📍 Sunce iza oblaka

U ovoj fotografiji bilježim trenutak kada se sunce skriva iza oblaka, ali mu se zrake ipak uspijevaju probiti kroz siluetu. Takvi prizori često djeluju kao tiha eksplozija svjetla – moćni, dinamični i puni simbolike.

Ova igra svjetla i tame podsjeća nas koliko priroda može biti dramatična i istovremeno jednostavna u svojoj ljepoti.

Ponekad samo trebamo podići pogled.

🇬🇧 ENGLISH:

📍 Sun Behind the Clouds

This photo captures the moment when the sun hides behind a cloud, yet its rays still burst through like a silent explosion of light.

Scenes like this feel powerful and full of energy, reminding us of the dramatic simplicity of nature.

Sometimes, all it takes is to look up.

🇫🇷 FRANÇAIS :

📍 Soleil derrière les nuages

Cette image saisit l’instant où le soleil se cache derrière un nuage, mais ses rayons percent comme une explosion silencieuse de lumière.

Un spectacle puissant et chargé d’énergie, qui reflète la beauté dramatique et simple de la nature.

Parfois, il suffit de lever les yeux.

🇩🇪 DEUTSCH:

📍 Sonne hinter den Wolken

Dieses Bild zeigt den Moment, in dem sich die Sonne hinter einer Wolke verbirgt – doch ihre Strahlen brechen durch wie eine stille Lichtexplosion.

Ein kraftvoller Anblick, der die dramatische, aber einfache Schönheit der Natur zeigt.

Manchmal muss man nur nach oben schauen.

🇪🇸 ESPAÑOL:

📍 El sol detrás de las nubes

Esta foto capta el instante en que el sol se oculta tras una nube, pero sus rayos aún logran atravesarla como una explosión silenciosa de luz.

Una escena poderosa que nos recuerda la belleza simple y dramática de la naturaleza.

A veces, solo hay que mirar hacia arriba.

🇮🇹 ITALIANO:

📍 Il sole dietro le nuvole

Questa foto cattura il momento in cui il sole si nasconde dietro una nuvola, ma i suoi raggi riescono comunque a filtrare, come un’esplosione silenziosa di luce.

Un’immagine carica di energia, che ci ricorda quanto la natura possa essere semplice e drammatica allo stesso tempo.

A volte basta solo alzare lo sguardo.

Rolling in across the parched landscape of Junee, Riverina NSW.

#back_country_pre_sunset #florida_birds #florida #best_birds_planet #planet_birds #birdbrilliance #birdphotography #nature #wildlifephotography #birdextreme #bestbirdshots #discovertheworld #nature_perfection #wildlifeperfection #gregorymountainpacks #sony #gitzo #leofotousa #markins #manfrotto #TKpanel #luminarneo #adobe_LR_PS #nikcollection #topaz #dxo #capture_1 #rrs

Our path through life wanders through many curves,

hills and valleys,

and traverses a multitude of bridges.

A path uncertain through darkness and light.

The destination is known,

but the path is the adventure.

- a fragment

#BreakFreeWithOlympus, #bridge, #Buffalo, #buffalove, #city, #DxOPhotoLab, #fog, #foggy, #igersbuffalo, #inthebuff, #leadinglines, #m43ftw, #microfourthirdsgallery, #morning, #negative #space, #NikCollection, #NY, #Winter, #OriginalWork

#ccwelcome

Merci beaucoup pour vos visites et commentaires ♥

www.hww.ca/assets/pdfs/factsheets/atlantic-puffin-fr.pdf

Description

Quatre espèces de macareux se rencontrent au monde, mais le Macareux moine (Fratercula arctica) est le

seul qui vit en Atlantique Nord. C’est l’un des oiseaux marins les plus populaires et les plus familiers au

Canada. Sa physionomie particulière en fait même un candidat idéal pour les calendriers et les affiches. En

1992, il est devenu l’emblème aviaire officiel de la province de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador. Si la majorité des

gens n’ont aucun mal à identifier l’oiseau en plumage nuptial, il en va tout autrement lorsqu’il arbore sa livrée

hivernale plus simple.

Fratercula signifie « petit frère » ou « moine », allusion probable à la livrée noir et blanc de l’oiseau. Les

macareux appartiennent à la famille des pingouins, ou Alcidés, tout comme le Mergule nain, les marmettes, les

guillemots, le Petit Pingouin, les stariques, ainsi que le Grand Pingouin aujourd’hui disparu. Ces oiseaux

marins plongeurs de l’hémisphère Nord utilisent leurs ailes pour se propulser sous l’eau à la poursuite de petits

poissons ou d’autres proies.

Durant la période nuptiale, le bec du Macareux moine, large de profil et mais étroit, est paré de bandes

contrastantes orange, jaune et bleue; les pattes sont d’un orange vif. Le visage gris blanc du macareux est

orné de rosettes jaunes charnues à la base du bec, et d’anneaux rouges et de petites plaques bleutées autour

des yeux. La tête, le dos et les ailes sont noirs et contrastent fortement avec le ventre qui est d’un blanc

immaculé. Les individus des deux sexes ont une apparence semblable, mais en général le mâle est

légèrement plus gros que la femelle.

Après la période de reproduction, l’adulte perd les bandes colorées sur le bec et autour des yeux, et subit une

mue partielle (plumes de la tête et du cou). Le visage s’assombrit, en particulier autour et devant les yeux. En

hiver, le Macareux moine a l’air tellement différent que l’on a longtemps cru qu’il s’agissait de deux espèces. À

la fin de l’hiver et au printemps, le remplacement des plumes des ailes et de la queue, abîmées par une année

d’usage, le rend temporairement inapte au vol. En même temps, de nouvelles plaques se forment sur le bec et

les joues, et de nouvelles bandes apparaissent sur la tête le préparant à la prochaine saison de reproduction.

Les jeunes ressemblent aux adultes en plumage hivernal, mais ils ont le bec plus petit et plus pointu. On

confond parfois les adultes en plumage hivernal et les immatures avec les guillemots.

Les macareux sont merveilleusement adaptés à la nage sous l’eau, comme en témoigne leur morphologie

générale. Le corps est compact et robuste, mais relativement allongé, tandis que les ailes sont courtes et

mues par des muscles puissants. Le bec et la tête permettent à l’oiseau de fendre l’eau; le corps,

hydrodynamique, offre une résistance minimale à l’eau, et les pattes et les pieds jouent le rôle de gouvernail.

I've read that when cardinals appear in your yard they are visitors from heaven. Since I live in NC and the cardinal is our state bird my yard is full of these heavenly visitors! This one got particularly close...

Schlosspark Sz-Ringelheim GER

Schloss Ringelheim

ist ein ehemaliges Kloster aus dem 10. Jahrhundert, das 1803 säkularisiert wurde. Die barocke Klosterkirche St. Abdon und Sennen ist bekannt für ihre wertvolle Orgel und das Kruzifix aus der Werkstatt des Bischofs Bernward von Hildesheim. Wahrscheinlich in der Regierungszeit des ostfränkischen Königs Heinrich I. und Mathildes von Ringelheim 919–936, wurde ein königliches Jungfrauenstift an der Innerste errichtet, möglicherweise auch erst 940 unter Otto I. durch Graf Immat aus dem Geschlecht der Immedinger. 1152 wurde die Abtei in ein Benediktinerkloster für Männer umgewandelt und dem Bistum Hildesheim unterstellt. 1523–1641 braunschweigisch und damit protestantisch, wurde das Kloster 1803 säkularisiert und ging in den Besitz des preußischen Feldmarschalls von der Schulenburg-Kehnert über.

Schlossmühle

Friedrich von der Decken kaufte 1817 das Gut Ringelheim und baute es zu einem Herrensitz um. Das ehemalige Konventsgebäude, dessen Neubau auf das beginnende 18. Jahrhundert zurückgeht, wurde zum heutigen Schloss und erhielt eine klassizistische Fassade. Der Bibliotheksflügel östlich davon wurde abgerissen, ebenso der Kreuzgang zwischen dem Konventsgebäude und der Kirche.

Lungenheilstätte

Schloss Ringelheim wurde 1942 samt Park an die Landesversicherungsanstalt Braunschweig verpachtet und von dieser als Lungenheilstätte genutzt. Später befand sich im Schloss eine Fachabteilung des Niedersächsischen Landeskrankenhauses Königslutter. Ende der 1990er Jahre zogen die Schlossbewohner ins Ortsinnere um. Es haben sich seitdem mehrere Investoren für das Schloss interessiert, darunter eine Baubetreuungsgesellschaft, eine Musikakademie sowie ein Investor, der für wohlhabende Senioren eine luxuriöse Residenz schaffen wollte. Das Schloss wurde 2002 an einen privaten Investor verkauft und blieb seitdem weitgehend ungenutzt. Bis heute (2017) ist über die weitere Zukunft des Schlosses noch nicht entschieden.

Park

1848 ließ Adolphus Graf von der Decken auf dem Gelände der alten Fischteiche der Mönche den heutigen Schlosspark als englischen Landschaftsgarten anlegen. Etwa 21,7 Hektar groß (110 Hektar mit umgebenden Grünanlagen), wird er von einem verzweigten Seesystem durchzogen, das von mehreren Brücken überquert wird, z. B. der romantischen Sandsteinbrücke mit Blick auf das Schloss (Foto). Den Park betritt man durch ein vasenbekröntes Tor am Westeingang. Unweit des Schlosses befindet sich eine künstliche Ruine.

Ferner ließ von der Decken auf einer Insel einen Obelisken errichten. Abseits der Wege, entlang des Sees, geht der Park nach Osten hin in ein kleines Waldstückchen über. Zwischen Park und Wald und Innerste schließen die Sportstätten der Ringelheimer Vereine an die Grünanlagen an.

(Wikipedia)

thorn "Galgberget"

(tower on the gallows mountain)

Topaz sharpening

"In 1897, the observation tower on Galgberget was completed. It is 14 meters high and includes a residence for the forester. From his residence, he could get a good overview of his domains on Galgberget. It consists of a 64-meter-high gravel ridge, which was formed during the ice age about 14,000 years ago. It soon became a popular excursion destination for Halmstad residents. A steep staircase leads to the observation tower, which also goes to Hallandsgården. The construction cost 5,564 kronor. The responsibility for this fell to the manufacturer Alfred Wallberg, who was also behind Hallandsgården. Similar observation towers have been built around the country. The tower is open most of the day. It is managed by Halmstad Municipality."

Lennart Lundborg

Brackish water reflects the trees growing in this swamp land outside of Savannah, GA.

There are some rapeseed fields in our countryside this year. This is not a fact to hit the headlines, of course; rather, I should pass under silence the fact that I have seen those fields blooming until they have become glowing golden patches nestled in the green plain without even thinking of capture them with my camera. Shame upon me for my carelessness. All the flowers are gone now, but I had managed to set up a small sunset session before they were utterly lost. The scene was very peaceful and endowed with an enchanted ambiance - from time to time a breath of wind brushed the flowers and a multitude of tiny voices merged in a solemn choir, raising a prayer towards the sky.

It was not a great sunset, really: the sunset in itself was not too good - great clouds to begin with, but the sun was stubbornly hiding himself, so the golden rapeseed flowers were a bit spoiled; and the white flowers of the locust trees as well. Nevertheless I tried some shooting - there are some little magics in my postprocessing toolkit after all, so I hoped to get some decent pictures anyway.

I have worked in postprocessing this bracketing for quite some time and I have mixed feelings about it, but I am afraid that this is the best result I can get from the original photos; moreover, I am just starting using Darktable and I assume that my results there are definitely less than suboptimal. However in my workflow postprocessing is a voyage of the soul, an adventure I enjoy just as much as I enjoyed the actual shooting - and Darktable is part of all this. I envision postprocessing as a chance to interpret my shots by endowing them with my inner vision and my mood & feelings in that precious moment. This can take some time, and the road is paved with wrong moves and blind alleys; but here it is, at last. I am aware that the result of this long creative process is far from perfect (in other words, I have still much more to learn than I have already learnt ;-), but I think it is decent enough to be shared with other fellows photographers.

I have obtained this picture by blending an exposure bracketing [-1.3/0/+1.3 EV] by luminosity masks in the Gimp (EXIF data, as usual, refer to the "normal exposure" shot), then I added some final touches with Nik Color Efex Pro 4. I used Darktable to process the raw files.

4 exposure HDR.

This is the view of the The Three Brothers comprised of Lower Brother, Middle Brother and Eagle Peak, left to right, across the meadow where Merced River meanders between the trees.

DSC_0347.jpg

...Not Stirred.

#MacroMondays

#Keyhole

Another not-easy theme, another last-minute result, and therefore a pretty late upload for today's theme. I knew from the start what I wanted to do but to get there... It's basically a redo of a keyhole photo I had taken for another MM theme ("Safety" from February '21; it's in the first comment). The lock and its keyhole are different, too, because I didn't want to photograph the same thing twice. It's a tiny TSA travel lock that I might put on my photo rucksack. There's a ring around the keyhole, and the lettering on the keyhole says "JYL" and "802" and on the ring below the keyhole, it's "TSA 007" (subtle...).

That lint was already inside this newly bought, freshly unpacked lock was almost an insult. So I did only minor dedusting in post and left that cheeky fluff in the image, especially because stacking had also rendered it so nicely sharp and clear. So my new motto for macro photos is "Embrace the lint!".

Since I wanted to get the keyhole's interior sharp and bright, I had to point the lamp right at the keyhole which inevitably caused the outside of the lock to be blown out, creating unpleasant-looking yellowish tones on its matte aluminium surface. Only when I decided to go fully high-key and actually use the bright light as an effect in the image, it finally worked. This is another bracketing image, not in-camera focus stacking because the latter didn't get deep enough. As usual, I combined the ORFs in Helicon Focus, method B, R8, S4 yielded the best results.

HMM, Everyone!

#MacroMondays

#Peel

The mighty asteroid Cucumis, a space traveller from the faraway Cucurbitaceae galaxy, is finally about to enter Earth's stratosphere. Will it burn out or will Earth face its deadly impact?

Well, the latter was the case, but Cucumis' impact went unnoticed by 99 percent of all Earthlings. It left, however, a notable mess on my photo table... The theme is "Peel", and what looks like a huge watermelon is a thin strip of cucumber peel. The resemblance doesn't come as a surprise, though, because melons and cucumbers (and also zucchini and pumpkins) all belong to the gourd family.

The idea was to backlight the cucumber peel and make it look like a planet. To achieve that effect, I put the peel directly around the front part of my small LED flashlight but it didn't stay in place. So I used an elastic band and wrapped it around the peel and the flashlight. That did the trick but the results still looked a little boring. So today, I had the idea to use coloured light and make the longer part of the cucumber peel that was wrapped to the side of the small flashlight look like a red-hot comet's tail. Focus stacking yielded the best results in defining the rather soft pattern a cucumber peel has and it also allowed me to better control the transition into blur on the comet's tail.

The diameter of the flashlight's front part is 1,5 cm / 0,59 inches.

HMM, Everyone, and have a nice week ahead!

About the only way to photograph Durdle Door without people is to use a long time exposure...... But I kept the dog at the foot of the steps! Lee Big Stopper used here but it was a pain as three different colleges / schools groups marking out rocks and sections in the beach, there were hard hats in white blue and green buzzing around, I had hoped it would be quiet in a weekday - some hope. Will have to visit another time and try a late night shoot too.

#siderssunday

#urbanpoetry

These yellow coneflowers (the high-growing variety) grow in the same spot every summer in a front garden around the corner. The "house" to which the front garden belongs is more of a hut, and the owner or tenant built a recording studio with padded walls in the two tiny rooms. The adjacent house, the one that is the background of this image, is very old and battered, and it's under heritage protection. I assume that the owner, an old gentleman, can't afford the renovation which must follow the strict guidelines required in heritage protection. So one thing is clear: a future owner will have to put a lot of money and work into the renovation of that house.

There's a busy bee on top of the tallest flower. I just so managed to catch it before it flew away in search of more delicious pollen of which there is plenty in the front gardens.

For Sliders Sunday, I gave this image the full (well, not quite, but you get the point) Nik Collection treatment, adding the texture in Analog Efex, and the other processing was done in Color Efex.

HSS, Everyone :)

Trojan Chess?

#MacroMondays

#GamePieces

Royalty, politics, sports, power (stay in or get it), be the winner. People plot intrigues or cheat to achieve their goals and get what they want. Not only people, because science has found numerous examples of tricking or play-acting in the animal world, especially among birds and primates. So it's a universal behaviour pattern.

So how about this little intrigue/cheat: pawnish, lowly "Man, Don't Get Angry" (MDGA) game pieces, entering the royal playing field of the noblest games of all, ready to silently take over the place of the true king, queen, and their acolytes. Man, will they be angry once they realise what just happened. Will they? I'd say, "Power to the People" and game on ;) It's the season of the Pawns. Maybe this is also just another variant of suicide chess (in German, it's Räuberschach, "robbers' chess"), the only chess I ever played successfully.

I was ready to skip. I'm not a huge fan of board games, although I always quite enjoyed Scrabble, Monopoly, and Trivial Pursuit. And of course, we played "Mensch ärgere Dich nicht" (MDGA, which was inspired by Ludo and Pachisi) and a game called Malefiz (another descendant of Pachisi) when I was little. "I don't like board games" also means that there are none at home. Other than the very basic compendium of games I bought (you guessed it) for our last "game pieces" theme. It comes with three puzzle-like cardboard game board pieces (one sticks them together like puzzle pieces to get the whole game board – a simplistic game in itself, if you like). One side has a chess board print (used as background), the other the classic MDGA design, and game pieces for the latter and also for checkers. And chess pieces? There are none, which is a bit of a bummer.

None of the components is special in any way, which made me think of either skipping or buying a board game with interesting game pieces (a stupid idea). But then I remembered my old, truly vintage travel/pocket chess. It's a "De La Rue & Cos. Improved Pocket Chess Board With Chess Men Complete". It's foldable like a book, made of very sturdy cardboard, and the game board part has slots under each square where you can put in the cardboard "chess men" for each move. I thought I'd hide the wooden game pieces behind the cardboard chess pieces of the vintage pocket chess: "Trojan horse style". Theme participation ensured, money saved :)

Size info: The wooden MDGA pieces are 2,5 cm/0,98 inches tall, and the entire scene has a width of 6,5 cm/2,55 inches.

HMM, Everyone!

#MacroMondays

#Redo

Theme redone: "In a Row", 17 July 2023

This is pretty much a complete make-over of my July version of "In a Row". But not quite because back in July, my second version had included the mirror tile you see here and the red glitter foam sheet as backdrop but I didn't quite like the result. Maybe it had been too Christmassy for July, so my other version "won" by a margin, but I kept the second version in Lightroom as a reminder because indeed I thought of redoing the date cubes (which are a part of "Calendar Dog" that has been my subject for "Animal" in August '23) with the red backdrop for a future MM theme. Along came "Redo", so I did :) I can't say if this version is better than the first one, I like both. But this one is certainly more festive and even quite "party-ish" so it's a nice choice for Christmas and the approaching new year, I think.

The image is a single shot. I've placed the date cubes between two of the hexagonal mini tiles the mirror tile is made of because I liked how the "line" added some extra structure to the image. The "unruly" yellow bokeh ball above the "2" and the "5" must be a reflection of one of the LED lights I've used to illuminate the scene. I left it in the photo because it looks like a little sun or a star. Processed in DXO PL 7, Color Efex (filters used: Brilliance and Warmth", "Skylight Filter", and "Tonal Contrast"), and Analog Efex.

Happy Holidays, and Happy Macro Monday, Everyone!

created using HDR Efex Pro

"After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb." Nelson Mandela

Range view as seen from Skyline Drive just south of Front Royal, VA.

www.flickr.com/photos/capcatragu/8172948696/in/dateposted/

Ester asked why people are sad.

"That’s simple," says the old man. "They are the prisoners of their personal history. Everyone believes that the main aim in life is to follow a plan. They never ask if that plan is theirs or if it was created by another person. They accumulate experiences, memories, things, other people's ideas, and it is more than they can possibly cope with. And that is why they forget their dreams.”

Paulo Coelho, The Zahir

Ester fragte, warum die Menschen traurig sind.

"Das ist einfach", sagt der alte Mann. "Sie sind die Gefangenen ihrer persönlichen Geschichte. Jeder glaubt, dass das Hauptziel im Leben darin besteht, einem Plan zu folgen. Sie fragen nie, ob dieser Plan der ihre ist oder ob er von einer anderen Person erstellt wurde. Sie sammeln Erfahrungen, Erinnerungen, Dinge, Ideen anderer Menschen, und das ist mehr, als sie überhaupt bewältigen können. Und das ist der Grund, warum sie ihre Träume vergessen.

Paulo Coelho, Der Zahir

Nikon D 800

ISO 100

f/4.0

50 mm

1/60

This is my new Neumann TLM 107.

It‘s a large diaphragm multi pattern condenser microfone which sounds really great.

After repeated days of torrential rain, the sun breaks out just before is sets on a field groaning to contain it's swollen creek.

- Captured in a series of three consecutive shots at varying exposures (EV -2,0,2) using Jag.gr's PureShot camera replacement app for Apple's iPhone 6.

- Imported the three images to Adobe Lightroom to apply lens corrections.

- Edited the three images in Nik Software Define 2 to remove noise and artifcts.

- Imported into EasyHDR to combine the three images of various exposures.

- Imported HDR image into Adobe Lightroom for some final lighting adjustments and cropping.

This is not a Photoshop effect. The image was not altered in any way except for color and contrast adjustments that are always necessary since I shoot RAW.

Sunsets like this are commonplace, actually expected, almost every day in Ixtapa, Mexico.

"For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption." Psalms 130:7

Corsica 2015

Cyanotype (DXO Silver Efex Pro)

Loversaxony GER

"Look! Nature is overflowing with the grandeur of God."

~John Muir~

Alaska 2017 trip memories: Views along the Richardson Hwy on the way to Valdez...

Jedidiah Smith State Park's Stout Grove...

"The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. Its not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time." John Steinbeck