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Made for Challenge #9 in the group The Apple Tree of Texture

New York, New York

 

"I always like walking in the rain, so no one can see me crying."/“J'aime marcher sous la pluie, car personne ne peut voir mes larmes.” - Charles Chaplin

Hi all! Well I'm back from a journey I didn't want to take. Aside from server issues due to heat in which initially lost me all my RAW archive and lightroom catalogue, I also managed to kill my fave lens due to a drop and a rock in the wrong place!!!

 

Anyway, life goes on and now on mega catch up time. Lots to post but will spread it out so to give me time to catch up.

 

Hope you have all been well, missed my journeys into your photographic visions.

One of my attempts at the "Macro Mondays" theme "drips, drops and splashes".

 

The quality leaves something to be desired I‘m sure, but I really liked the fact that I finally found a simple way of attempting to capture the flow and impact of water without the need for anything but my camera, a light source and a couple of minutes.

 

This was a second try of this technique mentioned in an earlier shot. It was taken in the car, stopped next to a traffic light (on the side of the road, of course)!

 

Shot with a Steinheil "Repro-Objektiv 80 mm F 4.5" on a Canon EOS R5.

This beautiful Tulip shows just what its made of when in full flower.

Europe, The Netherlands, Rotterdam, Centre, Markthal, Chinese supermarket, Kitchen utensils (uncut)

 

Shot in the Markthal, in the 'Wah nam hong' supermarket, one of the two Chinese supermarket chains in Roterdam. Gotta love those large Hanzi logograms on the wall.

 

This is the start of a Rotterdam 'retail' mini series and number 1082 of Minimalism / explicit graphism and 391 of interiors.

Another sunrise seen from my bedroom window. Yes, I get to work every day even though I would prefer to just stay in the window watching this.View On Black

 

Buy this photo on Getty Images : Getty Images

 

Sur (Arabic: صور‎) is a capital city of Ash Sharqiyah Region, northeastern Oman, on the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It is located 150 km (93 miles) southeast of the Omani capital Muscat. Historically the city is known for being an important destination point for sailors. Today the sea still plays an important part of life in Sur.

Today the city has retained its reputation as a major dhow-building town, the very same vessels that were used for trade two centuries previously.

 

Submitted: 04/01/2017

Accepted 20/01/2017

 

Published:

- HolidayCheck AG (Switzerland) 28-Mar-2017

- ANWB (Netherlands) 09-Mar-2021

I've shot this tree in Summer and Winter before, and covered in snow. This is the first time in Autumn. Unfortunately it doesn't have the greatest of Autumn colour!

Swaledale sheep in Haveswater Gill near Hartsop

The English Lake District

 

Thank you all for viewing, commenting and favouring my images

Long exposure, willow tree growing in Lake Wanaka, New Zealand

Volunteer abroad with UBELONG. Change the world, change yourself: UBELONG Volunteer Abroad

I just caught Lucy peeking around the corner of the steps and could see her in the mirror as well. I couldn't believe she gave me time to grab my camera.

Taken using a Nikon D80, in a friend's orchard. just one shot and a narrow depth of field

Better in the lightbox

I went to Botswana during the Green Season just as the rainy season ended. Doing this allowed me to pay a lower rate for accommodations. It also meant that the water levels would be high and the grasses would be plentiful. The wildlife certainly looked like it was their favorite season as well.

 

The zebras of the Okanango Delta were quite skittish though. This was one moment that they kept grazing and didn't run away. My next upload will explain perhaps why they were so jittery.

 

A reminder that all of my images are copyrighted and are not for your use in any way unless you contact me.

  

Working at the fringes of Image stabilization, trying to handhold this shot a 1/15th of a second. Without using a tripod, getting a shot in these dim subways while trying to capture motion blur always presents a challenge!

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Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV

Lens: Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM

Focal Length: 16mm

Exposure: 1/15th @ F6.3 ISO 1250

 

Prints and more available here!

View my stream on Fluidr.

Fallen tree in the autumn forest

Zürich, Switzerland

 

Leica MP, Ilford HP5+

Lost, somewhere within the machinery...

Interesting what you see in the churchyard. Little Owl, (Athene noctua) seen in the ruined churchyard of St Mary at Tivetshall in Norfolk.

In West Macedonia

Thank you all known and unknown friends in Flickr for your visit

There's the copyright symbol .Please respect it!

  

Albissola Marina - Chiesa di Nostra Signora della Concordia

Speriamo in una concordia immediata !

 

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Do not use any of my images on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit written permission.

All rights reserved - Copyright © fotomie2009 - Nora Caracci

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This is taken at home, in the barn across from my house.

 

In the barn we have 3 big roof lights that produce a serious amount of light. In this picture I just have 1 on and have sat directly below it.

 

I really like the end result.

 

my wife hates it.

For some reason today I keep looking at this picture of myself from 2009 in which I completely missed getting into a pose for the camera. I was using the self timer but was caught in the moment of realising I had painted my nails (I love to do this as it is a rare event for me). It was quite late at night and I was tired and emotionally exhausted after the lovely time I was having wearing women’s clothing and make-up on my face. I was also thrilled to see the mascara on my eyelashes as I love wearing mascara. It is not a great photo but it set free a lot of thoughts seeing it once more.

 

As a young man I use to question my sexuality and was troubled by my feelings. The problem I had was I had a powerful desire to dress up as a girl. The issue had the complication that when I was cross-dressed and attempting to look female I found I wanted to act as if I really was a female. This meant I enjoyed trying to see if I could attract men and I wanted them to desire me as a female. Sounds straightforward? Many tell me I am homosexual and just won’t acknowledge it.

 

For many years I wrestled with this as despite my desire to try and appear as a female men may be attracted to, and I admit I love the idea of being the girl and enjoy acting in the role of a woman, at my core I am not attracted to men at all!

 

This conundrum used to incapacitate me emotionally for weeks at a time and I genuinely found it difficult to carry on in my normal life as a man. I have deeply considered if I am homosexual and I conclude now that I am not yet I am keen on pretending I am woman and enjoy acting as a woman would with men albeit without any physical intimacy.

 

Another factor I wrestle with comes down to my lack of confidence and self belief. I do desire to pass convincingly as a woman but, for me personally, I completely fail in my aspirations, I feel I always look so obviously a man dressed up as a woman. Having admitted how I feel about my attempts at female illusion I still find myself trying to act the part of a woman as convincingly as I possibly can.

 

One aspect of my life I am greatly disappointed about and truly regret is as a teenager I secretly had the desire to be an entertainer and loved the idea of being a female impersonator. Part of that was, at the time, a way of freeing my inner desire to dress up as a girl. I really wanted a career as an actor that played transgender roles or in comedy playing a transvestite roles. I would have loved doing that job for a living but…but…I am weak, shallow individual and my fear of others ridiculing my dream meant I took the easier and duller route of suppressing my feelings and just trying to be a boy and conforming to what society expected.

 

I can vividly recall as a teenager washing my hair and blow drying it into a girls style then putting on make-up. I recall the tactile sensation of lipstick on my lips and the sheer excitement of coating my eyelashes in mascara, to then put on knickers and a bra, slip into a dress and step into high heels...absolute heaven! Seeing myself in a long mirror dressed as a girl had a powerful emotional impact and an experience that at first was euphoric, then caused me great distress followed by self disgust.

 

What happened after seeing myself in the mirror dressed as a girl was I found myself being sexually aroused and had to masturbate, the moment was incredible. However, minutes after masturbating I began to cry and could not stop, I had lost control completely. My mascara was running down my face and the sight of this gripped my heart and made me realise I was never ever going to be able to be a girl, I was stuck and my life was to be that of a man. I had dreamt of boys wanting to go out with me and I could be a girlfriend yet deep down I was repulsed by the notion and this led to the disgust with myself. I was distraught for many days afterwards yet that memory of being dressed in girls clothes, having changed my hair style and of wearing make-up and then seeing my mascara running down my tearful face would not diminish. What did it all mean? I had no idea.

 

What happened was I became withdrawn and rarely socialised, at school and college I would keep to myself and every day I would question myself and about my feelings and tell myself I must be homosexual because of my actions yet I was definitely attracted to girls not boys.

 

What troubled me a lot was when I was dressed as a girl I really liked being one and liked being a girl with the boys but was avoiding intimacy. I’m not sure what stopped me as I used to dare myself to try and do girlie things like should I kiss a boy when I am cross-dressed as a girl, the thrill was there I don’t deny it but I held back. I began to wonder why as I grew older, part of me thought it was because I had no desire for anal sex with a man, could that be why I hung back? I could not have sex as a woman with a man because I was a man, I would then feel a bit queasy just thinking of that.

 

For years I though I must be a closeted homosexual as why else would I desire to dress up and act like a girl and try to do so as if I really was one? Eventually, my lack of confidence in my ability to actually look convincing s a female became so strong I suppressed my urge to cross-dress for over twenty years. I have to say throughout those two decades the desire to dress as a woman never diminished, I used to think of it almost every day and I would, no point in denying this, envy women when I saw them, I was desperate to be a woman...or was I? Again, another issue was ever present. I know I get a real thrill and enjoy the fact that I am a man dressing up as a woman, I really love that and it also sets free the suppressed actor I wish I had been and even though I now always dress up as a woman in private, it gives me an opportunity to perform, to be that female impersonator.

 

Part of me is greatly attracted to the performance aspects and I do enjoy the whole transformation from male to female and love all the physical preparation, make-up, wigs and dresses, it is incredibly good fun and liberating and yet, another part of me wants it to be real, part of me wants to be a woman. I then get into a whole circle that goes around and around of am I transsexual? Am I deluding myself? No! I love being a transvestite, its so very exciting and don’t get me wrong, I adore, truly adore being a transvestite. I do enjoy the notion of illusion and presenting an image that is very different to my normal gender. I can still get very aroused sexually by cross-dressing and I still love the idea of acting as a woman alongside a man and carrying the role off well enough to be able to maybe kiss a man and hold his hand and really try and be a female companion alongside him, but it is purely performance. For me it is the challenge of playing a character role as well as I possibly can and trying to make that character convincing, it’s driven I believe, by my aspirations as a teenager to be an actor. It’s a case of to make the woman I am portraying feel real I need to act as her and play her as an heterosexual woman. A variation on the way straight actors can play gay roles. It’s just my ego being driven by the desire to make my female alter-ego be as real a woman as I can make her.

 

I do know now that I am in my mid fifties that I am an heterosexual male as I am not attracted to men but I like the idea I can dress up as a woman and pretend I am as it makes my female performance more convincing.

 

Maybe it is all a delusion and I am rationalising things in a way that makes it acceptable to me. I can recall I once hired a professional make-up artist to transform me into a woman back in 2002 as I was keen to learn how to apply make-up properly for my facial features and skin colouring. He told me I did look like a woman but it was obvious I was a man. When I asked why he said I was still acting like a man and I needed to modify my thinking and physicality to become a woman if the illusion was to work. As you can imagine this ignited the frustrated actor within me and I try to achieve this each time I dress up as a female.

 

While a part of me, what I call my transsexual part, feels elation at taking on the appearance of a woman (well trying to take on the appearance) another part of me enjoys the adventure of it all, the daring of being a man and completely throwing all of that to one side and trying to become feminine. Part of me is indeed the classic transvestite, I just love the dressing up, the wigs and the make-up, it is such an exciting experience to cross-dress but I am pre disposed to favour such an activity so I would like it wouldn’t I.

 

I do always feel sheer delight when I completely make myself over into my female alter-ego and I do experience that wish that I could stay a woman forever yet I know that within a few hours that feeling will diminish and I will be content to become my male self once more. I thrive on the memories of my cross-dressing sessions and the anticipation of the next one. These days I am lucky to manage two occasions a year so they are very precious to me and give me a some relief for the part of me that fervently wishes I was a woman not a man but…I am a man…the circle begins once more…

 

Sunset in Austria short after the German border at Nassereith. The sun came through the heavy clouds and gave a nice light.

 

Camera: Canon 5DSR

Lens: EF70-200mm F/2.8L IS II USM

Focal Length:110mm; Exposure Time: 1/200 sec;

Aperture: 9; ISO: 100

 

All rights reserved - Copyright © Martin Zurek

 

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer.

Nice flower I spotted in my garden. Not sure what type it is.

I was able to capture this owl in flight today. I'm guessing the sun was shining right on this owl as it was in flight. It was at 1pm too.

 

Taken from Raw Image.

interestingness #30

 

view large

Aquí os dejo otra más de esta serie, la fotografía es de la primavera de 2019, que se había quedado en el tintero como muchas mas, por falta de tiempo de revelar/editar el material guardado.

 

Estamos casi inmersos en la primavera y desando ya ver la abundante flora con la que nos deleita dicha estación, aunque por mis lares todavía hasta el 40 de abril por lo menos nos queda un rato de espera.

  

Espero que os guste y gracias por pasar por aquí y dejar vuestro comentario.

 

Feliz semana,

 

PLEASE:

 

· Do not post animated gifs or pictures in your comments. Especially the "awards".

 

· No invitations to groups where one must comment and/or invite and/or give award and no group icon without any comment.

 

POR FAVOR:

 

· No pongas gifs animados, logos o premios (awards) en tu comentario.

 

· No me envíes invitaciones a grupos donde exista la obligación de comentar o premiar fotos, ni a aquellos donde existe un comentario preformateado con el logo del grupo.

  

THANKS / Muchas gracias!!

¡¡AWARD Y LOGOS NO, POR FAVOR - SE ELIMINARAN TODOS!!

¡¡AWARD AND LOGOS NOT, PLEASE - I'LL REMOVE THEM ALL!!

 

"Spiritually I’m on another planet

My heart races with the stars

My soul showers in rainstorms

My eyes dance with galaxies,

but my mind wimpers for a better tomorrow

 

It’s a choice,

to stay in my own head,

I’ve found solace in my daydreams

discovered a world beyond mine,

but I can never stay there for too long

 

I get lost in the thought of another life,

because I can’t seem to come to peace with mine

I climb the tallest trees

Just to get close to the sky,

so maybe I could spread my wings and fly"

A misty evening on the Blue Ridge Parkway…

  

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