky framed those colors above and below. The waterfall created white puddles of bubbling water in the otherwise calm pool water, behind which Tampa Bay itself appeared calm like a pool. This is a quick panorama stitched from two Nikon D850 handheld photos at my blessed home in Apollo Beach.
© 2020 IMRAN™
#ApolloBeach, #Architecture, #blessed, #cloudscape, #D850, #Dusk, #Florida, #IMRAN, #Lifestyle, #lightrays, #literature, #luxuryhomes, #Nature, #Nikon, #palmtrees, #Panorama, #prose, #seaside, #Sunset, #swimmingpool, #gratitude, #TampaBay, #writing
Magnificent Magical Dusk & Surreal Sea Shades Head To Toe Tampa Bay Florida - IMRAN™
(My 106th Flickr Explore!)
It was another magical sunset and dusk at my blessed home's dock at the start of May this year when I took six handheld photos with the trusted old Nikon D300. Those were quickly auto-stitched in PhotoShop to create this quick and dirty panorama of the surreal scene.
© 2021 IMRAN™
Sharing Stunning Sailing Sunset Seaside Serenity Solitude Scene - IMRAN™
It is usually around an hour after actual sunset time that some of the most stunning scenes of serenity and sunset shades seem to appear across the sky over Tampa Bay. This sailboat, seen across the water from my blessed home in Apollo Beach, Florida seemed to be anchored there for the sailors onboard to enjoy the stillness and solitude when I took this photo at about 7:30 pm last night, February 18, 2021. It was captured with the 14-years old Nikon D300. Another moment to bow my head in prayer of gratitude at Maghreb.
© 2021 IMRAN™
#ApolloBeach, #Boating, #D300, #Florida, #IMRAN, #ImranAnwar, #Lifestyle, #Nature, #Nikon, #seaside, #Sunset, #Tampa, #TampaBay, #sailing, #Sailboat, #solitude, #serene, #Serenity, #maghreb, #gratitude, #Clouds, #Sky,
Done More On The Town At Dunmore Town - IMRAN™
(My 105th Flick Explore!)
Harbor Island, Bahamas, is such a wonderful place to visit. My then-girlfriend Tania Banens was big on travel and loved it as much as I do. She took us on this awesome trip to a wonderful place in 2007.
This was a photo of me she took as we were walking on Bay Street, Dunmore Town, in the Bahamas. I believe this was on our walk towards Valentines Resort & Marina Harbor Island.
© 2007-2021 IMRAN™
DSCN1940
Downtown Tampa Across Tampa Bay From Apollo Beach Florida By Drone On Stunning Day - IMRAN™
On a beautiful blue sky and white clouds day even the steam from the power plant does not look too bad when looking at the views of downtown Tampa from above my home in Apollo Beach. To the right is my Symphony Isles neighborhood, with Andalucia to the left. Beer Can Island is visible to the far left. Tampa Bay and the local bay are picture perfect settings for boating of all kinds.
This was taken with a 7 years old DJI Phantom 4.
© 2023 IMRAN™
Shout It From The Rooftop(s) - IMRAN™
Hope it survives the hurricane in 24 hours.
(My 131st Flickr Explore!)
Well, actually, no need to shout. Just a different point of view of how I see my world, all around. And quietly say a prayer of gratitude. According to the phone photo GPS info, I was standing 65 feet (about 20 meters) above sea level and about 45 feet (15 m) above street level.
Handheld iPhone 13 Pro Max photos stitched into a quick and dirty 360°x360° panorama. Captured on a cloudy day at my blessed home in Apollo Beach when I used my twenty-eight feet new ladder to get up to the rooftop for these photos.
Tampa Bay is covered by clouds, with a dash of blue visible somewhere around Clearwater, I think. A boat in the water across from my home is easily visible in the view.
© 2022 IMRAN™
Gorgeous Dusk Across Tampa Bay Florida Silhouettes Neighbors' Gazebo & Palm Trees At Apollo Beach - IMRAN™
It is such a joy to see so many beautiful sunsets and sights in the Tampa area. This gorgeous moment has another Tampa Bay sunset, not even that "dramatic" because there were no complex clouds around, creating a magical silhouette view of the gazebo and palm trees at my Apollo Beach, Florida neighbors' home.
© 2022 IMRAN™
PS Seeing this post around 8 PM Eastern October 18, 2022 means you may have clicked the 10 MILLIONTH view of my Flickr photo-stream. Thank you, ALL!
Camera Sets Sight As Ship Sets Sail While Sun Sets Itself For Sunset - IMRAN™
This was the mind-blowing red, yellow, orange, gold scene at the start of November, last year, at my blessed home in Apollo Beach, Florida. The sun had set its mind to set for a glorious sunset on Tampa Bay while a ship had set sail from the Port of Tampa, and I had set my camera to set its sight on the stunning scenery.
This is a reduced size photo from my 14-years old Nikon D300, taken handheld at a maximum zoom of 450mm eq. -1/3 eV at just 1/1600th of a second.
Despite such tight settings, the searing colors of the sky are glowing as if the photo was boosted. NO filters, no processing was done. I did level the horizon and add my name, and save the photo as a JPG to be easier to upload. Talk about photons straight from the sun for a sunset photo straight from the camera (SOOC).
© 2020-2021 IMRAN™
Birds Of The (Not) Same Feather (Still) Flock Together.- IMRAN™
Peacocks pheasants, and birds of that feather, even if not exactly the same feather, are always a joy to behold. This pair is no exception.
This photo is another of the many hundreds of pictures I took during a trip to Pakistan a dozen years ago. I shot this photo with my Nikon D300, which I still use in 2021.
2009 was a brutal year financially, and emotionally it was among the worst I have experienced. But it was great to be able to visit my siblings in Lahore.
We had taken a trip to my sister and brother-in-law's family land and farms in Mian Channu, south of Lahore. My brother in law is into horses and dogs, but his brother living in their ancestral home is also very much into peacocks and pheasants. He has dozens of these constructed rooms or pens for pairs of these beautiful birds. This is one of many gorgeous pairs I enjoyed seeing in that trip.
© 2009-2021 IMRAN™
Breathtaking Last Sunset Of September 2020 On Tampa Bay Florida - IMRAN™
This is what tonight's sunset - the last sunset of September 2020 - unfolded looking like. I knew I had to take some photos as I juggled two steaks on the grill, two German Shepherds playing hard drenched from being in the swimming pool, and two cameras to take photos with. What can I tell you... I am a Gemini. Two of everything. LOL.
2020 has been a surreal year for us. For all of us. Globally, as a species under attack from a pandemic. Nationally, America literally facing an existential crisis brought on by a constitutional crisis being foisted upon us by the agents of an enemy state. And even personally, by the many shocking blows I was hit with this year.
But, at the end of it all, the day, the month, the quarter, soon the year, the decade, and one day my earthly time itself, I cannot deny all the unbelievable blessings I shall forever be grateful for. That is why almost everything I am writing this year makes me refer to things with the particular year 2020 mentioned.
I hope that we all survive this year all the horrendous things that threaten us, our health, our democracy, and our nation. I pray that we grow stronger, smarter, happier, more loved, and more successful in the years to come. I dream of the times we can look back at the writings from these moments in time and be grateful to have made it into those dates in the future. I hope you will be with me then too. Amen.
© 2020 IMRAN™
There is an infinite variety of sunsets and dusk patterns I am blessed to see at my Apollo Beach, Florida, home. Facing St. Petersburg's skyline across the expanse of Tampa Bay, once in a while something so dramatic appears that it is hard to describe.
This cloud armada rolling across the sky was dark, deep and menacing in some parts, and sheer, seductive, and soft enough for the sunlight to give it a sexy pink glow. But it was the explosion of the sun's light going through random layers of clouds that appeared like giant fiery explosions taking on the cloud armada. They made war but I see a love of magic and sensuality of nature emerge from the hot, wet, battle.
© 2016 IMRAN™
DSC_1321
Mighty Osprey Flying Home With Massive Prey In Exquisite Details Against Breathtaking Tampa Bay Florida Sunset At Apollo Beach Home - IMRAN™
Few words can describe the breathtaking range and layers of colors that fill the sky during stunning sunsets over Tampa Bay, Florida. I am so blessed to be able to see and capture so many of them. Within each, there are so many extraordinarily magical moments that multiple lifetimes would be needed to see much less capture them. Sometimes I get lucky.
This mighty osprey was flying home past my blessed home carrying a massive fish. This handheld photo was taken with the 14 years old Nikon D300. It still captured so much exquisite detail on the fish, and even its fins and whatever those whisker-type things are!
Check its full detail at flickr.com/ImranAnwar as other sites do not do justice to the original uploads.
© 2021 IMRAN™
Looking Up At Towering Eiffel Tower & Traffic Light Pole From A Unique Perspective In Paris France - IMRAN™
(My 109th Flickr Explore!)
I am so blessed to have visited this landmark, and the great city of Paris, France, so many times. From my parents loving Evening In Paris fragrances in my childhood to it being just another great foreign city name which I heard in school to one day waking up turning 25 in that great city. (Actually, as a Gemini I turned 25 there as well as West Berlin on the same day in what was then West Germany!)
Then to visit all the key cities from my 25th birthday trip on almost all the same exact dates on my 50th birthday was a double blessing. And then to be able to go back several more times has been an extra bonus that I shall forever smile thinking of.
This was a unique perspective I got to capture around another birthday trip in 2018. It is actually a panorama from about a dozen handheld photos taken with the Nikon D300 I had with me. You can see some stitching artifacts towards the edges.
A traffic light pole towering over me, with the Eiffel Tower towering over us with some white clouds towering over that. Have you been to Paris, France? Do you wish to?
© 2018-2021 IMRAN™
Magnificent Gold, Pink, Violet Hues Paint Tampa Sunset Sky Behind Saint Petersburg Florida Skyline - IMRAN™
The magic of Florida sunsets is so unlimited that I have not even gotten around to posting all of the ones I have captured even from just this one blessed spot of my home in Apollo Beach at Tampa Bay. This is a sunset I captured in the early summer of 2016, but have not gotten to post until tonight, almost 5 years later. The breathtakingly soft layers and tones of colors blending in the sky take my breath away.
© 2016-2021 IMRAN™
#ApolloBeach, #Architecture, #Beach, #Beach #Life, #Boating, #Clouds, #D300, #Florida, #Home, #horizon, #IMRAN, #ImranAnwar, #Lifestyle, #Nature, #Night, #Nikon, #Ocean, #Orange, #Outdoors, #Panorama, #Red, #seaside, #Sky, #Sun, #Sunset, #Tampa, #TampaBay, #Waves
I took this photo from my vantage point up on the Golden Gate Bridge, in San Francisco, California.
The setting sun behind me was lighting up the scene with reddish hues.
The scene was so reddish, it looked like I had boosted it. So, this is actually a photo in which I reduced the saturation! But the rich hues and contrasts still make it unusual.
The trawler or tug appeared slice the blue waters lined by dark evergreens on one side and golden red hills and brown dirt on the other. It seemed to have California as a Port of Call, from near and far, because the captain would definitely see that state's land surrounding him on all sides.
A barn like structure made it almost like a painting as I shot this in early December 2008.
© 2008-2010 IMRAN
DSC_1318_PSF
Layers Of Magic Layered Over Layers Of Miracles Across Layers Of Imagination - IMRAN™
(My 86th photo in Flickr Explore!) This mid-summer late afternoon scene at Tampa Bay was unfolding at Apollo Beach in Florida when I happened to look out the window. The sun was just starting to reveal itself under layers of clouds which were under layers of clouds that were in front of other layers of clouds in the distance. The steamy haze rising above the warm waters made for another surreal double vision double horizon effect more reminiscent of images of sunsets in the African wild. You have to see the image on a large screen to see the many birds flying in the distance. This more than 8100x5400 pixel image of 210MB will be rendered into some ridiculously low-resolution version on social media like FaceBook. The full-size version could not be uploaded on Flickr either so I will have to resize it even for posting there.
© 2020 IMRAN™
Spitting Image? Dolphin Statue Fountain "Holds" Setting Sun As A Marble In Its Mouth - IMRAN™
[My 94th Photo In Flickr Explore!]. The 13-years old Nikon D300 paired with the still awesome 18-200 Nikkor lens can still capture some of the most magnificent images. This in itself was one of the most spectacular gold and red painted sky sunsets I have seen at my blessed home in Apollo Beach. The dolphin statue fountain's water flow is caught in vivid detail with light reflecting off and through it in addition to refractions and other effects adding their magic. Like a trained animal the dolphin almost seems to be holding the sun like a marble in its mouth. Tampa Bay, Florida, provides the perfect backdrop for this magical scene which required no editing.
© 2020 IMRAN™
#ApolloBeach, #Boating, #Clouds, #cloudscape, #Creative, #D300, #Florida, #fountain, #IMRAN, #ImranAnwar, #Lifestyle, #Nature, #Nikon, #puns, #reflections, #refraction, #seaside, #Sunset, #Tampa, #TampaBay, #Water, #waterfall, #waterfront, #wordplay, #light, #magic, #silhouette
Shocking Pink Gorgeous Display Of Nature's Colors At Long Island Home A Dozen Years Ago - IMRAN™
I took this photo 13 years ago in early fall of 2010 at my home on Long Island, New York. It is one of the 100,000+ pictures I need to make time and post in my life while there is time! Life goes by so fast, like a summer bloom.
These flowers are so long gone even their roots have forever become one with the soil. But their beauty and magic live on forever. Even that can be a lesson in life philosophy for each one of us, for long after we are gone.
© 2010-2023 IMRAN™
Even Storm Clouds Are A Blessing To Be Grateful For - IMRAN™
(My 112th Flickr Explore!)
At first glance it is just another magnificent Florida sunset formed by storm clouds. It is "just" a pretty cool photo captured by someone with a camera living at a beautiful home on Tampa Bay. But to me it is much more symbolic, poignant, and soul-touching than that.
As so many people struggle with their daily lives, whether financially, emotionally, psychologically, or physically, it is easy for many people to assume everyone else has it easy, or at least easier than them. The daily or even lifelong struggles, the constant stresses, the betrayals by loved ones, the difficulty in making ends meet, the responsibilities of caring for sick loved ones, or the pressures of raising kids as a single parent with exes sucking the joy out of life and sabotaging future love and happiness, injustices in society, unfair treatment or exploitation by employers, and so many are things like these are among the many challenges.
There are always storm clouds on the horizons of lives. Faced with that reality, it becomes easy to assume that others are having an easier time without their own storm clouds, just because they are smiling in a photo, or out with a group of friends, or posting a photo of something fun they did. That can make people forget to take stock of how even their terrible situation is full of blessings. But looking around at everything they can realize how much they have to be grateful for, how much what is part of even their challenge-filled life is what so many millions of others are dying wanting to have.
So, as I looked at these massive storm clouds forming, with so many challenges that surround the scenes of our lives, I bowed my head in gratitude even to have storm clouds surround the horizons of life. Think about it. Just being alive, being able to see the storm, hear the thunder, feel the rumble, smell the ozone, sense the electricity in the air ready to strike like lightning, and touch the lightest drops of rain.... how many hundreds of millions who passed before us will never have the opportunity to experience these again.
No matter what it is you are struggling with, think about it... there is someone somewhere who would gladly trade places and their situation for yours. Each and every thing in life, even the storms, when looked at with the right spiritual lens, the with the correct settings in the camera of our souls, are capturing a moment of infinite uniqueness.
No one else in the entire universe, in all of time and for all eternity, will have had the same exact moment, the same exact experience, the same exact privilege of being you in whatever situation you face. Situations change, and they change much faster when you learn to recognize that even the darkest, stormiest, photos of you life are mere dramatic highlights of a beautiful movie of your life that is entirely in your hands, heart, mind, and soul to write, rewrite, and lead to whatever direction and happy ending you choose to.
Embrace the storm, take my hand, let me guide you to turning the most difficult moments into beautiful works of art of gratitude, hope, confidence, joy, and love.
© 2021 IMRAN™
Happy Winter Blues TGIF Tampa Bay Florida Morning Panorama At Symphony Isles - IMRAN™
(My 102nd Explore!)
It was a gorgeous morning on a mid-December Friday at the end of last year when I took the dogs out for a quick walk. With very low tides, the Symphony Isles neighborhood in Apollo Beach gets an even more extended private ocean beach feel to it.
I would have preferred walking out along the shore but it was still a day of meetings. I had an 11 AM call coming up so I just went to this empty lot of my neighbor's property for a few minutes before heading back to my meetings.
This is a panorama created from about eight iPhone 11 Pro Max unedited photos, merged straight out of camera. I used the widest angle view so you can see the visual aberrations where the horizon appears to have a slight ripple.
© 2020-2021 IMRAN™
9/11 Sunset Over St. Petersburg Florida.Reflecting Passing Years Across Tampa Bay Waters - IMRAN™
It was the end of day 9/11 in 2020. A surreal scene blending serenity and ominousness spanned the sky and sea at Tampa Bay, in Apollo Beach, Florida.
This was such a dramatic sunset that it was nearly impossible to capture this panorama without the bright sun blowing out the center of the picture. But the soft textures of the clouds contrasted within themselves in reds and blues, whites and grays. They also contrasted with the seeming coarseness and smoothness of the ripples on the water, along with the red reflections and blue dark shades on the water's surface.
A magical moment stitched from around six handheld photos taken with the Nikon D850 as it was time to say another prayer of gratitude to Allah at Maghreb.
© 2020-2021 IMRAN™
Fabulous Friday Stunning Sunset Dramatic Dusk - IMRAN™
This is only half of the stunning sunset and dusk I captured at home this past Friday at my blessed home. About half a dozen photos with the 16-yeara old Nikon D300 still created a stunning 250MB image, which would be too big to share. So I reduced it to one-sixth the size for Flickr, while lousy quality platforms like Facebook will only get a file one-fortieth the size and quality of the original.
© 2023 IMRAN™
Brunette & Blonde On Orange Kayak Soak In Blue & Red Sunset And Golden Dusk Tampa Bay - IMRAN™
These two ladies were going past my blessed home in Apollo Beach on a kayak. I was soaking in a dramatic dusk across the horizon over Tampa Bay. A sliver of red Florida sunset was sinking into the sea to the right. As the ladies captured the magical moment, they too were captured in this image of the magical moment.
© 2021 IMRAN™
Sun Sets On 2015. Day's End Ends Year as I was able to capture another blessed view from my home in Apollo Beach, Florida
This was created from several handheld iPhone 6S+ photos and merged into this full 360 panorama.
© 2015 IMRAN
IMG_0882_PSFPano
Destination Unknown Sequel: Getting Picked Up At Tampa Airport... For Flying With A Flamingo? - IMRAN™ - (My 134th Flickr Explore!)
I love the feeling of having an airport all to myself. Even better to seem like I am being picked up for a flight by the massive but lifelike flamingo art installation at Tampa International Airport. I wonder how far that can take me. But I bet my at least one arm will be very tired. LOL
© 2022 IMRAN™
Sea Of Pink & Gold Blooms At New York Home Fall 2010 - IMRAN™
More than a dozen years ago, at my Long Island, New York, home I was able to sometimes find time to plant bulbs and flowering plants around the house. Though the annual brutal winters made it hard to continue the habit, I continued until spending more time at my Florida home made it impractical.
I had taken the three photos, from which this panorama was created, in early Fall of 2010. It was still a complex time, after the brtual destruction from the Bush Sr. era near total depression.
The still going strong Nikon D300 captured nature's colors beautifuly.
© 2010-2023 IMRAN™
(My 100th Explore!)
Drone Drops, I Rise, Eyes Rise To See Sea-Level Green Lights On Sea Green Seaside Scene For Selfie With Dogs At Home At Sunset - IMRAN™
I had not used the DJI Phantom 4 drone since the boat parade around the holidays in mid-December. Today I decided to do a quick flight with it while the dogs, Kennedy and K2, were on deck chilling on the dock on the bay.
A gorgeous Tampa Bay Florida sunset was happening as I managed to get it all on video. This moment was the start of a really cool segment of the drone rising up rapidly and keeping focus on us, then coming back in for a zippy landing on the dock.
The coolest part of that was how chill both Kennedy and K2 were as the drone landed literally a few feet away from them. But, due to some DJI bug, that video failed to record and the dreaded "Disconnected" error showed up on the phone screen while the drone was in flight.
I was able to land it safely and easily purely from line of sight control. But it is a bummer to lose the cool video segment at the end. Enjoy the moment I took this photo, with the drone literally a few feet above the water, capturing the green fish lights underwater at my dock. As I stood on the railing, Kennedy literally acted bored. K2, as you can see from his expression, is still trying to figure out the white bird hovering in front of him, but remained fearless even as the technology bird came in to land.
© 2021 IMRAN™
#aerial, #ApolloBeach, #Beach, #blessed, #Boating, #DJI, #dock, #dogs, #fishing, #Florida, #Flying, #German #Shepherd #Dogs, #gratitude, #Green #Light, #Home, #IMRAN, #ImranAnwar, #JetSki, #Lifestyle, #Nature, #Phantom4, #seaside, #Sunset, #Tampa, #TampaBay, #WaveRunner, #Yamaha