View allAll Photos Tagged OPAL
Opal plum picked from the tree today.
I have enjoyed these so much.
We have had Victoria plums for 15 plus years but this year we also had the first of these Opal plums ripening.
They should really be earlier than the victoria but for some reason they were later
Port Key West - Key West Harbor - Fall
Key West, Florida U.S.A. - Florida Keys
Virgin Cruise Line - "Valiant Lady" - at the dock - 11/29/24
(leave it to Richard Branson; those long red hanging things
on each state-room balcony...swinging red hammocks! LOL)
----- Opal Key Harbor Resort and Marina (formerly Hilton) -----
----- Cruise-Ship Terminal / Sunset Key Ferry / Opal Marina -----
------ Key West: Far from Normal - Close to Perfect -----
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_West,_Florida
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_keys
"Margaritaville" - Alan Jackson & Jimmy Buffett
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4XtBiWgXLE
"It's Five-Oclock Somewhere" - Alan Jackson & Jimmy Buffett
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPCjC543llU
RIP Jimmy Buffett - Passed 9/1/23
My 2024 Key West Slideshow: flic.kr/s/aHBqjBUfUL
cookie cutters in macro, natural light and shadow in reflection, a brighter view
Other places in the Opal world:
The sister world of smoke:
Over in the Blue World:
The Opal Pool simmers at sunset in this view of one of the few sunsets I caught during my visit to Yellowstone National Park. This relatively small feature is dwarfed by nearby Grand Prismatic Spring. After the sun had set I managed to capture this brief splash of color in the western sky.
Images made during my Masterclass Long Exposure at the Opal Coast in France.
Read my blog about this (in Dutch)
Images made during my Masterclass Long Exposure at the Opal Coast in France.
Read my blog about this (in Dutch)
Opal is a primarily feminine given name derived from the name of the gemstone opal. The gemstone is the birthstone for October. Its name is derived from the Sanskrit upala (उपल), which means 'jewel'. It came into use along with other gemstone names during the late Victorian era. The iridescent, many-colored gem was called the “queen of gems” in Ancient Rome. The name has recently increased in usage, a trend that has been attributed to a renewed interest in “cottagecore names” with a vintage sensibility that are rooted in the natural world. Author Laura Wattenberg calls the sound of the name unique.
Opal was among the 100 most popular names for girls born in the United States from 1900 to 1920 and remained among the top 500 most popular names for girls there until 1950. It declined in popularity but has again increased in usage. It has been among the 1,000 most popular names for American girls since 2017. It was the 344th most common name for females in the United States in the 1990 census.
Coming up alongside the beautiful Schooner Opal as she catches the arctic winds of Øfjord. A scene straight out of a fairytale.
Airpixelsmedia.com
This seam of bright blue iridescent opal in jasper was found on the Barcoo river in Queensland, Australia. It is seen here under glass in the Minerals section of the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London.
Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·nH2O); its water content may range from 3-21% by weight, but is usually between 6-10%. Due to its amorphous property, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms of silica, which are considered minerals. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl, and basalt.
The name opal is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word upala, which means 'jewel', and later the Greek derivative opállios, which means 'to see a change in colour'.
There are two broad classes of opal: precious and common. Precious opal displays play-of-colour (iridescence); common opal does not. Play-of-colour is defined as "a pseudo-chromatic optical effect resulting in flashes of coloured light from certain minerals, as they are turned in white light." The exhibit seen above is a fine example of the iridescent version. Note that the way the natural light is falling on the exhibit has enhanced the effect.
The internal structure of precious opal causes it to diffract light, resulting in play-of-colour. Depending on the conditions in which it formed, opal may be transparent, translucent, or opaque, and the background colour may be white, black, or nearly any colour of the visual spectrum. Black opal is considered the rarest, while white, grey, and green opals are the most common.
This is my birthstone and intriguingly, opal is the gem most associated with bad luck - but this has not always been the case. In Roman times opals were thought to bring good fortune. In fact this belief was so strong that Mark Antony banished a senator who refused to let him have a particularly fine opal he owned. The opal, was supposedly intended as a gift for Cleopatra. Perhaps her fate might have been different had she received the gift ! !
These are delicious, lovely just to munch away on.
Sweet and great flavour.
They are much firmer than Victoria,
I am used to giving Victoria a squeeze to see if it is ripe but that test would not work with Opal! The wasps certainly know they are ripe. They have tunneled into some of them as they hang on the tree.
Opal - Fell from the sun
I'm really enjoying eating these in quite big numbers. Filling a fruit bowl every day or too.
Lovely taste
My very happy daughter Opal. I keep thinking to myself that we must be doing something right to have such happy children.
Although we were on a wildlife photography workshop in Yellowstone, we did a little landscape photography too. We planned to do less wildlife photography on one of the days - ironically, we had some amazing wildlife encounters that day (including this bear).
We stopped at Midway Geyser Basin...the challenge was due to the temperatures, the spring was very steamy and difficult to shoot. This is Opal Pool in a moment of light and very little steam.
Early morning sun lights the tanker Songa Opal (IMO 9473913 Majuro Marshall Islands) upbound for Sarnia.
The striking Breakaways near Coober Pedy in South Australia.
Over 70 million years in the making. The region is rich in Aboriginal and European history and is home to an array of native fauna and flora, which have successfully adapted to one of the world's harshest environments. Definitely one of Outback South Australia's best-kept secrets.
This is sunset time .
The colours of the landscape are lost a bit in this shot shooting into the sun. The shot below shows the landscape colour better when looking East.
Info courtesy of www.cooberpedy.sa.gov.au/page.aspx?u=181&c=393
Minolta X-700, 28mm
Maco PTC traffic film, f8 1/60, red 25 filter
Lith print on some old Kodak Opal paper that looks like it had another piece of paper lying on it for years. Accidental cubism!
Please meet Opal, we have sewn for her the first dress, called from her name ^^ We hope You will like them both.
Opal is SOOM Nephelin on Ariadoll 16yrs Grace body ws
Face-up and mod by Eff
Eyes by Mehi Art
Wig by Leeke World
Outfit by us - Ayu&Ana Design
As the sun sets behind the camera, a rare line of rain approaches the small opal mining town of Coober Pedy Australia
I was trying to recreate a photo I took a while ago with Opal and Diamond now that Opal is wearing a wig that suits him more. XD This time I think he was coming on to Diamond instead of the other way around!
This is a super closeup of a cut opal. Shot with 2 diffused white Adaptalux Studio lighting arms.
Learn more about Adaptalux here - adaptalux.com/
Cottage Grove, Oregon
This wonderful large mural was painted by two artists; Connie Huston painted Opal and the background, and Howard Tharpe painted the oval inserts.
Olympus E-M1.3
Olympus 8-25mm
~5 x 4 x 3 cm. Opal Butte, Oregon. Shaped and polished. An old favorite.
I last photographed this opal in the early 1990s using my Nikon F3 with Kodachrome 25 pushed to 40. My all time favorite cat, Tai Jaide, was fascinated by this opal: www.flickr.com/photos/woodsstoneworksandphotofactory/1282...
One of the many hot pools in the Yellowstone's Midway Geyser Basin. One of the highlights of a visit to this special park.
"Hot springs are the most common hydrothermal features in the park. Their plumbing has no constrictions. Superheated water cools as it reaches the surface, sinks, and is replaced by hotter water from below. This circulation, called convection, prevents water from reaching the temperature needed to set off an eruption. Many hot springs give rise to streams of heated water."
Wikipedia
It’s probably 55 years since I used to collect these bugs from cotton trees in Caloundra during our annual holidays. No doubt, these Hibiscus Harlequin beetles or their progeny are quite happy that I gave up my collecting habits.
As a photographer of little note and having seen great shots by others, I have been searching without avail for some time to grab some of the little bugs, they are so pretty. Obviously, I have been searching the wrong trees. Just recently, having attacked the muddy shores of the Wynnum Wetlands Reserve in the hope of getting some shots of wading birds, which by the way seem to have already departed for the return trip to Siberia, I stumbled across a lone Cotton Tree. And it was home to a lovely group of Harlequin Beetles.
Wow, I was over the moon and with the ideal lens, my 150-500. NOT! Luckily, prepared that day with multiple lenses and cameras, I slushed back to the car and my wife who for some strange reason had decided not to accompany me on the walk, trek, slush to swap to the 105 macro lens. Nevertheless, even with a more appropriate lens the shadows were in and it was blowing a gale! Not ideal conditions. And that mud!
But I had the scent. These beetles have all the beautiful colour of a prize winning Aussie opal, lots of red in the blue. And the red even forms what appears to be a false face. So here at last my gem of a beetle with orange friend. I don’t know if the orange ones are also harlequins, the opposite sex or just a different species that likes the same environment. I was lucky enough also to shoot some babies en masse and the orange ones, with eggs. I will post these in due course.
Went for a hike in the beautiful Opal Creek area yesterday and had paid attention to the weather forecast that called for high clouds in the afternoon. Well after hiking deep into the forest for a different waterfall, the sky was clear as can be with harsh direct light.... I waited for a couple hours for a weather change that was not happening... On the way back (me head-down pouting like a child) noticed one small cloud was in the sky making it's way into the direction of the sun. I was able to make it to this waterfall and had about 5 minutes where the lighting was far from perfect, but usable! Thank goodness for the little things!
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