View allAll Photos Tagged OUTWARDS
Report and full photo gallery on my website:
www.obsidianurbexphotography.com/other/eastern-state-peni...
Eastern State Penitentiary operated between 1829 and 1971. The 15 Cell Blocks fan outwards from the central hexagonal rotunda like the spokes of a wheel.
The fork-tailed drongo, also called the common drongo, African drongo, or savanna drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis), is a species of drongo in the family Dicruridae, which are medium-sized passerine birds of the Old World. It is native to the tropics, subtropics and temperate zones of the Afrotropics.
The fork-tailed drongo is 25 cm long and has short legs. Males are mainly glossy black, although their wings are duller. Females are similar but less glossy. It is large-headed with well-developed rictal and nasal bristles, which are used as sensory organs] The rectrices curve outwards, forming the forked tail for which the species is named. The hooked bill is black and heavy, and the eye is red.
Photographed in the Ol Pejeta. Conservancy, Kenya.
Once burning day and night our quiet countryside has been subject to many improving measures to make it into the network of fields and farms that it is today. The countryside holds some amazing relics like this one, spectacularly marking past changes. We needed kilns and we built and used them and then they became obsolete. This kiln has been filled in to stop it falling inwards, but it is falling outwards instead. When the Sun shines this ruin is bright and beautiful, when there are clouds promising storms are on the way then the structure rather than looking like a site returning to nature seems to mistily become wreathed in dread, transforming into a site of dark portents. When the Sun returns it can burn away almost all of the shrouded notions of doom. The mind finds fuel in designs to create stories and to fill a thought that opens onto another and another thought with ideas that we hold at the ready to be draped over structures like this and in so doing to find a tale that runs through the construction and the potential of the historic site, just a few stones set in place are able to work wonders on the land and they can also weave strands of imagination to fashion fantastic forms as real as ruins and as focused as the camera lens was that recorded the stones in the landscape on this day.
© PHH Sykes 2023
phhsykes@gmail.com
This self-sustaining population in Torrevieja has been here for at least 20 years. Strangely they haven’t managed to expand outwards from this suburban location.
Spain; Torrevieja, Alicante 14/2/24
After the wife’s mishap less than 24 hours earlier she needed to take it a little easier than normal so we spent a little less time walking and more time driving around the countryside enjoying the scenery and capturing some the images that make Basilicata such a special place. There are no shortage of back roads in this region some are little more than goat paths others a little more roomy where almost two cars can pass each other comfortably to me these are the routes to the unexplored leading to the visual treasures that I am looking to capture.
Captured here is the ancient city of Marsicovetere in all her glory seemingly laid across a saddle of rock like a bedspread of buildings with its back protected by Mount Volturino and the fertile farmland of Val d'Agri at its feet this idyllic village has been inhabited since before the Romans. There once sat a fortress at the top of the towns peaks now all that remains of this 11th century Norman construction is a tower a few entranceways and an old windmill but the beauty of this village is the main attraction and a great reason for anyone in the area to make a visit.
The village was hit pretty hard in the earthquakes of 1857, brigands in last part of 19th century and immigration in the early part of the 20th and didn’t really recover until the 1950’s when they began developing the back side of town pictured here on the right a suburb now called Villa d’Agri for the valley that most take their livelihoods from. Thankfully for visitors the last century of hardships preserved the village and the old stone houses at its old center along with the myriad of small streets, stairs and steep inclines that just made it easier to leave them alone and build outwards when prosperity returned.
I took this on Sept 26, 2018 with my D750 and Nikon 28-300mm f3.5-5.6 Lens at 100mm 1/40s f`11 ISO 100 processed in LR, PS +Lumenzia, Topaz , and DXO
Disclaimer: My style is a study of romantic realism as well as a work in progress
This beautiful nebula is located in the constellation of Vela, about 3,000 light-years from Earth. Its rich red glowing cloud is an impressive example of an HII region formed by fierce interstellar winds flowing from the stars around and within. HII emissions remind me of neon lights, glowing off in the distance. Ridges within the nebula, folding over one another creating glowing highlights seem to reach outwards. I have always liked reflection nebula, and this nebula seems to have subtle wisps of dusty blue streamers running throughout. Scattering and reflecting blue light towards us.
Several dark dusky areas are present throughout the nebula. They always seem to add an element of depth. This object is catalogued as Gum 15. It is similar to the Trifad Nebula in appearance with the dark cavernous areas.
The bright star in the centre of the nebula is HD 74804, a double star.
Exposure Details:
Red 23 X 600
Green 18 X 600
Blue 18 X 600
Lum 66 X 600
Ha 24 X 1200
Total Exposure: 28.8 Hours
Instruments:
Telescope: 10" Ritchey-Chrétien RCOS
Camera: SBIG STL-11000 Mono
Mount: Astro-Physics AP-900
Focal Length: 2310.00 mm
Pixel size: 9.00 um
Resolution: 0.82 arcsec/pix
Thanks for looking
A lone sheep stands watch over the Chalk dale of Fothergale near Thixendale. At the bottom of the dale the circular shape is an Earth sculpture called Waves and Time by Chris Drury
Waves and Time was commissioned as part of Wander – Art on the Yorkshire Wolds Way , a programme of artists’ commissions for sites on the Wolds Way. Its aims include increasing enjoyment and awareness of the Wolds Way and the surrounding countryside and encouraging more visitors to the route, locally and from further afield. The artist was selected, and the project managed, by a Steering Group composed mainly of Thixendale residents.
The artwork was featured as part of a BBC TV Countryfile program on Jan 8th 2012, with Matt Baker meeting Chris and walking around the ‘swirl’.
The quoted text on this page come from Chris’s blog entry .
“Following 3 days at the Edinburgh Festival we drove down to Thixendale in the Yorkshire Wolds where I was due to start construction of a work in this stunning chalk valley. The commission was for The Yorkshire Wolds Way and I first saw this valley in November last year. My reaction to the valley was that this was the sculpture and anything added would have to be very subtle. The site was at the confluence of two glacial valleys and I noticed that a curve had been carved out of the far bank where the meeting of two glaciers would have formed a vortex before flowing on down.
My plan was therefore to draw these lines of ancient flow in gentle grassed mounds. In the smaller of the two valleys was a small disused dew pond which I wanted to restore and incorporate.
Work was delayed until late summer as we needed planning permission and a magnetic resonance survey for archeological disturbances. I spent 3 days stringing out the site into a grid of 10 m. squares. Then made the drawing in lime and water lines.
On the Monday Mike Dee arrived – the best digger driver in Yorkshire. He came with machine and his dog Alfie, who proceeded to bark at all passers by and generally get in the way – much to the amusement of us all. Also present were Louise and Dominic, the local archeologists, employed to check out anything we dug up. In the end this amounted to a few fragments of medieval pottery and a sheep’s bone!
So we started in the middle and worked outwards, Mike digging and me raking by hand. Mike was an artist with the digger and made the most beautiful job. His bucket was 40 cm. deep which was as deep as the trench. What came out went on the mound. He started by removing the turf on the ditch, then scooped out the rest. It took about 4 days in all.
The work has now been seeded with a natural grass mix and fenced. It will be green in a month and in 6 months we can take down the fence and let the cattle in.”
THANKS FOR YOUR VISIT AND FOR TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE A COMMENT IT’S MUCH APPRECIATED.
IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW MY STREAM I SUGGEST YOU OUGHT TO READ MY PROFILE FIRST
Centaurus A is the fifth brightest galaxy in our skies. It is located in the constellation of Centaurus, the Southern Hemisphere. The bright central bulge and unique dust lane are excellent targets for amateur visual astronomy observations as they can be seen in finder scopes and with large binoculars. If you are lucky enough to get to a very dark location with the right conditions, it is visible to the naked eye. However, to truly study all of the beautiful details within, astrophotography is the weapon of choice.
I was fortunate enough to have Connor Matherne contribute an additional 15 hours of Ha data to the 77 X 1200 sec subs of Ha I had committed to this project. It certainly helped with the very noisy Ha component of the data set.
I imaged this target five years ago with the same scope. The only difference was that I would rip everything out of my home observatory in the city and head bush. That was a three-hour task to rip apart, and three hours to assemble, then polar align, calibrate AO and guiding etc, image, and then rip apart and reassemble at home and recalibrate.
I find the differences between the photos interesting. There are many more stars with this version, and that funky collection of jets are an excellent addition. Mind you, five years ago I only managed to grab 5 hours of data. If your interested, this was my result, mobile setup.
live.staticflickr.com/8758/18318174186_922fbfc8b5_k.jpg
And setting up my rig:
www.flickr.com/photos/97807083@N00/22402735436/in/photost...
I wanted to retain that bight dirty brown halo extending around the galaxy, and not push it too far and have it become distracting from it’s more natural look. I can just see the lobs of that galaxy halo against the background at both the 1 o’clock and 7 o’clock positions. The jets were difficult as they are very dim and noisy. They seem to have a three-dimensional luminescent quality as they blast outwards into the cosmos.
Oh I forgot, fun facts,
•About 12 million light-years away.
•Peculiar massive elliptical galaxy with a supermassive black hole at its heart.
•The supermassive black hole is estimated to be of 55 million solar masses.
•It has an active nucleus which means that matter falls into the supermassive black hole, it then shoots electrons from its poles at the half the speed of light, creating massive jets that spread thousands light years into space.
•Has the distinction of being the most prominent radio galaxy in the sky.
•Has active star forming areas along the bluish ridge like areas.
Exposure Details:
Lum 58 X 900 Binned 1X1
Red 20 X 450 Binned 2X2
Green 24 X 450 Binned 2X2
Blue 22 X 450 Binned 2X2
Ha 77 X 1200 RCOS / 33 X 1800 extra hours from Tak TOA (Connor Matherne) 42.1 Hours Ha
Total time: 62.7 Hours
Instruments
Telescope: 10" Ritchey-Chrétien RCOS
Camera: SBIG STL-11000 Mono
Mount: Astro-Physics AP-900
Focal Length....... 2310.00 mm
Pixel size ........ 9.00 um
Resolution ........ 0.82 arcsec/pix
Thanks for looking
Terry
Report and full photo gallery on my website:
www.obsidianurbexphotography.com/other/eastern-state-peni...
Eastern State Penitentiary operated between 1829 and 1971. The 15 Cell Blocks fan outwards from the central hexagonal rotunda like the spokes of a wheel.
Our first chase of the 2016 summer monsoon here in Arizona paid off huge last night with a crazy lightning storm over the Superstition Mountains! A ton of bolts on camera and time-lapse, but it was once this downburst of rain happened that I was loving it. I stood in the road, getting blasted by dust and sand, praying for a bolt to happen because the downburst looked so sick, the especially with the way the rain foot was bending outwards in both directions...not to mention the dust everywhere adding all kinds of drama to the scene. Shortly after this though I had to run, the tiny pieces of sand were too much to handle and a few bits were still stuck in my hair this morning :)
Awesome start to this summer, can't wait to see what else is yet to come!
Lichfield Cathedral, in Staffordshire, England, is a spectacular gothic cathedral built between 1195 and 1340. It's the only medieval English cathedral with three spires.
The cathedral is dedicated to St Chad and Saint Mary. Its internal length is 113 m (371 ft), and the breadth of the nave is 21 m (69 ft). The central spire is 77 m (253 ft) high and the western spires are about 58 m (190 ft).
The stone is sandstone and came from a quarry on the south side of Lichfield. The walls of the nave lean outwards slightly, due to the weight of stone used in the ceiling vaulting; some 200–300 tons of which was removed during renovation work to prevent the walls leaning further.
Lichfield suffered severe damage during the English Civil War of 1642–1651, in which all of the stained glass was destroyed. In spite of this, the windows of the Lady Chapel (shown in this photo) contain some of the finest medieval Flemish painted glass in existence. Dating from the 1530s, it came from the Abbey of Herkenrode in Belgium, in 1801, having been purchased by Brooke Boothby when that abbey was dissolved during the Napoleonic Wars.
In February 2003, an eighth-century sculpted panel of the Archangel Gabriel was discovered under the nave of the cathedral. The 600mm tall panel is carved from limestone, and originally was part of a stone chest, which is thought to have contained the relics of St Chad. The panel was broken into three parts but was still otherwise intact and had traces of red pigment from the period. The pigments on the Lichfield Angel correspond closely to those of the Lichfield Gospels which have been dated to around 730AD. The Angel was first unveiled to the public in 2006, when visitor numbers to the cathedral trebled. After being taken to Birmingham for eighteen months for examination, it is now exhibited in the cathedral.
This photo was created by taking 9 shots with a fisheye lens and stitching them together to form a spherical panorama that covers the entire 360˚ view, from floor to ceiling. The tripod is removed by taking two 'straight down' shots from slightly different positions, using a dedicated spherical panoramic head that can offset the camera position away from the central axis of the tripod. Each frame was taken with 5 exposures to capture the full dynamic range from the bright windows to the dark corners (so 45 shots in total). The spherical panorama was transformed to the 2D rectangle you see here using stereographic projection. This version is cropped to show details so it doesn't include the full 360˚.
Canon EOS 90D
Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM @ 10mm
2.5s | 0.8s | 1/4s | 1/13s | 1/40s (+3.33/+1.7/0/-1.7/-3.33EV)
f/9
ISO 200
Stitching & reprojection: PTGui Pro
Exposure blending and tonemapping: Aurora HDR
The African buffalo or Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is a large Sub-Saharan African bovine. They are widely regarded as very dangerous animals, as according to some estimates they gore and kill over 200 people every year.
A characteristic feature of the horns of adult male African buffalo is that the bases come very close together, forming a shield referred to as a "boss". From the base, the horns diverge downwards, then smoothly curve upwards and outwards and in some cases inwards and or backwards. In large bulls, the distance between the ends of the horns can reach upwards of one metre (the record being 64.5 inches 164 cm). The horns form fully when the animal reaches the age of five or six years but the bosses do not become "hard" till 8 to 9 years old. In cows, the horns are, on average, 10-20% smaller, and they do not have a boss.
Photographed on a game drive in Crater Lake Sanctuary, Lake Naivasha, Kenya.
I love that I only have to drive 5 minutes to find shots like these. Sadly this little city of mine is continuing its unfailing march outwards and soon it will not be so easy. I would much rather see a wheat field than another effing condo development.
I've officially sold my camera. Like it's actually gone now. These were shot on a demo 5D. Those huge files really put my computer to task. Not that I'm complaining.
-In Explore Pages for Aug. 1, 2007-
The Rosette Nebula is a large spherical molecular cloud in the Monoceros (the Unicorn) region of the Milky Way. It measures about 130 light-years in diameter and is around 5,000 light-years away. It was created only a few million years ago when a giant molecular cloud collapsed. At its centre, a young open cluster is present, NGC 2244. This star cluster contains several blue-white O-type stars which are some of the hottest and brightest stars in our universe.
As you move outwards away from the centre, darker splotches known as Bok Globulares are present. They are dense clouds of gas and dust, and from our vantage point, they appear as black holes in the cosmos. I think they look very cool.
To create this image, I combined the light from seven different filters. These include both broadband and narrowband filtered light using a monochrome camera. My intent was to retain a natural look even though I had a great deal of narrowband data incorporated in the final result. Stong emission data from narrowband data can overwhelm the traditional colour components in the final result.
Equipment Details:
•10 Inch RCOS fl 9.1
•Astro Physics AP-900 Mount
•SBIG STL 11000m
•FLI Filter Wheel
•Astrodon LRGB Filters
•Baader Planetarium H-alpha 7nm Narrowband-Filter
•Baader Planetarium OIII 8.5nm Narrowband-Filter
•Baader Planetarium SII 8.0nm Narrowband-Filter
Exposure Details:
•Lum 77 X 900 Bin 1
•Red 24 X 450 Bin 2
•Green 23 X 450 Bin 2
•Blue 48 X 450 Bin 2
•Ha 36 X 900 Bin 1
•SII 27 X 900 Bin 1
•OIII 16 X 900 Bin 1
Total Time: 50.875 Hours
The blue jay occupies a variety of habitats within its large range, from the pine woods of Florida to the spruce-fir forests of northern Ontario. It is less abundant in denser forests, preferring mixed woodlands with oaks and beeches.
As with most other blue-hued birds, the blue jay's coloration is not derived from pigments but is the result of light interference due to the internal structure of the feathers.
There is a pronounced crest on the head, a crown of feathers, which may be raised or lowered according to the bird's mood.
When excited or aggressive, the crest will be fully raised. When frightened, the crest bristles outwards, brushlike. When the bird is feeding among other jays or resting, the crest is flattened on the head.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This unusual member of the Pink family is an abundant sight on the sea cliffs, rocky places, gravel paths or shingle coastlines around the whole of Scotland. It has sometimes been confused with Bladder Campion (Silene vulgaris) which is more erect.
Sea Campion is a perennial herb, having many prostrate, glabrous shoots that form a dense mat, with wax-covered, bluish-green and lance-shaped leaves. Leaves grow up to 3mm long in opposite pairs up the stem and are stalk-less.
The calyx from which the petals appear is a reddish bladder-like fused oval covered with a network of veins. Out of this grow 5 petals, each petal being deeply lobed into 2, giving the impression of 10 narrow petals. The flowers are invariably white, perhaps with a violet tinge, and about 25mm in diameter. In the centre are 10 white stamens with dark red anthers.
The fruit is a light brown capsule which splits into 5 lobes, these curve outwards to release the seeds.
This Christmas bauble was hand beaded with sequins and pins by me. I have a Christmas tradition. I bead Christmas baubles for a select group of friends every year. In this case they are for a friend, who like me, elects blue as her favourite colour.
Each bauble is 15 centimetres in diameter and contain hundreds of sequins, varying in number depending upon the complexity of the pattern and the type of sequins I use. Most sequins in this bauble are 5mm in diameter, except the flowers, which are 4mm. The flowers are raised cups and are imported from France. Depending upon the colour of the sequin, I will use either a gold or a silver pin to attach it to the bauble. I always leave the flower cups until last, allowing a gap in the sequin chain to pin them in.
These baubles are smaller than some others I do, however because it is a complex pattern which starts from the inside and is worked outwards in ever larger circles, each bauble takes approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours per side.
It is however, a labour of love which I do to pass the time throughout the year.
This Christmas bauble was hand beaded with sequins and pins by me. I have a Christmas tradition. I bead Christmas baubles for a select group of friends every year.
Each bauble is 15 centimetres in diameter and contain hundreds of sequins, varying in number depending upon the complexity of the pattern and the type of sequins I use. Most sequins in this bauble are 5mm in diameter, except the butterflies which are 10mm, and the small stars which are 3mm and very fiddly. Depending upon the colour of the sequin, I will use either a gold or a silver pin to attach it to the bauble. I always leave the butterflies and stars until last, allowing a gap in the sequin chain to pin them in.
These baubles are smaller than some others I do, and because it is a simple pattern which starts from the inside and is worked outwards in ever larger circles, each bauble takes approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours per side.
It is however, a labour of love which I do to pass the time throughout the year.
Cork (/kɔːrk/; Irish: Corcaigh, pronounced [ˈkoɾkɪɟ], from corcach, meaning "marsh") is a city in south-west Ireland, in the province of Munster, which had a population of 125,622 in 2016.[3]
The city is situated on the River Lee which splits into two channels at the western end and divides the city centre into islands. They reconverge at the eastern end where the quays and docks along the river banks lead outwards towards Lough Mahon and Cork Harbour, which is one of the largest natural harbours in the world by navigational area.
This Christmas bauble was hand beaded with sequins and pins by me. I have a Christmas tradition. I bead Christmas baubles for a select group of friends every year. In this case they are for a friend, who like me, elects red as her favourite colour, but also likes gold, white, black and silver accents for her tree.
Each bauble is 15 centimetres in diameter and contain hundreds of sequins, varying in number depending upon the complexity of the pattern and the type of sequins I use. Most sequins in this bauble are 5mm in diameter, except the snowflakes which are 12mm in diameter. Depending upon the colour of the sequin, I will use either a gold or a silver pin to attach it to the bauble.
These baubles are smaller than some others I do, however because it is a complex pattern which starts from the inside and is worked outwards in ever larger circles, each bauble takes approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours per side.
It is however, a labour of love which I do to pass the time throughout the year.
66132 passes Cossington with the Lafarge self-discharge train, loaded with aggregate from Mountsorrel.
The self-discharge train was introduced by building materials company Redland in the late 1980s, and was subsequently operated by Lafarge when that company took over Redland in 1997; Redland owned the quarry at Mountsorrel in Leicestershire, from which the train usually operated. It was a fixed formation train with a conveyor belt under the hoppers. A special unloading wagon at the end had a conveyor on a boom which allowed the hoppers to be unloaded at locations which did not have hopper discharge facilities, and the train could even be used to deliver railway ballast to locations where track was being relaid.
The end for this train came after an incident in February 2016. While parked in the sidings at Mountsorrel, the unloading boom, having not been locked properly in position, was projecting outwards and was foul of the Down Main, resulting in it being struck by a passing East Midlands Trains "Meridian" DEMU.
Visit Brian Carter's Non-Transport Pics to see my photos of landscapes, buildings, bridges, sunsets, rainbows and more.
This Christmas bauble was hand beaded with sequins and pins by me. I have a Christmas tradition. I bead Christmas baubles for a select group of friends every year. In this case they are for a friend, who like me, elects blue as her favourite colour.
Each bauble is 15 centimetres in diameter and contain hundreds of sequins, varying in number depending upon the complexity of the pattern and the type of sequins I use. Most sequins in this bauble are 5mm in diameter, except the butterflies which are 10mm, the small flowers which are 3mm and very fiddly and the central flower which is 6mm. Depending upon the colour of the sequin, I will use either a gold or a silver pin to attach it to the bauble. I always leave the flowers and stars until last, allowing a gap in the sequin chain to pin them in.
These baubles are smaller than some others I do, however because it is a complex pattern which starts from the inside and is worked outwards in ever larger circles, each bauble takes approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours per side.
It is however, a labour of love which I do to pass the time throughout the year.
Northern Lights corona above MS Richard With during a winter voyage between North Cape and Kirkenes. A corona occurs when the aurora appears directly overhead, with the curtains of light seeming to radiate outwards and dance around the observer. Captured after 11 p.m. from the ship’s top observation deck, looking steeply upwards past the funnel towards the zenith. With the Hurtigruten emblem on the funnel, the photo also highlights Norway’s historic mail ship line, connecting coastal towns between Bergen and Kirkenes since 1893.
This Christmas bauble was hand beaded with sequins and pins by me. I have a Christmas tradition. I bead Christmas baubles for a select group of friends every year. In this case it is for a friend, who elects orange as her favourite colour.
Each bauble is 15 centimetres in diameter and contain hundreds of sequins, varying in number depending upon the complexity of the pattern and the type of sequins I use. Most sequins in this bauble are 5mm in diameter, except the flowers, which are 4mm. The flowers are raised cups and are imported from France. Depending upon the colour of the sequin, I will use either a gold or a silver pin to attach it to the bauble. I always leave the flower cups until last, allowing a gap in the sequin chain to pin them in.
These baubles are smaller than some others I do, however because it is a complex pattern which starts from the inside and is worked outwards in ever larger circles, each bauble takes approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours per side.
It is however, a labour of love which I do to pass the time throughout the year.
Black Guillemot / cepphus grylle. Oban, Scotland. 14/05/22.
'MAKING ITS WHEREABOUTS KNOWN.'
A well renowned colony of Black Guillemots nest in drainage holes along the esplanade wall at Oban. Although the esplanade itself is busy with local pedestrians and tourists, the birds pay little notice to them. Their confiding nature means, with patience, photographing them is relatively easy.
I watched this bird fly up to a drainage hole from the sea below, where it had been swimming and pair bonding with its (presumed) mate. Having entered the drain, it manoeuvred round so that it was facing outwards. Here it can be seen peering out, beak open as it uttered a whistling call.
I was blessed with some nice afternoon light when I made the image ... a huge bonus!
BEST VIEWED LARGE.
This Christmas bauble was hand beaded with sequins and pins by me. I have a Christmas tradition. I bead Christmas baubles for a select group of friends every year.
Each bauble is 15 centimetres in diameter and contain hundreds of sequins, varying in number depending upon the complexity of the pattern and the type of sequins I use. Most sequins in this bauble are 5mm in diameter, except for the small stars which are 3mm and the flowers which are 8mm. Depending upon the colour of the sequin, I will use either a gold or a silver pin to attach it to the bauble. I always leave the hearts and stars until last, allowing a gap in the sequin chain to pin them in.
These baubles are smaller than some others I do, however because it is a complex pattern which starts from the inside and is worked outwards in ever larger circles, each bauble takes approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours per side.
It is however, a labour of love which I do to pass the time throughout the year.
This Christmas bauble was hand beaded with sequins and pins by me. I have a Christmas tradition. I bead Christmas baubles for a select group of friends every year.
Each bauble is 15 centimetres in diameter and contain hundreds of sequins, varying in number depending upon the complexity of the pattern and the type of sequins I use. Most sequins in this bauble are 5mm in diameter, except the stars which are 10mm and the snowflakes which are 8mm. Depending upon the colour of the sequin, I will use either a gold or a silver pin to attach it to the bauble. I always leave the stars until last, allowing a gap in the sequin chain to pin them in. Star sequins are notorious for getting caught on clothes, which then bend the points.
These baubles are smaller than some others I do, and because it is a simple pattern which starts from the inside and is worked outwards in ever larger circles, each bauble takes approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours per side.
It is however, a labour of love which I do to pass the time throughout the year.
The banded mongoose (Mungos mungo) is a mongoose species native from the Sahel to Southern Africa. It lives in savannahs, open forests and grasslands and feeds primarily on beetles and millipedes. Mongooses use various types of dens for shelter including termite mounds. While most mongoose species live solitary lives, the banded mongoose live in colonies with a complex social structure.
Banded mongooses live in mixed-sex groups of 7-40 individuals (average around 20). Groups sleep together at night in underground dens, often abandoned termite mounds, and change dens frequently (every 2-3 days). When no refuge is available and hard-pressed by predators such as wild dogs, the group will form a compact arrangement in which they lie on each other with heads facing outwards and upwards.
This very handsome Mongoose was standing sentry guard duty whilst the rest of the pack was busy foraging in the grasses nearby. Photographed on a game drive in Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya.
I took a photo of these curves and reflections of a bench just because I thought it created an interesting effect. After getting home, and seeing it on my screen, I noticed it actually creates an optical illusion where one can see it curving inwards or outwards...my young son son saw it right away, my husband had to look a few times and suddenly said now I see it. Which do you see first and can you see it the opposite way?
* African elephants are the largest animals walking the Earth. Their herds wander through 37 countries in Africa. They are easily recognized by their trunk that is used for communication and handling objects. And their large ears allow them to radiate excess heat. Upper incisor teeth develop into tusks in African elephants and grow throughout their lifetime.
There are two species of African elephants—the savanna (or bush) elephant and the forest elephant. Savanna elephants are larger than forest elephants, and their tusks curve outwards. In addition to being smaller, forest elephants are darker and their tusks are straighter and point downward. There are also differences in the size and shape of the skull and skeleton between the two species.
Carnisk, Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland
This ancient Irish woodland on the banks of the river Lennon is known as Drummonaghan Woods. This area is one of Donegal’s most stunning locations to visit each Autumn and observe all the various autumnal colours of the different leaves which carpet the forest floor. From warm reds to yellows to golds, basically any colour which represents autumn can all be found here 🍂
The river Lennon meanders its way through these woods then becomes a large half-moon shaped waterfall known as ‘The Salmon Leap’. Overlooking this waterfall is Carnisk Bridge in which you can stand on and gaze at the beautiful reflections of trees on the large pool of water below, before it rushes over the waterfall and under the old stone bridge towards Ramelton village then finally outwards to sea.
Hope you enjoy! Please Favourite & Follow to view my newest upcoming works, Thank you
The Bluestack Hills, Carrickmahon, Kilteevoge, County Donegal, Ireland
Many areas of Ireland are surprisingly sparsely populated even in today’s times. Once you arrive at this townland of Carrickmahon in the heart of Donegal, all becomes evident. It's not unusual to find a single cottage surrounded by many hectares of land, where there are more sheep than human inhabitants to be found.
This traditional cottage is the heart of a small sheep farm situated miles away from any other dwelling. Set on an interesting landscape with lush green pastures rolling right up to its front door, before suddenly transforming to brown boglands as far as can be seen right from the back door outwards into the Bluestack mountains in the distance.
The view from the front door of this little cottage shows a completely different landscape from the view from the back door. This is mainly due to generations of hard-working farmers tending these lands with donkeys & bare hands. Hundreds of years of grazing sheep has eventually fertilised the soil, slowly transforming and breaking it from barren bogland into green fields.
Just imagine living here... having these two beautiful natural Irish landscapes, a mere half turn apart from each other 💚
Hope you enjoy! Please Favourite & Follow to view my newest upcoming works, Thank you
I've had this done but still trying to get better photos. Based on the starburst pattern that I've done several of~~with some modifications. I wanted to try out some of the design elements~~the 4 center 'leaves', the curved border and the leaves within the border~~before using the ideas in a larger piece.
The shades of Waterglass for the leaves, starting in the center is the light green working outwards to emerald green~~they are so closely related in the same hue that the colors seem to blend together.
Measures 11 1/2 inches diameter, 29cm.
There's a cloister-garth. For real, not just in my heart.
I love to bring my daughters there. In sunny days,
at morning, when secrets come out whispered as slow winds
in the language of plants.
I taught them it's our secret
garden. They do believe what I go affirming about
the dragon that once lived in its well,
and the many mysterious granite amphoras, opened atop.
Yet today an additional magic gets me, erasing
my perception of what's and who's around,
my poet's eye an enormous black door to the elsewhere.
Maple seeds dance towards a smiling sky.
Two, on their late winter branch, smiling too.
Vision change. Wind stirs time and I can see
the future, now. The branch is naked.
The seeds are gone. One east, one west.
But one day the wind revealed them, trees, a map of sounds
they'd easily recognize. In their clorophyll hearts
the memory of that branch
make them two start writing books of leaves
where the aching for what once was
and a devastating joy for what could be
sings outwards the pages as a promise of spring.
And those books traveled through time
and space
like maple seeds
detached and separated,
separately growing,
closely detached,
seeds of words that somewhere live
together on the same shelf.
I did take some facing the other way too.
The scene as seen was inspiring and the scene as recorded looked ready for an edit, or three.
© PHH Sykes 2022
phhsykes@gmail.com
The lesser-known constellation of Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs), is home to a variety of deep-sky objects — including this beautiful galaxy, known as NGC 4861. Astronomers are still debating on how to classify it. While its physical properties — such as mass, size and rotational velocity — indicate it to be a spiral galaxy, its appearance looks more like a comet with its dense, luminous “head” and dimmer “tail” trailing off. Features more fitting with a dwarf irregular galaxy.
Although small and messy, galaxies like NGC 4861 provide astronomers with interesting opportunities for study. Small galaxies have lower gravitational potentials, which simply means that it takes less energy to move stuff about inside them than it does in other galaxies. As a result, moving in, around, and through such a tiny galaxy is quite easy to do, making them far more likely to be filled with streams and outflows of speedy charged particles known as galactic winds, which can flood such galaxies with little effort.
These galactic winds can be powered by the ongoing process of star formation, which involves huge amounts of energy. New stars are springing into life within the bright, colorful ‘head’ of NGC 4861 and ejecting streams of high-speed particles as they do so, which flood outwards to join the wider galactic wind. While NGC 4861 would be a perfect candidate to study such winds, recent studies did not find any galactic winds in it.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Lush Bath Bomb.
For Macro Mondays Theme 'Single Use'
This bomb is barely 1cm across, it's on a mirror, the water is about 1mm deep.
The bomb soaked the water up pulling it away from the edge of the mirror while the fizzing was pushing the water outwards, hence the weird looking ripples - I'd hoped it would form a more uniform blob, but what can you do? 😆
The light is coming from your left, with 2 sheets of yellow & blue plastic off to your right for the funky reflection.
20. Wet
Speech by Mr.Ân
Good afternoon teachers , panel of judges and my fellow students , distinguished guests , Ladies and Gentlemen .......................
_ I 'm here to speak against the motion that _ HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SHOULD WEAR SCHOOL UNIFORM . In my opinion ,it's not proper for high school students to wear uniform . I support my opinion with the following points
_ Firstly , I think the uniform is very expensive for students from poor families .There are lots of things , the poor parents of those students have to pay for _ example tuition fees , transport fare for the student to go to school and come back home , money for feeding and so on . So i think that if the expensive uniform is subtracted form the cost poor parents have to bear , then it's good for the parents
_ Secondly , many people feel that the school uniform makes the high school student look gentle and responsible . But , I have a different view about this . Outwards looks is not really important . Rather , what are important are the inside of a person , the intelligence of a student and the training he receives at school . Concentration on school uniforms tends to look at the student on the outside . But a student may dress casually in jeans , T-shirt and sneakers and look like a gangster , but inwardly or internally , he is a good guy . On the other hand a student may wear clean uniform , yet he has criminal tendencies . So , i think much emphases should not be laid on wearing school uniform
_ Thirdly and finally , I believe that if students are allowed to wear mufti or other casual clothes they like , instead of uniform, they will feel at home and relaxed , happier,comfortable and more excited and that will help them to study , learn , listen to the teachers and understand more at school .
_ In conclusion , I am against the motion that high school students should wear uniform , because if one asks all the high school students to give their opinions about this matter privately , they will tell you , they don't like uniform. So, why force the students to wear what they don't like ?
The Rosette Nebula is a cloud of dust containing enough gas and dust to make about 10,000 stars like our Sun. In the centre of the nebula is a cluster of hot, bright young stars. These are warming up the surrounding gas and dust, making it appear bluer. The small, bright white regions are cocoons of dust in which huge stars are currently being born. These “protostars”, each one of which will probably become a star up to ten times more massive than the Sun, are heating up the surrounding gas and dust and making it clow brighter. The smaller, redder dots on the left side and near the centre of the image also contain protostars, but these are smaller, and will go on to form stars much like our Sun. Just as the centre of the nebula contains bright young stars, in a few tens or hundreds of millions of years these stars will have died, but the protostars will have evolved into fully-fledged stars in their own right. In this way, the star formation will move outwards through the nebula.
This Christmas bauble was hand beaded with sequins and pins by me. I have a Christmas tradition. I bead Christmas baubles for a select group of friends every year.
I have a Flick friend for whom I made this bauble in appreciation for her generosity in spirit. She has been like a ray of light. This bauble, made deliberately in Mardi Gras colours because I know how much she likes the celebration, is a thank you gift.
Each bauble is 15 centimetres in diameter and contain hundreds of sequins, varying in number depending upon the complexity of the pattern and the type of sequins I use. Most sequins in this bauble are 5mm in diameter, except the stars which are 10mm. Depending upon the colour of the sequin, I will use either a gold or a silver pin to attach it to the bauble. I always leave the flowers until last, allowing a gap in the sequin chain to pin them in.
These baubles are smaller than some others I do, and because it is a simple pattern which starts from the inside and is worked outwards in ever larger circles, each bauble takes approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours per side.
It is however, a labour of love which I do to pass the time throughout the year.
Report and full photo gallery on my website:
www.obsidianurbexphotography.com/other/eastern-state-peni...
Eastern State Penitentiary operated between 1829 and 1971. The 15 Cell Blocks fan outwards from the central hexagonal rotunda like the spokes of a wheel.
A plateau that leads to the cliffs of Ta` Cenc. I was planning a sunrise shot right at the cliffs edge, but a sudden shower forced me back to the car. As showers slowly faded away, I noticed this dramatic and solitary tree formation, with its branches spreading outwards in all directions, as if to symbolize its nature battles it had faced through time.
This Christmas bauble was hand beaded with sequins and pins by me. I have a Christmas tradition. I bead Christmas baubles for a select group of friends every year.
Each bauble is 15 centimetres in diameter and contain hundreds of sequins, varying in number depending upon the complexity of the pattern and the type of sequins I use. Most sequins in this bauble are 5mm in diameter, except the gold outer flowers which are 6mm, the inner flowers, which are 4mm and the tiny gold sequins which are 3mm and very fiddly. Depending upon the colour of the sequin, I will use either a gold or a silver pin to attach it to the bauble. I always leave the flowers and stars until last, allowing a gap in the sequin chain to pin them in.
These baubles are smaller than some others I do, however because it is a complex pattern which starts from the inside and is worked outwards in ever larger circles, each bauble takes approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours per side.
It is however, a labour of love which I do to pass the time throughout the year.
Goat's-Beard
Tragopogon pratensis (common names Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon,[1] meadow salsify, showy goat's-beard or meadow goat's-beard) is a biennial plant in the Asteraceae family, distributed across Europe and North America, commonly growing in fields (hence its name) and on roadsides. It is found in North America from southern Ontario to Massachusetts; most of England; on the eastern and southern edges of Scotland; and central Ireland but not the coastal edges.
It flowers between June and October and its flowers have a diameter of 3–5 cm. The root and buds are edible, and it has a milky latex.
Description
It grows 30 to 100 cm tall.
It differs from viper's-grass (Scorzonera humilis) in that Viper's-grass has short, pale green bracts, whereas in Goat's-beard they are long and pointed.
The lower leaves are 10 to 30 cm long, lanceolate, keeled lengthwise, grey-green, pointed, hairless, with a white midrib. The upper leaves are shorter and more erect. It is the only United Kingdom dandelion type flower with grass like leaves.[2]
The flower heads are 5 cm wide. They only open in the morning sunshine, hence the name 'Jack go to bed at noon'.
The achenes are rough, long beaked pappus radiating outwards interwoven like a spider's web of fine white side hairs (referred to as a "Blowball").[3]
Usage
Young shoots and roots of meadow salsify can be used in diabetic salads.
In Armenia, rural kids make bubble gum from the juice of meadow salsify. For this purpose, when milky juice is released from the torn stems it is collected on the walls of a glass and dried.
Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragopogon_pratensis
The view outwards at The Shoppes, the shopping mall at Marina Bay Sands.
On top, over the glass ceilings are aluminium louvres designed to reduce solar heat gain from Singapore's often scorching equatorial sun.
Through the huge windows here at the south end of the mall are the towers of Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) which house the head offices of three major banks, DBS, HSBC and Standard Chartered in Singapore.
Singapore; October 2025
This Christmas bauble was hand beaded with sequins and pins by me. I have a Christmas tradition. I bead Christmas baubles for a select group of friends every year.
Each bauble is 15 centimetres in diameter and contain hundreds of sequins, varying in number depending upon the complexity of the pattern and the type of sequins I use. All the sequins in this bauble are 5mm in diameter, including the flowers. The flowers are vintage French metal sequins from the 1930s in this bauble, so they are rare. Depending upon the colour of the sequin, I will use either a gold or a silver pin to attach it to the bauble. I always leave the flower sequins until last, allowing a gap in the sequin chain to pin them in.
These baubles are smaller than some others I do, and because it is a simple pattern which starts from the inside and is worked outwards in ever larger circles, each bauble takes approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours per side.
It is however, a labour of love which I do to pass the time throughout the year.
Water from the Alps flowing outwards through the valley. Spring in the mountains is one of the most magical times for a visit if you ask me, and the abundance of water plays a huge role in the many lifeforms you'll encounter here during this time of the year - or any time really.
The Pontifical Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua is a Catholic church and minor basilica in Padua, Veneto, Northern Italy, dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua.
Although the basilica is visited as a place of pilgrimage by people from all over the world, it is not the cathedral of the city, a title belonging to the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Mary of Padua. The basilica is known locally as "il Santo". It is one of the national shrines recognized by the Holy See.
Construction of the Basilica probably began around 1232, just one year after the death of St. Anthony. It was completed in 1310 although several structural modifications (including the falling of the ambulatory and the construction of a new choir screen) took place between the end of the 14th and the mid-15th century. The Saint, according to his will, had been buried in the small church of Santa Maria Mater Domini, probably dating from the late 12th century and near which a convent was founded by him in 1229. This church was incorporated into the present basilica as the Cappella della Madonna Mora (Chapel of the Dark Madonna).
Sant'Antonio is a giant edifice without a precise architectural style. Over the centuries, it has grown under a variety of different influences as shown by the exterior details. It displays a strong influence of St Mark's Basilica in Venice.
The new basilica was begun as a single-naved church, like that of St Francis of Assisi, with an apsidal chancel, broad transepts and two square nave bays roofed with hemispherical domes like that of San Marco, Venice. The exterior style is a mixing of mainly Romanesque and Byzantine elements, with some Gothic features.
Later in the 13th century, the aisles were added in a more Gothic style, the length of each nave bay being divided into two aisle bays with pointed arches and quadripartite vaults.
The eastern apse was also extended in the Gothic style, receiving a ribbed vault and nine radiating chapels in the French manner. Later also, the Treasury chapel was built in 1691 in the Baroque style by Filippo Parodi, a pupil of Bernini.
Externally, the brick facade has a Romanesque central section which was extended outwards when the aisles were built, acquiring in the process four deep Gothic recesses and an elegant arcaded balcony which stretches across the broad front of the building. The facade gable shows little differentiation between the nave and aisle, screening the very large buttresses that have the same profile and form a richly sculptural feature when the building is viewed from the side.
The domes, like the domes of St. Mark's Basilica, were raised in height externally, giving a Byzantine appearance to the building, while the multitude of small belfries which accompany the domes recall Turkish minarets. Externally, at the main roof line each section of the building is marked by a low gable decorated with blind arcading in brick. These gables combine with the domes, the broad buttresses and the little towers to create a massive sculptural form, both diverse and unified in its conglomeration of features. An extra dimension is added to the facade by the huge plinth and dynamic Equestrian statue of Gattamelata by Donatello.
Established in 1396 the Veneranda Arca di S. Antonio is the organisation tasked with the conservation and maintenance of the structure belonging to the Basilica di St. Anthony of Padua and its connected buildings.
The high altar is by Donatello. The interior of the church contains numerous funerary monuments, some of noteworthy artistic value. The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament (Cappella del Santissimo Sacramento, also known as Cappella Gattamelata), in the right aisle, houses the tomb of the famous condottiero Gattamelata and of his son Giannantonio. The bronze tabernacle is made by Girolamo Campagna. This chapel, with its broad bands of polychrome and carved Gothic details, has had many stages of decoration, the final stage being the creation of an mosaic in the tall rear niche representing the Holy Spirit with rays of golden light descending against a background of intensely blue sky. This work was created by Lodovico Pogliaghi between 1927 and 1936.
Relics of St Anthony are to be found in the ornate Baroque Treasury Chapel (begun in 1691). The body of the saint, which was in the Madonna Mora Chapel, has, from 1350, lain in a separate transept chapel, the Chapel of St Anthony, the interior decoration being attributed to Tullio Lombardo, who also provided the sixth and seventh reliefs depicting the miracles of St Anthony (Miracle of the stingy man's heart, Miracle of the repentant man). The third relief Saint bringing back to life a man who had been murdered is a masterpiece by Girolamo Campagna. The late-16th century statues are by Tiziano Aspetti.
The Basilica contains several important images of the Madonna. The Madonna Mora is a statue of the Madonna with the Christ Child by the French sculptor Rainaldino di Puy-l'Evéque, dating from 1396. Her name refers to her black hair and olive skin tone, being interpreted as "swarthy".
The Madonna del Pilastro is a mid-14th-century fresco by Stefano da Ferrara, located on the pier adjacent the left aisle.
Among other sculptural work is the Easter candelabrum in the apse, finished in 1515 by Andrea Briosco and considered his masterwork. The high altar area features the bronze Madonna with Child and six statues of Saints by Donatello, who also executed four reliefs with episodes of life of St. Anthony.
To the right hand side of the nave, opposite the tomb of the Saint is the large Chapel of St. James, commissioned by Bonifacio Lupi in the 1370s in Gothic style, with frescoed walls depicting the Stories of St. James and the Crucifixion by Altichiero da Zevio. There are several frescoes created by Girolamo Tessari.
The chin and tongue of St. Anthony are displayed in a gold reliquary at the Basilica.