View allAll Photos Tagged Probability
The air quality is too unhealthy to play outside.
The probability of fire reaching our suburban home remains low, but the evacuation warning zones are close enough to get you thinking What-Ifs.
The big concern isn’t so much the existing fires - which aren’t that close - but the possibility of another round of dry-lighting setting off new ones.
And so we wait.
366:2020 - #236
Stop on by Henry and Toby's blog: bzdogs.com - The Secret Life of the Suburban Dog
This is one of the wildest rides I've ever had, from the start of an Idea to the final product.
The Idea was simple, gambler-themed las vegas sort of thing. Holding some dice with a fire in my palm, I struggled to find a good fire; I threw on an aether set. I look around where I am standing and see this galactic, universe, greek god sort of backdrop.
Keep shopping; regular dice aren't cutting out, find these lava dice, change from a human to an android avatar, fiddle with some particles, and boom.
Somehow end up with this Robotic Divinity Creation of Life Probability In My Head Like Some sort of DnD Sci-Fi Creation Myth.
I am utterly over the moon with how this came out and just so proud of myself.
Mouche verte / Common green bottle fly
Lucilia sp. (Lucilia sericata ?)
spipoll.snv.jussieu.fr/mkey/mkey-spipoll.html
aramel.free.fr/INSECTES15-50.shtml
The common green bottle fly (Lucilia sericata) is a blow fly found in most areas of the world, and the most well-known of the numerous green bottle fly species. It is 10–14 mm long, slightly larger than a house fly, and has brilliant, metallic, blue-green or golden coloration with black markings.
Medical importance
L. sericata has been of medical importance since 1826, when Meigen removed larvae from the eyes and facial cavities of a human patient. L. sericata has shown promise in three separate clinical approaches. First, larvae have been shown to debride wounds with extremely low probability of myiasis upon clinical application. Larval secretions have been shown to help in tissue regeneration. Basically, L. sericata larvae can be used as biosurgery agents in cases where antibiotics and surgery are impractical.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_green_bottle_fly#Medical_imp...
La mouche verte commune (Lucilia sericata) est une mouche commune dans le monde et la plus connue des nombreuses espèces de mouches vertes. De 10 à 14 mm de long, légèrement plus grande qu'une mouche domestique, elle présente une coloration brillante, métallique, bleu-verte ou dorée avec des marques noires.
Importance médicale
L. sericata a une importance médicale depuis 1826, lorsque Meigen a retiré les larves des yeux et des cavités faciales d'un patient humain. L. sericata s'est montré prometteuse dans trois approches cliniques distinctes. Premièrement, il a été démontré que les larves corrigent les plaies avec une probabilité extrêmement faible de myiasis lors d’une application clinique. Il a été démontré que les sécrétions larvaires aident à la régénération des tissus. Fondamentalement, les larves de L. sericata peuvent être utilisées comme agents de biochirurgie dans les cas où les antibiotiques et la chirurgie ne sont pas employables.
If you've ever tried to approach a bedded buck, you know it's a low probability deal. Usually in a thicket such as this and not a good shooting lane and he's going to bust you before you get close. This buck had been chasing a doe for over an hour and both were tired and just decided to take a break. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
The helicopter rescue team spotted Zjeneena Vanderbilt emerging from a cave that has been her home since her private jet crashed in Mt.Everest. On it's way to a location pictorial, it did not survive an unexpected turbulence. Her whole entourage perished but it did not crash her hope. She knows her crew back home will never stop looking for her.
As to how a girl born with a silver spoon can survive all by herself in the wilderness remains a mystery until she's settled enough to entertain the media. We'll hear about it. ;P She only shared that in the hardest of times, all she had to think about are the ones who helped make her who she is and vowed to survive in honor of those persons including her late parents, most of all.
Smart, strong and confident, truly a superior specie, certainly will choose life over death and has a high probability of surviving adversity. Poised, as always.
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Zjeneena aka ZJ is wearing SunHol stock bikini top and ManuParadise Girl skin toned undies
FR ass kicking boots from PrincessKaren, ( We love this boots so much! I will guard this with my life! )
My Love Girl's Market Daikanyama Branch ---Native American Neck adornity
and last but not the least an Atelier Matin bubble shades.
A gift to me handed to me by the man himself when we met in Omotesando Hills Magga Girl's Inspiration Charity Event in Tokyo
Amtrak B32-8W #519 charges through the Blue Ridge Mountains, leading the tri-weekly Cardinal on C&O's former passenger main. Against all probability, the Dash 8 was tacked on point of 50 at Beach Grove after its Siemens charger suffered a mechanical failure. Rather than cancel the train (as they do 99% of the time) Amtrak let the legacy GE unit out on the road where it dazzled the C&O for the first time in 9 years. It's the first time since 2022 that a Dash 8 has led a long-distance train anywhere in the US.
It was a wild stroke of luck that I found myself within a shout of Clifton Forge when initial word was given. I 'dashed' north from a morning on the Whitethorne and chased the Cardinal from CF to Staunton. 2 days later, it would return on the 51 where I would capture the train here at the precipice of evening light.
(for English see below)
Ta pánská jízda mířila přes celý Čechy. Ze severu až na Šumavu, která tehdy ještě nabízela tu "starou dráhu" se vším všudy. Zajímavé náklady, na osobácích bardotky se smíšenou soupravou pater a rychlíkáčů...ale taky tohle. Jo, šukafonovej ropovod. Věc, která vymřela ze všech vzpomínek na devadesátá a nultá léta úplně nejrychleji.
Tehdy bych vám, jako cestující, odpřísáhnul, že to bude jenom dobře. Jako fotograf procházející svůj archiv, to tak jasně nevidím. Mělo to svý kouzlo.
Barevný ropovod s 809.208 v čele opouští coby vlak 8122/23 do Českých Budějovic zastávku Třísov. Dvacetiminutové zpoždění k době taky tak nějak patřilo...
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If there is something really forgotten that tells more of the 1980s and 1990s on railways in Czechoslovakia. We used to call it "the pipeline".
Sometimes we tend to remember only the nice things. Big locomotives, long express trains. From what I remember, the real railway experience could look like this with the same probability.
Light DMUs of class 810 were supposed to be just a supplement for short routes, as this has never been more than a primitive railbus. However, the fundamental flaws in the Eastern Bloc industry made them produced in large numbers and instead of more ambitious DMUs. Guess what happened? Yes, you could meet them anywhere in such quantities and in consists that were nor reasonable, nor comfortable.
Back in the 2000s, this image was disappearing rapidly and we, trainspotters, took almost no notice. This makes this picture pretty worthy.
It is 24th of May, 2011, and one of already rare "pipelines" leaves the station Třísov and heads to České Budějovice, South Bohemia. If there was a daring passenger who went all the way with this train, he had already spent some two hours on the hard bench and with very limited ventilation. In numbers: almost 90 kilometres with this.
Yes, that is why no one really missed that. Apart from us, trainspotters.
One of the main objectives when traveling to Iceland was to try to photograph the famous northern lights that can be seen in these latitudes. This is not an easy task and some luck is advisable.
In our case with mostly cloudy and rainy days our probabilities were considerably low but on the sixth day of stay we had a clear night without clouds and a moderate prevision of appearance of the Aurora Borealis and finally we were able to see it and take some shots in the area of Jokulsarlon with the ice blocks floating on the lake in the foreground.
It was an amazing experience and all of us were extremely excited when shooting. I think we will not forget the experience.
Little more than a record snap at the time, the passage of over 40 years has given the image above more interest value.
Standing at what was then Nottingham's platform 4 is a 3-car BRC&W class 104 DMU, and what was probably a Lincoln - Crewe working. Note the smartly turned-out Driver with jacket, tie and the BR rail-blue era peaked cap. Not only have I caught his eye but also that of the passenger sat in arguably the best seat in the house - that behind the empty Secondman's seat and thus offering a clear view of the journey ahead.
To the left stands class 37 no. 37234 at the head of a parcels working. Looking down the platform towards the end of what looks to be a lengthy train is a class 08 shunter and railman, presumably in the process of coupling up an additional van or two. Class 37s weren't especially common here at the time, although the Harwich Boat Train diagram would occasionally produce a Stratford allocated engine in lieu of the more usual white-roofed class 47. From my admittedly limited research it would appear that 37234 was Landore (LE) based, so there's a reasonable probability the train was destined for South Wales. The station clock reads 2.30pm so that might allow it to be identified.
At the very top of the frame is the bridge carrying the closed and lifted GCR route into Nottingham Victoria. The bridge would eventually be removed, only to be replaced years later with a new bridge in almost the same position carrying the Nottingham Tram system (NET) out to Clifton and Beeston / Toton.
The footbridge behind remains and, along with the rest of the station (and particularly the platform awnings) has been cleaned up considerably. The third more distant bridge, used for mail back in the day, is no longer there.
No surprise the platform and track layout has changed here in the last few years, and there are now more platforms but no longer any platform-avoiding through lines.
Ilford FP4 rated at 160asa, developed in Acutol
2.30pm, 2nd May 1977
"God does not play dice with the universe."
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Sometimes it's like the dice are constantly raining down on you - and the odds are in the houses favor. 39/365
#AbFav_LOVE_❤
MESMERISING aren't they? OP-HEARTS or POP-HEARTS? LOL? Best not 'jiggle' it about!
If you and your mate master these values, your love will, in all probability, last a lifetime.
1. The couple in love is committed to always putting each other first in their relationship with each other.
2. The couple in love is committed to democracy in their relationship.
3. The couple in love is committed to ensuring their mutual happiness.
4. The couple in love values absolute trustworthiness and integrity in their relationship with each other.
5. The couple in love is committed to caring and unconditional love for each other.
6. The couple in love is committed to being mutually respectful towards each other.
7. The couple in love values their mutual sense of responsibility for each other.
A special day, but don't forget, Valentine... love not just ONE day... but 365?
Have a day filled with love, M, (*_*)
For more: www.indigo2photography.com
IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
Valentine, KITCHEN-GADGETS, red, prickers, utensils, kitchen, tools, wood, studio, hearts, colour, square, "Nikon D7000", black-background, "magda indigo"
Country Life, my cosmos garden
田舎暮らし・コスモス園
There was a high probability of seeing Macroglossum almost every day.
ホウジャクはほぼ毎日来ていました。
Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka pref, Japan
Thunderstorm clouds race in front of the crescent moon from the Continental Divide Overlook in Eldorado Canyon State Park, Colorado.
Hiking to this vantage in the dark frequently provides some form of excitement or intrigue. I mentioned in a previous post that the trail to this point ascends what is apparently the very aptly-named Rattlesnake Gulch. More mundane but no less interesting, at least to me, over the past several years my friend and I first assumed we were losing our minds when we thought we observed small, bright points of phosphorescent light scattered irregularly amongst the rocks on a few of the slopes near here. The light looked distinctly like that of fireflies, though the obvious lack of flight was befuddling. I also could not figure out why it would be advantageous for a creature, that for all intents and purposes looked very much like a worm, to perch amongst the rocks at night and emit light. The probability of any other worm of similar species even seeing the light would be very low due to hill slope angles and the significant micro-topography that would obstruct views if one were worm-sized. Then, on the off-chance that another worm did see the light, what would be the chances of that individual reaching the source at worm-pace before the emitter got tired and gave up for the night? I remained confused by these questions for quite some time.
I finally relented and decided to replace idle and infrequent speculation with actual knowledge, such as it exists in the phosphorescence-studying corners of the internet. It turns out that my first incorrect assumption was that males and females of this species of insect look the same. I learned that in the State of Colorado there are records from more southern counties of a firefly called Microphotus pecosensis - sadly, I could not find a common name. I also could not find a record of individuals of this species being present in Boulder County where I live. However, internet searches are imperfect in terms of a satisfying completeness, leaving me uncertain whether our sightings are novel for Boulder County in terms of European-style record keeping, or whether this species is long-known in these parts.
For the sexually dimorphic M. pecosensis, the females are flightless and appear worm- or grub-like. When she deems the time is ripe, she moves to a visible place and emits green bursts of light from the tip of her abdomen. Males, on the other hand, do not emit light but are quite capable of flight. Her light is easy to discern from the air, and he wastes no time approaching and courting her affections. The excellent pictures on BugGuide.net show the manifestations of this dimorphism well. Mystery solved, and the night-time becomes yet more intriguing. I photographed a female M. pecosensis glowing but the photo quality is poor due to a relatively long hand-held exposure.
Technical notes: Single-exposure with low-level-lighting (LLL) pointing into the scene from the right to illuminate the foreground rock and trees.
When I looked at this photo, it reminded me of sperm cells. There’s nothing embarrassing about that; it’s just a part of how we all came into existence. It only takes one out of millions to create a human. This is true in many aspects of life as well. Sometimes, it takes just one chance in a million to make things work out, no matter what those things may be.
Days before Georgia seceded from the United States and joined the Confederacy, the state seized the federal fortification of Fort Pulaski on Cockspur Island near Savannah. Unfortunately for the Confederacy, it then did not support the surrounding ground because it thought Tybee Island was too remote, a waste of resources for what it deemed to be an impenetrable fort. The Civil War would quickly test those military assumptions. The United States thought of Fort Pulaski in terms of a bigger picture–Southern supply chain, military logistics, and economic bottleneck. Controlling traffic of the Southern port city of Savannah was very important to the overall war effort.
The United States military took advantage of the blind eye of the Confederacy's military command. First came the U.S. Navy, blockading the Savannah River for a 112-day siege of the fort. But that was not enough. The U.S. Army built up troops and batteries by night at Tybee Island, hidden, on Fort Pulaski's facing shore of the Savannah River.
On April 10, 1862, U.S. troops struck out. Rolling back their camouflage, they bombarded Confederate-occupied Fort Pulaski and won. The Confederate commander unconditionally surrendered, noting his isolation from any Confederate backup and that a breached wall exposed his entire garrison to the possibility of a catastrophic explosion from the ammunition storage area. He stated:
"We were absolutely isolated beyond any possibility of help from the Confederate authorities, and I did not feel warranted in exposing the garrison to the hazard of the blowing up of our main magazine -- a danger which had just been proved well within the limits of probability."†
The reclaimed fort would remain under U.S. control for the remainder of the Civil War.
The Confederacy did not emphasize the loss of Fort Pulaski because of clearer tactics, strategy, or supply logistics employed by their foe that capitalized on the Confederate military's blindspots but rather because of the Union's state-of-the-art technology that Confederate commanders did not anticipate to be used against their impenetrable fort, i.e. new rifled-bore cannons of the Union shot further and more accurately than traditional smooth-bore cannons. The new cannon fire could now reach the fort from the opposite shore to bring down its walls.
Wikipedia observes the strategic loss for the Confederacy and the strategic gain of Fort Pulaski for the United States: "all shipping into and out of Savannah ceased. The loss of Savannah as a viable Confederate port crippled its war effort."
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†Source– Wikipedia: Quote from Colonel Charles H. Olmstead, commander of Fort Pulaski's Confederate garrison, Fort Pulaski brochure, National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior
Title inspired by one of the greatest Rock Bands of all time: Dire Straits.
It was an amazing morning on the quayside, and surprising how quiet it was that time of the morning, the ducks making plenty of noise and my wife talking rather loudly to me - I was thinking if the residents weren't awake before, then there was a high probability they were shortly after we arrived.
So if you live here, sorry about that!... whispering is an alien concept for my wife!
The probability of being hit by a stack of Corona boxes is higher than dying from a deadly Corona infection.
According to Statista, the infection rate for the entire Covid period from January 2020 to November 2021 was 6.9 percent for Germany as a national average. However, one would have to relate the infection rate to 1 year. Then it would be perhaps 5 percent. The lethality or number of deaths within the group of positively tested persons is, according to a high estimate (e.g. Prof. Drosten), 1 percent. The probability of getting Covid (with a positive test) and then dying from it is therefore purely mathematically 6.9/100 * 1.0/100 = 6.9 / 10000 = 0.00069. To die from Covid, one would have to live more than 1000 years in the pandemic.
That's why the elites can celebrate without a care in the world:
決定的瞬間を待つ人々
橋とダイヤモンド富士を同時に撮ることができるこの場所はとても有名です。一年に2日間チャンスが巡ってきます。その日が晴れて、その上、富士山が見える確率は高くないです。
This place where you can take the bridge and the diamond Fuji at the same time is very famous. Two days chance comes around a year. The day is sunny, the top, the probability that Fuji is visible is not high.
Labeled as a "Rule of Life" from 1933, it appears to be a slide rule sort of device that measures the probability of fertility depending on menstrual cycle, day of the month and the month. It was quite an elaborate little instrument found in an antique shop.
Ho scattato questa foto mentre stava piovendo ... si sotto l'ombrello !
Una vista più vasta del paesaggio !
** I Cipressi in Toscana :
La sua inconfondibile chioma stretta e affusolata con terminale a punta come una lancia, ha contribuito alla caratterizzazione del paesaggio toscano: lo si trova dalla costa tirrenica alle morbide colline interne. Importato con molta probabilità dapprima durante la colonizzazione Fenicia e Greca, e poi dagli Etruschi.
È un albero sempreverde diffuso in tutte le regioni del mediterraneo medio-orientale dove nasce e cresce spontaneamente, dall’Iran all’Egitto, passando per la Grecia. Il tronco retto è di colore grigio-brunastro può raggiungere anche i 25 mt. di altezza. Le foglie sono piccolissime di colore verde cupo e squamiformi tanto da coprire interamente i rametti cilindrici.
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I took this picture while it was raining ... under the umbrella!
A wider view of the landscape!
** The Cypresses in Tuscany:
Its unmistakable narrow, tapered jaw with a pointed end like a spear contributes to the characterization of the Tuscan landscape: it is located from the Tyrrhenian coast to the soft inner hills. Imported with great probability first during Phoenician and Greek colonization, and then by the Etruscans.
It is an evergreen tree spread in all the regions of the Middle East where it originates and grows spontaneously, from Iran to Egypt, passing through Greece. The straight trunk is grayish-brown can reach up to 25 mt. Of height. The leaves are tiny, dark green and squamiform so as to completely cover the cylindrical ramps.
For junk-lovers like me, there were lots of goodies in this farmyard including the portion shown here. The barn is interesting in that it contains either living quarters or a man-cave on the second level. You can see an air conditioner, satellite dish and, through the windows, its doors.
I am guessing that the barn was used for living quarters in the waning years of the farm in that the only house on the property was exceedingly small. (However, fear not man-cave fans, because I recently found an unmistable man-cave and another high-probability man-cave, both yet to be posted.)
Washington series: Ricksecker Point, Mount Rainier National Park.
🇺🇸 With a summit elevation of 4.394 m Mount Rainier is the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Washington and the Cascade Range. Due to its high probability of an eruption in the (relative) near future, Mount Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. Late May many parts of the national park were still closed due to snow, the lakes were still frozen and spring had not really arrived.
🇩🇪 Mit einer Höhe von 4394 m ist Mount Rainier der höchste Berg in Washington und der Kaskadenkette. Ein Ausbruch in (relativ) naher Zukunft wird erwartet und macht Mt. Rainier zu einem der aktuell gefährlichsten Vulkane. Ende Mai waren große Teile des Nationalparks noch immer wegen Schneemassen gesperrt, die Seen waren immer noch zugefroren und der Frühling liess noch auf sich warten.
The Eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), also known as the northern sparrowhawk or simply the sparrowhawk, is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Adult male Eurasian sparrowhawks have bluish grey upperparts and orange-barred underparts; females and juveniles are brown above with brown barring below. The female is up to 25% larger than the male – one of the greatest size differences between the sexes in any bird species. Though it is a predator which specialises in catching woodland birds, the Eurasian sparrowhawk can be found in any habitat and often hunts garden birds in towns and cities. Males tend to take smaller birds, including tits, finches, and sparrows; females catch primarily thrushes and starlings, but are capable of killing birds weighing 500 g (18 oz) or more.
The Eurasian sparrowhawk is found throughout the temperate and subtropical parts of the Old World; while birds from the northern parts of the range migrate south for winter, their southern counterparts remain resident or make dispersive movements. Eurasian sparrowhawks breed in suitable woodland of any type, with the nest, measuring up to 60 cm (2.0 ft) across, built using twigs in a tree. Four or five pale blue, brown-spotted eggs are laid; the success of the breeding attempt is dependent on the female maintaining a high weight while the male brings her food. The chicks hatch after 33 days and fledge after 24 to 28 days.
The probability of a juvenile surviving its first year is 34%, with 69% of adults surviving from one year to the next. Mortality in young males is greater than that of young females and the typical lifespan is four years. This species is now one of the most common birds of prey in Europe, although the population crashed after the Second World War. Organochlorine insecticides used to treat seeds before sowing built up in the bird population, and the concentrations in Eurasian sparrowhawks were enough to kill some outright and incapacitate others; affected birds laid eggs with fragile shells which broke during incubation. However, its population recovered after the chemicals were banned, and it is now relatively common, classified as being of least concern by BirdLife International.
The Eurasian sparrowhawk's hunting behaviour has brought it into conflict with humans for hundreds of years, particularly racing pigeon owners and people rearing poultry and gamebirds. It has also been blamed for decreases in passerine populations. The increase in population of the Eurasian sparrowhawk coincides with the decline in house sparrows in Britain.[2] Studies of racing pigeon deaths found that Eurasian sparrowhawks were responsible for less than 1%. Falconers have utilised the Eurasian sparrowhawk since at least the 16th century; although the species has a reputation for being difficult to train, it is also praised for its courage. The species features in Teutonic mythology and is mentioned in works by writers including William Shakespeare, Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Ted Hughes.
Role: Long Range Patrol, Attack & Defence Platform
Armament: sHV17 Goalkeeper 30x155mm CIWS (x2), Raytheon KP22[hm] Pilum Block V (x8), Lockheed Martin Peregrine MR Tactical Nuclear Missile (x2) (optional)
Despite smaller and more advanced defence platforms such as the Tursiops and Delphinapterus being developed, the decades old Orcinus gunboats remain the primary long range patrol and attack craft within IBN fleets.
Two pilots are able to go out on extended patrols for up to two weeks. The cramped accommodation within the rear cabin provide only the most basic amenities, and as a result, Orcinus pilots are colloquially referred to as "Gemini Jockeys". But the two pilots are able to rotate piloting shifts and when in battle, the secondary pilot can act as gunner and sensor officer from the rear terminal.
Most targeting, sensor and jamming systems have been upgraded over time leaving the exterior of most of the frontline units a hodge-podge of sensor blisters and radomes. So although most ships are a good decade older than their pilots, they are still highly capable to take on more advanced enemy craft.
Robust and reliable 2nd generation fusion reactors power the dual main engine nozzles and multiple reaction control thrusters. More efficient power and propulsion systems have since been developed, but the tried and tested technology allows for easy field maintainability in remote forward operating bases.
The dual sHV17 Goalkeepers function adequately in both anti-missile defence, as well as, close quarters ship-to-ship combat. Veteran pilots like nothing more than to hide close to abandoned station complexes when on anti-piracy patrol and surprising enemy ships while they are busy with docking procedures. The Pilum armament is a rudimentary kinetic penetrator, powered by a high maneuverability rocket engine. However, the Block V systems feature the added benefit of the 'Maelstrom' secondary attack function. If the projectile is estimated to miss the target, or there is a a high probability of intercept by CIWS it will take a more erratic flight path to confuse the targeting systems and then the outer shroud will detonate sending a barrage of high velocity small projectiles towards the target. It certainly does not do as much damage as the full penetrator, but it typically is enough to disrupt and disable sensor and defensive systems allowing for further Pilums to be launched in order to eliminate the target...also useful when only wanting to disable an enemy ship to allow for boarding. The Peregrine missile is typically only outfitted when units are likely to meet capital ships, or when operating in a station assault role.
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We are on the way to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada again. This time for the Mudroc rocket event organized by Aeropac. Can't wait to shoot and launch rockets again!
Last September we went to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada to attend Balls 24, a crazy rocket launch event with huge rockets. Some people call this event the Super Bowl of rocketry, others the Wild Wild West of rocketry. Over 300 people attended; there were teams from as far as England and Egypt. Many rockets were built in the garage from scratch, including the solid propellant for the motors.
Quite a number of rockets came down ballistic, either with some problems with the electronics, structural problems at high g-forces and supersonic speed, or parachute deployment problems. You gotta have balls to be there - the probability to get hit by a rocket is tiny but not zero.
This rocket had an excellent flight reaching over 100k altitude. I do not have any more info on this rocket. I took this shot the next day early in the morning at sunrise. You can see peeled off paint - battle scars - from the supersonic flight.
I processed a balanced HDR photo from three RAW exposures.
-- © Peter Thoeny, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, HDR, 3 RAW exposures, NEX-6, _DSC7433_4_5_hdr3bal1c
Sorry about the lack of activity over the past month or however long it’s been, I’ve just been *insert excuse here* for a while now and it’s been hard to find time for Flickr. Summer break is only a few weeks away though so I should be posting more frequently(unless I get lazy which has a high probability)
Anyways
Here are some figures
They’re inspired by infinity war or something but not really war machine cuz he looks nothing like that in Infinity War but anyways I’m rambling now so lego. I’m gonna update War Machine later because he was very quickly put together for the sole purpose of filling up this photo...
The Long Road to My Photo at the Tre Cime di Lavaredo
Now comes a long story about how this photo came to be.
One and a half years ago, the idea was born. When I once again happened to see this extraordinary landscape – the Tre Cime di Lavaredo – in a documentary about the Dolomites, I was spellbound. Since my passion has always been night photography, it quickly became clear: this was the place where I wanted to capture the Milky Way. Although I had been doing deep-sky photography for more than ten years, I had never photographed the Milky Way itself. This would mark the beginning of a new passion.
At such a breathtaking location, I didn’t want to simply “take a picture” – my goal was far more ambitious: to create one of the finest Milky Way photographs to be found anywhere in the world. Admittedly, not a modest ambition… but once you stand before this scenery, you instantly understand why someone suddenly feels the urge to reach for the stars.
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Planning and Technology
So the planning began. I needed a highly precise yet mobile and lightweight star tracker. It quickly became clear: with stacking and only 8-second exposures – meaning without tracking – combined with extremely high ISO values, I would never reach the image quality I was aiming for.
So I practiced again and again with the tracker under the light-polluted skies of my hometown: how does it react to wind? What happens with high humidity, thin clouds, or turbulence in the upper atmosphere? Every small disturbance worsens the “seeing,” and it takes a lot of experience to master these pitfalls.
Even calibrating the tracker has to be extremely precise. I measure my tripod digitally in steps of 0.1 degrees to ensure it is perfectly level – the more exact, the longer you can track. Of course, there are superb mounts available, but they are anything but portable. You don’t carry a 20-kilogram block in your backpack up to 2,600 meters on a night hike, together with all the other gear.
And then, of course, you need the brightest and sharpest lenses available. At night, every fraction of a stop counts – daylight photography is far more forgiving.
In general: the less artificial light, the clearer and more majestic the Milky Way appears. For deep-sky astrophotography, there are special filters that block man-made light pollution (for example, from cities). But the Milky Way is something entirely different: it shines across the full spectrum – from deep red to violet-blue. No filter trick works here. Any filter would also block starlight. In other words: the only “trick” is no trick at all – you simply need the darkest, most pristine skies possible.
In Europe, you can only find such conditions in a handful of places: the Dolomites, Großglockner, or La Palma (Canary Islands) – the best you can get by European standards. There are a few more, but the weather there is so unpredictable that your chances of success are even lower. The ideal is high altitude with dry, crystal-clear air.
If you want to go even further, travel to Namibia. There you’ll experience one of the most spectacular night skies anywhere: no weather problems, almost every night is perfect. The catch? Malaria. Which means daily prophylaxis with all its side effects. There’s always something, isn’t there?
If you want to get a sense yourself: on lightpollutionmap.info you can view worldwide light pollution interactively. Just one glance shows how rare truly dark places on our planet have become.
________________________________________
Milky Way Time Window
In Europe, the Milky Way can only be photographed between April and the end of August during new moon. But especially in June and July, the nights are too short and too bright – it never gets completely dark at our latitude. Effectively, there are only about three months, with a small time window of just a few days around each new moon. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, you wait until the next month.
In summer, you can look towards the center of our galaxy and see the striking dust and nebula bands. In winter, however, you’re looking “outward” into the universe – without those spectacular structures. The season is extremely short, and the chance of a cloudless sky in the Dolomites is less than 30%. The weather often remains stable for only 3–4 hours before changing – a true lottery.
________________________________________
Tre Cime: A Dream Location with Obstacles
Even during the day, at around 2,500 meters, it is breathtakingly beautiful – wherever you look, a picture-book landscape opens up. And then, right before you, the Tre Cime rise: massive rock walls soaring almost 500 meters straight up, touching the 3,000-meter mark.
But getting there is no longer so simple: you need a reservation and a ticket. Your license plate is checked already down in the valley.
The tickets are strictly limited. For our campervan, 12 hours cost €60. But the probability of stable, cloud-free weather up there is less than 30% – with just one ticket, my project would have been impossible. So I booked 6 time slots of 12 hours each, back-to-back.
Not so easy: the tickets have to connect seamlessly, with only a handful of vehicles allowed per hour. If one slot ends at, say, 4 p.m. and the next one is fully booked, you’re simply out of luck. Getting even one slot is difficult – arranging six in a row is almost impossible. And at the barrier in the valley, there is zero tolerance: even a second late at exit, and the fine is guaranteed.
For the booking itself, you get just five minutes – starting the moment you open the system, not with your final click. From finding matching slots to entering credit card details, personal data, and vehicle info, the countdown runs relentlessly. Everything that could be complicated, is complicated – as if the Dolomites didn’t already present enough natural challenges.
And as if that weren’t enough, you can only buy six tickets per month – now reduced to five.
Going up spontaneously? Forget it. Even if a slot were free, you must book digitally at least 24 hours in advance. On site or the same day? Impossible, not allowed. If you think you can just go with the weather – no chance. Here, bureaucracy rules over nature.
________________________________________
Arrival and First Setbacks
One and a half years later, the time finally came. Before the drive up, we prepared our campervan: fridge filled, toilet emptied, all batteries charged – for camera, smartphone, star tracker, heating bands against dew, and countless lamps. We were ready to last three days and nights up there.
But even if you arrive early at the barrier full of anticipation, you won’t be let in – the gates only open at the exact booked time. Then it was up in second gear, carefully winding through the serpentines. Now and then the front wheels slipped on the wet asphalt – a clear sign of just how steep it was. A motorhome weighing over four tons and 7.5 meters long is no off-roader. But at the top, on one of the highest campsites in Europe, everything was set.
Only problem: the fridge decided that at 2,500 meters it was no longer its job – even though we had filled it to the brim beforehand. Absorption fridges in RVs simply don’t work reliably on gas at this altitude. Another hard-learned lesson. Result: half of our food ended up in the trash.
The first two days: rain, wind, dense fog, temperatures around 4°C. Thanks to the heater in the camper, at least the cold was bearable – but photographically, a frustration. On the last day, though, everything changed: sunshine, clear views, amazing mood. Could it finally work out?
________________________________________
The Night of the Shoot
The hike with a backpack weighing over 12 kilos was tougher than expected – the thin air made itself felt.
That night, countless shots were taken. Many tracked 6-minute exposures of the Milky Way, which I later stacked to further improve the signal-to-noise ratio – a trick to achieve more quality than the sensor alone could deliver. I also captured the landscape separately – since with tracked stars, the foreground would blur.
And here came the next challenge: Milky Way photos require new moon and absolute darkness. Landscapes, however, look flat and monochromatic under such conditions, whereas full moon would provide plastic light. The solution: capture the landscape during blue hour or light it deliberately.
For that, I had a special lamp built – custom-made down to the last detail. I even chose the exact LED type myself, tailored precisely to my requirements for color temperature and light quality. 99% of ordinary flashlights are useless for high-quality photography: the light is usually far too cold, or the CRI index (color rendering) is too poor.
My lamp also has a zoom: the beam can be focused extremely tightly – up to 1.5 kilometers – or spread wide and soft, depending on what’s needed for light painting.
And the surprising part: from manufacturers like Convoy Flashlight in China, you can get such customized lamps for under €30. In Germany, such a service would hardly exist – and if it did, the price would make you swallow hard.
So I created exposures of up to 15 minutes while painting the rocks with light. Sometimes the right side turned out better, sometimes the left. A single perfect shot is impossible.
And then there are the famous headlamp trails – little light streaks from hikers that often give an image that extra something. The problem: at night, hardly anyone is up there. And if they are, it’s guaranteed not at the exact moment you’d need them in frame. Paradoxical, isn’t it? You want them desperately – but almost never get them when you need them. So the only option is to collect separate exposures whenever someone happens to pass.
________________________________________
The Puzzle
By the end of the night, I had about 30 shots in the bag – and darkness gave way to morning. Among them: long exposures with light painting, shots with headlamp trails, many tracked Milky Way frames, and landscapes from blue hour to deep night.
That was my raw material, my toolkit. Later I selected the best elements and merged them into a single image – like a painter who first collects sketches and then fuses them into a finished work of art.
This is the supreme discipline of photography: absolutely no fake, but impossible to achieve in a single exposure. Each frame had to be carefully developed – matching white balance and color temperatures, adjusting brightness and contrast, reducing noise, enhancing details. Sometimes the foreground stone looked better illuminated on the left, sometimes on the right. Everything had to be precisely assembled, layer by layer.
In the end, the Photoshop file grew to over a hundred layers and more than 60 gigabytes. Every little adjustment had to be carefully considered, since each change affected the entire image. The greatest challenge: blending all these different exposures into a seamless whole, without visible transitions, without an artificial impression.
To outsiders, the finished photo may look obvious – as if you had simply stood there and captured that exact moment. In reality, it meant days of work, hours of meticulous corrections, and an enormous amount of patience and technical precision.
________________________________________
Conclusion
Moments like these stay with you for a lifetime. Not just the photo itself, but the entire journey: the long preparation, the struggles, the setbacks, and finally, the success.
It’s also important to me to show with such texts that photography is not just a click. It’s an adventure – a battle with nature, technology, and yourself. Again and again, I try to surpass my previous limits. Each step makes it harder – but when it works, the moments of joy are unforgettable.
And for those who know me – of course, the next ideas are already in preparation.
Enjoy the view!
________________________________________
Making of – did you know?
With night photography something curious happens: when viewed in daylight or against a bright background, the deepest shadows often “stick together,” making the landscape look darker than it really is.
The trick is not to leave black at absolute zero, but to raise it ever so slightly – the sweet spot is around 2–3 out of 255 brightness levels. This way, fine structures remain visible even in bright surroundings.
It’s the same little secret used by film and streaming studios to keep images stable across every kind of screen.
As you can see – nothing here is left to chance.
Scientific Sweet Spot for Night Photos
To balance depth and readability across all devices, researchers and industry standards recommend placing the darkest tones in a narrow “sweet spot.” My photo was fine-tuned exactly to these values:
Percentile (how many pixels are darker)Recommended rangeScientific midpointMy photo
5% darkest pixels2–3 / 255~2.5 / 2553
25% darkest pixels6–10 / 255~8 / 2558
Median (50% of all pixels)12–20 / 255~16 / 25515–16
How to read this:
The percentile tells you what fraction of pixels are darker than a certain brightness.
Example: “5% darkest pixels = 3” means the very darkest areas are not pitch black, but lifted just enough to remain visible.
The goal: sit right at the scientific midpoint, so the photo works equally well on OLED at night and on laptops or phones in bright daylight.
________________________________________
🔧 Technical Information
📷 Camera: Sony Alpha 7R V
🔭 Lens: Sony FE 14 mm f/1.8 GM
🗻 Mount: Benro Cyanbird Carbon Tripod + Benro Polaris Astro Tracker
🌌 Sky: stack of 10 tracked exposures
️ Foreground: composite of 20 exposures (blue hour, light painting, headlamp trails, deep night phases)
⏱️ Exposure time per frame:
– Sky: ISO 320, f/1.8, 6 minutes each
– Foreground: ISO 100, f/2.8, from a few minutes (blue hour) up to 20 minutes
🕒 Total exposure time: approx. 6 hours combined
📍 Location: Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Drei Zinnen, 2,999 m), Dolomites, Italy
He had been an ordinary man in an ordinary chair when suddenly the world began to swell around him. He jumped up in terror as the spider on the carpet became a colossal machine of muscle and glassy eyes.
And still, he diminished.
Beyond molecules, atoms spread apart into wide solar systems of charge and probability. He wandered through a quantum wilderness where motion became suggestion and cause blurred into effect. He expected nothing beyond this frontier: the last limit science could conceive.
But there was more.
As he shrank past quarks, past the Planck veil, something astonishing revealed itself. Not void, not silence: immensity. A universe as vast as the one he had left, filled with galaxies that thrummed with their own physics, stars that sang in unfamiliar tones, worlds circling in cosmic geometries. It was not small at all, it was simply scaled to him now.
Still he shrank, trapped in a nightmare he could not control.
And then, to his surprise, he arrived in a room.
A modest room with a carpet and a wooden chair.
And in that chair sat a man.
Himself.
Staring, wide-eyed, at the world beginning to swell.
A volume comprising twenty-four leaves of Bible Pictures by W. de Brailes, an English artist active in Oxford in the middle of the thirteenth century. Seven leaves from the same set of images are now in the Musee Marmottan in Paris. These 31 leaves are all that remain of an image cycle that once contained at least 98 miniatures, and which was the longest cycle of Bible miniatures surviving from the thirteenth century in England. In all probability these Bible Pictures were actually prefatory matter to a Psalter, now Stockholm, National Museum, Ms. B.2010. De Brailes also composed and wrote the captions that accompany many of the images. W. de Brailes is one of only two English artists of the thirteenth century whose name we can associate with surviving works. 11 manuscripts have been identified that contain miniatures in his hand. De Brailes has a quirky and chatty style, and he was extremely gifted at turning Bible Stories into paint.
To explore fully digitized manuscripts with a virtual page-turning application, please visit Walters Ex Libris.
Portrait of a veteran whose days, in all probability, are numbered, BCOL Dash 8-40CMu 4608. It is leading CN westbound #L509 at Komoka, far from its original haunts.
Because of developments of non Egypto-Dutch engineering the probability of Detroit Lake (Oregon) existing circa 1800 are small, but not impossible. As probability approaches zero there is a fine patina to events as viewed through the Probability Globe, and we see a hint of that here. To learn more about the Probability Globe see:
www.flickr.com/photos/glenbledsoe/52566653482/in/datepost...
Stable Diffusion | Photoshop
Trying to wrap my head around a concept at the moment that suggests that the conscious observer creates the universe, rather than the universe having somehow created the observer.
What I understand that means is that everything exists in a probability state until it's observed. So, if a programme is being broadcast, but if everyone has their TVs switched off, does that programme exist? Your eyes don't see stuff, they simply convey information through synapses and nerves to the back of your brain. You see what you want to see.
The moon lights up the night sky and illuminates the clouds over Mt. Inglismaldie and the frozen Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park.
The night had a high probability of the borealis, but to not avail, the moon and clouds still made it an interesting show.
No. 1 - 4: Exploring - the Abbey Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire .
The Nave whilst looking westward
The nave here was being built in all probability while the great Flambard was busy with Durham (1105-1130), and very soon after he had finished his labours at Twynham or Christchurch, Hampshire. Gloucester is generally assigned to Serlo, 1089 to 1100, and Norwich was begun in1096.
Above the arches of the nave are small double round-headed openings into a very narrow triforium walk, which is vaulted, as at Gloucester, with a quadrantal arch.
There is another peculiarity, too, here, in that the vaulting of the roof springs from corbels which rest directly on the capitals of the piers. As a result of this the roof looks low and heavy.
The triforium openings, which are divided by small shafts, similar in character to those in the tower chamber, are 5 feet 6 inches high and 4 feet 10 inches wide. The passage is 26 inches wide and 6-½ to 7 feet high.
The two western bays of the triforium are not alike. On the north the openings correspond to those in the other bays, and are not contracted to correspond with the narrowed arch below; whereas on the south side they are so contracted. By this means the square angle of the western pier was continued to the roof. On the north side the western pier ends abruptly at the capital of the respond.
The clerestory windows are partly concealed by the vaulting. Of course the original windows were much smaller, and were removed and the space enlarged when the re-roofing was done in the fourteenth century.
The Roof
-Originally, no doubt, as at Peterborough, where it remains, the inner roof was a flat panelled ceiling of wood, supported by a moulded framing. Whether the wooden roof decayed or was destroyed by fire, it was found necessary in the early part of the fourteenth century to re-roof the nave, and the present vaulting was then constructed. Beautiful though it is architecturally, it has the effect of dwarfing the nave, as it springs directly from the tops of the piers in the nave. In character it is a simple pointed vaulting, and the ribs at their many points of intersection are lavishly decorated with bosses.
Originally the vaulting was painted and gilded, but owing to the idiosyncrasies of those who fancied they were having things done "decently and in order," it was colour-washed in the early part of this century. The present scheme of colour decoration was carried out by Mr. T. Gambier Parry. Its chief merit is that it throws out the bosses in very strong relief. The bosses can be studied with an opera-glass, but it is less fatiguing to examine them with the help of a pocket mirror. There is a tradition that the bosses were carved by a monk who was not held in much esteem by his companions, and was a butt for their gibes and witticisms. Whether this was so or not, he knew how to carve rudely and effectively in stone, and long may his work remain with us. They represent in a highly pictorial manner the life of our Lord. Beginning at the west end, the central bosses depict:
(1)
The Nativity. (2) The Shepherds rendering homage.
(3) The Magi on their journey.
(4) The Magi in adoration.
(5) The finding of Christ in the Temple.
(6) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
(7) The Last Supper
(8) The Betrayal.
(9) The Flagellation.
(10) The Crucifixion.
(11) The Resurrection.
(12) The Ascension.
(13) The Day of Pentecost.
(14) The Coronation of the Virgin.
(15) The Last Judgment.
The other bosses contain angels bearing musical instruments of every known kind, and alternating, more or less regularly, with angels censing and angels bearing emblems of the Passion.
On the south side:
(1) Angels with pipe and tambourine.
(2) Angels with cymbals and bagpipes.
(3) Angels with hurdy-gurdy and harp.
(4) Angels with dulcimer and organ.
(5 and 6) Angels censing.
(7) St. Matthew and St. John with their emblems, a scroll and an eagle.
(8) Angel with a violin; others with emblems of the Passion, _i.e._,
posts, spear, and scourges.
On the north side are to be found:
(1) Angel with pipe and tabor; another censing.
(2) Angel with harp; another censing.
(3) Angels with rebec and zither.
(4) Angels with tabor and zither.
(5 and 6) Angels censing.
(7) St. Luke and St. Mark, with their emblems, a winged ox,
and a winged lion.
(8) Angel with a harp; others with emblems of the Passion, ie, a crown of thorns, a sponge, a cross, and a scourge.
Mr. Gambier Parry, who personally supervised, where he did not personally execute, the decoration of the roof, termed it "a marvellous specimen of English carving," and says that "together with the cathedrals of Gloucester and Norwich, it combined some of the finest features of mediæval sculpture." Further he adds that though "fine details must not be looked for, yet it exhibited a vigour of conception and a charm of inspiration which quite atoned for any
faults."
At the west end of the building are two half-figures, male and female, like the figure-heads of ships, which serve as corbels for the vaulting of the roof. They have been thought by some to represent Adam and Eve, and by others to represent the founder, Fitz-Hamon, and Sibylla his wife.
The Great West Window dates back, as far as the masonry is concerned, to 1686, and was erected then to replace the window blown in by the wind in 1661. The glass was inserted in 1886 by Rev. C.W. Grove in memory of his wife, and represents various scenes in the life of Christ. In the lowest tier is the Annunciation, with the Nativity in the centre, and the Presentation in the Temple on the right. Above is the Baptism by St. John in the Jordan, the Last Supper in the centre, the Agony in the Garden on the right. In the topmost tier is the Bearing of the Cross, the Crucifixion, and the appearance of our Lord to Mary after the Resurrection. In the head of the window are angels, those in the two side lights on either side being engaged in censing. In the central top light is Christ in Majesty, with angels. The glass is by Hardman.
The Abbey Church of Tewkesbury ...... by H.J.L.J. Masse, M.A.
London George Bell & Sons 1906
Larger size:-
farm3.static.flickr.com/2570/3974262304_c31b40b9ec_b.jpg
Taken on:-
August 29, 2007 at 11:35 BST
I often throw out a cautionary note as planet Mercury swings retrograde. Like many situations in life, we're often well into a new phase before even realizing it. Mercury retrograde can catch us all off guard. There's not much we can do about it, the delays, accidents, communication failures, mechanical and electrical breakdowns, misunderstandings, and on and on. But being aware of the increased likelihood of these things can help reduce the impact. Retrogrades tend to be reflective times with our thoughts often leading us backwards to prior times, events and people. It's a good time to take one's foot off the gas and just ease up a bit. Reflect, plan, check and double check. There's a high probability for careless mistakes now, often times not realized until after the retrograde comes to an end (that's one that always gets me, one way or another). The shadow phase of Mercury retrograde began a couple of weeks ago so the effects have already begun to play out. The actual retrograde begins today and runs through July 12. As if that's not enough, Mercury is joined in retrograde by five other planets this month. Six planets in simultaneous retrograde is a fairly unusual occurrence and could pose for some additional life challenges over the next few weeks.
Time seemed to pause for me momentarily at this abandoned farmstead one foggy morning. It was as if I'd ventured onto a Hollywood movie set. One of those scenes you see with your eyes, but also feel in your heart. Times like this I really can't believe what I'm seeing, but feeling immensely fortunate to be here. I often get this weird desire to walk into the scenes in other people's photos. Places that seem so special that I just want to be a part of, to experience them firsthand.
Check out some of these scenes you've created here:
www.flickr.com/photos/forlornphotos/galleries/72157687531...
Excerpt from Wikipedia:
Mount Rainier, also known as Tahoma or Tacoma, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about 59 miles (95 km) south-southeast of Seattle. With a summit elevation of 14,411 ft (4,392 m), it is the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Washington and the Cascade Range, the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States, and the tallest in the Cascade Volcanic Arc.
Due to its high probability of eruption in the near future, Mount Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, and it is on the Decade Volcano list. The large amount of glacial ice means that Mount Rainier could produce massive lahars which could threaten the entire Puyallup River valley. According to the United States Geological Survey, "about 80,000 people and their homes are at risk in Mount Rainier’s lahar-hazard zones."
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In September we went to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada to attend Balls 24, a crazy rocket launch event with huge rockets. Some people call this event the Super Bowl of rocketry, others the Wild Wild West of rocketry. Over 300 people attended, there were teams from as far as England and Egypt. Many rockets were built in the garage from scratch, including the solid propellant for the motors.
Quite a number of rockets came down ballistic, either with some problems with the electronics, structural problems at high g-forces and supersonic speed, or parachute deployment problems. You gotta have balls to be there - the probability to get hit by a rocket is tiny but not zero.
This is the rocket of James Dougherty's team, a shiny minimum diameter vehicle taking off on an big O motor. It should have achieved around 65k AGL, but was destroyed at around 25k (half way through motor burn) when the electronics deployed the drogue chute prematurely.
I processed a balanced HDR photo from a RAW exposure.
-- © Peter Thoeny, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, HDR, 1 RAW exposure, NEX-6, _DSC7532_hdr1bal1i
Max Hailstone - Te Tiriti o Waitangi
These marks were in all probability the first marks written by many of the chiefs as well as perhaps among the earliest examples of indigenous writing from New Zealand.”
“For the Māori people the prints represent much more than simple marks, they are part of their ancestors and as such maintain their spiritual qualities quite often moving them to tears or private reflection, quite unrelated to the Treaty’s political or legal relevance.”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Waitangi
A dark day to sign away your heritage.
Darwin's beetle, Grant's stag beetle, or the Chilean stag beetle. Charles Darwin collected the species in Chile during the second voyage
Variable in size and in the development of the jaws and exhibits a strong sexual dimorphism. Males can reach a length of 60–90 millimetres (2.4–3.5 in) including the mandibles, while females are much smaller, having a body length of 25–37 millimetres (0.98–1.46 in). The upper mandibles of the males are very robust at the base, finely serrated and longer than the body itself.
C. grantii is considered a rare and vulnerable species, with a high probability of extinction, mainly as a consequence of the global climate change.
The male's over-sized jaws are crucial in its objective to secure a mate. It climbs trees, often climbing many meters, searching for a female. As it climbs and searches for females, it also seeks out other males in the vicinity. When two males meet, they fight. Males use their jaws in combat: they hook them under the opposite beetle's wings, pull up and throw their opponent to the ground (from 20 meters above, as they are in great trees most of the time).
I have seen big numbers dead under the big trees.
They can fly ...scary!
Although ten balloons were scheduled to fly this evening, only James and this other out-of-towner balloon decided to fly. (The decision to fly or not is a personal decision that each pilot makes on his own.)
The others, including myself all cancelled on the launch site. It's never an easy decision because there are a lot of people involved and a lot of money. The wind speed and direction were just not looking right at all. It's only about 5% of the time that we might cancel on the launch site due to unfavorable weather conditions (wind speed or direction, clouds, POP/ probability of precipitation, visibility/haze/fog)
Although we may be able to have a perfectly safe flight, increasing pressures from landowners and other controlling agencies (like an unreasonable, out-of-control-extremist park ranger) means we need to err on the side of caution when targeting landing areas.
James and the other guy ended up having a beautiful flight to 'The Postage Stamp' A few of the pilots who cancelled, including me, were there to greet him and conditions were perfect for this twilight shot. I think his new balloon has one of the most beautiful color patterns I've seen in a long time.
(James: You do not have permission to use this photo for any kind of commercial use. You made some remark to me about posting it on Flickr, so I just wanted to clarify that. But talk to me and we can work something out to spruce up your web site which is looking a little drab lately, hehehehe)
The revival protocol is complete
The revival protocol is complete, rebooting my biology. The GRIP holds me, a psychical pressure of my magnified self, exposed by the anomaly. Here, I meet a reflection of myself with crimson eyes, the colour of cosmic decay. It projects, "You see the beauty, don't you? The flawless logic of a 45 per cent probability was never about survival. It was about the sublime perfection of this…unmaking."
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Este pequeño corretea por los troncos de los pinos en búsqueda de insectos. Es una especie complicada de fotografiar porque se mueve por zonas generalmente a la sombra, mucho contraste y en ocasiones en contraluz. Además, es muy nervioso y la probabilidad de que la foto salga borrosa es muy alta. Aún así, conseguí sacarle una foto decente con la que hoy quiero celebrar el Día Mundial de la Vida Silvestre.
Aquest xicotet ronda pels troncs dels pins en cerca d'insectes. És una espècie complicada de fotografiar perquè es mou per zones generalment a l'ombra, molt de contrast i a vegades en contrallum. A més, és molt nerviós i la probabilitat que la foto isca borrosa és molt alta. Encara així, vaig aconseguir traure-li una foto decent amb la qual hui vull celebrar el Dia Mundial de la Vida Silvestre.
This little guy runs around the trunks of the pine trees in search of insects. It is a complicated species to photograph because it moves through areas generally in the shade, with a lot of contrast and sometimes in backlight. In addition, it is very nervous and the probability that the photo will be blurred is very high. Still, I managed to get a decent photo of it with which I want to celebrate World Wildlife Day today.
#nikonD500 #sigma150600mm #nikonistas #natgeowild #natgeoyourshot #carcaixent #hortdesoriano #raspinell #seobirdlife #seobirdlifespain #svo @nikonistas @nikoneurope @seo_birdlife @svornitologia @natgeoesp @natgeowild @natgeoyourshot @sigmaphotospain