Piping plover chick. These are undoubtedly adorable little fluff balls and were a highlight of my photographic year thus far. This image was taken several weeks back when a friend and I spend a morning photographing the Piping Plovers and their chicks. Unfortunately the day broke foggy and gray, and we were unable to capture the early morning light that we hoped for. Nonetheless, we persevered and managed to get some decent shots. This is one of them. The chick in this image is likely no more than a few days from being hatched. View large for best experience.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the evening~!

Christopher Reeve

Heavy rain last night almost made me to turn the alarm off. I'm glad I persevered!

"Climb high

Climb far

Your goal the sky

Your aim the star."

— Inscription on steps, Williams College.

This was a few days ago on Mt. Adams, WA. At 12,280ft it is the second highest mountain in Washington (the highest being Mt. Rainier). This was at about 9,000ft where we set up camp. You can see a sea of clouds beneath me, and just to the left of my feet you can make out Mt. St. Helens (which is famous for erupting in 1980). The next morning we made the summit during a beautiful sunrise. There is nothing like climbing into the sky, soaking in the strength the mountain imparts as it requires you to endure and push through mental and physical limits. The wild has an amazing way of granting clarity in an otherwise chaotic world.

I've lived in the same home for over a decade but with so many beautiful hikes nearby, I've never really explored the neighborhood around me, other than to get groceries or eat at a restaurant. When COVID hit and the parks closed, I was forced to walk the neighborhood and I was shocked to find how many cute areas were within blocks of me. More surprising, was how there were Redwood trees all over my neighborhood, in peoples front and back yards. It definitely helped with feeling stuck at home while sheltering in place. But that itch to get out still persevered.

When things started to improve at the end of May, Willie, David and I made a COVID-safe dash up to the Redwood National and State Parks in Northern California. Willie and I arrived first and explored a particular Redwood grove that we had hoped was filled with rhododendrons blooming. From the road it looked like the rhodies blooming all over, so we parked at a pull-out and followed a trail into the forest.

Redwood photos look even more stunning when fog sets in, removing some of the distracting elements of a crowded forest. We had noticed fog as we drove in, but it was hugging the coast, so we followed the trail hoping it would take us back to the foggy areas. The trail led to no-where and we decided to turn back. Sometimes the best scenes are behind you, because on our walk back we realized we had walked right by this scene. I loved the way the bit of trail draws the eye into the forest, and some nice soft spot-lighting crept in through the trees.

Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 24-70mm:

24mm, f/11, 1/40 sec, ISO 320

Viewed best nice and large

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Inzwischen habe ich den Mädchen verboten, sich bis an den Pool fahren zu lassen. Denn das Chlor ist nicht gut für den Lack! ✋😬

I've since banned the girls from getting a ride to the pool because the chlorine isn't good for their nails! ✋😬

no more "if" "someday" "maybe" "somewhere down the road" "what if" "i don't know" "perhaps" "i hope"

i decided the time is NOW and i am going to make. it. happen.

i will sing.

i will dream.

i will record an album.

i will persevere.

i will finish.

i will never again stop dreaming.

i will fly.

i am chanelle.

this is my journey forward.

fly with me.

I love the macro world and I'm enjoying following little bugs everywhere around my garden..... I'm sure they hate having a great big camera stuck in their faces, but as long as they make an appearance, I shall persevere :)

This gorgeous ladybird was chomping on a leaf (or trying to hide behind it LOL) but I was just relieved I got everything in focus this time :)

Hope your weekend is going well so far :) thank you everyone for the wonderful comments on my previous photos :)

Wunderschöne BBS RS M3 Felge .. . allein für die (4) Felgendeckel mit Nabenkappen muss man > 400,00 € hinblättern .. wenn man diese überhaupt so bekommt. Ein Crash am Bordstein .. und man möchte aus dem Leben scheiden .. 😣👉✝

Beautiful BBS RS M3 rim ... Just for the (4) rim cover with hub caps you have to pay > 400.00 € .. if you can get them at all. A crash on the curb .. and you want to leave your life .. 😣👉✝

Das war keine gute Woche .. . Ich hatte Arbeit ohne Ende und am Dienstag diesen Crash .. . Es ist nix passiert .. zum Glück .. kein Blut .. keine Airbags .. und ich war auch nicht Schuld. Aber ein Crash mit einem ausländischen Verkehrsteilnehmer bedeutet nicht nur Gutachter, Mietwagen und jede Menge Schriftverkehr .. nein, das bedeutet auch Anwalt. Und das alles vor meinem Urlaub .. vielen Dank! 😣🙏

That was not a good week... I had endless work and then on Tuesday I had this crash... Nothing happened... luckily... no blood... no airbags... and it wasn't my fault either. But a crash with a foreign road user doesn't just mean an expert, a rental car and lots of correspondence... no, it also means a lawyer. And all of that before my vacation... thank you very much! 😣🙏

Und nun wollte ich heute Abend das erste Mal in diesem Jahr mit ausreichend Zeit Gitarre spielen und was musste ich feststellen? .. Gitarren verstimmt .. und die Akkus von Sendern und Kopfhörern entladen! Hmm .. schönen Dank auch .. ! 😣

And now, tonight, I wanted to play the guitar for the first time this year with enough time, and what did I discover? .. guitars out of tune... and the batteries in my transmitter and headphones were dead! Hmm... thanks so much...! 😣

Experimenting with iPhone RAW photography and then edits. My poor chemobrain, but by George I think I've got it! Asked someone for help to no avail ... so I persevered! Thank You, Jesus!

Jeff Faherty & I persevered through the "lake effect" to document WNYP Tr. OL-3 westbound at Waterboro, NY on February 21, 2013. When the job left Olean @ 11am a decade ago on the shorter days of the year there was some nice angles that could be accomplished between Salamanca and Falconer... Original Fujichrome Provia 100F (C) by me

First to those in USA like me, happy Thanksgiving 2015! I had noticed this old red brick wall with its iron stars actually the first time I had ridden the 40 mile Bike New York Five Boro Bike Tour in 2007 while waiting on the rather long and slow line with my fellow bicyclist to board the Staten Island Ferry back to Manhattan as the race has its official terminus at National Park Service’s Fort Wadsworth 3 miles east of the St. George Ferry Terminal. The majority 30,000+ riders utilize the ferry service to get back to Manhattan thus the long slow lines to their vehicles or in my case like others public transportation to New Jersey where my Subaru was parked. I had wondered what this wall was surrounding, the star being a dead give-away that it was of federal or military nature. So I’ve stated, I been able to do the Tour 3 out of the last four years, this year wondering around looking for a sign, a historic marker that might satisfy my curiosity, no luck.

So the last time I visited Staten Island this summer, when I got off the ferry, I purposely walked around the wall noticing at least 3 very dilapidated edifices within its confines, but stopped venturing all the way when my biological needs overwhelmed me and I had to find a facility. I ventured up close to the Staten Island Borough Hall whose image I captured posted earlier this year. There happens to be branch of the New York Public Library across from Borough Hall that I spotted, so I ventured in and asked the librarian point blank about the red brick wall by St. George Terminal. Well she explained it history, wrote down a couple of websites and recommended that I return another day, and continue down the path I had been on to the National Lighthouse Museum which was closing for the day as I spoke to her. Will get there eventually……….

The red brick wall with the metal stars in fact once extended around a 10 acre complex that from its completion in 1864 until 1939 when auspices and organization were absorbed by the United States Coast was the United States Lighthouse Service’s (USLHS) General Depot. There is such amazing history as many of the innovations on the United States Lighthouse’s, replacement parts and repairs were done at this 10 acre facility. Early on when lighthouse’s beacons were lit with oil, there were subterranean vaults for oil storage built. These subterranean vaults were repurposed when lighthouses evolved to electric power became storage for anchors, sinkers, chains, buoys, and lighthouse structural members. What this allowed was the monitoring and measurement of utilization of the consumables of the US Lighthouse’s beacons. The facility had machine shops, foundries and wood shops that engineered new structures and created parts for repair and replacement that were in turn shipped out to regional United States Lighthouse Service Depots located geographically closer to their respective lighthouses.

The Coast use of the Staten Island Depot as Lighthouses evolved as lighthouses had become largely automated and self sufficient, so the foundry for the depot became one of the key manufacturing and maintenance point for many of the buoys along the entire Eastern Seaboard and then as a ship repair facility for USCG vessels, during WWII wartime painting of said vessels. Many of the buildings had stood since the late 1800’s and eventually its antiquated facilities were no longer useful and the United States Coast Guard shuttered the facility in 1965, the year my brother was born. Well, it wasn’t in service like so many military facilities around the USA, and fell into disrepair. Buildings were basically collapsing. In 1978, the United States Coast Guard donated the entire property to the City of New York which promptly tore down the dockside edifices and built a maintenance facility for the Staten Island Ferry’s vessels. The rest of the 10 acres? Well what was left of the 18 building facility just kept decaying, being reclaimed by nature. The Lighthouse Preservation Society (LPS) championed the formation of the American Lighthouse Coordinating Committee whose sole purpose was to vet out a location for a national lighthouse museum. The dilapidated remains of the Staten Island Depot was chosen and made it a logical choice as its great historical lighthouse significance and the prime location in one of the world’s busiest harbors. The Lighthouse Museum was given its New York State charter November 2001, 14 years ago with support from then New York Governor George Pataki, then New York City Mayor Rudi Giuliani and then Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari. Painfully as much discussion as to what to do with the property, after designating building 11 as the site for museum has caused so much delay, which is why I didn’t see any signage when I was exploring. The ultimate delay came when Hurricane Sandy or Superstorm Sandy hit on October 29, 2012. The waters surged into what work had been done to building 11 and actually swept away the Old Orchard Lighthouse into the bay which was to be part of the museum. Well it finally did open this year in 2015 on August 7th, much work going on to stabilize the remaining buildings and repurpose them and a develop to the area with residences, eateries and shops. So the devil is in the details, I got this nice close up the rusted metal star in the red brick wall, using one of the filters in the Olympus E-5 to accentuate the decay. The wall stands symbolic as it has persevered 50 years since Coast Guard shuttered the facility within its confines.

Taken with Olympus E-5 handheld with a Olympus Zuiko 12-60MM F2.8-4.0 SWD fourthirds lens using the Olympus E-5 dramatic effect filter, processed in Adobe Lightroom.

lighthousemuseum.org/

SAR 15 AR on a Port Elizabeth - Uitenhage suburban near Perseverence. 8 July 1976.

There are few folks I truly consider as friends. No offense to the many I am friendly with, but I use the word "friend" carefully and with deliberate value and it is earned by a pretty short list of people. Colton is one of those friends. I met him over 10 years ago, just a couple years after he was diagnosed with ALS. Our shared interest in posting photos to Flickr and our mutual admiration for the Pentax 67 put us into similar orbits online. And then his love of film cameras in general eventually brought him to Blue Moon Camera. I remember those early trips well. He could still stand then, albeit for only a brief amount of time, and he could still operate his Pentax 67 with his hands. It is such a seemingly simple thing to twist a shutter speed dial or to focus a manual focus lens. It is even simpler to just hold a camera up to your eye. Colton could do those things at one time but I watched ALS slowly take even those simple things from him. Through it all though he persevered and found ways to make pictures. He'd text me on a trip up to Portland and we'd set aside a Saturday morning to hang out at a coffee shop sipping a latte and just talk photographic philosophy, photographic technicalities, photographic theory, or just photographic potpourri. ALS takes a lot from its victims, eventually including their lives. But with Colton there were certain things it gave him too. It gave him perspective. He had an outlook on every day that was strikingly different from my own. He looked at each photograph he made as a gift, knowing that he didn't know how much longer he'd even be able to hold a camera or push a shutter button. He didn't take much for granted and put a lot of different kinds of value in things than most of the rest of us do. So much of what he said in so many of those conversations still sticks with me today.

I made this photo of him sometime in 2014. It was at a time he was using a Fuji X100 for at least some of his photography. Colton has had quite the collection of cameras over the years. He was favoring the X100 for its autofocus capabilities and easy use. By keeping it on a neck strap he could push it away from his body until the strap pulled taut and use that to hold in place while he roughly aimed it from stomach-height. At the time I was working on a series of photographer portraits where I got them to pose with their cameras and then took the cameras out of their hands and made the portrait with the camera's absence represented through their body language. Colton was a willing participant though he struggled to hold his hands in position while I quickly made the image. Not too much longer after I made this portrait ALS took the strength to hold his hands up even this far away from him. But that was the point when Colton mounted a Pentax autofocus film SLR to a mount on his powerchair, making photos while not being able to hold his camera. Some days he would even still pull out his old Contax rangefinder, a Rollei TLR, or some other beautiful, old film camera. He needed assistance getting the camera mounted to his chair, then he would eyeball the light and ask for a certain aperture and shutter and a set focus. Those photographic adventures were a bit collaborative in that sense and I know Colton was lucky enough to have a few friends who'd accompany him on such walks while he continued to find significance in some of the most beautifully subtle and insignificant ways.

A couple years ago the progression of his disease became so much that even getting out became herculean. He confided in me that he'd have to take a stimulant, Ritalin I think, to get enough energy to last him an hour or two outside. And even then he said he would be wiped out and wrecked the next day. So his photo outings came to a halt, victims too of ALS.

But I didn't mean to set out to write this caption today by talking about Colton's disease, but about Colton's friendship. That is where I want to keep my focus. I really miss those visits from him and miss the hours we'd spend exploring the corners of buildings or the light in an alcove... or even just the words exchanged over a folding metal table outside of Heart coffee. This image takes me back to those cherished times, reminds me of the value of a good friendship, and that is where I'd like to keep my thoughts right now.

I must say for a puppy, Freddy was very accommodating and stayed put on the desk top my son placed him on. I'd taken loads of pics prior while he was playing, but that was a disaster as I had my settings [and myself] confused !!

The older you get, the more difficult it becomes to remember everything - especially co-ordinating all the camera stuff. It's definitely easier to switch to Auto at times.

I wish so much emphasis wasn't placed on using 'manual' - it seems to de-legitimise the shot in the elite photographic world somehow if you don't. But compact cameras these days as far as I'm concerned have become super 'user friendly' as well as giving excellent quality results.

Still, I will persevere with my delightful to handle Olympus OM-D until it gets too much for my aged mind to cope with .... sigh.

I love how this photo showed the light inside my violin—it seemed like a beautiful metaphor regarding my experience.

It has been a long time since I got out my violin. Recently I’ve been inspired to maybe try to learn some of the fiddle parts to some 90’s country songs—I love the inspiration, energy, joy and interest a lively or calming fiddle part brings to these songs. I’m not sure how, but somehow I put forth the energy and made the time (there are other things I “should” get done) to get out my violin even though I felt exhausted and my muscles were sore and worn out with the awful effects of ongoing anxiety and physical ailments. It took patience, as right out of its case I had to replace a broken string, lack of playing and the winter weather left the instrument very out of tune and once in a while I needed to re-tune. While playing, another string made a snap noise and broke so I replaced that string as well. I sounded very rusty trying to play a song I’d never attempted before using the first page (all I could see without purchasing the sheet music) of some “sample” online music for “Livin’ on Love” by Alan Jackson. And over time the notes became more familiar, sounded a little better and this small amount of improvement was a joy to experience. Though I had many obstacles and moments that could have led to great frustration, causing me to give up and put my violin away, I chose to appreciate this time. I enjoyed and appreciated the beauty I see in this 100 year old instrument. I was thankful I had extra strings on hand, tried to work through the challenging moments of working to replace the strings and the internal, mental battle of questioning whether I’d even be capable of doing this properly and tried to view this as moments to spend working with my hands on this beautiful instrument that holds a lot of meaning for me. And as I persevered I managed to achieve my goal I wasn’t sure I could, enjoyed the time spent on this and was able to get back to playing. I’m thankful I took the time and spent the energy to get out and play my violin for a little while. It was a calming process and another reminder that I am capable of doing things I’m unsure I’ll be able to do and that—in contrast to how I’ve operated for most of my life—being gentle and kind with myself is key to achieving what seems impossible. The time spent with my violin was so inspiring and helpful that I wanted to take a little time to capture some images of my violin—these images serve as a reminder of these beautiful moments, the realizations and the benefits I experienced because I decided to play my violin.

"Deep in December, it's good to remember the fire of September that made us mellow." ~ Ed Ames

My parents are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary this week. They became husband and wife on August 19, 1949.

This is a musical composite project, in their honor.

Here are two of my favorite old songs by Ed Ames (who is now in his 80s also) to commemorate this special time:

Try to Remember :

kaneta.multiply.com/video/item/337/YouTube_-_Harry_Belafo...

MY FAVORITE VOICE for this from a younger Ed Ames:

My Cup Runneth Over with Love:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG_8vIEGCXk&NR=1

[VIDEOGRAPHIC OPTION www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyA55x0-gqE&feature=fvw]

My parents love Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, and all of the old classics. In fact my parents love, love, love beautiful, old romantic music. If you don't know these, well . . .

Take my hand and slip silently into the darkened audience of legendary Tony Bennett signing "Because of You" with the gifted k.d. lang.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9sesopGFqA

It may be hard to imagine, but if you are young and this fortunate, this aging and mellowing may happen to you too. My wish for you and yours is that you also be so blessed.

Congratulations on 60 big years of love, Mom and Dad.

Love you,

Nightshooter09

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

ADDED MUSIC SAMPLER Young Tony Bennett with Andy Williams:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoV0q_q6VCk&feature=related

[FRENCH VERSION of "Try to Remember" with NANA MOUSKOURI and HARRY BELAFONTE

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwTlZts1Fqs&feature=related]

“Persevere. There is one dandelion that grows from the crack in the cement. Let that one dandelion be YOU.”

― Dr Margaret Aranda

.

large

(It's actually a goat)

Bus Stop, Trinidad, Cuba

In the pre-dawn darkness, two Cuban bus drivers share a conversation, bathed in the street spotlight, anticipating the warmth of the day. Meanwhile, inside the decaying bus terminal, an official observes, surrounded by the Cuban flag and Che Guevara's portrait.

taken in between driving ice pellets bartering me and the large format camera.

I am not sure if those turned out yet as the wind meant the dark cloth went over the edge, focusing was a bit of a challenge with out it 😣😣😣

The snow was knee deep in places on the way up.

so fingers crossed I got something

A brilliant aurora from a coronal hole on the sun lead to a week of aurora this was the first night. 1700 still images, over 5 hours of shooting, clouds ruined the crecendo but I persevered and moved to a better pond after. Watch in HD

youtu.be/at6hWxaw6ZU

As to whether The Old Coastguard Tower is going to be demolished no one knows. This famous landmark at Folkestone Harbour is a photographic icon of the town and should be persevered for everyone to admire as it stands proud on the skyline on the South Coast Of England. Some other images of Folkestone www.flickr.com/photos/48695150@N06/sets/72157644744449187/

I found and photographed this Mountain Goat while travelling on the Spray Lakes Road in Alberta, Canada. He proved to be rather shy, moving steadily uphill as I attempted to approach him. I persevered, though. Rocky Mountain Sheep are commonly seen, but Mountain Goats are more difficult to find.

"The mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) is an even-toed, hoofed mammal of the cattle family (Bovidae), derived during the ice ages from the primitive Asiatic goat-antelopes. It entered North America during the last ice age from Siberia. It is not a true goat but belongs to a tribe ancestral to sheep and goats. The mountain goat, largest and most cold-hardy species of its tribe, is widely distributed in the Canadian western mountains below the Arctic circle. Adapted to life on steep cliffs where footholds are often covered by snow or ice, it is a slow, methodical climber who prefers to move during daylight when there is good visibility. It may select resting spots for the night already in the afternoon. The mountain goats eyes are smaller than those of mountain sheep and are less widely set apart. It compensates for a narrow habitat preference with wide food habits." (Canadian Encyclopedia.)

For those of you who have visited Slimbridge WWT you will understand my 300 lens is a little limiting but as it's the most I can hold steady I just have to live with it. These birds are all wild but one is ringed, it has obviously mated with an un-ringed one which is great news.

Richard (husband) has a 600 lens & I tried that when photographing some deer the previous day - unfortunately they lost most of their antlers & parts of their heads 😣😣😣.

So this critter ran across the soil onto my glove, I placed him in my little Yew and grabbed the camera, the wings were changing fast, very windy so had to persevere to get a decent shot.

Bridgette Guerzon Mills | Perseverance, acrylic, 12x24 inches

blog: guerzonmills.com/blog/perseverance-4/

It was so much fun to watch the birds feed so feverishly on the weeds that persevered the recent winter storms.

"An oak tree is just a small nut that persevered against the taunts of doubt and fear."

–Matshona Dhliwayo

Happy Fence Friday!

Dieses Schmuck stück steht völlig verwahrlost seit langer langer Zeit in einem Parkhaus.

This piece of jewelry has been in a parking garage for a long, long time, completely neglected.

Today was Open House Weekend here in London...and this year I visited Lloyds Building. There was a massive queue but I persevered and made it in! Unfortunately the weather was a little bit merde...so I didn't get as many shots as I wanted...here's the best of the small bunch taken from one of the panoramic lifts!

Press "c" for comment or "f" for fave. Thanks!

The oryx, with its powerful presence and striking appearance, carries profound symbolism across different cultures. It represents strength, resilience, adaptability, and protection, offering guidance and inspiration to those who seek to persevere through challenging times.

Saint Lucy is an important saint in Scandinavia. Her day is 13 December, which was around the winter solstice when the Julian calendar was in use. This her tradition of being the patron of light and hope persevered alongside the old pagan tradition. It's normal to serve this bread with coffee and maybe ginger biscuits to family and friends.

Santa Lucia is also patron of Syracuse, Sicily and is celebrated for several days.

Light and hope to us all 🙏

In 1901 the Company commissioned Herbert Draper, a neo-classical painter who had recently been awarded a gold medal by the Royal Academy, to create paintings for the Livery Hall ceiling panels. These were produced between 1903 and 1910.

The Company was at first uncertain whether the artist’s choice – scenes from The Tempest and A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream was appropriate but the artist persevered and completed the remaining space with representations of History, Science, Ethics and Literature.

A resilient Morpho butterfly, despite its broken wings, showcases its ability to persevere. Giving us the unique chance of appreciating both parts of its wings, which are equally beautiful, I dare say.

Here's a different composition from the previous post. It's a bit overwhelming with all this water rushing at you, but, I kinda like it for that reason also.

I'm proud of this one, from a technical standpoint- only post work was a slight tilt adjustment and WB tweak!

This falls is such an amazing location to experience.

I apologize for the delay in the tutorial video. We've had some setbacks from multiple fronts. But! We will persevere! We...uh...had a media card deleted before files were downloaded... And then, last weekend, hoping to re-shoot some portions, the Jeep broke down on the way out to the desert, and video gear did not make the "critical" list of gear that was crammed into my friends car as we left the Jeep on a tow truck and we continued on.

So... setbacks.

specs:

14mm

f/2.8

ISO 3200

40 sec

www.theStarTrail.com

Victory is just around the corner.Just when it looks the worse,that is when things will turn around if you persevere!

youtu.be/HYOXetfNEVY

youtu.be/kmEywV52AWM?list=RDbapLBBLzfP8

Here is one from the storm earlier in the week...I merged 9 shots for this one...Only problem with it was there were 6 powerlines right through the middle that I had to remove...I am hopeless with PS but Lightroom wasn't doing a good job of it so persevered with PS and finally got there I think.Only my second try at merging lightning..

Dark Giant Horsefly (Tabanus sudeticus) Female

Though apparently quite common, it was a first for me when I saw this Dark Giant Horsefly (Tabanus sudeticus). Apparently they are the heaviest fly in Europe and this is a Female I believe, spotted by the dragonfly pool at the Dyfi Wildlife Centre.

I’ve encountered lots of horseflies in the past but this one at around 1” in length was causing great interest with me and fellow naturalists.

Having been bitten by a common horsefly on several occasions in the past, I couldn’t help but ponder the pain that this mighty beast could inflict 🤔 😢 I understand that luckily, unlike their smaller cousins, they do actually prefer to suck blood from cattle or horses, sooner than bite anything that moves 😣

"...It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

With only two trains a week on this line (at best) and having travelled nearly 500 miles to get here you have to persevere when a train does run despite the weather. 66127 starts the short journey from Burngullow Junction with half a rake of clay wagons up to Treviscoe.

The load from St Blazey was split at Burngullow, I had assumed to ensure the train wasn't too heavy on the way back down. I had heard in the past a train over-ran this crossing on its return trip a few years back so fully loaded trains weren't allowed to return, especially in these conditions. It seems the train was split as the other half had been loaded the previous day..

Chatting to a local (car) driver I was lucky with the grass as it has been cut the previous week on the approach to the crossing, following issues with visibility at this ungated crossing. The secondman had to get out, walk to the crossing and watch the train across. With the grass strimmed, the train still stopped on this occasion, but could progress without the crew getting wet.

6B00 St Blazey to Parkandillack at Lanjeth.

Jupiter imaged from London at00-13UT on the 9th May, just after reaching opposition for the year.

Seeing was the worst I have encountered but as it was a special night I persevered!

Celestron Edge HD 11, Televue 2.5x Powermate, ASI174MM camera

IRRGB image

Rencontre impressionante ! Avoir l'occasion de trouver l'endémique colombienne Stanhopea schilleriana á hauteur d´homme dans son habitat naturel est peu probable, d'autant plus que ses fleurs ne durent que 4 jours, mais cela arrive á qui persévère... Département du Valle del Cauca, Colombie.

Encuentro impresionante ! Tener la oportunidad de encontrar a la endémica colombiana Stanhopea schilleriana a la altura de uno en su hábitat natural es poco probable, además que sus flores apenas duran 4 días, pero ocurre para quien persevera... Departamento del Valle del Cauca, Colombia.

For those of you who remember that a few of us signed up for Kathleen Clemons courses. This was created using Flaming Pear's "Flood". I am very out of practice and probably haven't used Photoshop for a couple of years, but I persevered. Smoke and mirrors certainly with a little bit of luck!!