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Catania
The Evo 3 (by DR Motor) is a rebadged JAC Refine S2, which was sold in some European markets with electric drivetrain as the JAC iEV7s or eS2.
So this is how I spend my time in pre-cal.
I still need to add a couple things to it and refine it, but I just felt like uploading this anyway.
If anyone has any suggestestions for it, feel free to say so. Constructive critisicm never killed anyone.
P.S. I heard it's your birthday, Mel, so have a good one. :{)
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Australasian Sugar Refining Company complex 1891, 1899 at conversion to apartments in the 1980s.
Designers: Hyndman and Bates.
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`The site of the factory was included in Section 2B [of the original Port Melbourne survey], which was surveyed into four allotments early in the history of Sandridge. By November 1860 three of these had been purchased by A. Ross, joining William Jones, S.G. Henty and P. Lalor as owners of the section (2)..
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In February 1890, the Melbourne Tram and Omnibus Company Limited, had stables, offices, land and an omnibus repository on the section.(3) [Most of the present buildings on the site date from 1891, when the Australasian Sugar Refining Company established a refinery.(4)] On the MMBW detail plan dated 1894, the section is labelled 'sugar works' and the configuration of buildings approximately conforms with the present layout. [The refinery was closed in 1894 following its purchase by the Colonial Sugar Refining Company as part of a move to strengthen its monopoly.].
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[In 1899, Robert Harper and Company Pty Ltd converted the buildings to a starch factory, and various brick additions were constructed to designs by Hyndman and Bates, architects.(5)] When the sewerage was connected in 1899, a plan was drawn by the architects and this closely resembles the 1894 MMBW detail plan configuration. (6) .
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The buildings .. form the major part of the original factory complex on the site, one of the largest nineteenth century industrial sites in Victoria. The complex as a whole is significant for its large size and range of building types. The dramatic massing and height of the 9 Beach Street buildings gives them additional importance as local landmarks as viewed both from the surrounding streets and the sea..
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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS.
The former Australasian Sugar Refining Company and Robert Harper starch factory complex can be compared with a number of other large nineteenth century industrial complexes in Melbourne. These include the former Yorkshire Brewery, Wellington Street, Collingwood (from 1876), the former Victoria Brewery, Victoria Parade, East Melbourne (established 1854), the former Kimpton's Flour Mill, Elizabeth Street, Kensington, the Thomas Brunt flour mill and Brockhoff and T.B. Guest biscuit factories complex, Laurens and Munster Streets, North Melbourne (from 1888-9) and the Joshua Bros (now CSR) sugar refinery, Whitehall Street, Yarraville (established 1873). All of these are representative of the development in Victoria of the manufacture of foodstuffs and related raw materials. Of these, the CSR refinery is the most directly comparable in terms of original function and the scale and massing of the buildings. Established significantly earlier than the Port Melbourne refinery, the site is larger and more intact..
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In the local context, the only other surviving industrial site of comparable scale is the Swallow and Ariell Biscuit Factory complex (q.v.). This complex is of state significance, and is considerably earlier, with parts dating from the 1850s. The predominantly two- and three-storey buildings, however, are of a different type to the former refinery and starch factory buildings..
Allom Lovell and Associates 1995 cite Jacobs Lewis Vines. Port Melbourne Conservation Study:.
Sugar refining began in Greenock in 1765. John Walker began a sugar refinery in Greenock in 1850 followed by the prominent local cooper and shipowner Abram Lyle who, with four partners, purchased the Glebe Sugar Refinery in 1865
Commonwealth Oil Refining Company, Inc. (CORCO) was an oil refinery established in the towns of Peñuelas and Guayanilla in Puerto Rico in the middle of the 20th century. The project started as part of Operation Bootstrap with the first unit being constructed in 1954. The company started operations in 1955 and was finally incorporated on May 19, 1963. Corco represented an investment of $25 million and had the capacity to refine 23,500 barrels (3,740 m3) of oil daily. Hugo David Storer Tavarez was one of the men in charge of the CORCO being established in Puerto Rico.
The refinery is located in an 800-acre (3.2 km2) site, and consists of numerous storage tanks and waste treatment units typical of petroleum refineries. CORCO has been inactive since 1982, and now functions as a terminal for the marine transportation and land-based storage of crude oil and petroleum products.
After the refinery ceased operations, an entity called Desarrollo Integral del Sur (South Integral Development) began developing a long-term plan for the reuse of the terrains and properties.
The following is an account of Lake Hart published in 1947 -
Although for long it has been deserted, Lake Hart, on the lonely mulga plains, has Australia's Prize Salt Deposit.
Standing beside the transcontinental railway, 137 miles [219 kilometres] from Port Augusta, is a 7,000 tons dump of the best quality salt in Australia. Behind it, stretching far northwards, is Lake Hart, the place from which the salt was taken.
In 1931 this was the scene of a thriving industry. Today, it is forgotten in its isolation amid the mulga plains of the north-west. Lake Hart's importance as a salt deposit first became manifest in 1918 when surveyors investigated its entire area. They estimated the yield as three million tons, and defined the lake's area as 61 square miles.
Following these observations, the Sydney firm which owned the deposit - the Commonwealth Salt Refining Company - began preliminary operations with a few men.
Small quantities of salt were harvested and bagged for testing purposes. At this stage no refining plant had been installed, and the salt was sent to Adelaide for refining. The finished product proved so successful that the CSRC immediately launched large-scale operations. They installed a refining plant, and employed more than 50 men. The employees camped at the site and depended for their stores on the Commonwealth Railway's weekly food train.
Salt was harvested by day and refined continuously by shift workers.
Harvesting methods then were slow and cumbersome compared with present day methods. Sweepers first swept the water forward to the elevated catchment pens, each of which was 300 ft long by 150 ft wide.
When the salt had been deposited on the floor, the water was allowed to flow back into the lake, leaving the salt banked in and around the pens. The salt was then swept up and loaded into carrying carts, which were towed to the nearby refining plant.
Driving power for the plant was supplied by a gas producer engine. At first a Crossley type of 35 hp was used, but as production accelerated, a large Hornsby engine of 50 hp was added. These two engines may still be seen among the skeleton plant which remains at the lake.
The first phase of the salt's refining began when it entered the crushers. For Lake Hart salt, this was a very thorough process, due to the crude product's unusual hardness.
From the crushers it was carried into the washing troughs. Here it was scoured free of all foreign matter and, after a series of swillings was passed into the dehydrator.
When this machine had evaporated all water from the now whitened grain, the salt entered its final process - the drying oven.
This machine dried out all moisture and at the same time killed any remaining germ life, before discharging the finished product.
Such refineries were, of course, greatly inferior to present day establishments, such as those on Yorke Peninsula. Here, the sea water itself passes through several evaporation condensers before the salt is extricated for a complicated refining. But with Lake Hart's pure quality salt extensive refining was not necessary.
Few facilities existed to enable workers to negotiate the obstacles of outback industrial settlement. One employee crossed the lake in a flat-bottomed boat to ascertain the salt content on the opposite shore. He sailed across, but had to row 15 miles on the return trip. Today, people of the north-west give him the honour of being Lake Hart's conqueror.
Extreme difficulty was experienced from the late summer downpours which are prevalent in this area. During these storms the lake often became flooded, rendering harvesting impossible. However, the company had prepared for such emergencies. Huge reserve dumps had been heaped in readiness, and refining was not hampered.
For several years Lake Hart yielded 9,000 tons annually. Most of the salt was shipped to Sydney, where it was distributed for edible and industrial uses.
Commercial users throughout Australia were elated with the quality. Housewives discovered that, in actual saltiness, the Lake Hart product was twice as strong as any other.
The biggest asset that the salt had was its freedom from gypsum. This was, and still is, a very rare credential. All other main Australian sources are handicapped by gypsum content, which not only reduces quality, but enforces excessive work and cost during the refining process.
In 1921 the company amalgamated with the Australian Salt Company. The firm experienced great difficulties in obtaining water for refining purposes, its only supplies coming from occasional supply trains. Further, the isolated position created problems in the delivery of the refined product. These difficulties were the chief reasons for the cessation of harvesting in 1931.
Yorke Peninsula refineries were supplying more than enough salt for the State's use, and, although the quality was greatly inferior to that of Lake Hart, it was considered unpayable to continue work on the lake. To Australia, its closing meant a decrease in the quality of salt in use: but the quantity remains plentiful.
Salt is in enormous surplus, not only in Australia, but throughout the world. Our own refinery at Price on Yorke Peninsula, for instance, can supply enough salt in six months to last South Australia for five years.
Ever since closing the Lake Hart plant, the Australian Salt Company has employed a caretaker on the premises. The present caretaker has held his lonely job for seven years. His duties are simple. He records the rise and fall of the lake, and is responsible for the maintenance of the depleted plant.
Much of the plant was removed soon after the work ceased, but the catchment pens, crushers and engines remain in readiness for a reopening of the industry.
Last year it was intended to restart the enterprise, but fate ruled otherwise. Heavy rain swelled the lake to such an extent that plans had to be temporarily abandoned.
There is little opportunity for anyone to see Lake Hart. Train tourists can, but as both the East and West bound expresses pass this locality during the night, few see what is Australia's prize salt deposit.
Ref: Advertiser (Adelaide) 6-9-1947 Article by W J Watkins
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Refining the look of the glow in renders directly out of Stud.io, no post-processing. It's getting close.
This is my attempt at showing Good Luke, Bad Luke and Luuke in a showdown.
Refining my own technique is proving to be challenging, but it's a start. Thank you, beautiful Teena Silverweb, for being my guinea pig! <3
PS - Reflecting on this pic... I would not have done quite so much with the hair, but as I said... It was an experiment. Teena, I promise to try again as I get better! ;)
A JAC Refine S7 photographed at a JAC dealer in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China.
This Refine S7 is the largest SUV in the JAC range.
Available in 5 or 7 seats version.
Powered by a 1.5 Turbo 174hp gas engine.
Sold for 99.800 to 168.800 RMB (about €12.800-21.600 or US $14.900-25.200).
It was launched in June 2017.
If sales were quite good in 2017 (14.539 units in 7 months), the 1st half-year 2018 wasn't : only 2.938 units.
Article
Robert J. Arrotta--The Mightiest Corporal in the Marine Corps
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Photo by Charles J. Schneider, courtesy of Joanne Schneider
Description: Robert J. Arrotta .Author: Beth Crumley
“Close air support was considered the most important mission of Marine aviation, and the Marine Corps focused the lion’s share of its aviation effort on refining and developing its close air support capabilities. As the senior aviator in the Marine Corps [Major General Keith B. McCutcheon] put it just months before the siege of Khe Sanh, ‘Marine aviation is a tactical air arm. Its sole mission is to provide support to ground forces.’ ”
—LtCol Shawn P. Callahan,
“Close Air Support and the Battle for Khe Sanh”
Marine Corps History Division, 2009
At no time would Major General Keith B. McCutcheon’s words about the importance of close air support ring truer than during the siege of Khe Sanh Combat Base and the surrounding, strategically important hills during the Vietnam War.
By December 1967, the North Vietnamese presence around Khe Sanh Combat Base had grown considerably. The 304 and 325C divisions had crossed into South Vietnam and were approaching from the west. To the east was the 320th Division, operating near the Rockpile, as well as an enemy regiment and an additional battalion whose mission it was to prevent movement along Route 9.
This buildup in enemy strength was monitored closely by Lieutenant General Robert E. Cushman Jr., the commanding general of III Marine Amphibious Force. By 9 Dec., 3d Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment was diverted from another mission and sent to Khe Sanh. Elements of the battalion strengthened key hilltop outposts. Company K, 3/26 was positioned atop Hill 861 and immediately began patrolling west of Khe Sanh.
Farther to the west was Hill 881S. The highest of the surrounding hills, it was key to Khe Sanh Combat Base defense. Khe Sanh was dependent upon resupply and reinforcement by air. Should the NVA hold the hill, aircraft taking off or landing from the west would be extremely vulnerable to enemy fire. The mission of holding the hill fell to the men of “India” Co, 3d Bn, 26th Marines. Among them was Corporal Robert J. Arrotta, who, during the 77-day siege, would earn the title “The Mightiest Corporal in the Marine Corps.”
In 1967, Arrotta had finished a disappointing freshman year in college when he received his draft notice. He volunteered for service in the Marine Corps, telling his family, “If I am going to go to Vietnam, I want to go with the best.” He arrived in country 15 Aug. 1967, assigned as a radio operator to Headquarters and Service Co, 3/26. He began training as a tactical air controller.
The North Vietnamese Army had launched a series of assaults against Marine positions in and around the Leatherneck Square area, a roughly square piece of ground bordered by Con Thien and Gio Linh to the north and Cam Lo and Dong Ha to the south. By the end of August, 3d Bn was ordered to Con Thien. Enemy ground activity in the area had increased significantly. It was there, during Operation Kingfisher, that Arrotta had his first real taste of combat. Hit hard in heavy fighting with the 812th NVA Regiment, 3d Bn sustained more than 240 casualties, including 56 killed in action. Arrotta later wrote about his experience:
“On 10 September I was with Mike Company when the battalion was attacked … by an entire NVA regiment. No medevacs could get into my landing zone because of overwhelming enemy firepower. I spent the night in the LZ with the battalion’s most seriously wounded and all of the dead that were able to be brought to the LZ. The next morning we had to retrieve the dead that couldn’t be brought to the LZ. … To carry these bodies and put them on waiting helicopters was the hardest thing I had to do in my life.”
Badly mauled, 3/26 moved to Camp Evans to rebuild. During that time Arrotta received additional training that would make him a legend on Hill 881S. During the heavy fighting near Con Thien, the battalion had lost its forward air controllers. In late September a CH-46 pilot, First Lieutenant John Root, was assigned to 3/26 to serve as a forward air controller. Root used the extended time at Camp Evans for training the radio operators in the fundamentals of bringing in close air support, aiding Marines on the ground. In late 1967, when the battalion deployed to Khe Sanh, Arrotta and his best friend, Cpl Terry L. Smith, both radio operators, were assigned to Hill 881S.
On 20 Jan. 1968, Captain William Dabney, commanding officer of India Co, 3/26, conducted a reconnaissance-in-force up Hill 881N. India Co engaged an entire NVA battalion moving south. The siege of Khe Sanh and the surrounding hills had begun. Both the combat base and the hills were completely dependent on resupply by air and close air support to keep enemy forces at bay.
A few days into the siege, the forward air controller on 881S was hit by shrapnel from an incoming mortar and was medically evacuated. Dabney later stated:
“At about the same time, the weather socked in, and it was several days before [we] could bring in helicopters. When it did clear, we got the radio batteries we needed to talk to the close air support aircraft but no new forward air controller. When I remarked on the lack of a FAC, Bob [Corporal Robert J. Arrotta] told me he could handle it. I had nothing to lose, plenty of targets, and all the CAS aircraft we could use, so I stood by and watched as he ran the first few missions—flawlessly. I was impressed not only with his technical knowledge but also with his demeanor as a corporal giving instructions to officers through the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was assertive and unfailingly professional.”
It wasn’t long before the Marines of India and Mike companies began calling Bob Arrotta “The Mightiest Corporal in the Marine Corps” for the vast amount of firepower he could bring down upon the enemy. First Lt Richard Dworsky, Weapons Platoon, I/3/26, recalled: “Bob and a couple of others looked like Energizer bunnies moving around and coordinating multiple air and fire support missions. It was dangerous, but always needed, work. … The hardest part was trying to keep all the fire support in order to prevent midair collisions.”
Despite the skill of the young corporal, there was at least one close call. Both Dabney and Arrotta trusted the close air support skills of Marine Corps pilots. As a rule, however, they usually ran both Air Force and Navy flights on targets two or more kilometers from the hill. Early on during the siege, an Air Force pilot dropped his ordnance without being “cleared hot” by Cpl Arrotta. As Dabney and Arrotta stood together on the hill, someone shouted a warning. The two Marines looked over their shoulders to see the aircraft coming right at them on the hill.
“Just as we caught sight of him, four bombs dropped from under his wings, and we dove for the bottom of the trench with Arrotta calling, ‘Abort! Abort!’ on the radio. Too late. Dust, shrapnel, tree stumps flying all over the place, both of us—and many others—were deaf for hours. Had he been accurate, we’d have lost perhaps 100 Marines. I lost my cool instead,” Dabney remembered.
In February, Arrotta suffered a loss that would impact the rest of his life. In a recording made on Hill 881S he stated, “I grew up a lot today. My best friend died in my arms.”
Cpl Terry Smith was in a bunker with Arrotta when a helicopter approached the landing zone where the North Vietnamese had registered heavy mortars. Approaching the hill without prior notice, the helicopter’s mission was to pick up resupply nets that had been dropped the previous week. The two young Marines usually took turns running out to the landing zone to attach the external slings to the “birds.” Enemy mortars registered on the hill were lethal.
“We could usually hear the [mortar] tube pop, and we had about 25 seconds from pop to impact, so it was vital to get the birds out in 20 seconds maximum, then take cover,” Dabney explained. Realizing the danger to the helicopter crew, Arrotta attempted to contact the pilot by radio, but was unsuccessful. Smith prevented Arrotta from leaving the safety of the bunker and ran across open ground, signaling to the helicopter to take off immediately. As the helicopter took off and before Smith could take cover, he was hit by shrapnel from the incoming mortar rounds.
Many years later Arrotta wrote, “I held onto Terry and yelled and screamed into the radio for the helicopter to come back and pick Terry up. The chopper returned and the corpsman and I picked Terry up and threw him on the chopper while the mortars were impacting all around us. … I don’t believe there has been one day in the last thirty years that I haven’t thought about that horrible day. I remember how helpless I felt and how it should have been me lying there dying, and not Terry.”
Dworsky noted the toll that day took on the young corporal. “I was wounded late in February and had to go to the small hill [where Mike Company was] to get medevacked. Bob and I carried another wounded Marine to the LZ. We all got out, although [we] took quite a bit of fire on the way. I asked Bob … why he went to the new LZ especially since they already had another team there. He told me that he didn’t want the wounded and dead to be alone. He believed that it was part of his duty as a Marine to perform that simple act of faith. He never was satisfied that he could do enough to help.”
Years later, Colonel Dabney, who was awarded the Navy Cross for his leadership on Hill 881S, commented on the service of Arrotta. “During the Siege of Khe Sanh, an operation called Niagara was in place. Essentially, it required that any close air support aircraft returning from aborted missions in the general area check in with the Khe Sanh Direct Air Support Center [DASC] before pickling [dropping] their ordnance.
“Since it was the end of the monsoon season and there were many bombing missions along the DMZ [Demilitarized Zone] and in North Vietnam that had to be aborted because of bad weather, plenty of aircraft with all sorts of ordnance [was available almost] every day. The base at Khe Sanh itself was in a bowl, so [they] couldn’t use [that ordnance] unless they had an airborne forward air controller, so they’d often pass them off to us … sitting atop a 3,000-foot hill, we didn’t need an airborne FAC, and we always had plenty of targets.
“Several times we got two or three flights of bombers passed off to us simultaneously. Bob got quite adept at ‘stacking’ them based upon how much fuel they had left and using them based on the ordnance they were carrying. Sounds simple, I guess, but under fire, without prior notice, it took superb organizational skills to both manage the air assets and direct the marking rounds our mortars fired to designate the targets for the bomber pilots.
“Bob did all of that in his head, sometimes juggling as many as three flights at once. My input was simply to tell him what targets to hit. He’d take it from there, stack the flights, range the mortar marking rounds and run the bombers in. In effect, he was his own DASC.”
In his 77 days on Hill 881S, Cpl Robert Arrotta had the tactical call sign of “India 14,” identifying him as the close air support representative of the company. During this long siege, he directed some 300 close air support missions, all resupply of the hill by helicopters, and in coordination with the helicopter support team, all medical evacuations.
Arrotta left the Republic of Vietnam in the autumn of 1968. During his tour he was awarded a Bronze Star medal, as well as a Navy Commendation Medal.
The latter’s citation states: “Assigned to Company I, Third Battalion, Twenty-Sixth Marines as a Forward Air Controller while that unit was located on Hill 881 South during the siege of the Khe Sanh Combat Base, he repeatedly distinguished himself by his courage and composure under fire. On numerous occasions, he fearlessly exposed himself to enemy artillery and mortar fire in order to direct Marine tactical air strikes on hostile positions and coordinate vitally needed helicopter resupply and medical evacuation missions. As a result of his diligent and tireless efforts, the combat effectiveness of his unit was greatly enhanced.”
Years later, still carrying the emotional wounds of Vietnam, Arrotta wanted to be close to a Marine Corps base, and in 1980, he moved to Southern California.
“It was at that time I realized the effect helicopters had on me. All sorts of military aircraft fly up and down this coastal community. But it’s always the Hueys, or the sound of their rotors, that causes me to flash back to Vietnam. I stop whatever I am doing and stare at the sky, waiting to see the ‘bird’ and remembering.”
In 2006, Major William C. Hendricks, assigned to the Air Officer Department, Marine Aviation and Weapons Tactics Squadron 1 at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., invited Arrotta to speak to the Air Officer Course. Arrotta agreed and suggested that former Sergeant Glenn Prentice, an artillery forward observer, also be included. The presentation, which included a series of photographs depicting life on 881S and the critical role played by close air support in their survival, was successful, and they were invited to speak to numerous classes.
Arrotta was extremely proud of his continued service to the Marine Corps, and, in addition to his work at MCAS Yuma, he addressed a number of fixed-wing and helicopter squadrons prior to their deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. To those in the audience, Arrotta “knew what it was like. Having him speak to us tied together the legend of the Marine brotherhood.”
Robert J. Arrotta died unexpectedly in November 2009, at the age of 64. He had been scheduled to speak at MCAS Yuma in April. Instead, prior to a brief given by Glenn Prentice, Maj Thomas Campbell asked everyone in attendance to take a few moments to reflect on the service and sacrifice of “The Mightiest Corporal in the Marine Corps.”
Col John Root said, “Bob was almost relaxed on 881S even as he was dealing with mortar fire, small arms and sniper fire, trying to get helos in and wounded out. He was very composed and a highly professional Marine who lived up to the highest traditions of the Marine Corps.”
Staff Sergeant Nathan Jacobson, who met Arrotta at MCAS Yuma, said simply, “He was a living legend, an inspiration, a real man who did amazing things. I was humbled to be in the same room as Robert J. Arrotta.”
First Lt Richard Dworsky, who also served with India Co, said, “Bob was honored by the love of the people who attended his funeral. All were veterans and Khe Sanh survivors. There was a flow in how Bob lived his life and how he viewed the Marine Corps. Duty, honor and teamwork were bigger than the individual.”
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Saturday, the Big day, After this comes arrange the tools for usage, charge all batteries, gather the notes, purchase the tickets. refine the game plan, Inflate the Imagination. I used the new display today, refined the adjustments to mimic the I-Mac . the smiles bigger ! Enjoy!
An interesting image as it shows the decorative hoardings surrounding "Shell Corner" in London during construction and the use the site hoardings were put to. The sweep of posters, frames and lettering was used to sell Shell 'Motor Spirit" or petrol (gasoline) and the company commissioned one of the best contemporary graphic designers and artists, Edward McKnight Kauffer, to design the scheme. It shows the refining of petrol and its uses.
McKnight Kauffer was at the time relatively early in his long and celebrated career having only a few years earlier received his first major commissions from Frank Pick at London's Underground, a major influence in the development of British graphic design, advertising and the industrial arts. Shell, from the 1920s and into the 1930s, were one of the other major companies to embrace high standards of design and advertising latterly under the control of Jack Beddington. Lovely as it is to see posters in "the real" I can only wonder what colours these hoardings used to catch the eye!
The hoardings also show the contractors for the building, the steelworks and the lifts - the latter being Waygood-Otis who were major suppliers of both lifts and escalators to London Underground. I'm sure the building was, or still is, 61 Aldwych at the corner of Kingsway now part of the LSE.
OMGAHDITSAIDEN!
I hadn't planned to change he and Josh much, just refine their features some XD
But I've been itching to draw them again :3 so here is an Aiden!<3
*Please read*
Throughout this project, there's been a distillation process. A subtle but sure refining of what it is I'm trying to do, and what it is I'm trying to see. I've always said that the book itself was never intended for anything greater than for me to end up with an awesome coffee table book for my house, and if anyone else wanted to join in along the way they could. With that in mind, whilst the photos have been about others, I've always allowed myself a hint of selfishness in my goals for the idea.
And as the project winds on, on what appears to be a three year treck, things change, it become fluid, adapts to the variances in me, in the people, and in the way I see them. My focus once defined but with a little breadth, I think draws closer with every shoot I do, and with every new person I speak to about it all. On a more personal note however, one of the things I'm finding difficult to deal with is how my own personal path affects the images. Inevitable obviously, but these photographs are meant to be about the people in them, not some means to vent my own teenage angst.
And it is here, that I reach a crossroads...
Of the poeple I've photographed lately, I've felt more challenged and more questioned. Whether this is a personal vulnerability or a mark of the greater perception of my recent sitters I'm not sure. Yet I've had everything from one person sit through my pitch so to speak, and then ask questions for an hour that cut concisely through all the patter and peeled back the lid on the real drive behind it all, and then told me to have more courage in what I'm doing. I've had one person who I so dearly wanted, who I was sure was a certainty who listened and blew the idea right out the water. I've had another sceptical of the idea of the project, but not of me, and yet another who's been more able than anyone I've ever met to question and make me doubt who I am as a photographer, and yet still give me the OK to shoot, confident in the ability to show you guys something real about them.
So the truth is, I'm getting questioned about all this, even by the people sitting for the photos. Mia here is one such source of confusion. Mia's someone I click with, and who I can happily talk all day to about pretty much anything. Mia here, is an artist. Not one of those 'I make pretty pictures, sell them in batches of 25 and call myself an artist, and by the way I do gift cards too' artists, but the real deal. Someone who lives and breathes through things creative. She sees coffee cups in the sink and something about how they're laid out will catch her eye, she dresses with more style than you can shake a stick at, can make something visually wonderful from any bloody medium you want (and I do mean any) and somehow just seems to find a way to question, visually, philosophically or aesthetically pretty much anything you can think of, either with fine based argument or just through gut feeling. She can, quite frankly, unpick and unravel anything and everything about what I do, and that in itself is a deeply, deeply admirable thing to see.
And hell man, it scares me. Never before have I shot someone like this and actually been left with no clue as to what I see, she sees or anyone else sees. I'm left in a tailspin. It's both a good thing and a terifying thing. Yet there's one thing that pleases me more, and it occured to me over the last three days since I finished this shot trying to think of what to type that could even vaguely do justice to someone quite this cool, and that's that with a fresh eye, and some removal from the photos, I come back and I see what I started to photograph just over a year ago.
I see beauty. I see nothing obvious, but the pursuit of trying to photograph the tiny little things that become special and loved about someone. I see the hidden gems, the secret little things that make you catch your breath. I see leans of the shoulders that only the lucky men (or women) know, I see the look that could mean anything, but means just one thing to those lucky enough to know. I see simplicity and elegance, I see everything and nothing. I see someone, something, somethings even, that someone out there has fallen for, and just a tiny, tiny slice of explanation of that to you, and me, the viewer.
What I see is a distillation. What I see is someone who has and possibly will continue to, challenge me and my photography, and I see her photographed in a way, completely unbeknown to me, as purely as the original concept.
Amongst a flight of ups and downs, I see some elegance fighting through the clouds.
The Rock Island refinery located four miles south of Duncan was built in the 1920’s by Rock Island Railroad and it operated the Site from the 1920s until 1944. From 1944 to 1947, the U.S Department of Defense operated the site. The current refinery facility was built in 1947 by the Sun Petroleum Products Company and reportedly operated under the name of Sunray/DX.
The subsequent owners of the Site included Sun Oil (1960 to 1980) and the TOSCO Corporation (1980 to 1983.) TOSCO stopped operations in July 1983 and sold the refinery in June 1986 to Alpha Oil Company and others.
This sign was for sale on eBay.
Interesting what you can find in Toronto's back alleyways. This Volvo mini truck looks like it's designed for rugged off road travel. The second Laplander (or the same one twice) so far that I have found in Toronto
My Blog entry on using the film
Possibly a civilian version of a Volvo c303 or c202 or Valp or Laplander?
I'm liking this inexpensive Shanghai GP3 film now that I have developed a roll correctly, Downside of cheap backing paper and a curl with enough springiness to act as leaf springs for the above truck can be dealt with.
This is from August 2006.
Arriving at a Mortgage Company near Worcester for a re-finance closing...back when refinance of mortgages still existed.
The occasion is gone, but I am not gone at all.
The look is fab, though not current.
It is sexy hot and racy and VERY catwalk!
The heels are by Gucci, the top by BabyPhat, the purse by Oroton.
The make up by Jamie Austin
Currently, I am trying to refine this Upright Ondae by determining what the ideal needle length for the tree is. While some of this can be arrived at by just choosing what looks good, I think a compromise has to be made between appearance and the fact that in my experience, this cork bark pine needs to have needles a little on the long side to thrive. Just how long is the question.
To see the 3-D, use red/cyan glasses.
To read the QR code in the picture, use your smart phone and a scanner app. To find out more about QR codes, go to www.fredtruck.com, choose the Articles menu item, and select the Seals option.
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Also, check out my video on YouTube, Milk Bottle Reliquary. You will find it here:
This just in! I’ve just published an article detailing what my method of making Anaglyphs might mean in art and information science.
Click on this: www.fredtruck.com/anaglyphs/Anaglyphs.htm
Sometimes this process feels like a slot machine, except that you happen to be pulling the lever upward.
Actually, the odds of "winning" are much better in this case.
Work in progress:
Refining the details on cast feet
(on the left is a refined foot. At the sanding stage, more refining on the surface takes place)
'Dea Vivente' dolls: deavivente.com
Refining my post processing efforts... I don't like the glow around some of the railing, but I recognize that. I embrace my disdain, and endeavor to improve.
Commonwealth Oil Refining Company, Inc. (CORCO) was an oil refinery established in the towns of Peñuelas and Guayanilla in Puerto Rico in the middle of the 20th century. The project started as part of Operation Bootstrap with the first unit being constructed in 1954. The company started operations in 1955 and was finally incorporated on May 19, 1963. Corco represented an investment of $25 million and had the capacity to refine 23,500 barrels (3,740 m3) of oil daily. Hugo David Storer Tavarez was one of the men in charge of the CORCO being established in Puerto Rico.
The refinery is located in an 800-acre (3.2 km2) site, and consists of numerous storage tanks and waste treatment units typical of petroleum refineries. CORCO has been inactive since 1982, and now functions as a terminal for the marine transportation and land-based storage of crude oil and petroleum products.
After the refinery ceased operations, an entity called Desarrollo Integral del Sur (South Integral Development) began developing a long-term plan for the reuse of the terrains and properties.
The following is an account of Lake Hart published in 1947 -
Although for long it has been deserted, Lake Hart, on the lonely mulga plains, has Australia's Prize Salt Deposit.
Standing beside the transcontinental railway, 137 miles [219 kilometres] from Port Augusta, is a 7,000 tons dump of the best quality salt in Australia. Behind it, stretching far northwards, is Lake Hart, the place from which the salt was taken.
In 1931 this was the scene of a thriving industry. Today, it is forgotten in its isolation amid the mulga plains of the north-west. Lake Hart's importance as a salt deposit first became manifest in 1918 when surveyors investigated its entire area. They estimated the yield as three million tons, and defined the lake's area as 61 square miles.
Following these observations, the Sydney firm which owned the deposit - the Commonwealth Salt Refining Company - began preliminary operations with a few men.
Small quantities of salt were harvested and bagged for testing purposes. At this stage no refining plant had been installed, and the salt was sent to Adelaide for refining. The finished product proved so successful that the CSRC immediately launched large-scale operations. They installed a refining plant, and employed more than 50 men. The employees camped at the site and depended for their stores on the Commonwealth Railway's weekly food train.
Salt was harvested by day and refined continuously by shift workers.
Harvesting methods then were slow and cumbersome compared with present day methods. Sweepers first swept the water forward to the elevated catchment pens, each of which was 300 ft long by 150 ft wide.
When the salt had been deposited on the floor, the water was allowed to flow back into the lake, leaving the salt banked in and around the pens. The salt was then swept up and loaded into carrying carts, which were towed to the nearby refining plant.
Driving power for the plant was supplied by a gas producer engine. At first a Crossley type of 35 hp was used, but as production accelerated, a large Hornsby engine of 50 hp was added. These two engines may still be seen among the skeleton plant which remains at the lake.
The first phase of the salt's refining began when it entered the crushers. For Lake Hart salt, this was a very thorough process, due to the crude product's unusual hardness.
From the crushers it was carried into the washing troughs. Here it was scoured free of all foreign matter and, after a series of swillings was passed into the dehydrator.
When this machine had evaporated all water from the now whitened grain, the salt entered its final process - the drying oven.
This machine dried out all moisture and at the same time killed any remaining germ life, before discharging the finished product.
Such refineries were, of course, greatly inferior to present day establishments, such as those on Yorke Peninsula. Here, the sea water itself passes through several evaporation condensers before the salt is extricated for a complicated refining. But with Lake Hart's pure quality salt extensive refining was not necessary.
Few facilities existed to enable workers to negotiate the obstacles of outback industrial settlement. One employee crossed the lake in a flat-bottomed boat to ascertain the salt content on the opposite shore. He sailed across, but had to row 15 miles on the return trip. Today, people of the north-west give him the honour of being Lake Hart's conqueror.
Extreme difficulty was experienced from the late summer downpours which are prevalent in this area. During these storms the lake often became flooded, rendering harvesting impossible. However, the company had prepared for such emergencies. Huge reserve dumps had been heaped in readiness, and refining was not hampered.
For several years Lake Hart yielded 9,000 tons annually. Most of the salt was shipped to Sydney, where it was distributed for edible and industrial uses.
Commercial users throughout Australia were elated with the quality. Housewives discovered that, in actual saltiness, the Lake Hart product was twice as strong as any other.
The biggest asset that the salt had was its freedom from gypsum. This was, and still is, a very rare credential. All other main Australian sources are handicapped by gypsum content, which not only reduces quality, but enforces excessive work and cost during the refining process.
In 1921 the company amalgamated with the Australian Salt Company. The firm experienced great difficulties in obtaining water for refining purposes, its only supplies coming from occasional supply trains. Further, the isolated position created problems in the delivery of the refined product. These difficulties were the chief reasons for the cessation of harvesting in 1931.
Yorke Peninsula refineries were supplying more than enough salt for the State's use, and, although the quality was greatly inferior to that of Lake Hart, it was considered unpayable to continue work on the lake. To Australia, its closing meant a decrease in the quality of salt in use: but the quantity remains plentiful.
Salt is in enormous surplus, not only in Australia, but throughout the world. Our own refinery at Price on Yorke Peninsula, for instance, can supply enough salt in six months to last South Australia for five years.
Ever since closing the Lake Hart plant, the Australian Salt Company has employed a caretaker on the premises. The present caretaker has held his lonely job for seven years. His duties are simple. He records the rise and fall of the lake, and is responsible for the maintenance of the depleted plant.
Much of the plant was removed soon after the work ceased, but the catchment pens, crushers and engines remain in readiness for a reopening of the industry.
Last year it was intended to restart the enterprise, but fate ruled otherwise. Heavy rain swelled the lake to such an extent that plans had to be temporarily abandoned.
There is little opportunity for anyone to see Lake Hart. Train tourists can, but as both the East and West bound expresses pass this locality during the night, few see what is Australia's prize salt deposit.
Ref: Advertiser (Adelaide) 6-9-1947 Article by W J Watkins
295/366: Refining Rains
Yesterday morning we had some substantial refining rains. It poured, large noisy raindrops… raindrops you could hear bouncing off the neighborhood rooftops. A cleansing, refining rain.. the kind that feels so good because it had been so long since the last purge. The creeks filled, the water holes came to life and the animals thanked a God and I ventured out to Stone Creek Park in Flower Mound. I had never seen the creek running so fast, so swiftly and so powerfully… it was a wonder to photography… the water appears like fog when using a long exposure technique because of the vast power and authority, it was a dynamic site to see.
Photo taken with my Nikon D810 and Lee Filters CP and Big Stopper for an exposure time of 106 seconds at f/8, ISO 100 – 14mm.
© Cathy Neth
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