This mosque is located at the beginning of Ekbatan street, near Imam Khomeini square. According to a tablet located on the front of the Mosque's big Ivan (entrance). it was built in 1253 A.H. during the Fathalishah Ghajar ruling period. "Masajed-e-Jame' (Jame’ mosques) as its name implies have central position in relation to other mosques and they always are the place of gathering people.

It has a square shape plan with three entrance gates, three Ivan. Six minarets, two old and new Shabestans, a yard and a big brick dome...more

این مسجد در نزدیکی میدان امام خمینی ، ابتدای خیابان اکباتان قرار گرفته است و تاریخ ساخت آن، که بر لوحه ای در قطار بندی جلو ایوان بزرگ مسجد نگاشته شده 1253 هجری را نشان می دهد. این سال مقارن حکومت فتحعلی شاه قاجار است. مساجد جامع، چنانکه ا نامشان پیداست، نسبت به سایر مساجد جنبه مرکزی دارند و همواره محل تجمع مسلمانان هر منطقه بوده اند.

نقشه این مسجد که به صورت مربعی است، دارای 3 درب ورودی ، 3 ایوان، 6 مناره ، 2 شبستان قدیم و جدید ، حیاط و گنبد بزرگ آجری است...بیشتر

Check out my set "Most Interesting 500" here!

Visit my Waldorfschool/Steinerschool related pinboards here!

It is nice to get away from the lighting for a while... This is taken from Coronado Island right next to the ferry dock. It is also an example of the HDR function in LR6. It did a really nice job and was really fast to boot...

This build was created as a retirement gift for my current colleague and former teacher David Derbes.

David has taught at The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, an nursery through 12th grade school, for 33 years. He won the Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching in 2007.

I was lucky enough to have David as my teacher for AP Physics, Electronics, and Cosmology. While I was not the best physics student, David found a way to reach me by explaining many concepts through Star Trek: The Next Generation analogies. Lectures and lessons would often be stopped as David took a sidebar with me: "Mr. Kaleta, do you remember the episode where..."

The respect for the intelligence of his students, the way is able to differentiate learning, and create dynamic lessons inspired me to be a teacher. For the past 19 years I have been his colleague. This past year our class was interested in simple machines and he allowed us to come over to the the historic campus where he gave an amazing lecture on Archemeaies that captivated a group of 5 and 6 year olds for 45 minutes.

Hopefully we will have many more beers and Star Trek discussions now that he is retired!

I wanna love you and treat you right;

I wanna love you every day and every night...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHekNnySAfM

Is this love - is this love - is this love -

Is this love that I'm feelin'?

Yes, I know; yes, I know - yes, I know now!

© All rights reserved Anna Kwa. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.

Is it gathering roots and rhizomes,

or roots and rhyzomes

gathering us ?

Carolina Wren...Such a aggravated expression! He worked like crazy to get this out of his bill. I have no idea what it is or where it came from. Finally he got rid of it and was able to eat some seeds.

China, Beijing, ”Yiheyuan” Summer Palace, the Seventeen-Arch Bridge is the only connection to the Nanhu Island & was built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, 1644-1911. The Seventeen-Arch Bridge is an imitation of the celebrated Marco Polo Bridge “Lugou Bridge” in Beijings Fengtai District.

As the name suggests, it has seventeen symmetrical arches, with the largest one in the centre & the others diminishing in size on either side. The bridge is 150 mtr long & 7 mtr high, which gets corresponds with the grandeur of the imperial garden. The bridge is decorated with 544 delicately carved lions. This vivid lions sitting on the white marble balusters, have different expressions & postures.

The Nanhu Island with an area of over one hectare & the largest one of the three islands in the Kunming Lake. The island situated in the southeast of the lake, is connected by the Seventeen-Arch Bridge. The whole island is edged by laid huge stones & enclosed with carved stone fence. Seen from the distance, the island together with the Seventeen-Arch Bridge looks like a turtle stretching his neck. As turtle is a symbol of longevity in Chinese culture, the similarity in shape justly satisfied Emperor Qianlong, who built this garden in the name of celebrating his mother's sixtieth birthday.

The main structures on the island are the pavilion-style Hanxu Hall is the shelter where Empress Dowager Cixi inspected the navy drill & the Dragon King Temple is said to have been built on the bank in the Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644. Its surrounding land was deliberately retained when the lake was excavated & enlarged afterwards, thus the isolated island emerged.

The grand Tower of Buddhist Incense, towering 41 meters, is the symbol of ”Yiheyuan” the Summer Palace, located in the north-western outskirts of Beijing. The garden from early 1750 is the largest & most celebrated imperial garden in China & had once been a summer resort for the emperors. It is acclaimed as a museum of gardens in China, for a visit to this garden bestow on sightseers a glimpse of representative scenes all over China.

The palace features hundreds of architecturally distinct buildings, halls, pavilions, pagodas, bridges & corridors dispersed among magnificent, elegant gardens. It has an area of 290 hectares, three quarters of which is water. The palace has three unique areas, Court Area, Longevity Hill Area & Kunming Lake Area.

The garden was originally named “Qingyi” the Garden of Clear Ripple, was a summer resort for the emperors in the Qing Dynasty, 1644-1911. In 1860, the garden was burnt down by the Anglo-French Allied Forces. In 1866, Empress “Dowager Cixi” rebuilt the garden using embezzled funds from the imperial navy & named it the Summer Palace. In 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion, the Eight-Power Allied Force ransacked the palace, after another rebuilding in 1903, the garden was restored to its original beauty & magnificence. As the grandest garden in China, it was added to the World Culture Heritage list in 1998.

👉 One World one Dream,

...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over

6,5 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments

Vintage postcard, no. 1030.

Delicate American actress Winona Ryder (1971) is known for her dark hair, brown eyes and pale skin. She starred in films such as Beetlejuice Heathers, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Edward Scissorhands, and the television series Stranger Things. In 1994, she won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in the film The Age of Innocence (1993), and Ryder was nominated twice for an Oscar.

Winona Ryder was born Winona Laura Horowitz in Winona (Olmsted County), Minnesota, in 1971. Yes, her name is very much the same as her birthplace. Her parents, Cindy Horowitz (Istas), an author and video producer, and Michael Horowitz, a publisher and bookseller, were part of the hippie movement. She has a brother named Uri Horowitz (1976), who got his first name after Yuri Gagarin, a half-sister named Sunyata Palmer (1968), and a half-brother named Jubal Palmer (1970) from her mother Cindy's first marriage. From 1978, Winona grew up in a commune near Mendocino in California, which had no electricity. When Winona was seven, her mother began to manage an old cinema in a nearby barn and would screen films all day. She allowed Winona to miss school to watch movies with her. In 1981, the family moved to Petaluma, California. Since Winona was considered an outsider in public school, she was sent to a public school and later to the American Conservatory Theater acting school. She was discovered at the age of thirteen by a talent scout at a theatre performance at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. In 1985, she applied for a role in the film Desert Bloom (David Seltzer, 1986) with a video in which she performed a monologue from the book 'Franny and Zooey' by J. D. Salinger. Although the casting choice was fellow actress Annabeth Gish, director and writer David Seltzer recognised her talent and cast her as Rina in his film Lucas (David Seltzer, 1986) about a teenager (Corey Haim) and his life in high school. When telephoned to ask what name she wanted to be called in the credits, she chose Ryder as her stage name because her father's Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels album was playing in the background. Her real hair colour is blonde but when she made Lucas (1986), her hair color was dyed black. She was told to keep it that colour and with the exception of Edward Scissorhands (1990), it has stayed that color since. Her next film was Square Dance (Daniel Petrie, 1987), in which the protagonist she portrays lives a life between two worlds: on a traditional farm and in a big city. Ryder's performance received good reviews, although neither film was a commercial success. Her acting in Lucas led director Tim Burton to cast her in his film Beetlejuice (Tim Burton, 1988). In this comedy, she played Lydia Deetz, who moves with her family into a house inhabited by ghosts (played by Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, and Michael Keaton). Ryder, as well as the film, received positive reviews, and Beetlejuice was also successful at the box office. In 1989, she starred as Veronica Sawyer in the independent film Heathers (Michael Lehmann, 1989) about a couple (Ryder and Christian Slater) who kill popular schoolgirls. Ryder's agent had previously advised her against the role. The film was a financial failure, but Ryder received positive reviews. The Jerry Lee Lewis biopic Great Balls of Fire! (Jim McBride, 1989) was also a flop. That same year, Ryder appeared in Mojo Nixon's music video 'Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child'. At the premiere of Great Balls of Fire (1989), Ryder met fellow actor and later film partner Johnny Depp. The couple became engaged a few months later, but their relationship ended in 1993. He had a tattoo of her name and after they broke up, he had this reduced to "Wino forever".

In 1990, Winona Ryder had her breakthrough performance alongside her boyfriend Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990). The fantasy film was an international box-office success. Ryder was selected for the role of Mary Corleone in The Godfather: Part III (Francis Ford Coppola, 1990) but had to drop out of the role after catching the flu from the strain of doing the films Welcome Home Roxy (Jim Abrahams, 1990) and Mermaids (Richard Benjamin, 1990) back-to-back. Ryder's performance alongside Cher and Christina Ricci in the family comedy Mermaids (1990) was praised by critics and she was nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Supporting Actress category. Ryder also appeared with Cher and Ricci in the music video for 'The Shoop Shoop Song', the film's theme song. Independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch wrote a role specifically for her in Night on Earth (Jim Jarmusch, 1991), as a tattooed, chain-smoking cabdriver who dreams of becoming a mechanic. Ryder was cast in a dual role as Mina Murray and Elisabeta in Bram Stoker's Dracula (Francis Ford Coppola, 1992). In 1993, she starred as Blanca in the drama The House of the Spirits (Bille August, 1993) alongside Antonio Banderas, Meryl Streep, and Glenn Close. It is the film adaptation of Isabel Allende's bestseller of the same name. Together with Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day-Lewis, she starred in Age of Innocence (Martin Scorsese, 1993), the film adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel. She was Martin Scorsese's first and only choice for the role of May Welland. For years, she kept the message he left on her voicemail, informing her she got the role. Her part earned her a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and an Oscar nomination. She also earned positive reviews for her role in the comedy Reality Bites (Ben Stiller, 1994). She received critical acclaim and another Oscar nomination the same year as Jo in the drama Little Women (Gillian Armstrong, 1994). In 1996, she starred alongside Daniel Day-Lewis and Joan Allen in The Crucible (Nicholas Hytner, 1996), an adaptation of Arthur Miller's stage play about the Puritan witch hunt in Salem. The film was not a success; however, Ryder's performance was favourably reviewed. A year later she portrayed an android in the successful horror film Alien: Resurrection (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1997) alongside Sigourney Weaver's Ripley. In 1998 she starred in Woody Allen's Celebrity (1998). after Drew Barrymore turned down the role. In 1999 she starred as a psychiatric patient with borderline syndrome in the drama Girl, Interrupted (James Mangold, 1999), based on Susanna Kaysen's autobiographical novel. Girl, Interrupted, the first film on which she served as executive producer, was supposed to be Ryder's comeback in Hollywood after the flops of the past years. However, the film became the breakthrough for her colleague Angelina Jolie, who won an Oscar for her role. In this decade, she was involved with Dave Pirner, the lead singer of the group Soul Asylum, from 1993 to 1996 and with Matt Damon from December 1997 to April 2000.

Winona Ryder appeared alongside Richard Gere in Autumn in New York (Joan Chen, 2000), a romance about an older man's love for a younger woman. She also made a cameo appearance in the comedy Zoolander (Ben Stiller, 2000). The comedy Mr. Deeds (Steven Brill, 2002) with Adam Sandler became her biggest financial success to date. The film failed with critics and Ryder was nominated for the Golden Raspberry award. Also in 2002, she was sentenced to three years probation and 480 hours of work for repeatedly shoplifting $5,000 worth of clothes. The incident caused a career setback. She withdrew from the public eye in the following years and did not appear in front of the camera again until 2006. In that year, she appeared in the novel adaptation A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater, 2006) alongside Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., and Woody Harrelson. In 2009, she made an appearance in Star Trek: The Future Begins (J. J. Abrams, 2009) as Spock (Zachary Quinto)'s mother Amanda Grayson. The prequel became a huge success at the box office and Ryder earned a Scream Award for Best Guest Appearance. She also appeared alongside Robin Wright and Julianne Moore in Rebecca Miller's Pippa Lee (2009), and alongside Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis in Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan (2010). Ryder starred in the television film When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story (John Kent Harrison, 2010), for which she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award. She starred in the comedy The Dilemma (Ron Howard, 2011), and the thrillers The Iceman (Ariel Vromen, 2012), and The Letter (Jay Anania, 2012) opposite James Franco. In Tim Burton's Frankenweenie (2012) she lent her voice to the character Elsa Van Helsing. Since 2016, she has embodied the main character, Joyce Byers, in the Netflix series Stranger Things (2016-2022), for which she received positive responses. Her role in the series has been described by many as a comeback. Since 2011 Winona Ryder is in a relationship with Scott MacKinlay Hahn.

Sources: Pedro Borges (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

. . . when it is practically impossible to take a bad picture.

It is when it comes to flamingos, but not in a room in my house. So colors do have there place, and pink on flamingos is beautiful

I have been sick the last few weeks, so I have been staying up with things very well. Starting to feel better, I need to because I am attending the Red Slough Birding Convention the first of May.

My colleague at work was cleaning her office room, because she thought she had too much redundant stuff in there and she was giving things she didn't need so to me she gave a book “Deception on the plate” (originally a Swedish book “Den hemlige kocken” by Mats-Erik Nilsson). And than I read this weeks MM theme and there's a book on my desk with deception written with big letters on the cover :) Did I feel lucky!

The book is about how the food isn't exactly what the manufacturers say it is, for example those freshly squeezed orange juices that are sold in the stores aren't really so fresh, the juice can be almost ten months old, before it's even in the stores.

So I guess it's best to make my own juice if I want to be sure it's really fresh :)

For MacroMondays theme "Deception"

Happy MacroMonday!

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The outfit comes with Boots/Shorts/Sleeves/Top

To see more wonderful clothing and accessories check out the In-World Store.

Taxi: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Crystal%20Cascade/192/161/23

Or Marketplace: marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/239631

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Işık Siriussx, Owner Aura Design

Social Media: linktr.ee/auradesign_sl

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Social Media: linktr.ee/vletka.shcherbacov

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpback_whale

The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from 12–16 metres (39–52 ft) and weigh approximately 36,000 kilograms (79,000 lb). The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. An acrobatic animal known for breaching and slapping the water with its tail and pectorals, it is popular with whale watchers off Australia, New Zealand, South America, Canada, and the United States.

Males produce a complex song lasting 10 to 20 minutes, which they repeat for hours at a time. Its purpose is not clear, though it may have a role in mating.

Found in oceans and seas around the world, humpback whales typically migrate up to 25,000 kilometres (16,000 mi) each year. Humpbacks feed only in summer, in polar waters, and migrate to tropical or subtropical waters to breed and give birth in the winter. During the winter, humpbacks fast and live off their fat reserves. Their diet consists mostly of krill and small fish. Humpbacks have a diverse repertoire of feeding methods, including the bubble net feeding technique.

Like other large whales, the humpback was and is a target for the whaling industry. Once hunted to the brink of extinction, its population fell by an estimated 90% before a moratorium was introduced in 1966. While stocks have since partially recovered, entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships, and noise pollution continue to impact the 80,000 humpbacks worldwide.

Taxonomy

Humpback whales are rorquals (family Balaenopteridae), a family that includes the blue whale, the fin whale, the Bryde's whale, the sei whale and the minke whale. The rorquals are believed to have diverged from the other families of the suborder Mysticeti as long ago as the middle Miocene.[3] However, it is not known when the members of these families diverged from each other.

Though clearly related to the giant whales of the genus Balaenoptera, the humpback has been the sole member of its genus since Gray's work in 1846. More recently, though, DNA sequencing analysis has indicated the humpback is more closely related to certain rorquals, particularly the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), and possibly to the gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), than it is to rorquals such as the minke whales.[4][5] If further research confirms these relationships, it will be necessary to reclassify the rorquals.

The humpback whale was first identified as baleine de la Nouvelle Angleterre by Mathurin Jacques Brisson in his Regnum Animale of 1756. In 1781, Georg Heinrich Borowski described the species, converting Brisson's name to its Latin equivalent, Balaena novaeangliae. In 1804, Lacépède shifted the humpback from the Balaenidae family, renaming it Balaenoptera jubartes. In 1846, John Edward Gray created the genus Megaptera, classifying the humpback as Megaptera longipinna, but in 1932, Remington Kellogg reverted the species names to use Borowski's novaeangliae.[6] The common name is derived from the curving of their backs when diving. The generic name Megaptera from the Greek mega-/μεγα- "giant" and ptera/πτερα "wing",[7] refers to their large front flippers. The specific name means "New Englander" and was probably given by Brisson due the regular sightings of humpbacks off the coast of New England.

Description

A humpback whale can easily be identified by its stocky body with an obvious hump and black dorsal coloring. The head and lower jaw are covered with knobs called tubercles, which are hair follicles, and are characteristic of the species. The fluked tail, which it lifts above the surface in some dive sequences, has wavy trailing edges.[8] The four global populations, all under study, are: North Pacific, Atlantic, and Southern Ocean humpbacks, which have distinct populations which complete a migratory round-trip each year, and the Indian Ocean population, which does not migrate, prevented by that ocean's northern coastline.

The long black and white tail fin, which can be up to a third of body length, and the pectoral fins have unique patterns, which make individual whales identifiable.[9][10] Several hypotheses attempt to explain the humpback's pectoral fins, which are proportionally the longest fins of any cetacean. The two most enduring mention the higher maneuverability afforded by long fins, and the usefulness of the increased surface area for temperature control when migrating between warm and cold climates.

Humpbacks have 270 to 400 darkly coloured baleen plates on each side of their mouths.[11] The plates measure from a mere 18 inches (46 cm) in the front to approximately 3 feet (0.91 m) long in the back, behind the hinge. Ventral grooves run from the lower jaw to the umbilicus about halfway along the underside of the whale. These grooves are less numerous (usually 14–22) than in other rorquals but are fairly wide.[11]

The stubby dorsal fin is visible soon after the blow when the whale surfaces, but disappears by the time the flukes emerge. Humpbacks have a 3 metres (9.8 ft), heart-shaped to bushy blow, or exhalation of water through the blowholes. Because humpback whales breathe voluntarily, the whales possibly shut off only half of their brains when sleeping.[12] Early whalers also noted blows from humpback adults to be 10–20 feet (3.0–6.1 m) high.

Newborn calves are roughly the length of their mother's head. At birth, calves measure 20 feet (6.1 m) at 2 short tons (1.8 t) The mother, by comparison, is about 50 feet (15 m). They nurse for approximately six months, then mix nursing and independent feeding for possibly six months more. Humpback milk is 50% fat and pink in color.

Females reach sexual maturity at the age of five, achieving full adult size a little later. Males reach sexual maturity at approximately seven years of age. Humpback whale lifespans range from 45–100 years.[13] Fully grown, the males average 13–14 m (43–46 ft). Females are slightly larger at 15–16 m (49–52 ft); the largest recorded specimen was 19 metres (62 ft) long and had pectoral fins measuring 6 metres (20 ft) each.[14] Body mass typically is in the range of 25–30 metric tons (28–33 short tons), with large specimens weighing over 40 metric tons (44 short tons).[15] The female has a hemispherical lobe about 15 centimetres (5.9 in) in diameter in its genital region. This visually distinguishes males and females.[11] The male's penis usually remains hidden in the genital slit.

Identifying individuals

The varying patterns on the tail flukes are sufficient to identify individuals. A study using data from 1973 to 1998 on whales in the North Atlantic gave researchers detailed information on gestation times, growth rates, and calving periods, as well as allowing more accurate population predictions by simulating the mark-release-recapture technique (Katona and Beard 1982). A photographic catalogue of all known North Atlantic whales was developed over this period and is currently maintained by College of the Atlantic.[16] Similar photographic identification projects have begun in the North Pacific by Structure of Populations, Levels of Abundance and Status of Humpbacks, and around the world.

Life history

Social structure

The humpback social structure is loose-knit. Typically, individuals live alone or in small, transient groups that disband after a few hours. These whales are not excessively social in most cases. Groups may stay together a little longer in summer to forage and feed cooperatively. Longer-term relationships between pairs or small groups, lasting months or even years, have rarely been observed. Some females possibly retain bonds created via cooperative feeding for a lifetime. The humpback's range overlaps considerably with other whale and dolphin species—for instance, the minke whale. However, humpbacks rarely interact socially with them, though one individual was observed playing with a bottlenose dolphin in Hawaiian waters.[17]

Courtship and reproduction

Courtship rituals take place during the winter months, following migration toward the equator from summer feeding grounds closer to the poles. Competition is usually fierce, and unrelated males, dubbed escorts by researcher Louis Herman, frequently trail females, as well as mother-calf dyads. Male gather into "competitive groups" and fight for females.[18] Group size ebbs and flows as unsuccessful males retreat and others arrive to try their luck. Behaviors include breaching, spyhopping, lob-tailing, tail-slapping, fin-slapping, peduncle throws, charging and parrying. Whale songs are assumed to have an important role in mate selection; however, they may also be used between males to establish dominance.[19]

Females typically breed every two or three years. The gestation period is 11.5 months, yet some individuals have been known to breed in two consecutive years. The peak months for birth are January, February, July, and August, with usually a one- to two–year period between humpback births. They can live up to 48 years. Recent research on humpback mitochondrial DNA reveals groups living in proximity to each other may represent distinct breeding pools.[20]

Song

Both male and female humpback whales vocalize, but only males produce the long, loud, complex "songs" for which the species is famous. Each song consists of several sounds in a low register, varying in amplitude and frequency, and typically lasting from 10 to 20 minutes.[21] Humpbacks may sing continuously for more than 24 hours. Cetaceans have no vocal cords, so whales generate their songs by forcing air through their massive nasal cavities.

Whales within a large area sing the same song. All North Atlantic humpbacks sing the same song, and those of the North Pacific sing a different song. Each population's song changes slowly over a period of years without repeating.[21]

Scientists are unsure of the purpose of whale songs. Only males sing, suggesting one purpose is to attract females. However, many of the whales observed to approach a singer are other males, often resulting in conflict. Singing may, therefore, be a challenge to other males.[22] Some scientists have hypothesized the song may serve an echolocative function.[23] During the feeding season, humpbacks make altogether different vocalizations for herding fish into their bubble nets.[24]

Humpback whales have also been found to make a range of other social sounds to communicate, such as "grunts", "groans", "thwops", "snorts" and "barks"

Ecology

Feeding and predation

Humpbacks feed primarily in summer and live off fat reserves during winter.[26] They feed only rarely and opportunistically in their wintering waters. The humpback is an energetic hunter, taking krill and small schooling fish such as Atlantic herring, Atlantic salmon, capelin, and American sand lance, as well as Atlantic mackerel, pollock, and haddock in the North Atlantic.[27][28][29] Krill and copepods have been recorded as prey species in Australian and Antarctic waters.[30] Humpbacks hunt by direct attack or by stunning prey by hitting the water with pectoral fins or flukes.

The humpback has the most diverse feeding repertoire of all baleen whales.[31] Its most inventive technique is known as bubble net feeding; a group of whales swims in a shrinking circle blowing bubbles below a school of prey. The shrinking ring of bubbles encircles the school and confines it in an ever-smaller cylinder. This ring can begin at up to 30 metres (98 ft) in diameter and involve the cooperation of a dozen animals. Using a crittercam attached to a whale's back, some whales were found to blow the bubbles, some dive deeper to drive fish toward the surface, and others herd prey into the net by vocalizing.[32] The whales then suddenly swim upward through the "net", mouths agape, swallowing thousands of fish in one gulp. Plated grooves in the whale's mouth allow the creature to easily drain all the water initially taken in.

Given scarring records, killer whales are thought to prey upon juvenile humpbacks, though this has never been witnessed. The result of these attacks is generally nothing more serious than some scarring of the skin, but young calves likely are sometimes killed.[33]

Range and habitat

Humpbacks inhabit all major oceans, in a wide band running from the Antarctic ice edge to 77° N latitude, though not in the eastern Mediterranean or the Baltic Sea.They are migratory, spending summers in cooler, high-latitude waters and mating and calving in tropical and subtropical waters.[21] An exception to this rule is a population in the Arabian Sea, which remains in these tropical waters year-round.[21] Annual migrations of up to 25,000 kilometres (16,000 mi) are typical, making it one of the mammals' best-traveled species.

A large population spreads across the Hawaiian Islands every winter, ranging from the island of Hawaii in the south to Kure Atoll in the north.[34] A 2007 study identified seven individuals wintering off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica as having traveled from the Antarctic—around 8,300 kilometres (5,200 mi). Identified by their unique tail patterns, these animals made the longest documented mammalian migration.[35] In Australia, two main migratory populations have been identified, off the west and east coasts, respectively. These two populations are distinct, with only a few females in each generation crossing between the two groups.[36]

Whaling

Humpback whales were hunted as early as the 18th century, but distinguished by whalers as early as the first decades of the 17th century. By the 19th century, many nations (the United States in particular), were hunting the animal heavily in the Atlantic Ocean, and to a lesser extent in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The late-19th-century introduction of the explosive harpoon, though, allowed whalers to accelerate their take. This, along with hunting in the Antarctic Ocean beginning in 1904, sharply reduced whale populations. During the 20th century, over 200,000 humpbacks were estimated to have been taken, reducing the global population by over 90%, with North Atlantic populations estimated to have dropped to as low as 700 individuals.[37] In 1946, the International Whaling Commission was founded to oversee the whaling industry. They imposed rules and regulations for hunting whales and set open and closed hunting seasons. To prevent extinction, the International Whaling Commission banned commercial humpback whaling in 1966. By then, the population had been reduced to around 5,000.[38] That ban is still in force.

Prior to commercial whaling, populations could have reached 125,000. North Pacific kills alone are estimated at 28,000.[8] The full toll is much higher. It is now known that the Soviet Union was deliberately under-recording its catches; the Soviet catch was reported at 2,820, whereas the true number is now believed to be over 48,000.[39]

As of 2004, hunting of humpback whales was restricted to a few animals each year off the Caribbean island Bequia in the nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.[31] The take is not believed to threaten the local population. Japan had planned to kill 50 humpbacks in the 2007/08 season under its JARPA II research program, starting in November 2007. The announcement sparked global protests.[40] After a visit to Tokyo by the chairman of the IWC, asking the Japanese for their co-operation in sorting out the differences between pro- and antiwhaling nations on the Commission, the Japanese whaling fleet agreed no humpback whales would be caught for the two years it would take for the IWC to reach a formal agreement.[41]

In 2010, the International Whaling Commission authorized Greenland's native population to hunt a few humpback whales for the next three years.[42]

Conservation

The worldwide population is at least 80,000 humpback whales, with 18,000-20,000 in the North Pacific,[43] about 12,000 in the North Atlantic,[44] and over 50,000 in the Southern Hemisphere,[45] down from a prewhaling population of 125,000.[8]

This species is considered "least concern" from a conservation standpoint, as of 2008. This is an improvement from vulnerable in 1996 and endangered as recently as 1988. Most monitored stocks of humpback whales have rebounded well since the end of commercial whaling,[2][46] such as the North Atlantic, where stocks are now believed to be approaching levels similar to those before hunting began. However, the species is considered endangered in some countries, including the United States.[47][48] The United States initiated a status review of the species on August 12, 2009, and is seeking public comment on potential changes to the species listing under the Endangered Species Act.[49] Areas where population data are limited and the species may be at higher risk include the Arabian Sea, the western North Pacific Ocean, the west coast of Africa and parts of Oceania.[2]

Today, individuals are vulnerable to collisions with ships, entanglement in fishing gear, and noise pollution.[2] Like other cetaceans, humpbacks can be injured by excessive noise. In the 19th century, two humpback whales were found dead near sites of repeated oceanic sub-bottom blasting, with traumatic injuries and fractures in the ears.[50]

Once hunted to the brink of extinction, the humpback has made a dramatic comeback in the North Pacific. A 2008 study estimated the humpback population, which hit a low of 1,500 whales before hunting was banned worldwide, has made a comeback to a population of between 18,000 and 20,000.[51] Saxitoxin, a paralytic shellfish poisoning from contaminated mackerel has been implicated in humpback whale deaths.[52]

The United Kingdom, among other countries, designated the humpback as a priority species under the national Biodiversity Action Plan. The sanctuary provided by US National Parks, such as Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve and Cape Hatteras National Seashore, among others, have also become major factors in sustaining populations.[53]

Although much was learned about humpbacks from whaling, migratory patterns and social interactions were not well understood until two studies by R. Chittleborough and W. H. Dawbin in the 1960s.[54] Roger Payne and Scott McVay made further studies of the species in 1971.[55] Their analysis of whale songs led to worldwide media interest and convinced the public that whales were highly intelligent, aiding the antiwhaling advocates.

In August 2008, the IUCN changed humpback's status from Vulnerable to Least Concern, although two subpopulations remain endangered.[56] The United States is considering listing separate humpback populations, so smaller groups, such as North Pacific humpbacks, which are estimated to number 18,000-20,000 animals, might be delisted. This is made difficult by humpback's extraordinary migrations, which can extend the 5,157 miles (8,299 km) from Antarctica to Costa Rica.[20]

Whale-watching

Humpback whales are generally curious about objects in their environments. Some individuals, referred to as "friendlies", approach whale-watching boats closely, often staying under or near the boat for many minutes. Because humpbacks are often easily approachable, curious, easily identifiable as individuals, and display many behaviors, they have become the mainstay of whale-watching tourism in many locations around the world. Hawaii has used the concept of "ecotourism" to use the species without killing them. This whale-watching business brings in a revenue of $20 million per year for the state's economy

5BGP4635

The subject is a small bouncy ball. Seize it as it flies through the air to find beauty:

Ask the poet Keats, who said that "what the imagination seizes as beauty must be truth."

He might also have said that what the hand seizes as a ball must be truth, but he didn't, because he was a poet and preferred loafing about under trees with a bottle of laudanum and a notebook to playing cricket, but it would have been equally true.

-- Douglas Adams, in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, chapter 19

It was shot for entry into Macro Monday's "Defining Beauty" challenge.

Lens

SMC PENTAX-FA Macro 100mm F2.8

Lighting

One Pentax AF540FGZ is the wireless master, on the camera.

Another one, acting as the wireless slave positioned behind the subject, firing through a McDonalds Happy Meal toy periscope.

Yes, there were simpler ways to light the scene, but this was fun.

See the first comment for an image of the setup.

A few shots from a recent exhibit in Madrid at the Gallery Mad is Mad, c/ Pelayo 48 en Chueca

it's Cellphone Photography

Italien / Piemont - Nationalpark Val Grande

On the way from the Capella Fina to the Rifugio Pian Cavallone.

Auf dem Weg von der Capella Fina zum Rifugio Pian Cavallone.

Val Grande National Park (Italian: Parco Nazionale della Val Grande) is a protected area located in Piedmont, in the north of Italy, at the border with Switzerland. It is most notable for landscapes of the High Alps.

Geography

The park is located in Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and is shared between ten municipalities: Aurano, Beura-Cardezza, Caprezzo, Cossogno, Valle Cannobina, Intragna, Malesco, Miazzina, Premosello-Chiovenda, San Bernardino Verbano, Santa Maria Maggiore, Trontano, and Vogogna.

The park lies entirely in the drainage basin of the Po River. It is located between the valley of Vigezzo in the north, the Cannobina valley in the northwest, the valley of Ossola in the southwest, and Lake Maggiore in the southeast. The park is not populated and is often described as "the largest wilderness in the Alps"

Val Grande and Val Pogallo, two principal valleys inside the park, with the former running southeast and the latter running south, feed the two major rivers in the park. These valleys join into Torrente San Bernardino, a tributary of Lake Maggiore. The majority of the area of the park is forested.

History

Shepherds populated Val Grande since at least the 13th century, and the timber production was active since the 15th century. However, at the end of World War II all population left the area, following the actions of German troops against the Italian resistance in the area in June 1944. The idea to create a national park in Val Grande dates back to 1953. In 1967, the area was designated a Strict Nature Reserve and became the first conservation area with this status in the Italian Alps. In 1974, the Association Italia Nostra developed a detailed plan to establish a national park, and, in the 1980s, the preparation started. The park was established on March 2, 1992. On June 24, 1998 the area of the park was extended.

Tourism

As of 2012, the park had three visitor centers (located in Santa Maria Maggiore, Cossogno, and Premosello-Chiovenda), two museums, and a number of nature itineraries, which should be followed accompanied by a guide.

(Wikipedia)

Der Nationalpark Val Grande (italienisch Parco nazionale della Val Grande) ist ein Nationalpark in den norditalienischen Alpen, nahe der Schweiz. Er liegt zwischen dem Lago Maggiore und dem Val d’Ossola in der piemontesischen Provinz Verbano-Cusio-Ossola und ist 146 km² groß.

Im westlichen Teil des Parks liegt seine namengebende Kernzone, das schwer zugängliche Val Grande. Der östliche Teil besteht aus dem offeneren Val Pogallo und einigen angrenzenden Gebieten.

Das Gebiet des Felsenmassivs Pedum wurde 1967 zur Riserva naturale integrale (Totalreservat) erklärt. Nach mehreren Initiativen lokaler Gruppen und des Umweltministers in den 1980er Jahren wurde schließlich 1992 der Parco Nazionale della Valgrande geschaffen.

Die einzigen Ortschaften im Nationalpark sind Cicogna im Val Pogallo und Colloro am südwestlichen Rand des Parks. Der größte Teil des Nationalparks war nie ganzjährig bewohnt. Es wurde jedoch intensive Almwirtschaft betrieben, bis in die 1950er Jahre auch Waldwirtschaft. Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg wurden bis in die 1970er Jahre sämtliche Almen aufgegeben, im Val Grande selbst bis 1969. Nachdem der Verbiss durch die Weidetiere fehlt, wandeln sich die ehemaligen Almen allmählich zur Wildnis.

Erst nach Gründung des Nationalparks begann ein bescheidener Tourismus. Abgesehen von etlichen frei zugänglichen Steinhäusern ist kaum touristische Infrastruktur vorhanden. Außer den Zufahrten nach Cicogna und Colloro existieren keine ausgebauten Straßen.

Geographie

Val Grande

Das Val Grande ist etwa 25 Kilometer lang, der größte Teil davon ist unbewohnt und liegt im Nationalpark Val Grande (Parco Nazionale della Valgrande). Der Hauptfluss des Val Grande ist der Torrente San Bernardino, er entspringt am Monte Togano (2301 m s.l.m.) und fließt in Intra/Verbania in den Lago Maggiore (193 m s.l.m.). Sieben stark bewaldete und ursprüngliche Seitentäler bilden den oberen Teil des Val Grande. Mancherorts finden sich noch Überreste der einstigen Alpwirtschaft.

Im Zentrum des oberen Val Grande steht der Pizzo Mottac (1802 m s.l.m.). An dessen Fuß liegen die Alpen In La Piana und Gabbio. Der mittlere Bereich ist eine wilde Schlucht ohne Wanderweg. Steile Wälder und Felsbänder prägen diesen Abschnitt. Der unterste Teil des Val Grande ist ab Ponte Casletto mit einer schmalen Straße, die nach Cicogna führt, erschlossen. Darin liegen die Ortschaften Rovegro, Cossogno, Santino, Unchio und Trobaso.

Das Val Grande gilt als das größte Wildnisgebiet im Alpenraum.

Die Vegetation besteht in den Tälern aus Kastanien- und Buchenwäldern. Bis 1800 m s.l.m. reicht dichter Bewuchs. Darüber findet sich Grasheide mit Erlensträuchern in geschützten Lagen.

Die Seitentäler des oberen Val Grande heißen Val Gabbio, Val Serena, Valle Rossa, Val Ragozzale, Val Portaiola, Val Biordo und Vallone di Loc. Im mittleren Val Grande heißen die Seitentäler Val Fredda, Val Piana und Val Cauri.

Val Pogallo

Beim Ponte Casletto treffen sich Val Pogallo und Val Grande. Das Val Pogallo ist bewohnt und besser erschlossen. Zur Blütezeit der Holzwirtschaft wurde ein teils mit großen Steinplatten sehr gut ausgebauter Weg von Cicogna aus erbaut. Dieser Weg wurde später nach dem Gründer der Holzgesellschaft und vielseitigen Industriellen Carlo Sutermeister benannt und wird als Strada Sutermeister bezeichnet. Gerne nutzen ihn als einen der schönsten leichten Wege Wanderer von Cicogna aus. Das einstige Holzfällerdorf Pogallo war zwischenzeitlich komplett verfallen. Nach und nach wurden viele der Steinhäuser wieder instand gesetzt. Mitglieder des Vereines Associazzione Amici di Pogallo pflegen das Dorf, das von Cicogna aus über eine 1,5 Stunden lange Wanderung erreichbar ist. Der Weg ist ein Sentiero Natura mit Infotafeln des Nationalparkes und führt auch an einer Badestelle vorbei.

Geschichte

Zur Römerzeit scheint das Val Grande besiedelt gewesen zu sein. Ab dem 13. Jahrhundert begannen die Bewohner der umliegenden Täler die Alpwirtschaft auf das Val Grande auszudehnen.

Mit der Industrialisierung ergab sich eine Abwanderung aus den Bergtälern und die Alpwirtschaft wurde bereits stellenweise aufgegeben. Im Val Grande wurde 1969 die letzte Alp der Natur überlassen.

Im mittleren und unteren Val Grande hinterließ die Holzwirtschaft in der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts ihre Spuren, als ein verzweigtes Netz von Seilbahnen errichtet wurde. In dieser Zeit wurden in Pogallo, Orfalecchio, Arca und an anderen Orten Wohn- und Wirtschaftsgebäude errichtet.

Während des Zweiten Weltkriegs gründeten antifaschistische Partisanen die Repubblica dell’Ossola. Nachdem alliierte Truppen bereits Rom eingenommen hatten, wurden die Partisanen von Soldaten Mussolinis und der deutschen Wehrmacht vertrieben und zogen sich ins Gebiet des Val Grande zurück. Im Juli 1944 unternahm die deutsche SS mit Einheiten der faschistischen Repubblica Sociale Italiana eine Durchkämmung (Rastrellamento), um gegen Kämpfer der Resistenza in den Bergen vorzugehen. Dabei wurden ca. 500 Menschen getötet. Darunter wurden viele Opfer grausamer Hinrichtungen der Faschisten.

Wie die Zeitzeugin Antonietta Chiovini berichtete, wurden auf dem kargen Gipfel bei der Kapelle von Marona von der Waffen-SS zwölf Partisanen gestellt, die den Feind von der eigenen Brigade ablenken wollten. Um Munition zu sparen, wurden die jungen Männer halbtot geschlagen, bevor sie den Abhang hinunter gestoßen wurden.

Beim Beschuss der Bergsiedlungen wurden viele Gebäude und die zum Abtransport gefällter Bäume dienenden Seilbahnen zerstört. Der Verlust der Infrastruktur trug zum Rückzug des Menschen aus dem Gebiet um das Val Grande bei.

Wanderrouten

Im oberen Teil existiert ein gut ausgebauter und markierter Weg von Malesco über die Alpe Scaredi, In La Piana, Gabbio und Alpe della Colma nach Premosello (in diesen erwähnten Alpen stehen kostenlose und sehr einfach eingerichtete Hütten zur Verfügung). Abseits dieser Route gibt es nur wenige und schlechter erkennbare markierte Wege. Die meisten alten Pfade sind verschwunden. Mobilfunkempfang gibt es fast im gesamten oberen Val Grande nicht.

(Wikipedia)

Here is my ATC mounted onto a card!

This month's contest was to either: make an ATC, use flowers or use colored pencils. I used all three! I made this ATC using flowers and colored pencils. All stamps are cling stamps from Hero Arts.

www.ablogcalledwanda.com

Devi is not a divine soul which is worshiped by human being ..It is the existence of creative power within ourselves .

French postcard by Editions F. Nugeron, no. Star 130. Photo: Air France / Distribution VU. Caption: Orson Wells (sic), Septembre 1967.

American actor, director, writer and producer Orson Welles (1915-1985) worked in theatre, radio and film, both in the US and in Europe. He is remembered for his innovative work in all three media, most notably Caesar (1937), a groundbreaking Broadway adaptation of Julius Caesar and the debut of the Mercury Theatre; The War of the Worlds (1938), one of the most famous broadcasts in the history of radio; and Citizen Kane (1941), ranked as one of the all-time greatest films. His other films include The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Touch of Evil (1958) and Le Procès/The Trial (1962).

George Orson Welles was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 1915. He was the second son of Beatrice (née Ives) and Richard Hodgdon Head Welles. In 1919, his parents separated and moved to Chicago. His father, who made a fortune as the inventor of a popular bicycle lamp, became an alcoholic and stopped working. His brother ‘Dickie’ was institutionalized at an early age because he had learning difficulties. Welles's mother, a beautiful concert pianist, had to support her son and herself. In 1924, Beatrice died of hepatitis in a Chicago hospital, just after Welles's ninth birthday. He was taken in by Dudley Crafts Watson. At the age of ten Orson ran away from home with Watson's third daughter, Marjorie. They were found a week later, singing and dancing for money on a street corner in Milwaukee. Welles' father died when Orson was 15. Maurice Bernstein, a physician from Chicago, became his guardian. His school teacher Roger Hill provided Welles with an ad hoc educational environment that proved invaluable to his creative experience, allowing Welles to perform and stage theatrical experiments and productions. Welles was awarded a scholarship to Harvard University, but he chose instead to travel to Europe. In Ireland, he strode into the Gate Theatre in Dublin and claimed he was a Broadway star. The manager of Gate, Hilton Edwards, was impressed by his brashness and an impassioned quality in his audition. Welles made his stage debut at the Gate in 1931, appearing in Jew Suss as the Duke. He acted to great acclaim, word of which reached the United States. On returning to the United States he wrote the immensely successful Everybody's Shakespeare. In 1933, he toured in three off-Broadway productions with Katharine Cornell's company, including two roles in Romeo and Juliet. In 1934, he shot his first film, an eight-minute short titled The Hearts of Age, and he married Chicago actress Virginia Nicholson. By 1935 Welles was supplementing his earnings in the theatre as a radio actor, working with many actors who would later form the core of his Mercury Theatre.

In 1936, the Federal Theatre Project (part of Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration) put unemployed theatre performers and employees to work. Orson Welles was hired by John Houseman and assigned to direct a play for the Federal Theatre Project's Negro Theatre Unit. His production of Macbeth was set in the Haitian court of King Henri Christophe, with voodoo witch doctors for the three Weird Sisters. The play was received rapturously and later toured the nation. At 20, Welles was hailed as a prodigy. A few minutes of Welles’ ‘Voodoo Macbeth’ was recorded on film in the documentary We Work Again (1937). Welles rehearsed Marc Blitzstein's political operetta, The Cradle Will Rock, but because of severe federal cutbacks in the Works Progress projects, the show's premiere at the Maxine Elliott Theatre was cancelled. In a last-minute move, Welles announced to waiting ticket-holders that the show was being transferred to the Venice, twenty blocks away. Some cast, crew and audience members walked the distance on foot. Lacking the participation of the union members, The Cradle Will Rock began with Blitzstein introducing the show and playing the piano accompaniment on stage with some cast members performing from the audience. This impromptu performance was well received and played at the Venice for two more weeks. Welles and Houseman then formed the Mercury Theatre, of which Welles became executive producer and whose repertory company eventually included the actors Agnes Moorehead, Joseph Cotten, Dolores del Río, Everett Sloane, and Erskine Sanford. The first Mercury Theatre production was William Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar, set in a contemporary frame of fascist Italy. The production was widely acclaimed. In the second year of the Mercury Theater, Welles shifted his interests to radio. He adapted, directed and played Hamlet for CBS and Les Misérables for Mutual with great success. CBS gave the Mercury Theatre a weekly hour-long show to broadcast radio plays based on classic literary works. In 1938, their adaptation of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells brought Welles instant fame. The combination of the news bulletin form of the performance with the between-breaks dial spinning habits of listeners from the rival more popular Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy program was later reported in the media to have created widespread confusion. Wikipedia: “Panic was reportedly spread among listeners who believed the news reports of a Martian invasion. The myth of the result created by the combination was reported as fact around the world and disparagingly mentioned by Adolf Hitler in a public speech some months later. The 1975 docudrama The Night That Panicked America was based on events centering on the production of, and events that resulted from the program.”

Orson Welles's growing fame drew Hollywood offers, lures that the independent-minded Welles resisted at first. RKO Radio Pictures president George Schaefer eventually offered him complete artistic control and signed Welles in a two-picture deal, although Welles had a budget limit for his projects. In Hollywood, Welles toyed with various ideas for his first project. RKO rejected Welles's first two movie proposals, but agreed on the third offer, Citizen Kane (1941), for which Welles co-wrote, produced, directed and performed the lead role. Co-scriptwriter Joseph Mankiewicz based the original outline on an exposé of the life of William Randolph Hearst, whom he knew socially and came to hate, having once been great friends with Hearst's mistress, Marion Davies. Kane's megalomania was modelled loosely on Robert McCormick, Howard Hughes and Joseph Pulitzer as Welles wanted to create a broad, complex character, intending to show him in the same scenes from several points of view. On Welles's instruction, John Houseman wrote the opening narration as a pastiche of The March of Time newsreels. Autobiographical allusions to Welles were worked in, most noticeably in the treatment of Kane's childhood and particularly, regarding his guardianship. Once the script was complete, Welles attracted cinematographer Gregg Toland, and actors from his Mercury Theatre. After gossip columnist Hedda Hopper saw a preview screening of Citizen Kane, the attempted suppression of Citizen Kane started. Hearst's media outlets boycotted the film. They exerted enormous pressure on Hollywood, but RKO gave the film a limited release. The film was well-received critically, and garnered nine Academy Award nominations. Welles was nominated as a producer, director, writer and actor, but won only for Best Original Screenplay, shared with Mankiewicz. Today, the film is considered by most film critics and historians to be one of the classics in film history.

Orson Welles's second film for RKO was The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Booth Tarkington. At RKO's request, Welles worked also on an adaptation of Eric Ambler's spy thriller, Journey into Fear (Norman Foster, 1943), co-written with Joseph Cotten. In addition to acting in the film, Welles was the producer. Changes throughout RKO caused re-evaluations of both projects. RKO took control of The Magnificent Ambersons, and ordered to edit the film into a ‘commercial’ format. They removed fifty minutes of Welles's footage, re-shot sequences, rearranged the scene order, and added a happy ending. It resulted in an expensive flop for RKO, although The Magnificent Ambersons received four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Agnes Moorehead. Welles found no studios interested in him as a director after the disaster of The Magnificent Ambersons and worked on radio. In 1943, he married Rita Hayworth. They had one child, Rebecca Welles, and divorced five years later in 1948. In between, Welles found work as an actor in other films. He starred in the film adaptation of Jane Eyre (Robert Stevenson, 1944), trading credit as associate producer for top billing over Joan Fontaine. He had a cameo in the wartime salute Follow the Boys (A. Edward Sutherland, 1944), in which he performed his magic act ‘sawing’ Marlene Dietrich in half. In 1946, Sam Spiegel produced The Stranger (Orson Welles, 1946), starring Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young and Welles. The film follows the hunt for a Nazi war criminal living under an alias in the United States. Although disputes occurred during editing between Spiegel and Welles, the film was a box office success and it helped his standing with the studios. He then filmed The Lady from Shanghai (Orson Welles, 1947) for Columbia Pictures, in which his then-estranged second wife Rita Hayworth co-starred. Cohn disliked Welles's rough-cut, and ordered extensive editing and re-shoots. Approximately one hour of Welles's first cut was removed, including much of a climactic confrontation scene in an amusement park funhouse. The film was considered a disaster in America at the time of release, though the closing shootout in a hall of mirrors has since become a touchstone of film noir. Welles convinced Republic Pictures to let him direct a low-budget version of Macbeth (Orson Welles, 1948). Republic initially trumpeted the film as an important work but decided it did not care for the Scottish accents and held up general release for almost a year after early negative press reaction. In the late 1970s, a fully restored version of Macbeth was released that followed Welles's original vision.

Orson Welles left Hollywood for Europe. In Italy he starred as Cagliostro in Black Magic (Gregory Ratoff, 1948) with Akim Tamiroff. His co-star impressed Welles so much that Tamiroff would appear in four of Welles's later productions. Welles starred as Harry Lime in Carol Reed's The Third Man (1949), alongside Joseph Cotten. The film was an international smash hit. Welles also appeared as Cesare Borgia in the Italian film Prince of Foxes (Henry King, 1949), and as the Mongol warrior Bayan in The Black Rose (Henry Hathaway, 1950), both with Tyrone Power. Welles was channelling his money from acting jobs into a self-financed film version of Shakespeare's play Othello. From 1949 to 1951, Welles filmed Othello (1952) on location in Europe and Morocco. Suzanne Cloutier co-starred as Desdemona. When it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival it won the Palme d'Or, but the film did not receive a general release in the United States until 1955. Welles's daughter, Beatrice Welles-Smith, restored Othello in 1992 for a wide re-release. Welles played the murdered victim in Trent's Last Case (Herbert Wilcox, 1952) and the title role in the 'Lord Mountdrago' segment of Three Cases of Murder (George More O'Ferrall, 1954). Herbert Wilcox cast Welles as the antagonist in Trouble in the Glen (1954) opposite Margaret Lockwood, and John Huston cast him as Father Mapple in Moby-Dick (1956), starring Gregory Peck. Welles's next turn as director was Mr. Arkadin (Orson Welles, 1955), filmed in France, Germany, Spain and Italy on a very limited budget. Welles played a billionaire who hires a man (Robert Arden) to delve into the secrets of his past. The film co-starred Welles's third wife, Paola Mori. Frustrated by his slow progress in the editing room, producer Louis Dolivet removed Welles from the project and finished the film without him as Confidential Report. In 1956, Welles returned to Hollywood and guest-starred on radio and television shows. His next film role was in Man in the Shadow (Jack Arnold, 1957) for Universal Pictures, starring Jeff Chandler. Around this time period, Welles began to suffer from weight problems that would eventually cause a deterioration in his health. Welles stayed on at Universal to co-star with Charlton Heston in Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958). Originally only hired as an actor, Welles was promoted to director by Universal at the insistence of Heston. He reunited with many actors and technicians with whom he had worked in the 1940s including Joseph Cotten, Marlene Dietrich and Akim Tamiroff. Filming proceeded smoothly, but after the end of production, the studio re-edited the film, re-shot scenes, and shot new exposition scenes to clarify the plot. In 1978, a longer preview version of the film was discovered and released. Next, Welles filmed his adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote in Mexico, starring Mischa Auer as Quixote and Akim Tamiroff as Sancho Panza. While filming would continue in fits and starts for several years, Welles would never complete the project. Welles continued acting, notably in The Long, Hot Summer (Marin Ritt, 1958) and Compulsion (Richard Fleischer, 1959), but soon he returned to Europe.

In Italy, Orson Welles directed his own scenes as King Saul in David e Golia/David and Goliath (Ferdinando Baldi, Richard Pottier, 1959). In Hong Kong he co-starred with Curt Jürgens in Ferry to Hong Kong (Lewis Gilbert, 1959). In Paris he co-starred in Crack in the Mirror (Richard Fleischer, 1960). In Yugoslavia he starred in I tartari/The Tartars (Richard Thorpe, 1962) and Bitka na Neretvi/Battle of Neretva (Veljko Bulajić, 1969). In 1962, Welles directed Le Procès/The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962), based on the novel by Franz Kafka and starring Anthony Perkins as Josef K, Jeanne Moreau and Romy Schneider. The film failed at the box-office, but during the filming, he met Oja Kodar, who became his muse, star and mistress for the rest of his life. Welles played a film director in La Ricotta (1963)—Pier Paolo Pasolini's segment of the anthology film Ro.Go.Pa.G. He continued taking what work he could find acting, narrating or hosting other people's work, and began filming Campanadas a medianoche/Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1966). Filmed in Spain, it was a condensation of five Shakespeare plays, telling the story of Falstaff (Welles) and his relationship with Prince Hal (Keith Baxter). Then followed Histoire immortelle/The Immortal Story (Orson Welles, 1968) with Jeanne Moreau, which had a successful run in French theatres. He appeared as Cardinal Wolsey in A Man for All Seasons (Fred Zinnemann, 1966) for which he won considerable acclaim. Welles began directing The Deep, based on the novel Dead Calm by Charles Williams and filmed off the shore of Yugoslavia. The cast included Jeanne Moreau, Laurence Harvey and Oja Kodar. Personally financed by Welles and Kodar, they could not obtain the funds to complete the project, and it was abandoned a few years later after the death of Harvey. The surviving footage was eventually edited and released by the Filmmuseum München. In 1969, Welles played a supporting role in John Huston's The Kremlin Letter. Drawn by the numerous offers he received to work in television and films, and upset by a tabloid scandal reporting his affair with Kodar, Welles moved back to America in 1970.

In Hollywood, Orson Welles continued to self-finance his own film and television projects. While offers to act, narrate and host continued, Welles also found himself in great demand on television talk shows. His primary focus during his final years was The Other Side of the Wind, an unfinished project that was filmed intermittently between 1970 and 1976. Written by Welles, it is the story of an aging film director (John Huston) looking for funds to complete his final film. Financed by Iranian backers, ownership of the film fell into a legal quagmire after the Shah of Iran was deposed, and disputes still prevent its release. Welles portrayed Louis XVIII of France in Waterloo (Sergey Bondarchuk, 1970), and narrated the historical comedy Start the Revolution Without Me (Bud Yorkin, 1970). He appeared in La décade prodigieuse/Ten Days' Wonder (Claude Chabrol, 1971), co-starring with Anthony Perkins. Wikipedia: “That same year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave him an honorary award "For superlative artistry and versatility in the creation of motion pictures". Welles pretended to be out of town and sent John Huston to claim the award. Huston criticized the Academy for awarding Welles, even while they refused to give Welles any work.” Welles played Long John Silver in Treasure Island (John Hough, 1972), an adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel. He completed F for Fake (Orson Welles, 1973) , a personal essay film about art forger Elmyr de Hory and the biographer Clifford Irving, and his documentary Filming Othello (Orson Welles, 1979). During the 1980s, Welles worked on such film projects as The Dreamers, based on two stories by Isak Dinesen. His last film appearance was in Henry Jaglom's Someone to Love (1987), released after his death. Welles had three daughters: Chris Welles Feder (1938), with Virginia Nicholson; Rebecca Welles Manning (1944–2004), with Rita Hayworth; and Beatrice Welles (1955), with Paola Mori. His only known son, British director Michael Lindsay-Hogg (1940), is from Welles's affair with Irish actress Geraldine Fitzgerald, then the wife of Sir Edward Lindsay-Hogg, 4th baronet. On 10 October 1985, Orson Welles appeared on his final interview on The Merv Griffin Show. He died several hours later of a heart attack at his home in Los Angeles. His estranged wife Paola Mori refused to allow most of Welles's friends to attend the funeral, limiting the mourners to just nine: herself, Welles's three daughters, Roger Hill, and three of Welles's friends, as well as the doctor who had signed Welles's death certificate. Welles's companion for the last 20 years, Oja Kodar, was not invited, nor were either of his ex-wives. Welles's ashes were taken to Ronda, Spain, where they were buried in an old well covered by flowers, within the rural property of a long-time friend, retired bullfighter Antonio Ordóñez.

Sources: Ed Stephan (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Anthurium, is a genus of about 1000 species of flowering plants, the largest genus of the arum family, Araceae. General common names include anthurium, tailflower, flamingo flower, and laceleaf.

Wikipedia

Andre Rieu Memories

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbD-YhN5obU

Rollingstone1's most interesting photos on Flickriver

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Passing by Old Oak Common with a waiting parcels set, a Western Pullman heads into Paddington while a local service is undertaken by a Gloucester RCW Railcar taking the spur

OO gauge

20251109_112102

This is Odawara Castle which isn't actually what it seems to be. The 1870 earthquake flattened the castle at Odawara and it remained in that state for a hundred years until over the last fifty years it was rebuilt to its current state. To be fair to the Japanese there are many ancient buildings worldwide that have been rebuilt built on site. The original building was erected in 1447, rebuilt in 1633, 1706 and again in then late 20th century. This history tells as much about earthquakes as it does Japanese military defences.

Commentary.

Leeds Castle is located 7 miles south-east of Maidstone in Kent.

It is built on an island in a lake formed by the River Len

and is a Grade 1 Listed Estate.

A castle existed on this site as early as Saxon times in 857 A.D.

In the 13th. century King Edward 1 lived there

and in the 16th. century Henry V111 had his first wife,

Catherine of Aragon reside in the castle.

The present castle is mostly of early 1800’s

but built in a Tudor style.

In more recent times, its extensive lake/moat has been seen as a security assurance.

Consequently, the castle has been used for important international political meetings.

The equivalent of millions of pounds has been spent in

the last 50 years to improve the facilities for visitors.

It has over 200,000 visitors most years and reached

more than half a million prior to the Co-Vid pandemic.

The castle grounds are spectacular with acres of grass parkland,

beautiful mature trees, lakes and waterfalls.

Unsurprisingly, the estate has been used many times as a film and television location.

What is this? Well,nothing but a piece of crap :p. I find this shot quite interesting because the tip of the rock almost (take note almost} pointing directly to the sunset. So no matter how crappy this might look like, I would sill keep it! :), Besides, it stand out among the stones on the corners.

Driving to Snaefellsnes to see Kirkjufell

It is my mom's birthday on Wednesday. I made this for her and am transmitting it to my brother. He will download it and make certain she gets it on her special night. I am more than a little sad to miss this milestone but we will be there in spirit.

Fenton Tower in Kingston is a refurbished 16th century tower house. It retains the original footprint of the square keep, but now encompasses 7000 sq. ft. of living space over several levels. Fenton Tower was used as the location for Archie's castle in the BBC children's programme Balamory. The tower is depicted as being bright pink in the show, although in reality it is a more traditional off-white to Stone Grey colour, with the hue added in post-production.

Fenton Tower was built on the lands of 'Fentoun'. "During the reign of King David I of Scots (1124-1153) the lands of 'Fentoun' along with the lands of Gullane, Archerfield, Dirleton and Fidra island were all held by the Anglo-Norman De-vaux family. Who later gifted 'Fentoun' to their English kin the De-vauxs of Lanercost Priory. In the mid 12th century the De-vauxs built a 'castri' on the Fidra, a chapel at Gullane, a tower of 'Eilbote' at Archerfield (which must have been a place of some importance since King David signed a charter for the lands of Carberry witnessed at 'El bottle' ) and finally a stone castle at Dirleton itself during the reign of King Alexander II of Scots (1214-1249)" [Wikipedia]

Vänga Bog is a large and relatively untouched peat-filled bog. You can walk on footbridges across the bog.

The bog was once a glacier lake but has now been overgrown. The peat layer averages 4 m thick and there is a sand and gravel bed underneath.

For a long time, people harvested grass from meadows to get hay for their animals. A number of older ditches still remain. Peat has been extracted for household use.

The bog has changed a lot in the last hundred years. From having been a more or less open bog, it is now more or less overgrown with trees in different sizes. The trees are mainly pine, silver birch and alder. Trees and bushes will be cut down and transported away in the coming years, to recreate a more open wetland. Many species of birds have specialised in living on large open fens.

Enough of me!!!

This is Kiwi, and she let me take her picture. She belongs to a friend and I mentioned wanting to take a picture of Kiwi, so she said, I will leave the door unlocked, just go in and get her and grab some treats and make a go of it. She was extremely well behaved, she sat and she stayed and she posed. I got down on her level, my camera was basically @ ground level, used my 85mm, shot wide open for that creamy background, and my flash was mounted and diffused~

never runs out on me.

being thankful for that simple fact is enough to bring me joy.

learning, falling, failing, thanking, praising, regretting, wandering, losing, finding, crying, laughing. it's been an up and down week. but in the end, it all leads me to the Maker of it all.

i am happy to keep taking honest photographs, they are so real, they are my life. they turn moments into memories. this is one of them.

Buza bar is one of the most beautiful bars in Dubrovnik which is hanged on the cliffs right above the sea, with an amazing incomparable panorama of the open Adriatic. It is also known as the "hole-in-the-wall" and it is the essence of Dubrovnik, where foreigners become domestics.

In the old Dubrovnik dialect, buža means “hole”. And truly, to get to this unique café bar, you have to go through the hole-in-the-wall that leads to a swimming and relaximg spot that is a daily stop for many of the people who live within Dubrovnik's thick, protective City Walls.

LAST is FIRST ~ Saint Joseph, Missouri ~ Copyright ©2014 Bob Travaglione ~ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ~ www.FoToEdge.com

3-IS - Mirage 2000D - Escadron de chasse 01.003 Navarre - French Air Force - Mont-de-Marsan Air Base (LFBM) - VOLFA 16-2

Visite organized by the spotting association "Alf Aviation"

Instagram @paul_basque_photography

My art is always about great Journeys. I invite you to come with me on todays. I have been working on changing my way of thinking of my self and who I Believe I am. I plan to be better then I was yesterday. This image is a Visual interpretation of my internal self. I always see my emotions as colors. To day Im busting out no walls can hold me back. Power strong will and driving without fear. Fear can just go take a hike. Every thing is going to be new. I start to open to the new truth in this life. I will shoot past the moon and stars in to the far off next galaxy. I become all my dreams and hold the keys to open every door I please. No more locks bricks or walls can ever hold me. Im the wave and I carve my path to day. I for give my mistakes of the past and will not look back. May I live each day as if it were my last day. For now I shall just engage. You better hold on this will be a fantastic new adventure.

Hay Im on Facebook now so look me up. I will be adding art for people to invest in. Any cool help to add value to my art is welcome.

www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100016188035375

Mike

Father and son collaboration

Our photographic art is a kinetic motion study, from the results of interacting with my son A.J and his toys.

He was born severely handicapped much like a quadriplegic. On December 17,1998. Our family’s goal has always been to help A.J. use his mind, even though he has minimal use of his body.

A.J. likes to watch lights and movement. One of the few things he can do for himself is to operate a switch that sets in motion lights and various shiny, colorful streamers and toys that swirl above his bed.

One day I took a picture of A.J. with his toys flying out from the big mobile near his bed like swings on a carnival ride. I liked the way the swirling objects and colors looked in the photo.

I wanted to study the motion more and photograph the whirling objects in an artful way, I wanted my son A.J. to be a part of it. After all, he’s the one who inspires me. When A.J. and I work together on our motion artwork, A.J. starts his streamers and objects twirling, I take the photographs.

Activating a tiny switch might not seem like much to some, but it’s all A.J. can do. He controls the direction the mobile will spin, as well as when it starts and stops. The shutter speeds are long, and sometimes, I move the camera and other times I hold it still.

I begin our creation with a Nikon digital camera. Then I use my computer with Photoshop to alter the images into what I feel might be an artistic way. Working with Photoshop, I find the best parts from several images and combine them into the final composite photograph. I consider the finished work to be fine art. The computer is just the vehicle that helps my expressions grow.

I take the photographs and A.J. adds the magic. It’s something this father and son do together. After I’ve taken a few shots, I show him the photos in the back of the camera. When the images are completed, I show him from a laptop. He just looks. He can’t tell me whether or not he likes the images, but he’s always ready to work with me again.

It offers me my only glance into A.J.’s secret world. We’ve built a large collection of images and I hope the motion and color move you as much as they do me.

A.J. inspires me to work harder to understand my life in the areas of art, photography, people, spirituality, and so much more. He truly sets my mind in motion and helps me find the beauty in everyday things.

Abstract Art set:

www.flickr.com/photos/patnode-rainbowman/sets/72157602269...

AJ Patnode - A Journey of Hope (documentary):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR7m8QFcmRM

This shows how we do the Camera work:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmjVVGraUVw

AJ'S blog:

www.ajpatnode.com

This is one of the views that you get to see on the trail to Ptarmigan Tunnel / Iceberg Lake in Glacier National Park

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www.society6.com/Trasvorder

www.trasvorder.tumblr.com

www.trasvorder.bandcamp.com

www.instagram.com/trasvor

Picture above shows a Nikon D800E equipped with Phottix GPS and wireless RF trigger. The back of the camera is equipped with a Hoodman loupe to be able to critically focus using live view on LCD screen. The lens used is a Mamiya 645 Manual Focus A 150mm f/2.8. It is mounted on the camera via a PSA (Panorama Shift Adapter) from the company Zoerk (Zork) custom made to accommodate Mamiya 645 lenses on Nikon F body. The adapter has a tripod mount and can accommodate a L bracket shown here. The whole assembly is mounted via a Novoflex plate (QPL2 in blue color) on an Arca-Swiss compatible tripod head. I used here a clone of the Arca Swiss Cube for maximum flexibility and accuracy of positioning. In the picture above the lens is shifted horizontally to the left of the camera of approximately 10mm. This assembly is no longer a point & click camera but the digital equivalent of the old view camera, designed to meet or exceed the largest Digital medium format output.

The purpose of using a Mamiya lens on Nikon FF body is not just the latest fad to mount third party lenses on a Nikon body. Mamiya 645 lenses are excellent medium format lenses which have a diameter much superior to the 135 format lenses. It allows to take several photos shifted within the diameter of the lens optics. This is made possible because the 75mm diagonal of a 645 medium format lens gives 32mm of additional space (shift) compared to the 43mm diagonal of a 35mm format camera sensor. This is why we can take 3 photos shifted (one with no shit, one shifted left, and one shifted right) and still be within the diameter of the medium format lens. Using this technique the stitching is quasi perfect with no need to crop due to loss of coverage in the upper or lower section of the image, usually created by a a curvy horizon when panning/rotating with a non perfect leveling.

The resulting image that can be produced with this setup is the equivalent of a 80 Mpixel camera depending on the orientation of the D800E sensor vs the direction of shift! Superior resolution, higher ISO and less noise than all the current Digital medium format cameras sold $20000 and more! Yes, it is possible to do it with an investment inferior to $4000 if you count the purchase cost of the D800E. I will concede that the Mamiya 645 lenses, although excellent, will not quite match the performance of the Leica S lenses. Note however that a Leica S lens is usually > $6000 vs a used Mamiya 645 lens (55mm, 80mm) which can be found on ebay for $300 or less!

The German made Zoerk (Zork) adapter is unique as the Mamiya lens is fixed during the shifting: it is the body which moves behind the lens! Unlike most Panorama adapters allowing the rotation through a difficult to find nodal point , the Zork adaper eliminates any parallax issue since the lens is fixed vs the subject. This is particularly useful when you have a near and remote subject aligned with the camera: any rotation outside the nodal point will ruin the alignment and makes the stitching impossible. Therefore the Zork design results in a superior accuracy of the stitching of the photos where technically 2-3 pixels overlap is enough for a perfect stitch. Rotation based Panorama requires usually min 20% overlap to account for distortion/parallax issues, and the final image needs cropping due to curvature movement of the rotation if tripod head is not perfectly leveled.

Another huge benefit of the Zork adapter: it shifts horizontally 20mm with camera sensor in landscape mode. One limitation in vertical shift: the prism/flash housing of the D800 or D800E limits the vertical shift with sensor in landscape position (approx 14mm). It is better than the max shift of a Nikkor PC-E lens (approx 11 mm). With the camera in landscape mode and a vertical shift (up and down) or with the camera in portrait mode and a horizontal shift (left/right) you achieve the biggest file enlargement. With a Nikon PC-E lens a maximum 11mm shift will give you a 92% increase of the photo. With the Zork adapter a full 20mm shift (possible on Canon DLSR and Nikon pro bodies without built-in flash) will provide a 167% enlargement (yes 2.7 the original pixel size!). It means that a 36Mpixel camera like the D800 will provide a 96Mpixel file with the Zork adapter fully shifted. On Nikon bodies with built in flash like the D700 or D800 however the full shift of 20mm is not possible as the flash housing in on the path of the shift. It seems that the shift is limited to 14mm which provides an enlargement of 117% (x2.2 Mpixel increase).

For Panorama shots where the camera orientation must be the same as the direction of the shift (landscape/Horizontal shift or portrait/Vertical shift) the aspect ratio is spectacular but the Mpixel increase is less:

- On a traditional Nikon PC-E lens with 11mm shift, the Mpixel increase is 61% with aspect ratio of 2.4:1

- with the zork adapter using full 20mm shift (possible on all Canon and Nikon DSLR even with the D700/D800), the Mpixel increase is 111% with aspect ratio of 3:1! more information is available at the following link:

www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/tilt-shift-lenses1.htm

Tilt movement is not possible with this adapter and in general with Mamiya 645 lenses tilt can be achieved but you lose the ability to focus at infinity as the registration distance between the rear of the lens and the sensor would be too long with the additional tilt movement.

Although a sturdy design that reflects German engineering, the finish (look) of the adapter looks as a hand made prototype. The demand is not high enough in the market to mass produce this custom made adapter (the model I purchased use only Mamiya 645 MF lenses but the manufacturer can sell you one adapte for Pentax 6x7 or Hasselblad lenses to be mounted on Nikon or Canon bodies).

Cost $750 including the L bracket that allows the adapter to be mounted with flexibility in any position on a tripod head.

more information can be found on the manufacturer website:

www.zoerk.com/pages/p_psa.htm

I have put a lot of effort to research and understand the Tilt and Shift world which was new to me, and although there are a few books on view cameras, T&S lenses and the Scheimpflug principle, I could not find any practical information on using T&S adapters like Mirex and Zork on Digital cameras, using large diameter Medium Format lenses. Forums seem to provide some partial information with little experience with Nikon DSLR which are less friendly to shifting in the direction of the built-in flash. So I decided to gather all the information I have learned and summarize it in this single post, which you can bookmark or save as a favorite for future reference.

An example of a photo taken with this set-up with explanations how to use Photoshop for Panorama stitching and focus stacking is given in the comments area of this link:

www.flickr.com/photos/episa/8603934110/in/photostream

Final question you may ask and which I already asked myself since I own the Nikkor Micro PC-E 45/2.8: why not use a simple dedicated Tilt and shift lens from Nikon?

It turns out that using a dedicated Nikon PC-E lens is not any easier and still requires to manually focus and fix the exposure manually. A the same time it costs $2000 to get a single T&S lens. With the set-up described in this posting the investment is limited to the adapter ($750) and the Mamiya lens ($300 on ebay for each focal length like 55mm f/2.8N, 80mm f/2.8N, A 150mm f/2.8). Investing in a Nikon PC-E lens makes sense if you use the tilting function for creative effect or as a landscape photographer. But I would argue that using Focus stacking you can achieve an ever better effect than with a Tilt lens if your goal is to achieve maximum depth of field in a landscape or in a macro shot. The real advantage of the PC-E lens remains when you need to reduce the depth of field and create special effects (like miniature rendering, or tilted plane of focus). This becomes a very narrow application mostly for professional photographers who need to sell a unique look in their pictures.

I hope that you found this compilation of data instructive, even eye opening. Let me know if you appreciate the sharing.

This is the biggest butterfly I've ever seen. It was so big in fact, that I mistook it for a small bird when I first saw it.

It never settled down for a good steady shot, but I managed to catch this fly-by.

This is a photo of one of the many toys that litter my daughter's house to entertain my grandson! It had some good colour contrasts, Those of us who still delight in taking transparencies have seen so many of our favourite materials disappear and those that remain rise in price. I was delighted when Kodak Alaris announced the re-introduction of Ektachrome. I got some from Analogue Wonderland and Silverpan developed it. I'm delighted with the film, the colours are good and it's sharp. They look great when projected.

This is what happens when you're stuck at home with a new camera, sick, & there's crappy weather for a couple weeks. Damn you eBay!! Damn You!!

This is a digital painting produced from a photo of the Nativity Set in the Hyde Park Chapel Visitors' Centre on Exhibition Road, London.

View the Entire - Christmas Set

View the Entire - Digital Painting Set

View the entire London Set

View my - Most Interesting according to Flickr

This is a picture I deliberately made gray. Taken on a not sunny day, post processing reduced the already dark green even more.

The picture was taken with the Nikkor AF-S 50 mm/1.4G, to get the unsharp plant double in the background.

#307 on Explore on 2009-03-27.

Flickr Hive Mind - flexplore - DNA

Alice in Wonderland was conceived here.