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Increased tonnage lead the A&A to acquire RS-3u #114 to replace the GE centercabs in freight service. On Sept. 18, 2025 the train is approaching Genesee Road. (misc70436d)
Gadwall, Anas strepera.
Length: 46-56cm
Wingspan: 84-95 cm
Weight: 650-900g
UK breeding: 1,200 summer nesting pairs, (mainly in south and eastern England).
UK wintering: 25,000 birds
The Gadwall is a very grey-coloured dabbling duck, a little smaller than the Mallard, and with an obvious black rear end. When seen close up the grey colour is made up of exquisitely fine barring and speckling. In flight, the white wing-patches are very obvious in both sexes.
Gadwalls can be seen anytime of year, but chances are better in winter when numbers increase as birds migrate to spend the winter in the UK, (20–30% of the European population), away from harsher continental weather, and can be found on reservoirs, lakes, flooded gravel pits and coastal wetlands. It nests in low numbers in the UK, on freshwater lakes with lots of vegetation.
Gadwall can sometimes be seen following Coot around. After the a Coot has dived down to pick waterweed, the opportunistic Gadwall will grab some for itself.
After learn more and see you guys's photo works more,
I always feel not good enough for my earlier photo works,
maybe this means i am keeping increasing my sense of art...
But sometimes i think that is not so improtant,
just have fun and take photos is enough...
about the increasing internet audience, possibilities of infinite gTLDs and the conflict that comes with it.
www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-06/name-calling-on-the-int...
Peace Bridge - Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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D. boleti was considered very rare in the UK 20 years ago but now appears to be increasing in number. It feeds on some fungi that grow on dead and decaying birch trees. This one was found on a fallen birch at Tuddenham, Suffolk.
For increased tendered services won after GHA Coaches ceased trading has allowed Howards to invest in some new vehicles. One of two ADL Enviros is seen in Knutsford Bus Station operating former GHA service 27 to Macclesfield.
Knutsford Bus Station - 2017.
To see the full collection: www.busphotosuk.co.uk.
For photos available for purchase: www.ebay.co.uk/usr/busphotosuk
The one I love
Is standing near
The one I love
Is everywhere
I can woo you
I can amuse you
But there is nothing I can do to make you mine
Black cloud, black cloud
The one I love
Roosts in the mind
Can snap this spell
Or increase hell
I can chase you
And I can catch you
But there is nothing I can do to make you mine
Black cloud, black cloud
Oh, black cloud
Oh, black cloud
I play the game
Of Favorites now
I can I must
I will I do
I can please you
Or I can freeze you out
But there is nothing I can do to make you mine
Black cloud, black cloud, black cloud
I can choke myself to please you
And I can sink much lower than usual
But there's nothing I can do
To make you mine
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7iAKVu6WeM
Morrissey
Album: Years Of Refusal
Year: 2009
Water increase because of the rain, and please choose the one by which a flow becomes clear.
A mountain went to the deep valley stream.
I expect, it's clear for water, and, the quantity of water is also rich.
A heart danced in wonderful location in !
The place where a flow of water is also intense in particular at the inside for me, search
I walked.
The flow full of uplifting feeling what I have in mind did finally upstream
NI could touch.
The creature who rises at all freely flows in the condition for water.
charmed me repeatedly.
I'm convinced that looking out the window and seeing these two increases the quality of people's lives and maybe even the value of their property.
Do you think there's a polite way I could ask people to contribute to Jimmy and Mack's upkeep? They're not cheap.
Increased #construction activity has increased #lawsuit numbers in the #Bronx. t.co/fpJ9U6lWWj (via Twitter twitter.com/lipsigbronx/status/800093847606788096)
Justification of Red List category
This species is listed as Critically Endangered because its population has undergone a very rapid reduction, for reasons that are poorly understood but are likely to be at least partly due to hunting along the migration flyway; this decline is projected to continue and increase in the future. Fieldwork in Kazakhstan (and counts in Turkey and the Middle East) has shown the population to be substantially larger than previously feared, but recent demographic studies have found low adult survival, possibly largely driven by hunting pressure along the migration routes and wintering grounds.
By Jim Lawrence
BirdLife International, RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) and leading optics manufacturer Swarovski Optik have just launched a remarkable new interactive website The Amazing Journey which charts the migration of one of the world’s most threatened birds - Sociable Lapwing. The new website enables you to experience the birds' migration online and witness new discoveries as they happen. It also provides support to a large team of international scientists who are trying to prevent the species from becoming extinct. Following extensive research, nine Sociable Lapwings have been carefully fitted with tiny, state-of-the-art satellite transmitters, which will track their hazardous 5,000+ km journey from their breeding grounds in Kazakhstan to their non breeding areas in tropical Africa and other, as yet undiscovered, destinations. The Amazing Journey follows the adventures of Erzhan, Dinara, Svetlana and six other intrepid satellite-tagged lapwings as they fly south for the winter - dodging hunters with guns and falcons and the myriad other unknown threats that await them. Andreas Pittl – Head of the Nature Division at Swarovski said, “This is a hugely important and fascinating project which Swarovski Optik is proud to champion. Wildlife is threatened with extinction for many reasons so finding ways to help such a beautiful and inspiring creature as the Social Lapwing is an important conservation effort we are keen to support. We want to bring people and nature together so they can continue to enjoy brilliant, close-up views of birds like these for years to come.” Designed by online marketing experts Digital Spring, The Amazing Journey uses satellite data fed through Google map technology to keep pace with the birds. A mixture of clever, regularly updated maps and video and photo blog reports from the field will follow their progress. Relatively little is still known about the routes Sociable Lapwings take, so tracking them will provide vital information, enabling BirdLife scientists to monitor and protect the birds and unlock the mystery of their migration. Now, for the first time, those interested in birds, wildlife and conservation can sit alongside scientists, and learn about these extraordinary birds, their migration habits and their conservation. Dr. Paul Donald, the project’s Principal Conservation Scientist at RSPB said, “We are using the world’s smallest and latest satellite transmitter – weighing just 5 grams – to record this amazing journey. By engaging with people around the world and inviting them to see this fascinating migration happening live online we believe we can inspire them to play their part too.” As the Sociable Lapwings progress along a lengthy route through various countries they need to stop every now and again to ‘refuel’ along the way. As they do so they form big feeding flocks (which is how they get their name). Whenever they touch down, precise details of their location are picked up by satellites orbiting high overhead and sent to RSPB scientists. These locations are then passed on to conservation project partners in each of the countries the birds travel through. With detailed coordinates they can quickly locate the flocks of birds, wherever they’ve touched down and take action if they are threatened in any way. The Amazing Journey website will provide regular reports from these scientists in the field keeping us up to date with all the latest news on the birds’ progress. Jim Lawrence, Preventing Extinction Programme Manager at BirdLife International said, “Protecting migratory species on the brink of extinction like Sociable Lapwings can’t be done without the considerable support of BirdLife Species Champions like Swarovski and RSPB. The Amazing Journey website is a new window on our world where you can see BirdLife International Partners around the globe delivering co-ordinated international conservation solutions.” Main photo credit Maxim Koshkin - Conservation Project Leader ACBK.
A male Dreeite Water Skink basks on a basalt outcrop on the margin of a small lake near Nerrin Nerrin in south-western Victoria, Australia.
This beautiful sub-species is critically endangered and predominately threatened by global warming. It's highly restricted and fragmented habitat is gradually drying out due to increasing aridity. An IUCN red-listed species.
A wonderful symphony of colour, light and bokeh rendering from the classic Pentacon lens. Image taken on a Canon EOS 5D Mark 3 DSLR coupled to a vintage German M42 Pentacon M42 30/3.5 lens with a 9mm M42 extension tube attached. A third party M42 to EOS adapter incorporated. Image shot wide-open and hand-held, with a touch of fill-flash. Apart from RAW conversion and the most basic of editing, image shot as is.
I love my Pentacon.
Ross's Goose
Anser rossii
Conservation statusPopulation apparently still increasing, as with some other Arctic-nesting geese (Snow and White-fronted). Ross's Goose often hybridizes with Snow Goose, but evidently not enough to be genetically "swamped" by the Snows.
FamilyDucks and Geese
HabitatTundra (summer), marshes, grain fields, ponds. In summer on Arctic tundra, especially flat tundra with mix of grassy areas and low matted thickets of dwarf birch or willow. In migration and winter, shallow lakes, freshwater marshes, flooded stubble fields, other agricultural lands.
This pint-sized relative of the Snow Goose has been surrounded by mystery and surprise. Explorers recognized it as a different bird as early as 1770, but it was not described to science until 1861; its Arctic nesting grounds were not discovered until 1938. Once thought to be very rare, or even on brink of extinction, its population has greatly increased in recent decades. Not until the late 1970s was it discovered that Ross's, like Snow Goose, can occur in a “blue” morph. Blue Ross's Geese are still rarely detected.
Migration
Main population migrates from Northwest Territories to central California, traveling along a rather narrow route with traditional stopovers, especially in Alberta and Montana. In recent years, numbers wintering in New Mexico and east of Rockies have increased markedly. Migrate in flocks, often mixed with Snow Geese, sometimes with other geese. Strays appearing far out of range may have arrived by traveling with other species.
Feeding Behavior
Forages mainly by walking on land, or wading or swimming in shallow water. During migration and winter, feeds in flocks, usually with Snow Geese.
Eggs
4, sometimes 2-6, rarely 1-8. Dull white, becoming nest-stained. Female does all incubating, usually 21-23 days. Young: Leave the nest shortly after hatching, following parents to water. Both parents tend the young; male is most active in defense against predators. Young fledge in 40-45 days.
Young
Leave the nest shortly after hatching, following parents to water. Both parents tend the young; male is most active in defense against predators. Young fledge in 40-45 days.
Diet
almost entirely plant material. Diet for most of year is mainly green grasses and sedges. On arrival on breeding grounds, before new growth is available, do much grubbing for roots. In fall migration, feeds more on seeds and grains of wild grasses or cultivated crops.
Nesting
First breeding at age of 2 or 3 years. Courtship involves rapid head-dipping by both members of pair. Breeds in colonies, usually associated with colonies of Snow Goose. Nest site is often on island or shore of tundra lake, usually on edge of low thicket. The same site is often used for more than 1 season. Nest is a bulky bowl of twigs, leaves, grass, moss, lined with down. Female builds nest, beginning about the time the first egg is laid, continuing after incubation begins.
►►► Explore the world of HDR with me at farbspiel-photo.com - View. Learn. Connect.
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About | HDR Cookbook | Before-and-After | Making-of | Pics to play with
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(Hit 'f' to fave this image)
Watch the Before and After - Comparison to see where this photo comes from!
The story of this photo:
This is a 9-shot pseudo HDR panorama of the famous "James Bond" rock in the bay of Phang Nga, Thailand. You can find another (real) HDR shot of this rock here. The rock appeared in the 1974 James Bond movie "The Man With the Golden Gun" and has been a major tourist attraction every since. The shot was taken from a different position with a better view over the whole bay than the previous shot I uploaded. This place is awesome and mystical in a way.
It is the first time I have tried to do a proper HDR panorama and it was quite interesting to discover the corresponding workflow. Thank god, I have a fast 64bit PC with a 64bit operating system and lots of memory. During post processing, the document got more than 3 GB big at times. I have done panorama shots before with different gear, some of which was self-made. This was the first time I traveled with a monopod fitted with a simple but flexible and effective macro rail that I use as a panorama head. I have been searching and experimenting for some time to find the ideal solution to shoot panoramas quickly, reliably (avoiding problems in stitching) and at a reasonable price. And this is the perfect combination.
Take a look at my "HDR Cookbook"! It contains some more information on my techniques.
How it was shot:
> Taken with a monopod (using a Kirk macro rail as panorama head)
> 9 Exposures (stitched later)
> Camera: Nikon D90
> Lens: Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm 1:3,5-5,6G ED VR
> Details can be found here
How it was stitched and tonemapped:
> Developed three TIFs from each of the 9 RAW files using Adobe Camera Raw (+2, 0, -2 ev)
> Created 9 HDRs (32 bit) using Photomatix version 3.1
> Stitched the 9 HDRs using Photoshop and saved in OpenEXR format
> Tonemapped resulting panorama HDR using Photomatix version 3.1 (Detail Enhancer)
> Saved as 16bit TIF
> Take a look here for a more detailed description.
How it was post-processed:
> Post-processing was done in Photoshop
> Topaz Adjust on the foreground (everything except the sky) to enhance the details and the colors [details]
> Curves layer on the water to enhance the reflections and the contrast
> Photo filter layer with a gradient mask on the water to enhance the orange tones in the foreground
> Saturation layer on the water for overall color enhancement
> Saturation and Levels layers on he sky to enhance the blue tones and the contrast
> Saturation layer on the rocks to tone down the reds and increase the yellows
> Curves layer on the rocks to tune the contrast
> Halo reduction in the sky using a levels adjustment layer (gamma ~ 0.8) and delicate masking to blend this darker layer into those halo spots [details]
> Topaz Denoise [details]
> Sharpening on the foreground using the high-pass filter [details]
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Learn these techniques at farbspiel-photo.com - View. Learn. Connect.
- Thanks for viewing!
A celestial tango with the Whirlpool Galaxy M51
(Increase the brightness of your screen to see it all!)
One of the most beautiful galaxy visible in the spring. It is actually 2 galaxies fighting it off or doing a celestial tango.
M51 was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy and is about 23 million light-years from the Milky Way.
Although it was discovered in 1773 by Messier, it is not until 1929 that it was identified as a galaxy in it's own right by Hubble.
The very pronounced spiral structure of the Whirlpool Galaxy is believed to be the result of the close interaction between it and its companion galaxy NGC 5195. NGC 5195 is believed to have passed through the main disk of M51 about 500 to 600 million years ago. In the process, billions of stars have been catapulted out into space and are probably slowly getting back into the "new" galaxy being pulled back in by gravity. NGC 5195 (the small galaxy) will probably come back for another pass through in 100's of million of years. Fascinating, isn't it?
This spectacle was imaged from my balcony :-)
The sky cleared late in the evening and i rushed to install my equipment. Needless to say I went to bed late (or early) this morning.
Tech stuff: SCT 8inch, ZWO 1600MM and LRGB imaging. 2 minutes subs for as long as I could go without falling asleep at the wheel :-)
See my story about this journey youtu.be/HDCPrwwrZGg
Lahti. Lakhta ?This small village on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, about 15 km northwest of the city, is home to human settlements on the banks of the Neva. It was on the territory of Lakhta that the remains of a man’s parking site of three thousand years ago were found.
In official documents, a settlement named Lakhta dates back to 1500. The name is derived from the Finnish-speaking word lahti - "bay". This is one of the few settlements that has not changed its name throughout its 500-year history. Also known as Laches, Lahes-by, Lahes and was originally inhabited by Izhora. In the last decades of the 15th century, Lakhta was a village (which indicates a significant population) and was the center of the eponymous grand-parish volost, which was part of the Spassko-Gorodensky graveyard of the Orekhovsky district of the Vodskaya Pyatina. In the village, there were 10 courtyards with 20 people (married men). In Lakhta, on average, there were 2 families per yard, and the total population of the village probably reached 75 people.
From the notes on the margins of the Swedish scribe book of the Spassky graveyard of 1640, it follows that the lands along the lower reaches of the Neva River and parts of the Gulf of Finland, including Lakhta Karelskaya, Perekulya (from the Finnish “back village”, probably because of its position relative to Lakhti) and Konduy Lakhtinsky, were royal by letter of honor on January 15, 1638 transferred to the possession of the Stockholm dignitary, Rickschulz general Bernhard Sten von Stenhausen, a Dutchman by birth. On October 31, 1648, the Swedish government granted these lands to the city of Nyuen (Nyenschanz). With the arrival of the Swedes in Prievye, Lakhta was settled by the Finns, who until the middle of the 20th century made up the vast majority of the villagers.
On December 22, 1766, Catherine 2 granted Lakhta Manor, which was then in the Office of the Chancellery from the buildings of palaces and gardens, "in which and in her villages with courtyards 208 souls," her favorite Count Orlov. Not later than 1768, Count J.A. Bruce took over the estate. In 1788, Lakhta Manor was listed behind him with wooden services on a dry land (high place) and the villages Lakhta, Dubki, Lisiy Nos and Konnaya belonging to it also on dry land, in those villages of male peasants 238 souls. On May 1, 1813, Lakhta passed into the possession of the landowners of the Yakovlevs. On October 5, 1844, Count A.I. Stenbok-Fermor entered into the possession of the Lakhtinsky estate, which then had 255 male souls. This clan was the owner of the estate until 1912, when its last representative got into debt and noble custody was established over the estate. On October 4, 1913, in order to pay off his debts, he was forced to go for corporatization, and the Lakhta estate passed into the ownership of the Joint Stock Company “Lakhta” of Count Stenbock-Fermor and Co.
After the revolution, Lakhta was left on its own for a while, here on the former estate of the counts Stenbock-Fermorov on May 19, 1919, the Lakhta excursion station was opened, which existed there until 1932. In the early 1920s, sand mining began on Lakhta beaches, and the abandoned and dilapidated peat plant of the Lakhta estate in 1922 took over the Oblzemotdel and put it into operation after major repairs. In 1963, the village of Lakhta was included in the Zhdanovsky (Primorsky) district of Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
At the beginning of Lakhtinsky Prospekt, on the banks of the Lakhtinsky spill, there was the village of Rakhilax (Rahilax-hof, Rahila, Rokhnovo). Most likely, under this name only one or several courtyards are designated. There is an assumption that the name of the village was formed from the Finnish raahata - “drag, drag,” because there could be a place for transportation through the isthmus of the Lakhtinsky spill (we should not forget that not only the bridge over the channel connecting the spill with the Gulf of Finland was not yet here, the duct itself was many times wider than the current one). The search book of the Spassko-Gorodensky graveyard of 1573, describing the Lakhta lands, mentions that there were 2 lodges in the “Rovgunov” village, from which we can conclude that we are talking about the village of Rohilaks, which the Russian scribes remade into a more understandable to them Rovgunovo. The village was empty in Swedish time and was counted as a wasteland of the village of Lahta.
On the banks of the Lakhtinsky spill, near the confluence of the Yuntolovka River, from the 17th century there existed the village of Bobylka (Bobylskaya), which merged into the village of Olgino only at the beginning of the 20th century, but was found on maps until the 1930s. It is probably the Search Book that mentions it Spassko-Gorodensky churchyard in 1573 as a village "in Lakhta in Perekui", behind which there was 1 obzh. With the arrival of the Swedes by royal letter on January 15, 1638, the village was transferred to the possession of the Stockholm dignitary, Rickshaw General Bernhard Sten von Stenhausen, a Dutchman by birth. On October 31, 1648, the Swedish government granted Lahti lands to the city of Nyuen (Nyenschanz). On the Swedish map of the 1670s, in the place of the village of Bobylsky, the village of Lahakeülä is marked (küla - the village (Fin.)). The village could subsequently be called Bobyl from the Russian word "bobyl."
The owners of Bobylskaya were both Count Orlov, and Count Y. A. Bruce, and the landowners Yakovlev. In 1844, Count A.I. Stenbok-Fermor entered into the possession of the Lakhtinsky estate (which included the village of Bobyl). This family was the owner of the estate until 1913, when the owners, in order to pay off their debts, had to go for corporatization, and the Lakhta estate was transferred to the ownership of the Lakhta Joint-Stock Company of Count Stenbock-Fermor and Co. By the middle of the 20th century, the village merged with the village of Lakhta.
The name Konnaya Lakhta (Konnaya) has been known since the 16th century, although earlier it sounded like Konduya (Konduya Lakhtinskaya) or just Kondu (from the Finnish kontu - courtyard, manor). Subsequently, this name was replaced by the more familiar Russian ear with the word "Horse". In the Search Book of the Spassko-Gorodensky Pogost in 1573, it is mentioned as the village "on Kovdui", where 1 obzh was listed, which indicates that there most likely was one yard. On January 15, 1638, together with neighboring villages, it was transferred to the possession of the Stockholm dignitary, Rickschulz General Bernhard Steen von Stenhausen, of Dutch origin. On October 31, 1648, the Swedish government granted these lands to the city of Nyuen (Nyenschanz). In a deed of gift, Konduya Lakhtinskaya is called a village, which indicates a noticeable increase in its population. Later, on the Swedish map of the 1670s, on the site of the present Horse Lahti, the village of Konda-bai is marked (by - village (sv)).
The owners of Konnaya Lakhta, as well as the villages of Bobylskaya and Lakhta, were in turn Count Orlov, Count Ya. A. Bruce, and the landowners Yakovlev. In 1844, Count A.I. Stenbok-Fermor entered the possession of the Lakhta estate (which included Konnaya Lakhta. This family was the owner of the estate until 1913, when the owners had to go to corporations to pay off their debts, and the Lakhta estate became the property of Lakhta Joint Stock Company of Count Stenbock-Fermor and Co. In 1963, Horse Lahta was included in the Zhdanov (Primorsky) district of Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
As the dacha village of Olgino appeared at the end of the 19th century and initially consisted of both Olgin itself and the villages of Vladimirovka (now part of Lisiy Nos) and Aleksandrovka. In the first half of the 18th century, this territory was part of the Verpelev palace estate, which in the second half of the 18th century was granted to Count G. G. Orlov, then it was owned by the family of landowners the Yakovlevs, in the middle of the 19th century the estate was transferred to the counts of Stenbock-Fermor. In 1905 A.V. Stenbok-Fermor, the then owner of Lakhta lands, divided the lands around Lakhta into separate plots with the intention of selling them profitably for dachas. So there were the villages of Olgino (named after the wife of Olga Platonovna), Vladimirovka (in honor of the father of the owner; the coastal part of the modern village of Lisy Nos) and Alexandrov or Aleksandrovskaya (in honor of Alexander Vladimirovich himself). It is likely that on the site of the village was the village of Olushino (Olushino odhe) - a search book of the Spassko-Gorodensky churchyard in 1573 mentions that there were 1 obzh in the village of Olushkov’s, which suggests that at least one residential the yard. On behalf of Olushka (Olpherius). Most likely, the village was deserted in Swedish time and then was already listed as a wasteland belonging to the village of Lahta. Thus, the name of the village could be given in harmony with the name of the mistress and the old name of the village.
The villages were planned among a sparse pine forest (the layout was preserved almost unchanged), so there were more amenities for living and spending time there than in Lakhta. A park was set up here, a summer theater, a sports ("gymnastic") playground, a tennis court, and a yacht club were arranged.
In the 1910s about 150 winter cottages were built in Olgino, many of which are striking monuments of "summer cottage" architecture. In 1963, the village of Olgino was included in the Zhdanovsky (Primorsky) district of Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
Near Olgino, in the area of the Dubki park, there was a small village Verpeleva (Verpelevo), which consisted of only a few yards. In the first half of the XVIII century. this territory was part of the palace estate "Verpeleva", which in the second half of the XVIII century. It was granted to Count G. G. Orlov, then passed to the Counts of Stenbock-Fermor. The village has not existed for a long time, but the entire reed-covered peninsula (barely protruding above the water of the Verpier-Luda peninsula (Verper Luda (from the Finnish luoto - “small rocky island”)) still existed, and there was another spelling the name of this island is Var Pala Ludo).
Kamenka. The Novgorod scribal book mentions two villages in the Lakhta region with a similar name, referring to the possessions of Selivan Zakharov, son of Okhten, with his son and 5 other co-owners. On the lands of this small patrimony, which, unlike the estate was inherited, peasants lived in 3 villages, including: the village "Kamenka in Lakhta near the sea" in 5 yards with 5 people and arable land in 1,5 obzhi, the village "on Kamenka "in 2 courtyards with 2 people and arable land in 1 obzhu. For the use of land, the peasants paid the owners of the patrimony 16 money and gave 1/3 of the rye harvest. Thus, in the 16th century on the Kamenka River (another name for the Kiviyoki River, which is the literal translation of kivi - "stone", joki - "river") there was one large village of Kamenka near its confluence with the Lakhtinsky spill and the second, smaller, somewhere upstream. On the drawing of Izhora land in 1705, a village under this name is depicted in the area of the modern village of Kamenka. The village of Kamennaya in the middle reaches of Kamenka and on the map of 1792 is designated. Other name options are Kaumenkka, Kiviaja.
In the second half of the 18th century, Kamenka became a vacation spot for Russian Germans. Here in 1865, German colonists founded their "daughter" colony on leased land. Since then, the village has received the name Kamenka Colony (so called until the 1930s). In 1892, a colony near the village of Volkovo "budded" from it. The inhabitants of both colonies belonged to the Novo-Saratov parish and since 1871 had a prayer house in Kamenka, which was visited by 250 people. He maintained a school for 40 students. The house was closed in 1935 and later demolished.
Currently, Kamenka exists as a holiday village, located along the road to Levashovo. Since 1961 - in the city, part of the planning area in the North-West, from the mid-1990s. built up with multi-storey residential buildings and cottages.
Volkovo. The settlement is about southeast of the village of Kamenka - on the old road to Kamenka, on the bank of a stream that flows into Kamenka between the village of Kamenka and the Shuvalovsky quarry. In 1892, a German colony emerged on the territory of the village, "budding" from a nearby colony in the village of Kamenka. The origin of Volkovo is not clear, the village is found only on maps of 1912, 1930, 1939, 1943. and probably appeared no earlier than the 19th century.
Kolomyagi. Scribe books of the XV — XVI centuries and Swedish plans testify that small settlements already existed on the site of Kolomyag. Most likely, these were first Izhora or Karelian, then Finnish farms, which were empty during the hostilities of the late XVII century.
The name "Kolomyag" connoisseurs decipher in different ways. Some say that it came from the "colo" - in Finnish cave and "pulp" - a hill, a hill. The village is located on the hills, and such an interpretation is quite acceptable. Others look for the root of the name in the Finnish word "koaa" - bark - and believe that trees were processed here after felling. Another version of the origin of the name from the Finnish "kello" is the bell, and it is associated not with the feature of the mountain, but with the "bell on the mountain" - a tower with a signal bell standing on a hill.
The owners of Kolomyazhsky lands were Admiral General A.I. Osterman, Count A.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, a family of Volkonsky. In 1789, the Volkonskys sold these lands to retired colonel Sergei Savvich Yakovlev. On his estate S. S. Yakovlev built a manor and lived in it with his wife and seven daughters. The once-Finnish population of Kolomyag was “Russified” by that time - it was made up of descendants of serfs resettled by Osterman and Bestuzhev-Rumin from their villages in Central Russia (natives of the Volga and Galich) and Ukraine. Then the name "Kellomyaki" began to sound in Russian fashion - "Kolomyagi", although later the old name also existed, especially among local Finns. And not without reason the indigenous Kolomozhites associate their origin with the Volga places, and the southern half of the village is now called “Galician”.
Yakovlev died in 1818. Five years after his death, a division of the territory of the manor was made. The village of Kolomyagi was divided in half between two of his daughters. The border was the Bezymyanny stream. The southeastern part of the village of Kolomyagi beyond Bezymyanny creek and a plot on the banks of the Bolshaya Nevka passed to the daughter Ekaterina Sergeevna Avdulina.
Daughter Yakovleva Elena Sergeevna - the wife of General Alexei Petrovich Nikitin, a hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, who was awarded the highest military orders and twice a gold sword with the inscription "For courage", died early, leaving her daughter Elizabeth. The northwestern part of Kolomyag inherited the young Elizabeth, so this part of Kolomyag was practically inherited by the father of Yakovlev’s granddaughter, Count A.P. Nikitin, who in 1832 became the owner of the entire village. It is his name that is stored in the names of the streets - 1st and 2nd Nikitinsky and Novo-Nikitinsky. The new owner built a stone mansion on the estate’s estate - an excellent example of classicism of the first third of the 19th century, which became his country house and has survived to this day and has been occupied until recently by the Nursing Home. It is believed that this mansion was built according to the project of the famous architect A.I. Melnikov. The severity and modesty of the architectural appearance of the facades and residential chambers of the Nikitin mansion was opposed by the splendor of ceremonial interiors, in particular the two-light dance hall with choirs for musicians. Unfortunately, with repeated alterations and repairs, many details of the decor and stucco emblems of the owners disappeared. Only two photographs of the 1920s and preserved fragments of ornamental molding and paintings on the walls and ceiling show the past richness of the decorative decoration of this architectural monument. The mansion was surrounded by a small park. In it stood a stone pagan woman brought from the southern steppes of Russia (transferred to the Hermitage), and a pond with a plakun waterfall was built. Near the pond there was a "walk of love" from the "paradise" apple trees - it was called so because the bride and groom passed through it after the wedding. Here, in the shadow of these apple trees, young lovers made appointments.
Under the Orlov-Denisov opposite the mansion (now Main Street, 29), the structures of an agricultural farm were erected, partially preserved to this day, and the greenhouse. Behind the farm were the master's fields. On them, as the New Time newspaper reported in August 1880, they tested the reaping and shearing machines brought from America.
In the 19th century, the provincial surveyor Zaitsev submitted for approval the highway called the Kolomyagskoye Shosse. The route was supposed to connect the village, gradually gaining fame as a summer residence of the "middle arm", with St. Petersburg. The construction of the road ended in the 1840s, and then horse-drawn and country-house crafts became the most important articles of peasant income. In addition, peasants either built small dachas in their yards, or rented their huts for the summer. Located away from the roads, surrounded by fields, the village was chosen by multi-family citizens.
The income from the summer cottage industry increased from year to year, which was facilitated by the summer movement of omnibuses that opened on the new highway from the City Council building. They walked four times a day, each accommodated 16 people, the fare cost 15 kopecks. Even when the Finnish Railway with the nearest Udelnaya station came into operation in 1870, the highway remained the main access road through which public carriages pulled by a trio of horses ran from the Stroganov (now Ushakovsky) bridge.
The importance of the highway has decreased since 1893, when traffic began along the Ozerkovskaya branch of the Primorsky Railway, built by the engineer P.A. Avenarius, the founder of the Sestroretsky resort.
The lowering sky, increasing rain and wind finally got the better of me.
These were the last taken that morning, however, this stand of trees at Crummock water is not what I remember most from that morning, but the journey back over Honister Pass. I must have driven over it 30+ times, in all kinds of weather, yet I have never seen it looking more sinister or dramatic. Every rock and boulder was saturated, and streams of water were pouring down every crevice. The clouds were low and swirling, revealing every hidden contour, and giving the impression that the walls carried on upward, up and up, and the rain and mist was like curtain veils up the pass. I quite expected the mountain giants to be out throwing boulders around!
I could just see it as a really moody B&W. (...and sure to win at next years LPOTY! ;o))
The problem was, I was tired, cold and wet, the wind was blowing, the rain was heavy, the camera gear was all packed away, and all I wanted to do was get back to the warm caravan! Need I say more... great memory though.
Mono version below
increased contrast, minor twist and superimposed over the image without the twist.
I am preparing to rework my website. I am prototyping it on Flickr. So far, I preliminary picked the abstract and some graphic photos. I will still prune this selection. You can see them here: www.flickr.com/photos/pavel_photophile2008/collections/72.... It is a long-term project that has already soaked up a fair bit of time. Eventually, I hope to have a shiny new website.
Your comments, real input will be greatly appreciated.
Creative liberties taken! I removed color of background and increased saturation by about 10% on the bird.
increased contrast, lightened
I am preparing to rework my website. I am prototyping it on Flickr. So far, I preliminary picked the abstract and some graphic photos. I will still prune this selection. You can see them here: www.flickr.com/photos/pavel_photophile2008/collections/72.... It is a long-term project that has already soaked up a fair bit of time. Eventually, I hope to have a shiny new website.
Your comments, real input will be greatly appreciated.
With increased business in Guelph, OSR added a third crew on "Job Two" to serve the customers in the south end of the city (PDI liquids and PDI Polymers mostly). Job Two on duty at 14:30 would head up to Guelph around 16:00 and would quickly have to meet Job One on their way south back to Guelph Jct from the North End industrial area in Guelph. The meet change location daily and the timing was always different, so this was a treat to finally get it in good light.
182 on Job Two pauses his switching in southern yard to exchanges a wave with the southbound Job One with 1620 leading 505.
The History of Jennette's Pier
In 1929 a Swedish tanker sank near the beach at milepost 7 on the Outer Banks but its deck remained above the water. For a few years before the deck finally went underwater, fishermen were rowed out to the ship’s deck to enjoy fishing in deeper water where they could not safely anchor a boat. Warren Jennette, Sr. owner of Jennette Fruit Co. in Elizabeth City, North Carolina saw a business opportunity here and envisioned building an ocean fishing pier.
In 1933 the U.S. Civil Works Administration (also known as the Works Project Administration or WPA) built transient camps in South Nags Head to house workers who built the protective sand dunes from Corolla to Ocracoke. This property was later abandoned and available for purchase. Around this time Warren Jennette Sr and his son Walton, took a trip to Kure Beach North Carolina, to see the first wooden ocean pier built in North Carolina and came back to Elizabeth City with a plan for their new business. Warren Sr., with his four sons, Warren Jr, Walton, Carter and William bought the WPA ocean property and cabins in South Nags Head. On May 22, 1939 the first pilings for Jennette’s Pier were sunk deep into the sand. And the father and his sons, owners of Jennette’s Fruit Company, became owners of Jennette’s Fishing Pier. The first Jennette’s Pier was completed in just a few months and would serve the community and guests for 70 years.
Jennette’s pier had cabins for rent (remodeled transient cabins), a pier house and the pier had lights strung under it to attract the fish at night. Initially it was built with untreated timber the pier but only lasted 4 years before collapsing into the sea. From then until the pier remodel in 1996, there were a succession of hurricanes and nor’easters that damaged or destroyed the pier. Each time, Jennette’s was rebuilt and repaired and improved and each time the people returned.
Vicky Jennette Perry, granddaughter of Warren Jennette Sr and daughter of Walton Jennette, remembers the pier where she spent most of the summers of her life. She laughs about her uncle’s pier dog, Daisy (a Heinz 57 breed), that he jokingly said was a pure bred Egyptian waddle-hound! She and her cousins spent the summer in hammocks by the ocean reading comic books and she recalls how Figaro and Lucille, the café cooks, made the best fried chicken she ever had in her life. Her uncle had a knack for marketing and advertising and painted the word “cabins” and “sport fishing” on the cabin top so airplanes could see what was offered below. All his efforts brought an increase in business. Thousands of others have share fond memories of this grande dame of Outer Banks Piers.
Through the years Jennette’s Pier was rebuilt many times, changed hands many times and was remodeled in 1996 with a new 9000 sq ft. pier house, a new 70 seat restaurant, game room, remodeled cottages and improved parking. In 2002 the pier was sold for the last time to the North Carolina Aquarium Society, who brought educational exhibits and programs to the existing fishing pier. Then in 2003, Hurricane Isabel destroyed 540 ft of the pier and damaged the property. It was reopened with educational programs through the 2005 season. Jennette’s Pier, the oldest in the Outer Banks, was demolished in 2008. On May 22, 2009 (70 years to the date of the first pilings going in) a sand breaking for the new Jennette’s Pier was held and on May 21, 2011 the oldest pier in the Outer Banks became the newest.
The new Jennette’s Pier bears no resemblance to the nostalgic, old wooden pier. There are no weathered cottages or hammocks or dogs. In its place is a state of the art 1000 ft. concrete pier, a 3 story, 16,000 square ft. pier house, beach and bathhouse with outside showers and free public parking. The structure is an architectural wonder, big, beautiful and park like but designed with an Old Nags Head feel. There is a well stocked snack area with self serve hot dogs, sodas and snacks and outside picnic tables; NC Aquarium exhibits; a gift shop; a bait and tackle shop; rod and reel rentals; a second floor observation balcony and an ocean-view events hall. The pier has many backed benches (marked with commemorative fish plaques) and fish cleaning stations and at the end of the pier is the area marked and reserved for king rigs, jigging and blue fishing.
Unlike the other piers, here you walk up to the pier house and down the pier and see it is lined with commemorative plaques, has contemporary lighting (with power supplied mostly by solar power), wind turbines that provides 50 % of peak electricity needs, shade huts and exhibits. There are a number of pier educational programs and family events daily. Mike Remige, the pier manager, is proud of what the new Jennette’s Pier offers and is quick to tell everyone that like all the other piers it has it’s community of fishermen who have returned for years. The fishermen patiently waiting for their catch, will remind you that even with the turbines humming and a wedding celebration taking place on the second floor of the pier house that this is still Jennette’s Pier and remains a great place to fish!
According to Venetian official statistics approximately 16 million people visited the province of Venice in 2011, with increases projected for 2012-13. Most if not all visitors, come to visit the central island Venezia in order to see and be in the heart of the city. Geographically the city center which includes St. Mark’s Basilica, St Mark’s Square, the Doge’s Palace, the Rialto Bridge, as well as the homes and businesses of Venetians exists on a land mass that is roughly six square miles. These six square miles are criss-crossed by the Grand and the not-so-grand canals which invite tourists to explore the nooks and crannies of a medieval powerhouse that still displays its heritage.
However, as a frame of reference, visitors should do the math. Public access to the six square miles of the central part of Venice is reduced by the areas occupied by private housing, businesses and by canals. Effectively the 80,000 to 100,000 daily visitors and the 40,000 to 60,000 local residents or business employers and employees are competing for approximately one to two square miles of open space. Regardless of the crowds it should be noted that while tourists may travel stem to stern in seemingly endless lines of gondolas, on Venice’s solid ground no car, bus or motor scooter challenges a visitor’s right to live long and prosper. In Venice the trucks, cars, and buses come with keels and rudders. All vie for space on and in the canals. Gondoliers weave their boats and passengers through the Grand Canal water traffic much like carriage driver guide their clip-clopping horse drawn carriages through any busy city’s tourist center. To paraphrase Shakespeare, in Venice all the water’s a stage, During the day Venice presents its water stained past in the guise of Palazzos, bridges, towers and churches, all accompanied with a cacophony of sounds and foreign languages (theirs and ours). At night a pleasant surprise awaits visitors who stay in the city. When diners and partiers head home residents and tourists experience Silence, perhaps modern Venice’s most subtle reminder of renaissance times, Silence, no horns, no engine noises, no canal traffic, and minimum ambient light. Consequently, from an open window looking out over the tiled rooftops of ancient Venetian homes, my wife and I could see stars and pick out the Dome of Saint Mark’s and the Campanile by the light of the same moon viewed by princes, popes and the popolo when the Grand Canal was grand.
Did we see everything? No…but we gave it a game try. We took the waterbus up and down the Grand Canal. We visited the highlighted sights. We walked and walked and walked, sort of like exploring a maze. We succumbed to the most unnecessary tour book advice offered, “In order to experience the real Venice get lost and wander its back streets and canals.” Wittingly and unwittingly we did get lost, but then again Venice is an island.
►►► Explore the world of HDR with me at farbspiel-photo.com - View. Learn. Connect.
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About | HDR Cookbook | Before-and-After | Making-of | Pics to play with
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The story of this photo:
This shot was taken in Sidi Bou Said, a place near Tunis where many artists (also western artists) were staying to seek inspiration. This town was famous for inspiring artists. All buildings in this town are white with blue windows and doors. This gives the place a unique look. Today it is a major tourist attraction that is probably not missing on any guided tour through Tunis.
Take a look at my "HDR Cookbook"! It contains some more information on my techniques.
How it was shot:
> Taken handheld
> Camera: Nikon D90
> Lens: Sigma 10-20mm F3,5 EX DC HSM
> Details can be found here
How it was tonemapped:
> Preparation: developed the raw files with ACR mainly in order to reduce the CA [details]
> HDR creation and tonemapping using Photomatix version 3.1 (Detail Enhancer)
> Saved as 16bit TIF
How it was post-processed:
> Post-processing was done in Photoshop
> Topaz Adjust on the entire image to get back the colors and the details [details]
> Topaz Denoise (on the sky and the foreground separately - more aggressively on the sky) [details]
> Saturation layer on the sky (increased master)
> Levels layer on the sky (increased brightness)
> Saturation layer on the clouds (desaturation)
> Saturation layer on the foreground (increased master)
> Levels layer on the foreground (increased contrast)
> Saturation layer on the white walls (decreased blues to remove a blue cast)
> Vignette effect using a masked fill layer [details]
> Sharpening on the foreground using the high-pass filter [details]
> Sharpening on the sky using the high-pass filter (less aggressive) [details]
> Perspective correction and cropping
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Learn these techniques at farbspiel-photo.com - View. Learn. Connect.
- Thanks for viewing!
With the ever-increasing difficulty of finding a good man in today's dating world, Janice made friends with Fred the Facilities Supervisor in her building.
On Friday, at dusk, her simple message, courtesy of Fred's work on the building's sign, began it's slow crawl across the cold March sky. Maybe things will begin to change for her after tonight?
Best in Lightbox
Salesforce Tower is photographed from close enough that the city falls away and the skyscraper becomes a nearly continuous vertical surface. Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, the 61-story tower at 415 Mission Street anchors San Francisco’s Transbay district, where increased height and the adjacent transit center recast the skyline south of Market Street. The camera does not attempt the familiar distant silhouette. Instead, a tall crop follows the rounded glass-and-metal envelope upward until its narrowing crown meets fast-textured cloud. The 45 mm lens keeps the neighboring façades legible without the theatrical stretching of an extreme wide angle; they form a compressed urban slot that makes the tower’s height feel earned through comparison. Horizontal sunshades repeat floor by floor, tempering the vertical thrust with a dense stack of fine lines. At left, older rectilinear office grids and a brief shard of blue-green glass act as scales against the tower’s smoother, tapered geometry. The exposure—1/1150 second at ISO 64—holds crisp façade detail and preserves movement in the mottled sky as visual texture rather than blur. The photograph interprets the building as an urban instrument: reflective, repetitive, and dependent on the tight grain around it. Its apparent slenderness comes not only from design, but from where the photographer stands and what the frame deliberately excludes.
The Hmong/Mong people (RPA: Hmoob/Moob, Nyiakeng Puachue: "", Pahawh Hmong: "" Hmong pronunciation: [ʰmɔ́ŋ]) are a Southeast Asian ethnic group living mainly in southern China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar. They have been members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) since 2007. In China they are classified as a subgroup of the Miao people.
During the first and Second Indochina Wars, France and the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruited thousands of Hmong people in Laos to fight against forces from North and South Vietnam and the communist Pathet Lao insurgents. This CIA operation is known as the Secret War.
HISTORY OF HMONG
The Hmong traditions and legends indicate that they originated near the Yellow River region of China. According to linguist Martha Ratliff, there is linguistic evidence to suggest that they have occupied some of the same areas of southern China for over 8,000 years. Evidence from mitochondrial DNA in Hmong–Mien–speaking populations supports the southern origins of maternal lineages even further back in time, although it has been shown that Hmong-speaking populations had comparatively more contact with northern East Asians than had the Mien.
The ancient town of Zhuolu is considered to be the birthplace of the widely proclaimed legendary Hmong king, Chi You. Today, a statue of Chi You has been erected in the town. The author of the Guoyu, authored in the 4th to 5th century, considered Chi You’s Jiu Li tribe to be related to the ancient ancestors of the Hmong, the San-Miao people.
In 2011, White Hmong DNA was sampled and found to contain 7.84% D-M15 and 6%N(Tat) DNA. The researchers posited a genetic relationship between Hmong-Mien peoples and Mon-Khmer people groups dating to the Last Glacial Maximum approximately 15-18,000 years ago.
Conflict between the Hmong of southern China and newly arrived Han settlers increased during the 18th century under repressive economic and cultural reforms imposed by the Qing dynasty. This led to armed conflict and large-scale migrations well into the late 19th century, the period during which many Hmong people emigrated to Southeast Asia. The migration process had begun as early as the late-17th century, however, before the time of major social unrest, when small groups went in search of better agricultural opportunities.
The Hmong people were subjected to persecution and genocide by the Qing dynasty government. Kim Lacy Rogers wrote: "In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, while the Hmong lived in south-western China, their Manchu overlords had labeled them 'Miao' ('barbarian' or 'savage') and targeted them for genocide when they defied being humiliated, oppressed, and enslaved."
Since 1949, the Miao people (Chinese: 苗族; pinyin: miáo zú) has been an official term for one of the 55 official minority groups recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China. The Miao live mainly in southern China, in the provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hainan, Guangdong, and Hubei. According to the 2000 censuses, the number of 'Miao' in China was estimated to be about 9.6 million. The Miao nationality includes Hmong people as well as other culturally and linguistically related ethnic groups who do not call themselves Hmong. These include the Hmu, Kho (Qho) Xiong, and A Hmao. The White Miao (Bai Miao) and Green Miao (Qing Miao) are Hmong groups.
HMONG CLANS OF HAN ORIGN
A number of Miao lineage clans are also believed to have been founded by Chinese men who had married Miao women. These distinct Chinese-descended clans practice Chinese burial customs instead of Hmong style burials. In Sichuan, they were known as "Chinese Hmong" ("Hmong Sua"). The Hmong were instructed in military tactics by fugitive Chinese rebels.
Chinese men who had married into Hmong clans have established several Hmong clans. Chinese "surname groups" are comparable to the Hmong clans which are patrilineal, and practice exogamy. Hmong women married Han Chinese men who pacified the Ah rebels who were fighting against the Ming dynasty, and founded the Wang clan among the Hmong in Gongxian county, of Sichuan's Yibin district. Hmong women who married Chinese men founded a Xem clan in a Hmong village among Northern Thailand's Hmong. Lauj clan in Northern Thailand is another example of a clan created through Han and Hmong intermarriage. A Han Chinese with the family name of Deng found another Hmong clan there as well.
Jiangxi Han Chinese have held a claim as the forefathers of the southeast Guizhou Miao. Children were born to the many Miao women who had married Han Chinese soldiers in Taijiang before the second half of the 19th century. The Hmong Tian clan in Sizhou began in the seventh century as a migrant Han Chinese clan.
Non-Han women such as the Miao became wives of Han soldiers. These soldiers fought against the Miao rebellions during the Qing and Ming dynasties and at that time Han women were not available. The origin of the Tunbao people can be traced to the Ming dynasty, when the Hongwu Emperor sent 300,000 Han Chinese male soldiers in 1381 to conquer Yunnan and the men married Yao and Miao women.
The presence of women presiding over weddings was a feature noted in "Southeast Asian" marriages, such as in 1667 when a Miao woman in Yunnan married a Chinese official. In Yunnan, a Miao chief's daughter married a scholar in the 1600s who wrote that she could read, write, and listen in Chinese and read Chinese classics.
The Sichuan Hmong village of Wangwu was visited by Nicholas Tapp who wrote that the "clan ancestral origin legend" of the Wang Hmong clan, had said that there were several intermarriages with Han Chinese and possibly one of these was their ancestor Wang Wu; there were two types of Hmong, "cooked", who sided with Chinese, and "raw", who rebelled against the Chinese. The Chinese were supported by the Wang Hmong clan. A Hmong woman was married by the non-Hmong Wang Wu according to The Story of the Ha Kings in Wangwu village.
CULTURE
Hmong people have their own terms for their subcultural divisions. Hmong Der (Hmoob Dawb), and Hmong Leng (Hmoob Leeg) are the terms for two of the largest groups in the United States and Southeast Asia. These subgroups are also known as the White Hmong, and Blue or Green Hmong, respectively. These names originate from the color and designs of women's dresses in each respective group, with the White Hmong distinguished by the white dresses women wear on special occasions, and the Blue/Green Hmong by the blue batiked dresses that the women wear. The name and pronunciation "Hmong" is exclusively used by the White Hmong to refer to themselves, and many dictionaries use only the White Hmong dialect.
In the Romanized Popular Alphabet, developed in the 1950s in Laos, these terms are written Hmoob Dawb (White Hmong) and Hmoob Leeg (Green Hmong). The final consonants indicate with which of the eight lexical tones the word is pronounced.
White Hmong and Green Hmong speak mutually intelligible dialects of the Hmong language, with some differences in pronunciation and vocabulary. One of the most characteristic differences is the use of the voiceless /m̥/ in White Hmong, indicated by a preceding "H" in Romanized Popular Alphabet. Voiceless nasals are not found in the Green Hmong dialect. Hmong groups are often named after the dominant colors or patterns of their traditional clothing, style of head-dress, or the provinces from which they come.
VIETNAM AND LAOS
The Hmong groups in Vietnam and Laos, from the 18th century to the present day, are known as Black Hmong (Hmoob Dub), Striped Hmong (Hmoob Txaij), White Hmong (Hmoob Dawb), Hmong Leng (Hmoob Leeg) and Green Hmong (Hmoob Ntsuab). In other places in Asia, groups are also known as Black Hmong (Hmoob Dub or Hmong Dou), Striped Hmong (Hmoob Txaij or Hmoob Quas Npab), Hmong Shi, Hmong Pe, Hmong Pua, and Hmong Xau, Hmong Xanh (Green Hmong), Hmong Do (Red Hmong), Na Mieo and various other subgroups. These include the Flower Hmong or the Variegated Hmong (Hmong Lenh or Hmong Hoa), so named because of their bright, colorful embroidery work (called pa ndau or paj ntaub, literally "flower cloth").
NOMENCLATURE
CHINA
Usage of the term "Miao" (苗) in Chinese documents dates back to the Shi Ji (1st century BC) and the Zhan Guo Ce (late Western Han Dynasty). During this time, it was generally applied to people of the southern regions thought to be descendants of the San Miao kingdom (dated to around the 3rd millennium BC.) The term does not appear again until the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), by which time it had taken on the connotation of "barbarian." Being a variation of Nanman, it was used to refer to one kind of indigenous people in the southern China who had not been assimilated into Han culture. During this time, references to Unfamiliar (生 Sheng) and Familiar (熟 Shu) Miao appear, referring to level of assimilation and political cooperation of the two groups. Not until the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) do more finely grained distinctions appear in writing. Even then, discerning which ethnic groups are included in various classifications can be problematic.
This inconsistent usage of "Miao" makes it difficult to say for sure if Hmong and Mong people are always included in these historical writings. Christian Culas and Jean Michaud note: "In all these early accounts, then, until roughly the middle of the 19th century, there is perpetual confusion about the exact identity of the population groups designated by the term Miao. We should, therefore, be cautious with respect to the historical value of any early associations."
Linguistic evidence, however, places Hmong and Mong people in the same regions of southern China that they inhabit today for at least the past 2,000 years. By the mid-18th century, classifications become specific enough that it is easier to identify references to Hmong and Mong people.
The term 'Miao' is used today by the Chinese government to denote a group of linguistically and culturally related people (including the Hmong, Hmu, Kho Xiong, and A Hmao). The Hmong and Miao of China today believe they are one people with cultural and linguistic affiliations that transcend oceans and national boundaries. The educated elites of the two groups maintain close transnational contacts with one another.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
In Southeast Asia, Hmong people are referred to by other names, including: Vietnamese: Mèo, Mông or H'Mông; Lao: ແມ້ວ (Maew) or ມົ້ງ (Mong); Thai: แม้ว (Maew) or ม้ง (Mong); Burmese: မုံလူမျိုး (mun lu-myo). The xenonym, "Mèo", and variants thereof, are considered highly derogatory by some Hmong people in the USA.
A recent DNA research in Thailand found that Hmong paternal lineage is quite different from those lu Mien and other Southeast Asian tribes. The Hmong-Mien (HM) and Sino-Tibetan (ST) speaking groups are known as hill tribes in Thailand; they were the subject of the first studies to show an impact of patrilocality vs. matrilocality on patterns of mitochondrial (mt) DNA vs. male-specific portion of the Y chromosome (MSY) variation. However, HM and ST groups have not been studied in as much detail as other Thai groups; here we report and analyze 234 partial MSY sequences (∼2.3 mB) and 416 complete mtDNA sequences from 14 populations that, when combined with our previous published data, provides the largest dataset yet for the hill tribes. We find a striking difference between Hmong and IuMien (Mien-speaking) groups: the Hmong are genetically different from both the IuMien and all other Thai groups, whereas the IuMien are genetically more similar to other linguistic groups than to the Hmong. In general, we find less of an impact of patrilocality vs. matrilocality on patterns of mtDNA vs. MSY variation than previous studies. However, there is a dramatic difference in the frequency of MSY and mtDNA lineages of Northeast Asian (NEA) origin vs. Southeast Asian (SEA) origin in HM vs. ST groups: HM groups have high frequencies of NEA MSY lineages but lower frequencies of NEA mtDNA lineages, while ST groups show the opposite. A potential explanation is that the ancestors of Thai HM groups were patrilocal, while the ancestors of Thai ST groups were matrilocal. Overall, these results attest to the impact of cultural practices on patterns of mtDNA vs. MSY variation.
HMONG/MONG CONTROVERSY
When Western authors came in contact with Hmong people, beginning in the 18th century, they referred to them in writing by ethnonyms assigned by the Chinese (i.e., Miao, or variants). This practice continued into the 20th century. Even ethnographers studying the Hmong people in Southeast Asia often referred to them as Meo, a corruption of Miao applied by Thai and Lao people to the Hmong. Although "Meo" was an official term, it was often used as an insult against the Hmong people, and it is considered to be derogatory.
The issue came to a head during the passage of California State Assembly Bill (AB) 78, in the 2003–2004 season. Introduced by Doua Vu and Assembly Member Sarah Reyes, District 31 (Fresno), the bill encouraged changes in secondary education curriculum to include information about the Secret War and the role of Hmong people in the war. Furthermore, the bill called for the use of oral histories and first-hand accounts from Hmong people who had participated in the war and who were caught up in the aftermath. Originally, the language of the bill mentioned only "Hmong" people, intending to include the entire community. Several Mong Leng activists, led by Dr. Paoze Thao (Professor of Linguistics and Education at California State University, Monterey Bay), drew attention to the problems associated with omitting "Mong" from the language of the bill. They noted that despite nearly equal numbers of Hmong Der and Mong Leng in the United States, resources are disproportionately directed toward the Hmong Der community. This includes not only scholarly research but also the translation of materials, potentially including the curriculum proposed by the bill. Despite these arguments, "Mong" was not added to the bill. In the version that passed the assembly, "Hmong" was replaced by "Southeast Asians", a more broadly inclusive term.
Dr. Paoze Thao and some others feel strongly that "Hmong" can refer to only Hmong Der people and does not include "Mong" Leng people. He feels that the usage of "Hmong" about both groups perpetuates the marginalization of Mong Leng language and culture. Thus, he advocates the usage of both "Hmong" and "Mong" when referring to the entire ethnic group. Other scholars, including anthropologist Dr. Gary Yia Lee (a Hmong Der person), suggest that "Hmong" has been used for the past 30 years to refer to the entire community and that the inclusion of Mong Leng people is understood. Some argue that such distinctions create unnecessary divisions within the global community and will only confuse non-Hmong and Mong people trying to learn more about Hmong and Mong history and culture.
As a compromise alternative, multiple iterations of "Hmong" are proposed. A Hmong theologian, Rev. Dr. Paul Joseph T. Khamdy Yang has proposed the term “HMong” to encompass both the Hmong and Mong community by capitalizing the H and the M. The ethnologist Jacques Lemoine has also begun to use the term (H)mong when referring to the entirety of the Hmong and Mong community.
HMONG, MONG AND MIAO
Some non-Chinese Hmong advocate that the term Hmong be used not only for designating their dialect group but also for the other Miao groups living in China. They generally claim that the word "Miao" or "Meo" is a derogatory term, with connotations of barbarism, that probably should not be used at all. The term was later adopted by Tai-speaking groups in Southeast Asia where it took on especially insulting associations for Hmong people despite its official status.
In modern China, the term "Miao" does not carry these negative associations and people of the various sub-groups that constitute this officially recognized nationality freely identify themselves as Miao or Chinese, typically reserving more specific ethnonyms for intra-ethnic communication. During the struggle for political recognition after 1949, it was members of these ethnic minorities who campaigned for identification under the umbrella term "Miao"—taking advantage of its familiarity and associations of historical political oppression.
Contemporary transnational interactions between Hmong in the West and Miao groups in China, following the 1975 Hmong diaspora, have led to the development of a global Hmong identity that includes linguistically and culturally related minorities in China that previously had no ethnic affiliation. Scholarly and commercial exchanges, increasingly communicated via the Internet, have also resulted in an exchange of terminology, including Hmu and A Hmao people identifying as Hmong and, to a lesser extent, Hmong people accepting the designation "Miao," within the context of China. Such realignments of identity, while largely the concern of economically elite community leaders reflects a trend towards the interchangeability of the terms "Hmong" and "Miao.
DIASPORA
Roughly 95% of the Hmong live in Asia. Linguistic data show that the Hmong of the Peninsula stem from the Miao of southern China as one among a set of ethnic groups belonging to the Hmong–Mien language family. Linguistically and culturally speaking, the Hmong and the other sub-groups of the Miao have little in common.
Vietnam, where their presence is attested from the late 18th century onwards and characterized with both assimilation, cooperation and hostility, is likely to be the first Indochinese country into which the Hmong migrated. During the colonization of 'Tonkin' (north Vietnam) between 1883 and 1954, a number of Hmong decided to join the Vietnamese Nationalists and Communists, while many Christianized Hmong sided with the French. After the Viet Minh victory, numerous pro-French Hmong had to fall back to Laos and South Vietnam.
At the 2019 national census, there were 1,393,547 Hmong living in Vietnam, the vast majority of them in the north of the country. The traditional trade in coffin wood with China and the cultivation of the Opium Poppy – both prohibited only in 1993 in Vietnam – long guaranteed a regular cash income. Today, converting to cash cropping is the main economic activity. As in China and Laos, there is a certain degree of participation of Hmong in the local and regional administration. In the late 1990s, several thousands of Hmong started moving to the Central Highlands and some crossed the border into Cambodia, constituting the first attested presence of Hmong settlers in that country.
In 2015, the Hmong in Laos numbered 595,028. Hmong settlement there is nearly as ancient as in Vietnam. After decades of distant relations with the Lao kingdoms, closer relations between the French military and some Hmong on the Xieng Khouang plateau were set up after World War II. There, a particular rivalry between members of the Lo and Ly clans developed into open enmity, also affecting those connected with them by kinship. Clan leaders took opposite sides and as a consequence, several thousand Hmong participated in the fighting against the Pathet Lao Communists, while perhaps as many were enrolled in the People's Liberation Army. As in Vietnam, numerous Hmong in Laos also genuinely tried to avoid getting involved in the conflict in spite of the extremely difficult material conditions under which they lived during wartime.
After the 1975 Communist victory, thousands of Hmong from Laos had to seek refuge abroad (see Laos below). Approximately 30 percent of the Hmong left, although the only concrete figure we have is that of 116,000 Hmong from Laos and Vietnam together seeking refuge in Thailand up to 1990.
In 2002 the Hmong in Thailand numbered 151,080. The presence of Hmong settlements there is documented from the end of the 19th century. Initially, the Siamese paid little attention to them. But in the early 1950s, the state suddenly took a number of initiatives aimed at establishing links. Decolonization and nationalism were gaining momentum in the Peninsula and wars of independence were raging. Armed opposition to the state in northern Thailand, triggered by outside influence, started in 1967 while here again, much Hmong refused to take sides in the conflict. Communist guerrilla warfare stopped by 1982 as a result of an international concurrence of events that rendered it pointless. Priority is since given by the Thai state to sedentarizing the mountain population, introducing commercially viable agricultural techniques and national education, with the aim of integrating these non-Tai animists within the national identity.
Myanmar most likely includes a modest number of Hmong (perhaps around 2,500) but no reliable census has been conducted there recently.
As result of refugee movements in the wake of the Indochina Wars (1946–1975), in particular, in Laos, the largest Hmong community to settle outside Asia went to the United States where approximately 100,000 individuals had already arrived by 1990. By the same date, 10,000 Hmong had migrated to France, including 1,400 in French Guyana. Canada admitted 900 individuals, while another 360 went to Australia, 260 to China, and 250 to Argentina. Over the following years and until the definitive closure of the last refugee camps in Thailand in 1998, additional numbers of Hmong have left Asia, but the definitive figures are still to be produced.
In the rest of the world, where about 5% of the world Hmong population now lives, the United States is home to the largest Hmong population. The 2008 Census counted 171,316 people solely of Hmong ancestry, and 221,948 persons of at least partial Hmong ancestry. Other countries with significant populations include:
France: 15,000
Australia: 2,000
French Guiana: 1,500
Canada: 835
Argentina: 600
The Hmong population within the United States is centered in the Upper Midwest (Wisconsin, Minnesota) and California.
HMONG IN VIETNAM
Hmongs in Vietnam today are perceived very differently between various political organizations and changed throughout times. The Hmongs of Vietnam are a small minority and because of this, their loyalty toward the Vietnamese state has also been under question. Nonetheless, most Hmongs in Vietnam are fiercely loyal to the Vietnamese state, regardless of the current ideologies of the government with only those minorities supportive of Hmong resistance in Laos and Cambodia. These are mostly Christian Hmongs who have fallen under target and poverty strike by alienation of both three Indochinese governments, since there has been no Hmong armed separatism in the country. The Hmongs in Vietnam also receive cultural and political promotion from the government alike. This unique feature distanced Vietnamese Hmongs from Laotian Hmongs, as their Laotian cousins are strongly anti-Vietnamese.
LAOS
U.S. AND LAOTIAN CIVIL WAR
In the early 1960s, partially as a result of the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Special Activities Division began to recruit, train and lead the indigenous Hmong people in Laos to fight against North Vietnamese Army divisions invading Laos during the Vietnam War. This "Secret Army" was organized into various mobile regiments and divisions, including various Special Guerrilla Units, all of whom were led by General Vang Pao. An estimated sixty-percent (60%) of Hmong men in Laos joined up.
While Hmong soldiers were known to assist the North Vietnamese in many situations, Hmong soldiers were also recognized for serving in combat against the NVA and the Pathet Lao, helping block Hanoi's Ho Chi Minh trail inside Laos and rescuing downed American pilots. Though their role was generally kept secret in the early stages of the conflict, they made great sacrifices to help the U.S.
Thousands of economic and political refugees have resettled in Western countries in two separate waves. The first wave resettled in the late 1970s, mostly in the United States, after the North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao takeovers of the pro-US governments in South Vietnam and Laos respectively. The Lao Veterans of America, and Lao Veterans of America Institute, helped to assist in the resettlement of many Laotian and Hmong refugees and asylum seekers in the United States, especially former Hmong veterans and their family members who served in the "U.S. Secret Army" in Laos during the Vietnam War.
HMONG LAO RESISTANCE
For many years, the Neo Hom resistance and political movement played a key role in resistance to the Vietnam People's Army in Laos following the U.S. withdrawal in 1975. Vang Pao played a significant role in this movement. Additionally, a spiritual leader Zong Zoua Her, as well as other Hmong leaders, including Pa Kao Her or Pa Khao Her, rallied some of their followers in an additional factionalized guerrilla resistance movement called ChaoFa (RPA: Cob Fab, Pahawh Hmong: ChaoFaPahawh.png). These events led to the yellow rain controversy when the United States accused the Soviet Union of supplying and using chemical weapons in this conflict.
Small groups of Hmong people, many of the second or third generation descendants of former CIA soldiers, remain internally displaced in remote parts of Laos, in fear of government reprisals. Faced with continuing military operations against them by the government and a scarcity of food, some groups have begun coming out of hiding, while others have sought asylum in Thailand and other countries. Hmongs in Laos, in particularly, develop a stronger and deeper anti-Vietnamese sentiment than its Vietnamese Hmong cousins, due to historic persecution perpetrated by the Vietnamese against them.
CONTROVERSY OVER REPATRIATION
In June 1991, after talks with the UNHCR and the Thai government, Laos agreed to the repatriation of over 60,000 Lao refugees living in Thailand, including tens of thousands of Hmong people. Very few of the Lao refugees, however, were willing to return voluntarily. Pressure to resettle the refugees grew as the Thai government worked to close its remaining refugee camps. While some Hmong people returned to Laos voluntarily, with development assistance from UNHCR, coercive measures and forced repatriation was used to send thousands of Hmong back to the communist regime they had fled. Of those Hmong who did return to Laos, some quickly escaped back to Thailand, describing discrimination and brutal treatment at the hands of Lao authorities.
In the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, The Center for Public Policy Analysis, a non-governmental public policy research organization, and its Executive Director, Philip Smith, played a key role in raising awareness in the U.S. Congress and policy making circles in Washington, D.C. about the plight of the Hmong and Laotian refugees in Thailand and Laos. The CPPA, backed by a bipartisan coalition of Members of the U.S. Congress as well as human rights organizations, conducted numerous research missions to the Hmong and Laotian refugee camps along the Mekong River in Thailand, as well as the Buddhist temple of Wat Tham Krabok.
Amnesty International, the Lao Veterans of America, Inc., the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc., Lao Human Rights Council, Inc. (led by Dr. Pobzeb Vang Vang Pobzeb, and later Vaughn Vang) and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and human rights organizations joined the opposition to forced repatriation.
Although some accusations of forced repatriation were denied, thousands of Hmong people refused to return to Laos. In 1996, as the deadline for the closure of Thai refugee camps approached, and under mounting political pressure, the U.S. agreed to resettle Hmong refugees who passed a new screening process. Around 5,000 Hmong people who were not resettled at the time of the camp closures sought asylum at Wat Tham Krabok, a Buddhist monastery in central Thailand where more than 10,000 Hmong refugees were already living. The Thai government attempted to repatriate these refugees, but the Wat Tham Krabok Hmong refused to leave and the Lao government refused to accept them, claiming they were involved in the illegal drug trade and were of non-Lao origin.
In 2003, following threats of forcible removal by the Thai government, the U.S., in a significant victory for the Hmong, agreed to accept 15,000 of the refugees. Several thousand Hmong people, fearing forced repatriation to Laos if they were not accepted for resettlement in the U.S., fled the camp to live elsewhere within Thailand where a sizable Hmong population has been present since the 19th century.
In 2004 and 2005, thousands of Hmong fled from the jungles of Laos to a temporary refugee camp in the Thai province of Phetchabun.
The European Union, UNHCHR, and international groups have since spoken out about the forced repatriation.
ALLEGED PLOT TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERMENT OF LAOS
On 4 June 2007, as part of an investigation labeled "Operation Tarnished Eagle," warrants were issued by U.S. federal courts ordering the arrest of Vang Pao and nine others for plotting to overthrow the government of Laos in violation of the federal Neutrality Acts and for multiple weapons charges. The federal charges allege that members of the group inspected weapons, including AK-47s, smoke grenades, and Stinger missiles, with the intent of purchasing them and smuggling them into Thailand in June 2007 where they were intended to be used by Hmong resistance forces in Laos. The one non-Hmong person of the nine arrested, Harrison Jack, a 1968 West Point graduate and retired Army infantry officer, allegedly attempted to recruit Special Operations veterans to act as mercenaries.
In an effort to obtain the weapons, Jack allegedly met unknowingly with undercover U.S. federal agents posing as weapons dealers, which prompted the issuance of the warrants as part of a long-running investigation into the activities of the U.S.-based Hmong leadership and its supporters.
On 15 June, the defendants were indicted by a grand jury and a warrant was also issued for the arrest of an 11th man, allegedly involved in the plot. Simultaneous raids of the defendants' homes and work locations, involving over 200 federal, state and local law enforcement officials, were conducted in approximately 15 cities in Central and Southern California in the US.
Multiple protest rallies in support of the suspects, designed to raise awareness of the treatment of Hmong peoples in the jungles of Laos, took place in California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Alaska, and several of Vang Pao's high-level supporters in the U.S. criticized the California court that issued the arrest warrants, arguing that Vang is a historically important American ally and a valued leader of U.S. and foreign-based Hmong. However, calls for then Californian Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and then President George W. Bush to pardon the defendants were not answered, presumably pending a conclusion of the large and then still-ongoing federal investigation.
On 18 September 2009, the US federal government dropped all charges against Vang Pao, announcing in a release that the federal government was permitted to consider "the probable sentence or other consequences if the person is convicted." On 10 January 2011, after Vang Pao's death, the federal government dropped all charges against the remaining defendants saying, "Based on the totality of the circumstances in the case, the government believes, as a discretionary matter, that continued prosecution of defendants is no longer warranted," according to court documents.
THAILAND
The Hmong presence in Thailand dates back, according to most authors, to the turn of the 20th century when families migrated from China through Laos and Burma. A relatively small population, they still settled dozens of villages and hamlets throughout the northern provinces. The Hmong were then registered by the state as the Meo hill tribe. Then, more Hmong migrated from Laos to Thailand following the victory of the Pathet Lao in 1975. While some ended up in refugee camps, others settled in mountainous areas among more ancient Hill Tribes.
AMERICAS
Many Hmong refugees resettled in the United States after the Vietnam War. Beginning in December 1975, the first Hmong refugees arrived in the U.S., mainly from refugee camps in Thailand; however, only 3,466 were granted asylum at that time under the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975. In May 1976, another 11,000 were allowed to enter the United States, and by 1978 some 30,000 Hmong people had immigrated. This first wave was made up predominantly of men directly associated with General Vang Pao's secret army. It was not until the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980 that families were able to enter the U.S., becoming the second wave of Hmong immigrants. Hmong families scattered across all 50 states but most found their way to each other, building large communities in California, Minnesota and Wisconsin. As of the 2010 census, 260,073 Hmong people reside in the United States the majority of whom live in California (91,224), Minnesota (66,181), and Wisconsin (49,240), an increase from 186,310 in 2000. Of them, 247,595 or 95.2% are Hmong alone, and the remaining 12,478 are mixed Hmong with some other ethnicity or race. The vast majority of part-Hmong are under 10 years old.
The Hmong people, who are a distinct ethnic group with ancient roots and ancestry in China, began settling in Minnesota in 1975. The Hmong came to Minnesota as refugees from the destructive wars that had ravaged and taken place in their homelands in Laos. Today, there are 150,000 Hmong in the U.S. states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and California. More than 66,000 Hmong reside in Minnesota with the majority living in the St. Paul area. The Twin Cities metro is home to the largest concentration of Hmong in America. For decades, the Hmong have not only made a profound impact on their adopted home in Minnesota, but the Hmong culture has collaborated with the community to document this remarkable story by collecting images, artifacts, oral histories, sharing stories, and by publishing articles and books on the Hmong experience.
In terms of cities and towns, the largest Hmong-American community is in St. Paul (29,662), followed by Fresno (24,328), Sacramento (16,676), Milwaukee (10,245), and Minneapolis (7,512).
There are smaller Hmong communities scattered across the United States, including those in Minnesota (Rochester, Mankato, Duluth) Michigan (Detroit and Warren); Anchorage, Alaska; Denver, Colorado; Portland, Oregon; Washington; North Carolina (Charlotte, Morganton); South Carolina (Spartanburg); Georgia (Auburn, Duluth, Monroe, Atlanta, and Winder); Florida (Tampa Bay); Wisconsin (Madison, Eau Claire, Appleton, Green Bay, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, La Crosse, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, and Wausau); Aurora, Illinois; Kansas City, Kansas; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Missoula, Montana; Des Moines, Iowa; Springfield, Missouri; Arkansas, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island.
Canada's small Hmong population is mostly concentrated within the province of Ontario. Kitchener, Ontario has 515 residents of Hmong descent, and has a Hmong church.
There is also a small community of several thousand Hmong who migrated to French Guiana in the late 1970s and early 1980s, that can be mainly found in the Hmong villages of Javouhey (1200 individuals) and Cacao (950 individuals).
RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION
Some Laos- and Vietnam-based Hmong Animists and Christians, including Protestant and Catholic believers, have been subjected to military attacks, police arrest, imprisonment, forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and torture on anti-religious grounds.
The deportation of Zoua Yang and her 27 children from Thailand in December 19, 2005 after the group was arrested attending a Christian church in Ban Kho Noi, Phetchabun Province, Thailand, where upon arrival back in Laos, Ms. Yang and her children were detained, after which the whereabouts of much of the family are still unknown.
For example, in 2013, a Hmong Christian pastor, Vam Ngaij Vaj (Va Ngai Vang), was beaten to death by police and security forces. In February 2014, in Hanoi, Vietnamese government officials refused to allow medical treatment for a Hmong Christian leader, Duong Van Minh, who was suffering from a serious kidney illness. In 2011, Vietnam People's Army troops were used to crush a peaceful demonstration by Hmong Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical Christian believers who gathered in Dien Bien Province and the Dien Bien Phu area of northwestern Vietnam, according to Philip Smith of the Center for Public Policy Analysis, independent journalists and others.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has documented official and ongoing religious persecution, religious freedom violations against the Laotian and Hmong people in both Laos and Vietnam by the governments. In April 2011, the Center for Public Policy Analysis also researched and documented cases of Hmong Christians being attacked and summarily executed, including four Lao Hmong Christians.
WIKIPEDIA
The Salton Sea was once a popular place for boating, swimming, fishing, etc., but an increase in the salt level of the water caused large numbers of fish to die and the water became foul. This, in addition to a couple of hurricanes in the 1970's, caused the communities surrounding the sea to deteriorate.
ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0502/feature5/fulltext.html
Map it: Google Earth | Street | Satellite | Hybrid | Nautical | Topo
According to Venetian official statistics approximately 16 million people visited the province of Venice in 2011, with increases projected for 2012-13. Most if not all visitors, come to visit the central island Venezia in order to see and be in the heart of the city. Geographically the city center which includes St. Mark’s Basilica, St Mark’s Square, the Doge’s Palace, the Rialto Bridge, as well as the homes and businesses of Venetians exists on a land mass that is roughly six square miles. These six square miles are criss-crossed by the Grand and the not-so-grand canals which invite tourists to explore the nooks and crannies of a medieval powerhouse that still displays its heritage.
However, as a frame of reference, visitors should do the math. Public access to the six square miles of the central part of Venice is reduced by the areas occupied by private housing, businesses and by canals. Effectively the 80,000 to 100,000 daily visitors and the 40,000 to 60,000 local residents or business employers and employees are competing for approximately one to two square miles of open space. Regardless of the crowds it should be noted that while tourists may travel stem to stern in seemingly endless lines of gondolas, on Venice’s solid ground no car, bus or motor scooter challenges a visitor’s right to live long and prosper. In Venice the trucks, cars, and buses come with keels and rudders. All vie for space on and in the canals. Gondoliers weave their boats and passengers through the Grand Canal water traffic much like carriage driver guide their clip-clopping horse drawn carriages through any busy city’s tourist center. To paraphrase Shakespeare, in Venice all the water’s a stage, During the day Venice presents its water stained past in the guise of Palazzos, bridges, towers and churches, all accompanied with a cacophony of sounds and foreign languages (theirs and ours). At night a pleasant surprise awaits visitors who stay in the city. When diners and partiers head home residents and tourists experience Silence, perhaps modern Venice’s most subtle reminder of renaissance times, Silence, no horns, no engine noises, no canal traffic, and minimum ambient light. Consequently, from an open window looking out over the tiled rooftops of ancient Venetian homes, my wife and I could see stars and pick out the Dome of Saint Mark’s and the Campanile by the light of the same moon viewed by princes, popes and the popolo when the Grand Canal was grand.
Did we see everything? No…but we gave it a game try. We took the waterbus up and down the Grand Canal. We visited the highlighted sights. We walked and walked and walked, sort of like exploring a maze. We succumbed to the most unnecessary tour book advice offered, “In order to experience the real Venice get lost and wander its back streets and canals.” Wittingly and unwittingly we did get lost, but then again Venice is an island. So unless we were lost AND wet, we figured it was a safe bet that we would find our way back to our rooms.
The place where I had sleep. www.zanolla.nl/Bed_&_Breakfast.html
A personal observation of the increasing distance between Earth and Mars, post opposition. Had hoped for more opportunities, but that is summer weather in South Florida.
Telescope: CPC800 XLT
Camera: ASI102MC-S - and Shorty 2X Barlow.
The Unistar backed shipments to Savareen had been increasing over the last few months. It became clear to SCS Command that they were preparing for a hostile takeover of the planet. In order to protect the Imperial assets on the ground, dozens of anti-aircraft guns were set up along the 20 mile beach head. Their orders were to blast any ship with yellow markings out of the sky. It wasn’t long before the enemy cargo ships started arriving with starfighter escorts.
“2 targets on the horizon” yelled the spotter with his macrobinoculars held up to his eyes.
The stormtrooper manning the gun stood up and recalibrated the gunsight settings. “Distance: 5000 feet. Height: 650 feet” he called out.
The spotter relayed the changing distance in response. “4900 feet…4800 feet…4700 -“
“Target acquired” confirmed the gunner.
The twin barrelled gun fired short controlled bursts, pausing intermittently to recalibrate its aim.
“Hit” yelled the spotter over the noise as the crew watched the cargo ship nose dive into the ocean. There were some jeers and pats on the back for the gunner before the spotter interrupted them with an update.
“The escorts not turning around” he warned. “2900 feet”
The gunner snapped his attention back to his weapon and readjusted the targeting system. He fired and watched the blue laser blasts sail over the fighter bearing down on them.
“He’s dropping low” shouted the spotter.
“These guns weren’t made for hitting fighters” thought the gunner, missing again.
“1500 feet and closing!”
“I need a reload!” yelled the gunner.
The fighter was nearly close enough to see the pilot inside the cockpit now. His weapon systems were in range and in seconds he had lit up the beach forcing the anti-air crew to hit the deck. The gunner kept firing.
“HIT!” he yelled as the smoking fighter crashed into the tree line behind them.
Dusting themselves off, they waited for the explosion. None came.
“No fire” said the spotter grinning. They called it in and the remains of the fighter were recovered. The pilot was in pieces but the fighter was still partially intact.
“IDMR are gonna have a field day with this” said the gunner. “They’ve been looking for a Unistar fighter since that pilot defected.”
The Holy Scriptures speaks about increase lawness and cruelty in the last days.
I'm sure this is not confined within one location or a country, but all across the world, an increase lawlessness abound. If we haven't witnessed real time cruelty done to another human being, pay attention to animals. Countless animal cruelty happening that it's ignored, tolerated or just majority of people couldn't be bothered to raised alarms against the practice.
As I love animals, this cruelty has impacted me.
Matthew 24:12
"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold."
Proverbs 12:10
"Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel."
Luke 12:6
"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God."
Numbers 22:32
"And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me."
Isaiah 66:3
"“He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck; he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers pig's blood; he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol. These have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations;"
Job 38:42
"Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food?"
God gave man dominion over animals but not to abuse them.
A purple flower for Purple Day.
Purple Day - 26 March will be the official day that increases awareness of epilepsy all across the globe. So what has the colour purple got to do with epilepsy?
Well the answer is that lavender is the international colour for epilepsy. Why? Because the lavender flower is often related to the isolation and loneliness that people suffering from the condition often feel.
The colour was actually chosen by a girl called Cassidy Megan, who launched the day with the help of the Epilepsy Association of Nova Scotia. The aim is for people suffering to feel less alone!
The reason its so important to get this message spreading around the world is because 50 million people suffer from the epilepsy worldwide. An MP in Canada has even introduced the Purple Day Act to parliament in Canada - lets hope they pass that bill!
Unfortunately there is often a stigma attached to epilepsy - a stigma that needs to be eradicated. While some people will remember their seizure, and others will have no memory of it happening, depending on the type of seizure that they have encountered. Although there is no cure currently, avoiding triggers is said to help.
Triggers include stress, a bad sleeping pattern, exposure to flashing lights and forgetting to take medication.
So what can you do to help? You could become an Ambassador of Purple where you live. This basically means getting your purple gear on and educating loved ones and local politicians about epilepsy.
Whether you decide to be an ambassador or not, your role wil be similar. Get your purple clothes on, even paint yourself purple learn the quick facts by visiting the Purple Day to raise awareness and show people you know what you're talking about! Plan a fundraising event, any sort of event that involves the colour purple, whether it be a bakesale with purple cupcakes or something else you can think of!
I took this shot using a 4x macro filter and a macro led ring light.
The increase of population spurs technological progress and creates that anxiety which sets us against our environment as an enemy; while technology both facilitates increase of population and reinforces our arrogance, or "hubris," vis-à-vis the natural environment.
The attached diagram illustrates the interconnections. It will be noted that in this diagram each corner is clockwise, denoting that each is by itself a self-promoting (or, as the scientists say,"auto catalytic") phenomenon: the bigger the population, the faster it grows; the more technology we have, the faster the rate of new invention; and the more we believe in our "power" over an enemy environment, the more "power" we seem to have and the more spiteful the environment seems to be.
(for the diagram see: www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/ecology/sick.htm )
... The ideas which dominate our civilization at the present time date in their most virulent form from the
Industrial Revolution. They may be summarized as:
(a) It's us against the environment.
(b) It's us against other men.
(c) It's the 'individual (or the individual company, or the individual nation) that matters.
(d) We can have unilateral control over the environment and must strive for that control.
(e) We live within an infinitely expanding "frontier."
(f) Economic determinism is common sense.
(g) Technology will do it for us.
We submit that these ideas are simply proved false by the great but ultimately destructive achievements of our technology in the last 150 years. Likewise they appear to be false under modern ecological theory. The creature that wins against its environment destroys itself.
Gregory Bateson, "The Roots of Ecological Crisis" (1972)..YES 1972 !!!!!
White light: Takahaski 120 mm 1.4X extender Lunt wedge Televue 2X powermate Nikon Z8
Calcium light: Lunt 80 mm Lunt calcium module Televue 2X powermate ZWO 1294 camera.
Sunspot 3976-8 is large and complex and in calcium shows activity that might yet ramp up to a significant flare.
Big Cypress National Preserve
Southern Florida
USA
Alligator photographed in a national preserve 45 minutes from my home. I have no idea of its length. The many reflections and color in the water were created by plants growing by the water. It appears I have a visiting dragonfly on its back.
The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile endemic to the Southeastern United States. It is one of two living species in the genus Alligator within the family Alligatoridae.
Adult male American alligators measure 11.2 to 15.1 ft in length, and can weigh up to (999 lb). Females are smaller, measuring (8.5 to 9.8 ft) in length.
The American alligator inhabits freshwater wetlands, such as marshes and cypress swamps from Texas to southeastern and coastal North Carolina.
American alligators are apex predators and consume fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Hatchlings feed mostly on invertebrates.
They play an important role as ecosystem engineers in wetland ecosystems through the creation of alligator holes, which provide both wet and dry habitats for other organisms.
Throughout the year, in particular during the breeding season, American alligators bellow to declare territory and locate suitable mates. Male American alligators use infrasound to attract females.
The conservation status of the American alligator is listed as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Historically, hunting had decimated their population, and the American alligator was listed as an endangered species by the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
Subsequent conservation efforts have allowed their numbers to increase and the species was removed from endangered status in 1987. The species is the official state reptile of three states: Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Taken at Wicken Fen. Dining on the seeds of Hemp Agrimony.
Greenfinch populations declined during the late 1970s and early 1980s, but increased dramatically during the 1990s. A recent decline in numbers has been linked to an outbreak of trichomonosis, a parasite-induced disease which prevents the birds from feeding properly.
About this time last year, Louis Vuitton installed Olafur Eliasson's light sculpture 'Eye See You' in their windows around the world. To compliment my photograph of one of those sculptures, this year I thought I'd take a picture of an actual eye.
This macro shot has had a certain amount of post processing, mainly to increase the contrast and emphasise the filamentary structure of the tissue in the iris.
(D9773c)
In the past couple months I have grown an increasing love for film photography, you can bet that’s what this account is going to turn into. Taken on the streets of Chicago on my Canon AL-1, this was one of those grab and go shots I snagged while walking to Ogilvie so i’m not too sure where this was. Sure was a neat sign, not sure how the beer tastes though.
Portra 800
Cap matches colour of contents
Bomb the steezy way
Dcypher
Enamel
With CBS rust inhibitor
Increased painting speed
Insane can control
Wilder styles
No 1995
Destined to rule
Warning - Flammable burners
Keep away from walls & trains
The settlement at Ko Panyi was established at the end of the 18th century by nomadic Malay fisherman. Ko Panyi is known as Pulau Panji in Malay language. It was during this time that the law limited land ownership solely to people of Thai national origins, and due to this fact the settlement was, for the most part, built on stilts within the protection of the island's bay, providing easy access for fishers. With the increase of wealth for the community, due to the growing tourism industry within Thailand, purchase of land on the island itself became a possibility, and the first structures of relevance were built, a mosque and a freshwater well.
►►► Explore the world of HDR with me at farbspiel-photo.com - View. Learn. Connect.
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About | HDR Cookbook | Before-and-After | Making-of | Pics to play with
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(Hit 'f' to fave this image)
Watch the Before and After - Comparison to see where this photo comes from!
The story of this photo:
I revisited the shots from our Paris trip last year and found a bracketed series of shots of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel which is positioned in front of the Louvre. I decided to process it and share it with you.
This is one of the rare night HDRs you will find in my stream. I love night shots with great lighting. However, I still have a hard time getting used to carrying around a tripod. I have bought a real light-weight carbon tripod to increase the likelihood of me actually taking it with me. And yet, I still feel that I have a lot more freedom and I am a lot faster without it, getting more shots from more angles. As a result, I have developed some skills of shooting hand-held in low-light conditions, something that comes in handy in churches where tripod are forbidden. Still, I have to get used to using the tripod more often.
BTW, you can find a shot of this place in day light here. This earlier shot was one of my very first uploads to flickr. Go and visit it! It may feel a bit lonesome on the very last page of my stream. :-)
Enjoy!
Take a look at my "HDR Cookbook"! It contains some more information on my techniques.
How it was shot:
> Taken with a tripod
> Three exposures (0, -2, +2 ev) autobracketed
> Camera: Nikon D90
> Lens: Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm 1:3,5-5,6G ED VR
> Details can be found here
How it was tonemapped:
> HDR creation and tonemapping using Photomatix Pro 4.0 (Detail Enhancer)
> Saved as 16bit TIF
How it was post-processed:
> Post-processing was done in Photoshop
> Topaz Adjust on the entire image to get back the colors and the details [details]
> Topaz Denoise on the entire image [details]
> Topaz Infocus for sharpening
> Levels layer on the sky (darkening)
> Curves layer on the arch to enhance the contrast
> Saturation layer on the arch (master / yellows)
> Black fill layer on the arch masked with the in verted blue channel (contrast enhancement)
> Levels layer on the black elements of the rach (darkening)
> Saturation layer on the horses (master)
> Vignette effect using a masked fill layer [details]
> Watermarking
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Learn these techniques at farbspiel-photo.com - View. Learn. Connect.
- Thanks for viewing!
Luckily, the weather forecast for the day before yesterday, 11 June 2021, was good, as I just had to escape from the banging and drilling noise that is created by the workmen still repairing my building. On top of that, there was additional banging and drilling as a different repair company came to my neighbours' homes to start repairs on ceiling damage caused by a leaking dishwasher. Most unfortunate for both families! Walls are thin enough that noise from one home is heard in others. Anyway, I had a great day out, quiet and rewarding. Sunny, but the wind increased as the day went on and the further south I travelled. A total of 254 km driven this day.
All the roads were ones that I had driven before, apart from one short back road. Bird sightings made for a great day, even though they were all familiar species. A Red-winged Blackbird - surprise, surprise! - was the first bird to be seen, followed by three Wilson's Snipe, all perched on fence posts.
A Bobolink was one of the highlights of the day for me. Perched on a fence post, singing its little heart out, it gave me a chance to take a short video. Of course, the bird would have to land on a fence post (seen in the video) that had rather annoying, long blades of grass across its face, ha. I didn't want to restart my car and reverse to get a slightly better view, in case the bird flew. Hearing their song is such a delight. After looking at many Bobolink photos on Google, I think the beak of the bird I photographed must have some kind of deformity on the lower mandible. If that is the case, then I suspect this bird is the same individual that I photographed last year, at exactly the same place.
Before heading further south, I caught sight of a very distant bird of prey, perched on a fence post. I will need help to identify what kind it was. After quite a drive, I almost missed two Swainson's Hawks that were on fence posts, with a couple of bare posts in between them. Unable to stop in time, I cautiously reversed, expecting that both would fly off. Luckily, they both stayed and I was able to get a few photos - such beautiful birds. Came across a pair of Mountain Bluebirds along the same road.
Of course, seeing a few favourite silos and a barn or two makes any day special. By the time, I reached the silos, though, the wind had picked up and it was all I could do to take a few quick shots. A few photos were taken from the road, looking down on the Bar U Ranch. Later in the summer, I will hopefully visit the whole ranch again.
Heading eastwards, I returned to the city via the south-east. Eastern and Western Kingbirds, plus a few 'regulars', added to the enjoyment of the day.