View allAll Photos Tagged Refinance
How does it last the blink of an eye? You could measure it, if you really want to, but the truth is that we are so accustomed to blink our eyes that we are almost entirely unaware of the whole thing. Our brain compensates for it. So, in a way, we could say that a blink of an eye has an infinitesimal duration. The amazing thing I was thinking of while processing this fireflies shot - while recalling the actual experience - is that a whole, huge lot of things happen in the blink of an eye. Proteins in our cells are freshly synthetised; old, worn-out proteins are digested and reduced to aminoacids to be recycled; tiny yet powerful molecules of ATP continually bind to enzymes, allowing them to perform their "unlawful" duties at amazing rates; B lymphocytes produce and refine astronomical quantities and varieties of antibodies to fight some intruding pathogen; neurons alternately fire and rest in what we could envisage as, well, an astoundingly complex network of hyperfast fireflies. In the blink of an eye whole universes are born, and whole worlds are destroyed. We are so bound to our perception of time, to our own timescale, that it is utterly difficult for us to imagine what is happening on different timescales. In a mere hour a bacterial colony can proliferate enormously and, sadly, viruses can get huge hordes of self-copies at the expense of an unwittingly complicit cell.
There are further non-human timescales though, well beyond the microscopic word of cells or molecules. It is not by chance that for centuries people have been believing that the world had truly been created in seven days (well, actually six) and that everything - from geology to animals and plants - have remained basically unchanged since then. And that fossils were either remains of antediluvian creatures or tricks of the devil to test our faith and potentially lead us astray.
Well my friends, somehow this photo has reminded me that the world - both the micro- and the macroscopic - is something unutterably complex, almost beyond our grasp (almost being the key of everything). The quest for its understanding is a collective, neverending adventure. I often feel so small that even these fireflies, with their wonders, humble the feeling of being part of the species who believe to be master of the world. My mind is a minute firefly lost in a vast expanse of darkness. Yet I cannot give up. We cannot give up, since we "were not made to live [our] lives as brutes, / but to be followers of worth and knowledge" (Divine Comedy, Inferno, 26). Maybe our lives are the blink of an eye in the unutterable spatial and temporal vastness of the universe. But they are well worth living.
It has always been one of my unfulfilled dreams to photograph fireflies, which, sadly, are becoming a rarity in our countryside; the positive effects of the lockdown for the environment have probably favoured a blooming this year, so I decided to have a try. I followed the advices of a master of fireflies photography, the Bulgarian photographer Hristo Svinarov. However I will eagerly accept hints and positive criticism from everyone who will be so kind to offer it.
In my second fireflies session I have become a little more confident in my possibilities. I have tried to lower the ISO below 1000, and this is by itself a huge step towards better photos; moreover I have somehow dared more in composition. I am forced to use my Samyang 14 mm, which is the only fast-aperture lens I have in my gear, so I ventured nearer and nearer, until I was literally surrounded by dancing fireflies.
I have stacked 15 5-second photos with the Gimp. As the basic layer I used an image I have obtained by averaging the photos with John Paul ChaCha's Chasys Draw IES Artist: the fireflies themselves were almost obliterated but the landscape were effectively denoised, while the details were improved. In this photo I have processed separately the image which would have been the basic layer, just in the same way as any other photo - luminosity masks, and so on. When I was satisfied with the landscape I faced a new problem: it was just like I wanted it to be, so the 15 layers to be blended (those actually containing the fireflies) should not alter it - they should only add the precious fireflies. After a good bit of trial and error I developed my own workflow: a) duplicate one of the fireflies layers; b) extract LAB L component; c) in the bw image so obtained play with levels to force all the dark tones to black, then lower the light tones slider to better the fireflies signal; d) manually paint out the sky and the trees, and the other unwanted parts still visible (e.g. the water in the ditch); e) use this image showing only the fireflies as the layer mask of the original photo; f) set the blending mode to Addition: at this point the fireflies appear in the scene; g) duplicate 4 times the layer and then merge down the copies to get only one layer with the fireflies signal very naturally amplified; h) proceed in this way for all the (gasp) 15 shots; i) after all this, you can inspect the contribution of every layer to the result and, if needed, you can duplicate it and blend with Addition or Dodge to amplify it.
The sun rises behind the pines of Lake Guntersville
(Explore #8, 11/21/2009, and Front Page! Thanks everyone!)
Working on refining my technique with this fun form of macro photography.
This is a 20 image stack, each frame shot at f4. Getting the lighting right on this one was tough with so many drops in so many different places. In the end it was worth the work.
Shot using a Tokina AT-X 90mm f2.5 Macro lens and the AT-X 1:1 extender.
Refining processing skills again with stockimages...:)
Thanks to NEOkeitaro for the stockimage:
neokeitaro.deviantart.com/art/3R-Stock-Steampunk-Instrume...
Great stuff there! i just love old mechanics like this...
Hope you like it!
Fairbanks Alaska. ca. 1985.
The United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company. Illinois Street supply yard.
... written by Wm Macfie to his brother John in Edinburgh regarding the family sugar refining businesses and life in general. 1831-1840
[ contents of these letters at - www.mawer.clara.net/letters.html ]
"This autumn issue explores how refining our senses - taste, sight, sound, touch, and smell - enriches the experiences we have with each other."
Pretty excited about this volume, not only because it's beautiful & always exciting to receive in the mail, but because I got a chance to contribute. I, with the help of Eric, (who is honestly much better with words) wrote an essay about taking the time to slow down and enjoy brewing coffee in the morning. The essay is featured next to photos by the talented Chantelle Grady, who photographed a Kyoto drip coffee maker & a page with different old time brewing methods.
There's a few more shots on the blog as well, along with pictures of our homemade s'mores that turned out far better than I thought- I'll just say that graham cracker dough is stickier than I expected!
The mine has been shut down for years by this point but the refining of copper continued apace. A tidy pair of ex-Algoma Central GP38-2s has their outbound train put together and will soon begin the 77-mile trek across the length of the White Pine Sub.
December 22, 2002.
The United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company. Fairbanks Alaska. ca. 1985. Illinois Street supply yard.
The USSRM provided equipment to the Fairbanks Exploration Company (F.E. Co) in support of gold mining operations outside of Fairbanks in the middle part of the last century.
www.asme.org/about-asme/engineering-history/landmarks/113...
Friday Flashback.
Tri-X 400, Minolta SRT.
SiG-552 with x2 magnification red dot on top rail, 550 lumens flashlight, red dot sight for CQB and a grip on the sides.
.... Refining tactical
This is my entry for this weeks Mosaic Montage Monday where the theme was Refine/Refined, I hope this is a close enough match to the theme given that each one of those little coloured balls on the Freckles sweets is pretty much just refined sugar.
Happy Mosaic Montage Monday!
A farmer unloads raw salt at salt field yard in Chittagong, Bangladesh. This photo is taken in the destination of Banshkhali Upazila in the division of Chittagong in the country of Bangladesh.
The salt industry being one of the largest labor intensive cottage industries of Bangladesh absorbs largely around 5 million people directly or indirectly. The total value chain of the salt industry in Bangladesh involves largely two sub-sectoral activities namely-- the refining process which is operated by salt mills and the crude salt production process that involves a significant chunk of marginal farmers of coastal Bangladesh.
Among the farmers, farmers some are cultivating salt on their own lands while the other farmers are cultivating salt after taking the land as lease either directly from owners of the lands or through middle men. Local administration sources said a huge quantity of lands are being used for salt cultivation in Banshkhali this year.
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বাঁশখালীর উপকূল জুড়ে চলছে লবণ উৎপাদন। এখানকার বিভিন্ন ইউনিয়নে ৫০ হাজার লবণচাষি ১৫ হাজার হেক্টর জমিতে লবণ চাষ করছেন। অনেকে জমি মালিকের সঙ্গে চুক্তিতে চাষ করেন। উপজেলার কাথরিয়া, বাহারছড়া, সরল, গন্ডামারা, পুইছড়ি, শেখেরখীল, ছনুয়া ও খানখানাবাদ উপকূলীয় এলাকায় ব্যস্ত সময় পার করছেন তারা।
লবণ চাষিরা জানান, কাঠের রোলার দিয়ে মাঠ সমতল করার পর চারপাশে মাটির আইল দিয়ে ছোট ছোট প্লট তৈরি করা হয়। এরপর ছোট প্লটগুলো রোদে শুকিয়ে কালো বা নীল রঙের পলিথিন বিছিয়ে দেওয়া হয়।
জোয়ার এলে মাঠের মাঝখানে তৈরি করা নালা দিয়ে জমির প্লটে জমানো হয় সাগরের লবণাক্ত পানি। অনেকে ইঞ্জিনচালিত শ্যালো মেশিনও ব্যবহার করেন। এভাবে পানি সংগ্রহ করার পর ৪ থেকে ৫ দিন রোদে রাখা হয়।
কড়া রোদে পানি বাষ্পীভূত হয়ে চলে যায় আর লবণ পড়ে থাকে পলিথিনের ওপর। লবণ চাষ মূলত আবহাওয়ার ওপর নির্ভরশীল। একটু ঝড় বৃষ্টি হলেই উৎপাদন বন্ধ হয়ে যায়। কুয়াশাও লবণের জন্য ক্ষতিকর।
উৎপাদিত লবণ থেকে পানি সরে গেলে ব্যাপারীদের হাতে তুলে দেওয়া হয়। এই লবণ কিনে নিয়ে কারখানায় রিফাইনারি মেশিনের মাধ্যমে পরিশোধন শেষে বস্তা বা প্যাকেট ভর্তি করা হয়। পরে সেই লবণ চলে যায় বিভিন্ন স্থানে।
Lyondell Chemie Nederland B.V.
LyondellBasell is one of the world’s largest plastics, chemical, and refining companies.
When I was refining the design, I tried to think of some accessories for the robot. Here's 3 (well, actually 2,5) jetpack designs. They're attached to W.A.L.T.'s back, instead of the battery compartment's lid. Do you have a favourite ?
Instructions will be released on rebrickable in the coming months, and I will show more accessories in the next few weeks.
W.A.L.T. will be available for preorder on bricklink starting February 16th. :)
When I was refining the design, I tried to think of some accessories for the robot. Here's a heart-shaped balloon, to match the heart-shaped eyes. I've designed it in april 2025. I was quite proud of the idea of using the then-relatively new element 5852, but the next day, first images of 43257 Angel first appeared, and I was bummed to see that someone at Lego had the same idea as me.
Instructions will be released on rebrickable in the coming months.
W.A.L.T. will be available for preorder on bricklink starting February 16th. :)
To hit with precision —
exactly where I meant,
exactly as I wished.
Simple?
Not at all.
Practice and repetition bring me closer to accuracy,
but before that, I must want it.
I must tune myself inward
and learn how to refine.
And even after I’ve learned and aligned —
from every strike
there will always rise the small, unwanted fragments,
the dust that drifts in the air.
Because wanting, planning, and aiming are never quite enough.
There will always be things
we didn’t plan for.
Viser et Affiner
Atteindre avec précision —
exactement où je l’avais voulu,
exactement comme je l’avais imaginé.
Simple ?
Pas vraiment.
La pratique et la répétition m’amènent vers plus de justesse,
mais avant cela, il faut désirer.
Il faut s’accorder de l’intérieur,
apprendre à affiner.
Et même après avoir appris et m’être aligné —
de chaque impact
s’élèveront toujours de petits fragments indésirés,
la poussière qui flotte dans l’air.
Car vouloir, planifier et viser ne suffisent jamais tout à fait.
Il y aura toujours des choses
que nous n’avions pas prévues.
Stopping at this old mine located right alongside the highway is one of the reasons that I fell behind my brother and sister-in-law when we left Creede to continue our drive along the Silver Thread Scenic Byway. Built in 1928, the Clay Mine was used to mine bentonite clay which was used in refining oils during the Great Depression. During WWII, bentonite clay was used in ammunition and to make face powder and an ingredient in salt water taffy. Following WWII the mine went bankrupt. This is the only bentonite clay mine in the Rio Grande National Forest. It is historically significant because of the rarity of this type of mine in an area of silver and zinc mining. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
Probably built c. 1870. 2-storey, irregular-plan gabled house with deep, bracketed eaves, swept-roof porch and log-effect stonework. Built as part of village improvements carried out by the local landowner, David Carnegie, in the same style as the church and school, with which it groups well. The house is prominently situated at the centre of Balquhidder.
David Carnegie had made his fortune from banking, sugar refining and brewing in Sweden, and purchased the Stronvar estate in 1848, where he rebuilt Stronvar House. He then commenced to make a number of improvements in the area, including building the school, church, and library (adjacent building). Both the school and church have the same type of stonework. It is not known what purpose Ardachaidh was originally built for, although it was later used as a Post Office and village shop.
Colonial Sugar Refining Co Ltd No.11 Fiji (Hudswell Clarke 972/1912) is pottering amongst the fields on the Statfold Barn Railway.
I viewed the refinery from the Waterbird Regional Park, looking across the marsh and Interstate 680. It refines gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. It was built in 1915 by Shell Oil Company, and sold to PBF Energy in 2020.
It is in Martinez, California, about 12 miles from my home in Walnut Creek. It is just south of the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta. January 23, 2023
In 1900, prospectors discovered magnificent green cliffs of exposed copper in the Wrangell Mountains northeast of Valdez, Alaska. Their discovery, the “Bonanza Mine Outcrop,” proved to be one of the richest copper deposits ever found. From 1911 to 1938, the Kennecott Copper Corporation extracted nearly $200 million worth of copper from nearby mines. At the peak of operation, approximately 300 people worked in the mill town and 200-300 in the mines. The Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark preserves some of the buildings remaining from the ore refining operation, including the Concentration Mill seen in the background here. Today’s visitor can get a guided tour of the entire inside of this huge building as it clings to a steep mountainside.
Over its brief history, Kennecott Corporation, with support from J.P. Morgan, Guggenheim and other New York financiers, produced $200-300 million worth of copper and silver.
(Source: National Park Service website)
Double-click image to enlarge.
In Explore 6 Nov 2023. Best position: #445.
Fairbanks Alaska. ca. 1985.
The United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company. Illinois Street supply yard.
My wife took this photo of me gawking up at the huge Kennecott Concentration Mill. The section in the foreground holds what is left of an ammonia leaching operation that was part of the initial refining process conducted before the ore was shipped to the lower 48 states to complete the refining.
In 1900, the “Bonanza Mine Outcrop,” in the Wrangell Mountains northeast of Valdez, Alaska, proved to be one of the richest copper deposits ever found. At the peak of operation, 200 to 300 people worked in the mining operation at Kennecott. The Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark preserves some of the buildings remaining from the ore refining operation, including the giant Concentration Mill here.
(Source: National Park Service website)
Over its brief history, Kennecott Corporation, with support from J.P. Morgan, Guggenheim and other New York financiers, produced $200-300 million worth of copper and silver.
Double-tap image to enlarge.
Colonial Sugar Refining Co (CSR) 0-4-0ST No.19 is working the passenger service at Statfold Barn approaching Statfold Junction station, 5th April 2025.
Locomotive History
No.19 is a two foot gauge 0-4-0ST locomotive built in 1914 by Hudswell Clarke, Leeds (Works No. 1056} and supplied to the Colonial Sugar Refining Co (CSR) of Fiji. It was withdrawn in 1960 and put on static display at the mill apart from a brief return to steam in 1978 for the mill's 75th anniversary celebrations. It arrived at Statfold in May 2012 and was back in steam in the spring of 2013.
People will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget
how you made them feel.
- Maya Angelou
I haven't made much progress in the past week as I was on vacation for a few days and then got caught up in work, but my parts arrived and I had some time yesterday, so I was able to refine a few details and get started on the bridge and back section. Still lots to do and only one week left!
This painting was made on an iPad Pro, with an Apple Pencil, using iColorama and Procreate. I moved back and forth, between these two apps, layering, compositing, masking, painting and refining color relationships. I saved versions as PNGs, to maintain image quality, and I tried to utilize the strengths of each app. Eventually, I arrived at at a moment of peace, when I feel harmony in what I have done. In this, it took several days, and several temporary conclusions, before I reached the end.
What I love about working in digital media, is that I can test ideas, change my mind, move in different directions, with so many choices. It is so nimble! It is, also, compelling, and exhausting. I miss the mandatory reflection time in having to weigh and imagine visual choices, and in literally having to wait for paint to dry, with natural media.
I had been working on a portrait for Claude Panneton, which took much longer than usual, and was relieved, satisfied, and happy to think it was finished. He is a mobile art friend, whose work I respect completely. I used several of his images, some of my own elements, and found images – an old Japanese print of fishes, textures, a butterfly etc. The first version, had a full portrait of Claude on the right side, and as often happens, I later realized that I liked the depth and magic of the background, on the left side, better than the fully realized foreground focus of the "subject".
I was selecting images for a competition, which a friend talked me into entering. Having asked Claude's permission, I was preparing to submit the piece. Out of the blue, I remembered a 2nd century A.D. doll, found in a sarcophagus of an 8 year old girl, in Rome. The doll was ivory. I had saved the image to a "someday" folder, a while ago, because she drew me – the sweetness and the sadness. Then, it is as if she had to be seen, urgently. After more hours of painting, masking and layering, she arrived, large, in color, renewed, clothed, and striding as if from her own vision, somber, thoughtful, and about to free herself from the puppeteer's strings. The articulated 2nd century doll came to life, becoming real, to me, as our dolls do, when we are children.
This one rare doll, survived, loved by a child who died more than 2000 years ago, and whose family had the grace to put her to rest, with love, with her toy. I felt respect for the maker of the doll, also, for the care and craftsmanship in her. The doll emerges, in this image, from fragments of dreams – doll becoming puppet-spirit – dwarfing the puppeteer. I felt a bridge of love.
I submitted the piece, in that state, to the competition, then, went on to work with it, for another full day. I was completely unaware of time, tweaking texture and tone until it arrived here. I had no good reason for doing this, other than being curious about where it would take me. I am as surprised as anyone.
What do these elements have in common –
Claude Panneton's eyes, puppeteers, Japanese prints of fish, a 2nd century A.D. ivory doll, a piece of a musical score, a butterfly, abstract space, textures, and colors?
For me, it is about connecting to love and beauty, pausing to reflect and appreciate the very non-linear ways our imaginations can bring the humanity of past into the present moment. It is humbling, challenging, and elevating, I stand in awe of the possibilities.
10 years of refining the Surfer Girl MOC.
I don't know how many of you go through constant refinement of certain MOCs. I often start a MOC and wish there was a part in a specific color and I often have to either wait for me to obtain it or wait for Lego to produce it. So I put off updating it for years at a time. Other reason for updating is just improving my building skills and the dissatisfaction of my earlier version. I don't hide my old builds here on Flickr, as it captures my learning curve. So obviously my older builds will be of lesser quality, but such can be said for Lego's official sets from prior years/decades. Clearly Lego's building quality stems from the talented and passionate builders that once walked amongst us here on Flickr, that got recruited by Lego to elevate their set designs. Lego is lucky and may not realize just how much the Lego community has shaped the Lego product line. In my opinion all of the adult theme Lego sets are clearly a product of the talented AFOLs that went to work for Lego.
Will I continue updating this model, time will tell.
I am curious to know how many others go back and refine their MOCs, assuming you don't completely take them apart. I try to capture it in Studio software if it's not too large so that I can go back and update it later.
This is the entrance to the National Wine Centre in Adelaide, South Australia.
One of South Australia’s leading industries and exports is quality wine. The National Wine Centre, opened in 2001, is a public building designed to showcase everything to do with wine. There is an interactive permanent exhibition of winemaking, explaining the technology, varieties and styles of wine. There are also educational facilities, meeting rooms, a function hall, restaurant, cellaring and tasting areas
The architecture of National Wine Centre reflects many aspects of wine making. The exterior, pictured here, looks like a section of a wine barrel. Inside the walls of the Exhibition Hall form a vat-like shape and the industrial qualities of the bridges and ramps crossing the space add to the impression. As the visitor moves towards the tasting areas, the finishes gradually change from the course and robust to the fine and smooth surfaces, reflecting the refining aspects of the winemaking process.
Refining hundreds of years ago was far from present processes and therefore there is a lot of copper left in the slag. The enormous heaps are part of the UNESCO heritage listing, but before that , people wanted to process them
to get the copper. Copper ore made possible a more than 3oo years mining venture beginning about 1645. Today Røros mining town is on Unesco's heritage list.