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Italien / Südtirol - Ultental
Ultimo Farm Trail
Ultner Höfeweg
The Ulten Valley (German: Ultental or Ulten, Italian: Val d'Ultimo) is a 40 km long mountain valley in the western part of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy.
It is the valley of the stream Falschauer, a right tributary of the Adige. Its orientation is southwest to northeast, parallel to the lower Vinschgau, and it is located south of Meran. The valley ends in the commune of Lana. A small road leading south connects the valley with Proveis and the Val di Non in Trentino.
The municipality Ulten covers most of the Ulten valley. The lower part of the valley is in the municipality of St. Pankraz. The population of the Ulten valley is predominantly German-speaking (more than 98% according to 2001 census). The westernmost, highest part of the valley is part of the Stelvio National Park.
(Wikipedia)
The Ultimo Farm Trail - "Via dei Masi" in Italian, "Ultner Höfeweg" in German - is one of the best ways to get to know the valley and its beautiful old mountain farms. Starting in Pracupola (Kuppelwies), we follow the trail on the sunny side of the valley until Santa Geltrude (St. Gertraud) and hike back on its shady side. The trail is 18 km long and can be done in one or two days. Today, we decide to do the longer of the two parts of the Ultimo Farm Trail. Starting at the Ultimo Valley Museum (Ultner Talmuseum) in San Nicolò (St. Nikolaus), we pass the church and hike upwards, following the signpost "Ultner Höfeweg". First, the trail leads up the valley into the forest.
We see and smell the first signs of spring. Up and down the valley, across some small bridges and passing several beautiful mountain farms with typical shingle roofs, we follow the trail through forest and meadows. The trail is very well marked and maintained. After about 3 km, we reach the highest point of this hiking tour at 1,468 m a.s.l. Getting closer to the top of the valley, the trail leads gently downwards until we reach Santa Geltrude.
After a short rest we start our way back on the other side of the Valsura river. After about 20 minutes from Santa Geltrude, we pass the huge ancient larch trees before we finally reach San Nicolò, the starting point of the Ultimo Farm Trail, which unites culture, way of life, history and nature in a very beautiful and unique way. This tour is particularly recommendable from late spring (when also the shady side of the valley is empty of snow) until autumn.
(suedtirolerland.it)
Das Ultental, auch einfach Ulten genannt (italienisch Val d'Ultimo), ist das 40 km lange Tal der Falschauer in den Ortler-Alpen in Südtirol. Es verläuft parallel zum nördlich gelegenen Vinschgau und mündet bei Lana ins Etschtal. Der größte Teil des Ultentals gehört zu den Gemeinden Ulten und St. Pankraz, der Taleingangsbereich zur Gemeinde Lana. Die obersten Talabschnitte befinden sich im Nationalpark Stilfser Joch.
Die Ortschaften im Ultental, in talauswärts gerichteter Reihenfolge, sind
St. Gertraud (1501 m, ca. 300 Einwohner)
St. Nikolaus (1256 m, ca. 300 Einwohner)
Kuppelwies (1153 m, ca. 150 Einwohner)
St. Walburg (1190 m, ca. 2200 Einwohner)
St. Pankraz (735 m, ca. 1568 Einwohner)
Zwischen St. Walburg und St. Pankraz zweigt nach Süden die Straße über das Hofmahdjoch ins Nonstal ab.
In der Nähe von St. Gertraud befinden sich die drei Ultner Urlärchen, die auf ein Alter von 850 Jahren taxiert werden.
Der Ort St. Walburg weist mit dem latènezeitlichen Brandopferplatz am Kirchhügel eine im Alpenraum herausragende archäologische Fundstelle auf.
In der Mitte des Ultentals befindet sich das Skigebiet Schwemmalm. Des Weiteren gibt es eine Langlaufloipe von St. Nikolaus nach St. Gertraud.
Das Ultental bietet auch viele Tourenmöglichkeiten für Bergwanderer. Angefangen von gekennzeichneten Wanderwegen bis hin zu hochalpinen Tourstrecken. Der höchste der Ultner Berge ist die Hintere Eggenspitze mit 3443 m.
Im 19. und Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts hielten sich besonders im Badeort Mitterbad bei St. Pankraz viele berühmte Persönlichkeiten auf, so etwa Kaiserin Elisabeth v. Österreich, Bismarck, Franz Defregger, Hermann Sudermann, Franz Kafka, Hermione v. Preuschen, Domherr Graf zur Lippe, Thomas Mann und Heinrich Mann. Viele kamen wegen des bekannten Arztes und Philosophen Dr. Christoph Hartung von Hartungen, der in Riva am Gardasee das Sanatorium von Hartungen betrieb und im hinteren Ultental, bei St. Nikolaus, seine Sommervilla Hartungshausen besaß.
Die Wasserkraftwerke im Ultental sind eine Reihe von Speicherkraftwerken, welche die Wasserkraft der Falschauer und ihrer Nebenflüsse und -bäche mit Hilfe von sechs Stauseen zur Gewinnung von Energie nützen.
(Wikipedia)
Der Ultner Höfeweg eignet sich besonders gut, um einen Eindruck vom Ultental zu bekommen und die urigen Höfe, die das Tal so besonders machen, aus nächster Nähe zu erkunden. Der Höfeweg startet in Kuppelwies und führt auf der Sonnenseite taleinwärts bis nach St. Gertraud, talauswärts verläuft er auf der Schattenseite - insgesamt ist er etwa 18 km lang und kann in einer Tageswanderung als auch in zwei Teil-Etappen zurückgelegt werden. Wir entscheiden uns heute für den längeren der zwei Teilabschnitte. Wir starten am Ultner Talmuseum in St. Nikolaus und wandern an der Kirche vorbei aufwärts, der Markierung "Höfeweg" folgend.
Der Weg führt taleinwärts und in einer Steigung in den Wald hinein. Der Frühling liegt in der Luft und die ersten Boten sind auch hier schon zu sehen. In ständigem Auf und Ab, über Brücklein und vorbei an hübschen Paarhöfen - natürlich mit typischen Schindeldächern - im Wald und über Wiesen. Der Weg ist stets gut ausgeschildert, die Orientierung ist einfach. Den höchsten Punkt der Wanderung (1.468 m ü.d.M.) erreichen wir nach etwas mehr als 3 km. Nähert man sich dem Talschluss, geht es allmählich bergab, bis man im Dorf St. Gertraud ankommt. Nach einer kleinen Rast machen wir uns auf den Rückweg, der entlang der anderen Seite der Falschauer verläuft.
Dieser Abschnitt ist schattiger und erst im späten Frühling schneefrei. Nach etwa 20 Minuten ab St. Gertraud gelangen wir zu den Ultner Urlärchen. Deren Umfang ist wahrlich erstaunlich! Blickt man auf die gegenüberliegende Talseite, staunt man über die Lage mancher Höfe. Allmählich nähern wir uns wieder St. Nikolaus, wo unsere Wanderung am Ultner Höfeweg endet. Kultur, Lebensweise, Geschichte und Natur sind entlang dieses Weges in einzigartiger Weise vereint. Empfehlenswert vom späten Frühling (Schattenseite oft erst spät schneefrei) bis Herbst.
(suedtirolerland.it)
Dumgoyne is a hill prominent on the edge of the Campsie Fells and is a well-known landmark visible from Glasgow. It is a volcanic plug and is 427 m (1,401 ft) high. The plug is readily reached from a path beside Glengoyne Distillery or via a water-board track from the village of Strathblane three miles to the east or Killearn to the west.
From Strathblane, the path begins at the entrance to a private road. Here the car can be parked by the roadside, and the walk begins by following this private road for approximately two miles. After passing several gates on the way, turn to the right where there is another gate. Follow this path up and around the side Dumfoyn, and from here the path steepens, as it goes up Dumgoyne. The summit is marked by a small standing stone erected some years ago by local Rotarians. This route to Dumgoyne passes close to the Spittal of Ballewan (545811) the former site of a medieval Knights Templar hospital.
Close to Dumgoyne is Dumfoyn (547825; 421m) a similar but less remarkable and much less climbed hill. From these hills the much smaller but heavily wooded Dumgoyach (531810;108m) can be seen. This fine hill is well worth a visit if one is walking on the West Highland Way as the Way goes beside Dumgoyach.
Wiki
The Corries --- Come By The Hills
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Rollingstone1's most interesting photos on Flickriver
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Shot 4 from 1st April shoot. This is not Mars...it is actually Acton near Newry. An inversion layer in the early morning light. I am not sure about the overhanging branch. Any comments? The early start was worth it just for this scene alone...breath taking. The valleys in this area seem to be prone to this inversion layer effect. Grass frost slow to lift as the sun rises.
Hello all!
This is a piece that I recently built for the contest, "Replicate your heroic minifigures in battle!" over on Lego Ideas.
I had two main goals as I built this. First, I wanted it to look cartoony, like a scene that I would have played out as a child. Hence the two knights being launched out of a catapult. And the one hiding in the bush. And second, I wanted to build it in two main sections, or islands, but I wanted to make it clear that the islands were just smaller portions of the actual landscape. In other words, the islands only exist in the MOC, not in the world that it models. I tried to use subtle hints to give the MOC this feel, such as the fact that the water only extends to the grey portion of the island's base, or the simple fact that there is a road on each island.
Ultimately, I am pleased with the result. I think it accomplishes both of my goals fairly well.
Thank you all!
Happy Building and God Bless!
-GondorSoldier-
This is one from the archives, Its not been the best weather conditions for me to get out and shoot, plus doing some PC upgrades and updates mean a new index of my storage array. So going back to PRE Photoshop days and editing some older shots.
This was masked with Topaz, then layered. Next a run through Clarity on the bird to bring out wing details. Did a tad of content aware brushing to take out stray lighter branches.
The thing is I wrote up this lengthy story about my entire Yosemite trip and how I lost my macro. I'm convinced it was hilarious, insightful, and well intentioned. I even posted it yesterday, but when I discovered a few typos (ok, lots) I somehow managed to select most of the text, press a key to overwrite what I had written and hit to return to save it on the page. All this happened quick enough to keep my brain from stopping my hands mid-accident.
Dagnabbit.
So if I was going to write a story now here's what the morals might be:
1. Never doubt yourself to out-idiot an idiot proof photo backpack.
2. Always zip up your bag after you're done. And ESPECIALLY before you put it on your back.
3. Triple check step 2 if you're standing on a bridge.
4. Don't let your friend capture the whole aftermath on video, it will only give them something to hang over your head for months and years.
5. Don't compose your next great novel in the flickr description window. It will only lead to tears as it doesn't have an undo.
Yeah, there's a video. But you don't want to watch it. It's long and its not my finest moment. I'm acting like an idiot because I'm extremely tired, and hungry, and hypothermia is closing in quick. At least that's my story. So let's just skip it and move on. K?
Happy Monday.
This very handy filter case came with a Contaflex that I acquired long ago. I no longer have the camera, but I kept the case and the filters.
You will notice that there is one missing. That's right; it was like that when I got it. I do have a skylight filter, but that came in its own separate little case. I also have the four Proxar lenses, but those should go in a case of their own. (BTW, I have the whole Proxar set twice, in case anyone is interested).
All of these filters are for black and white film photography. I have to explain this because the digital generation likely will not know.
The yellow and the orange one are very useful. A yellow filter will enhance contrast and an orange filter will make a cloudy sky a lot more interesting. The green one, which I find distinctly less useful, will enhance the detail and nuances in a picture that is full of different greens, such as a forest scene.
But the one filter I am missing is a red or dark red filter. A red filter has a similar effect to an orange filter, but much more so. It will filter out the blue light, so a blue sky will look very dark and the clouds will look very dramatic. You want to use this effect sparingly, like all strong effects should be used sparingly. But if the scene is right, then a red filter will make a world of a difference.
I haven't seen a red or dark red filter on the market so far. I mean: not those that are made by Zeiss Ikon (and they are beautifully made!) for the Contaflex.
Shot with:
Canon EOS600D
Leica Bellows R (16860)
Leica 100mm f/4 Macro Elmar-R, bellows version (11230)
This is my first star trails shot ! It is a 125 minutes exposure, which produced 252 images showing the rotation of earth around the sun, it was such an amazing experience !
The stars are real, without any edit..
More is less.
The pawn is a valuable piece in the game of chess. Despite their lack of strength there are more of them so More is Less
This rhododendron is in my front yard and is one that I had trouble finding when I planted the Bed... It has been around for at least a hundred years so I guess people want the newer ones and not the old standbys....I also have a Cynthia in the back yard but it isn't blooming yet... I put this one in the little video but wanted it so I could see it all the time :-)
This is how the actual Temple building looks from front on. This has been shot at 12 mm and I have just about managed to squeeze the minarets and the cupolas in alongwith a few of the people going about with their daily routine in life. The space is best shot with maybe 10 mm on a non Dx lens.
That said, I have no idea how you, the viewers, experience is with Flickr. I find the views abysmal as well as the whole experience of commenting. While it was routine for about 200-500 views within a day or two, now a days, the total views in a week can barely cross the three figure mark. On top of it, the Flickr automation for lodging the tags and titles etc to search engines seems to be suffering too. Earlier within a few hours you could find your photo on a search in google.com. Not so, now a days.
I have not been very active on your photos of late. Hopefully, I will be able to do some justice now.
Autumn is the faster season in mountain. You may need to be ready to capture his best moments. The first rains take away with them the magical and colorful leaves adorning the alpine landscape.
This shot was made in one of the best mountain villages of switzerland: Soglio, in the Bregaglia Valley. In the background we can admire "Sciore", the famous castle of granitic peaks of the Bondasca, at the border with italian Valmasino.
autumn is here in Essex. The leaves are shades brown and red and make natures very own carpet for us to walk upon.
I am looking forward to my next outing whenever that might be. I have a few friends to catch up so with luck I will be out again soon.
Imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to used during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course? Each of us has such a bank, it's name is time. Every morning, it credits you 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off at a lost, whatever of this you failed to invest to a good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no over draft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no drawing against "tomorrow". You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and health. The clock is running. Make the most of today.
- Marc Levy
Ph©ArteUrbanaLugano
"The exhibition 'To be or not to be' is dedicated to the skull, which has always been used in art history as a reminder of human mortality is now an ephemeral symbol, deprived of its sanctity, used in fashion, design... contemporary art. Orticanoodles reproduce the image of the skull in a series of portraits from well-known media personalities, which are shelled and in fact made into empty skulls. To be or not to be, the Shakespearean dilemma, leads us to reflect on what remains of these men and women after removing the image that creates their status. Through the skillfully applied technique of stencils, Orticanoodles confront us with the question of identity, the image built, to pass a message. The artists offer their works through which the viewers can mirror and ask theirselves about their own appearance. The language of Wally and Alita actually uses the visual parameters of pop culture and advertising to distort the message and make social commentary. Their skulls are asking: What really matters? Appear or act? Live or die? To be or not to be?"
From 26/11 to11/12 2010, dal martedì al sabato
Open 15:00 to 20:00
Lab_Comacina, Viale Cassarate 4, Lugano
The waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus Kobus of the family Bovidae. It was first described by Irish naturalist William Ogilby in 1833
Waterbuck are rather sedentary in nature. A gregarious animal, the waterbuck may form herds consisting of six to 30 individuals. These groups are either nursery herds with females and their offspring or bachelor herds. Males start showing territorial behaviour from the age of five years, but are most dominant from the age of six to nine. The waterbuck cannot tolerate dehydration in hot weather, and thus inhabits areas close to sources of water. Predominantly a grazer, the waterbuck is mostly found on grassland.
The waterbuck is of a robust build. The shaggy coat is reddish brown to grey, and becomes progressively darker with age. Males are darker than females. Though apparently thick, the hair is sparse on the coat. The hair on the neck is, however, long and shaggy. When excited, the skin of the waterbuck secretes a greasy substance with the odour of musk, giving it the name "greasy kob". The odor of this is so unpleasant that it repels predators. This secretion also assists in water-proofing the body when the animal dives into water. The facial features include a white muzzle and light eyebrows and lighter insides of the ears. There is a cream-coloured patch (called "bib") on the throat. Waterbuck are characterised by a long neck and short, strong and black legs.
The long, spiral horns curve backward, then forward. Found only on males, the horns range from 55 to 99 cm (22 to 39 in) in length. To some extent, the length of the horns is related to the bull's age. A rudimentary horn in the form of a bone lump may be found on the skulls of females.
Life is too short to take it seriously; I refused to make the cover of #vanity, #caitlynjenner did it...but instead I make face )))
With a tug, the slack is taken out of the tow-line and the Grob G103a Twin II sailplane aligns for takeoff. There is no radio aboard, but a signal by cycling the tail rudder from side to side alerts the pilot of the Pawnee AgCat tug that you’re ready to go. 260 horses from the tug’s engine is more than adequate to pull both aircraft to the separation point at around 3000 feet AGL (Above Ground Level). The Grob’s efficient design actually has it airborne within seconds, way faster than the powerful AgCat tow plane as it claws for speed down the narrow runway at the Whitsett, North Carolina, glider park... it’s that efficiency that you count on as you cut away from the tug. The tow pilot angles down and left, while you rise up and right. The air smooths out and so does the ride out from behind the backwash of the tug’s propeller, but it’s not time to sit back just yet. The first order of business is situational awareness... to take note of where you’re at and what’s around you. Next, trim the aircraft for best rate of climb... then look for some rising air. There is no electrical system aboard the Grob, but its instrument panel is complete with artificial horizon, altimeter, airspeed indicator, clock, compass, and vertical airspeed indicator... that’s the instrument that glider pilots rely on to find the rising air that takes them to their ultimate destination... up!
There is yet another important instrument that helps to get you up there, but it’s not in the panel... it’s a three-inch string attached to the front center of the canopy. If you’ve trimmed the craft properly, that string flows straight back from the canopy... if it flows left or right from center, you’re side-slipping, which is an excellent way to lose altitude. After trimming the aircraft to its most efficient profile, I look to another indicator for “best flight” that isn’t to be found in the cockpit... circling buzzards. Buzzards have an innate ability to find thermals, shafts of rising air that keep them aloft for hours. Some of the best lifts I ever got were from taking cues from some of nature’s most prolific flyers. The airframe of a sailplane like the Grob is so effectual that they will easily go to the upper limits of thermals. Around these parts, that’s usually around 10,000 feet AGL, though there are areas here in the states where thermals can reach 20,000 feet or better... and that can be dangerous.
Thermals not only rise... they also track across the landscape, and sometimes pretty fast. The highest I flew in these parts was around 9,000 feet. I often had to hop from thermal to thermal to stay within sight of Whitsett. You didn’t want to be too far away, especially in conditions of sinking air. The destination was always up, but journey’s end was always safely stopped at the park... “journey’s end” is critical in an unpowered aircraft... part of the skill in flying it was putting it back where you found it. That was always on my mind, but so was going up, and it never seemed high enough. My question to myself on nearly every drive home after a flight was how high is high enough?
There are many conditions in life where people accept poor standards of belief, especially when it’s just within themselves, where they strive and claw to the stratosphere only to find there’s nothing there... their expectations let them down. I've listened to skeptics who rely on their place in life as a random collocation of atoms... that's an even worse condition, as it leaves one with no understanding to even reach for the top, much less knowing when they have.
Even while flying the Grob, I realized the joy was in the journey, not in the heights. This image was taken the same morning as that of my last post. It gives a better view of the overall wildness of Linville Gorge from the tip rocky ledge of Hawksbill Mountain. Where I’m standing is about 4,000 feet (1220 meters) above sea level, looking over a remote landscape that stretches to the coming morning... and it makes me appreciate that there are times that the highest you need to go may be exactly where you are... particularly if it takes you to a beautiful place. After a night of rain, mist retreats to morning... there's hope in that.
The pink flowers here are Carolina rhododendron separated by blueberry bushes that are also in bloom... you can see them here, a pinkish white and rather small bell-shape.
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War.
The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s. It was produced in greater numbers than any other British aircraft and was the only British fighter in continuous production throughout the war.
The Spitfire was designed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works (which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928). Mitchell continued to refine the design until his death from cancer in 1937, whereupon his colleague Joseph Smith became chief designer. Where speed was seen as essential to carrying out the mission of home defence against enemy bombers, the Spitfire's thin cross-section elliptical wing allowed it a higher top speed than several contemporary fighters, including the Hawker Hurricane.
During the Battle of Britain (July–October 1940), the Spitfire was perceived by the public as the RAF fighter, though the more numerous Hawker Hurricane shouldered a greater proportion of the burden against the Luftwaffe. The Spitfire units had a lower attrition rate and a higher victory-to-loss ratio than those flying Hurricanes.
After the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire became the backbone of RAF Fighter Command, and saw action in the European, Mediterranean, Pacific and the South-East Asian theatres. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire served in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber, carrier-based fighter, and trainer. It was built in many variants, using several wing configurations.
Although the original airframe was designed to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine producing 768 kW, it was adaptable enough to use increasingly powerful Merlin and later Rolls-Royce Griffon engines producing up to 1,520 kW.
Times Square seems to give the pace for the entire globe and there is almost no other place in the world more known for cityscape photography. It is hard to capture this atmosphere in a unique photograph beside the mainstream. I was happy to find this new vantage point, that combines nicely the busy street scene with the strolling passengers and the oversized billboards. via WordPress ift.tt/28KyBi7 ------------------------------------------------ for the technique behind this shot and more, please visit my website: www.bit.ly/wernersworld !!! ------------------------------------------------ creative commons: Feel free to use photos with credits and links. No commercial use without permission. For commercial use, please contact me on my website and we will find an agreement for the permission!!! via ift.tt/28Mg2st
There is a real quality to autumn light as it streams across the land. The sky ahead was grey but it did not rain. It was a very bracing walk out here the wind was very cold.
No #331 on Explore, 28/11/2017
This is the door to a derelict terraced house near the center of Dublin.
I decided to make the door and a few other parts black & white. Because the THC on the door was a bright blue and it made the picture just to crowded with colour.
Oh, it's just my favorite yellow dress. "Where did I get it you ask?" ohhhh..... well, I love this dress so much, I actually got it at RAVE... embarrasing, I know.... but their clothes are actually pretty nice now.... I swear! My black flats, which you can't see here, are COACH. Thanks for asking!
For FGR: My, what is that you're wearing?
Humor me & View On White it's really much better!
** ooohhh...... I sound like a snotty B*@#h don't I..... yeah... I really don't care where I buy things, as long as they're cute.... the thing about rave is that their clothes used to just disintigrate while you were wearing them.. that's what is embarrassing. I actually pride myself on my bargain hunting :)
What is joy?
It is a bird that we all want
To catch.
It is the same bird that we all love
To see flying.
Sri Chinmoy
texture by lenabem anna
This is actually an older image that I just reprocessed. It has never been posted here and although taken in 2014, it is one of my favorite bird images. via 500px ift.tt/292GpgG
Is It Safe? mural by Uloang, part of the Hope for Health project, in Downtown Austin Texas during the COVID-19 pandemic and the BLM protests, June 3, 2020. The mural had been removed as Austin’s 6th street reopened and then replaced as the businesses boarded up during the BLM protests.
HOPE for Health is an effort by artists in collaboration with the HOPE Outdoor Gallery to spread hope on the walls of closed, boarded-up bars on 6th street.
“This is for the birds! Oh wait – I AM a bird!”
The challenge:
A photograph can be technically perfect, and have a great composition – that’s already hard enough to achieve sometimes! But for me, a photograph really stands out if it touches me. If it conveys a feeling, or stirs an emotion within. A really great image is one that evokes a mood and pulls the viewer into the scene. That’s what this week’s challenge is about: capturing emotion and feeling.
My process:
This is not the image I thought I was going to take this week. I started off the week thinking I would need to make a difficult and heartrending decision. The rainy weather forecast looked like it would match my mood and I planned to see what I could capture during a downpour. As it turned out, the sun appeared during a break in the clouds at about the same time I got the news that all my worry was for naught. In an effort to calm my frayed nerves, I turned to my camera and started taking photos of birds in my back yard.
I take a LOT of photos of birds – thousands upon thousands of photos often of the same exact birds. Sometimes I question my sanity, but the reason is because I’m hoping to capture the rare instance when a bird seems to express an emotion that we humans can identify with. I’m pretty sure we anthropomorphize the emotions, but we identify with them nonetheless.
Grackles seem to be particularly expressive – maybe because of their bright yellow eyes. This particular grackle has a bum leg that he never puts weight on, but the wind was making it particularly challenging for him to stay upright while perching on the post. He was using his tail as a rudder and he looks like he’s had just about enough! (We’ve all had those days buddy.)
The lighting helped to further enhance the mood of the photo as well. There was a small shaft of sunlight on the bird, but the background was in shade and was especially dark because of dark clouds overhead. The sun highlighted the iridescent colors in the wings and lightened the overall dark colors of the bird to help differentiate it from the dark background.
Lesson learned:
As you probably know, I strive hard to capture technically perfect images. However I am slowly learning (as Maaike said in her opening paragraph) that even though an image might be technically perfect, if it’s void of emotion the technical perfection doesn’t make up for that. Conversely, an image with emotional impact can make technical imperfections almost irrelevant. Perhaps this is because emotions connect us to the deepest parts of ourselves. Technical perfection is about what the eyes see; emotion is about what the heart feels – and it is entirely possible for our eyes to overlook something that our heart feels strongly about.
The Zwinger is a palace in the eastern German city of Dresden, built in Baroque style between 1710 and 1719 under Elector Augustus the Strong. It was designed by court architect Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann. Its pavilions and galleries on the side of the ramparts were used as an orangery, exhibition gallery and festival arena of the Dresden Court.
The building was mostly destroyed by the carpet bombing raids of 13–15 February 1945. The art collection had been previously evacuated, however. Reconstruction, supported by the Soviet military administration, began in 1945; parts of the restored complex were opened to the public in 1951. By 1963 the Zwinger had largely been restored to its pre-war state.
Today, the Zwinger is a museum complex that contains the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery), the Dresden Porcelain Collection (Dresdener Porzellansammlung) and the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon (Royal Cabinet of Mathematical and Physical Instruments). [Wikipedia]
maybe the last one this year?
LESS IS MORE is the topic for Tuesday 11th October 2016 Group Our Daily Challenge
Tegenwoordig van eind november tot half januari: tussen Black Friday en Driekoningen is één langgerekt feestseizoen. Ook hier in de Leidsestraat is dat duidelijk te zien.
Deze foto maakt deel uit van het compilatie album "Greatest Hits", dat HIER te vinden is :
Struggling is just a part of my day.
Many obstacles have been placed in my way.
I know the only reason that I make it through
Is because I never stop believing in You.
Some people wonder why we're here in the first place.
They can't believe because they ain't never seen your face.
But even when you pray, the next day you gotta try.
Can't wait for nobody to come down out the sky.
You've got to realize that the world's a test.
You can only do your best and let Him do the rest.
You've got your life and you've got your health.
So quit procrastinating and push it yourself.
~ Outkast & Goodie Mob
This is the same wagon as the one viewed in the previous picture (91010) . The former OBA - previously pictured with sides removed - is now seen with the half height steel ends also removed. When EWS took over flask trains from B.R. they inherited these wagons but when DRS took over from EWS, EWS took the PFAs with them.
In 1994 the Waste Monitoring and Compaction Plant (WAMAC) at Sellafield entered into active commissioning and began compacting solid Low Level Waste for disposal to the Low Level Waste Repository (LLWR) at Drigg using half height ISO containers designated TC-01 (2910 series). Prior to that, waste had been moved in commercially available industrial waste skips. A more robust type of re-useable container was tried in the 1990s but was short lived because the WAMAC system rendered them redundant.
Containers like this, designated TC-05 remained in use for many years in the nuclear industry but after 1995 saw little use on trains.
It is clearly seen in the entrance gate the deepening of the tower in the ground and the inclination that the tower hung (toppled).
Sloping entrance to the tower and about two meters deeper.
Foundations launched in 1173.
The gravity to go up is crazy.
Elevation of Piazza del Duomo: about 2 meters.
Height: 55,863 meters, 8 levels
Base outer diameter: 15,484 meters
Base inside diameter: 7,368 meters
Tilt angle: 3.97 degrees or 3.9 meters from the vertical.
Weight: 14,700 tons
Base wall thickness: 2.4 meters.