View allAll Photos Tagged SharpFocus
The Pietà (pl. same; Italian for pity)
"Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of withering, of tarnishing."
Anais Nin
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""Pick the day. Enjoy it - to the hilt. The day as it comes. People as they come... The past, I think, has helped me appreciate the present, and I don't want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future."
Audrey Hepburn
“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.”
Ashley Smith
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."
John Muir
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Don Quixote, fully titled The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha (Spanish: El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha), is a novel written by Miguel de Cervantes.
"Remember that there are two kinds of beauty: one of the soul and the other of the body. That of the soul displays its radiance in intelligence, in chastity, in good conduct, in generosity, and in good breeding, and all these qualities may exist in an ugly man. And when we focus our attention upon that beauty, not upon the physical, love generally arises with great violence and intensity."
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
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A Christmas carol (also called a noël) is a carol (song or hymn) whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.
"And so I'm offering this simple phrase,
To kids from one to ninety-two,
Although its been said many times, many ways,
A very Merry Christmas to you ."
(The Christmas Song)
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Cooper's Hawk flying from nest to get food for young. The food I have seen brought into the nest looks like it is about the size of a dragonfly so I think the chicks are very small and very young. The birds do not seem too upset by my presence and seem to prefer I wear the full gilly suit vs. just plain camouflage clothing. They let me know their opinions by a chicken like clucking, which I am learning to imitate. One morning there was not activity for about 15 or 20 minutes and I made the clucking sound and immediately saw a tail rise up! Off in the distance I can hear a red-shouldered hawk very loudly proclaiming that this is his territory. It would be nice to find their nest also. Does anybody know how long it takes for them to build a nest?
This image is much much better at large size and you will better feel what it is like to have one of these birds almost directly over your head.
Today is International Children's Day
"Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity."
Kay Redfield Jamison
"The only thing worth stealing is a kiss from a sleeping child."
Joe Houldsworth
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"There are always flowers for those who want to see them."
Henri Matisse
"Flowers... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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"Weep no more, lady, weep no more,
Thy sorrow is in vain,
For violets plucked, the sweetest showers
Will ne'er make grow again."
Thomas Percy
"What thought is folded in thy leaves!
What tender thought, what speechless pain!
I hold thy faded lips to mine,
Thou darling of the April rain."
Thomas Bailey Aldrich
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“Be still.
Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity.”
Lao Tzu
Thanks a lot for your visits and comments, my dear friends!
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without
my explicit permission.
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED November 28, 2013.
This collection presents a breathtaking cinematic journey through the avian world, capturing the raw essence of diverse species in their most iconic states. From the powerful, sun-drenched silhouette of a golden eagle perched in the highlands to the serene, minimalist grace of a grey heron standing in a morning mist, each image is a masterclass in light, texture, and composition.
The series explores various habitats: the dramatic snowy peaks where raptors soar, the tranquil pink-hued wetlands of wading flamingos, the intricate stick-nests of urban storks, and even the clandestine world of a peregrine falcon overlooking a bokeh-filled city night. Every feather is rendered with hyper-realistic precision, emphasizing the bridge between high-end wildlife photography and the limitless possibilities of digital creation. This portfolio serves as a visual tribute to biodiversity, stillness, and the predatory elegance of birds.
These images have been generated by Artificial Intelligence.
Self Portrait: Recalibrated (B&W): A quiet self-portrait captured after a year of steady progress and discipline. The physical transformation of losing 105 poinds is obvious, but the goal here was something more grounded, an honest, current self-representation.
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that always falls on the Sunday before Easter Sunday. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned by all four Canonical Gospels (Mark 11:1-11, Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:12-19). In many Christian churches, Palm Sunday is marked by the distribution of palm leaves (often tied into crosses) to the assembled worshipers. The difficulty of procuring palms for that day's ceremonies in unfavorable climates for palms led to the substitution of boughs of box, yew, willow or other native trees. The Sunday was often designated by the names of these trees, as Yew Sunday or by the general term Branch Sunday.
In the Russian Orthodox Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Ukrainian Catholic Church, and Ruthenian Catholic Church, the custom developed of using pussy willow instead of palm fronds because the latter are not readily available that far north.
"Palm Sunday is like a glimpse of Easter. It's a little bit joyful after being somber during Lent."
Laura Gale
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"The art of an artist must be his own art. It is... always a continuous chain of little inventions, little technical discoveries of one's own, in one's relation to the tool, the material and the colors."
Emil Nolde
"There are infinite shadings of light and shadows and colors... it's an extraordinarily subtle language. Figuring out how to speak that language is a lifetime job."
Conrad Hall
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Melting snowflakes on her hand...
(Alizbar(celtic harp), Christian Amin Varkonyi (hang drum))
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Ukrainian Christmas Kutya (ingredients):
2 cups cleaned wheat berries
3 -4 quarts water
1 cup cleaned poppy seed
1/3 cup honey
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or 1/2 cup pecans
This dish should be prepared several days ahead of of time for flavour to develop. It keeps very well in the refrigerator for 2 weeks or so. Very high in vitamins.
Where’s Waldo: Closer Than You Think (B&W): Turns out Waldo isn’t that hard to find, just don’t blink. A tight portrait flips the usual game on its head, trading chaos for clarity while keeping the signature red-and-white attitude intact.
"Perhaps - I want the old days back again and they'll never come back, and I am haunted by the memory of them and of the world falling about my ears."
Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind
"I have forgot much, Cynara! gone with the wind,
Flung roses, roses riotously with the throng,
Dancing, to put thy pale, lost lilies out of mind.."
Ernest Dowson
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"Well, I must say," said Margaret, when in course of time the baked meat was dished and set on the table, "that I think baked meat tastes quite as well as roast meat, and it is much less troublesome to cook."
Little Folks, A Magazine for the Young
“It's amazing how putting homemade in front of something makes it sound healthier..."
Answerbag
"Nor will I then thy modest grace forget,
Chaste Snow-drop, venturous harbinger of Spring,
And pensive monitor of fleeting years!"
William Wordsworth, To a Snow-Drop
"The morning star of flowers."
James Montgomery, Snow-Drop
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sexy picture of a petite ethiopian model standing profile using a chair as a prop. photographer souleye, sharpfocus photography, washington dc
"And if, happy in the lot of no created thing, he withdraws into the center of his own unity, his spirit, made one with God, in the solitary darkness of God, who is set above all things, shall surpass them all."
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
"If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities."
Maya Angelou
"Hidden in wonder and snow, or sudden with summer,
This land stares at the sun in a huge silence
Endlessly repeating something we cannot hear.
Inarticulate, arctic,
Not written on by history, empty as paper,
It leans away from the world with songs in its lakes
Older than love, and lost in the miles."
F. R. Scott, Laurentian Shield
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“I have the world's largest collection of seashells. I keep it on all the beaches of the world... perhaps you've seen it.”
Stephen Wright, American Actor and Writer, b.1955
Shells are usually a spiritual symbol because they come from the sea, which represents the vast expanses of the unconscious mind. They are also a divine feminine symbol associated with the god Venus who was born from a shell... According to some authorities on dream superstition, shells predict that something strange will happen to you. So if you wake to find you’ve been abducted by aliens or there’s a flipper where your foot was, it is probably the shell dream that’s to blame.
www.dreamsleep.net/shells-dream-interpretation.html
"See what a lovely shell,
Small and pure as a pearl..."
Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)
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"Night falls. Or has fallen. Why is it that night falls, instead of rising, like the dawn? Yet if you look east, at sunset, you can see night rising, not falling; darkness lifting into the sky, up from the horizon, like a black sun behind cloud cover. Like smoke from an unseen fire, a line of fire just below the horizon, brushfire or a burning city. Maybe night falls because it’s heavy, a thick curtain pulled up over the eyes. Wool blanket."
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED May 15, 2013.
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The Winter Sentinel: A Red Squirrel’s Survival
This evocative series of photorealistic images captures the resilient and enchanting life of a red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) amidst a pristine, snow-covered winter forest. The collection showcases a masterclass in cinematic lighting, blending wide-angle vistas of frozen pine woodlands with intimate, high-detail macro shots. Each frame reveals the intricate textures of the squirrel’s russet fur, delicate frost-tipped whiskers, and expressive dark eyes.
From the dynamic energy of a mid-air leap through powdery snow to the quiet, focused moments of foraging for pine cones on ice-dusted branches, the series highlights the ethereal beauty of nature’s struggle against the elements. The use of shallow depth of field and soft, golden-hour sunlight creates a magical atmosphere that celebrates the spirit of woodland wildlife in sub-zero temperatures.
These images have been generated by Artificial Intelligence.
tall fitness model wearing fun colors tight pants and boots kneeling in front of painting. photographer souleye, sharpfocus photography, washington dc
"I have a lot of objects in my space, little things, reminders, memories."
Marc Newson
"Little things console us because little things afflict us."
Blaise Pascal
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"Falling in love is not at all the most stupid thing that people do, but gravitation cannot be held responsible for it."
(Scribbled by Albert Einstein on a letter received during a visit to England (1933) from a man who suggested that gravity meant that as the world rotated people were sometimes upside down, horizontal, or at 'left angles' and that perhaps, this disorientation explained why people do foolish things like falling in love.)
"A true man never frets about his place in the world, but just slides into it by the gravitation of his nature, and swings there as easily as a star."
Edwin Hubbel Chapin
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Carpenter bee on hummingbird feeder with feeding tube extending to hole in feeder. It is grasping with special feet hardware. If he hogs the feeder for too long the other insects will hang onto him and weigh him down until he drops off from the excess weight. View at large size to see the details of the feeding tube and special feet better.
"I got a Black Magic Woman.
I got a Black Magic Woman.
Yes, I got a Black Magic Woman,
She's got me so blind I can't see;
But she's a Black Magic Woman and
she's trying to make a devil out of me."
Santana Lyrics
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picture of a teen asian model with pink top beige shorts and boots sitting on a chair smiling. souleye photographer, sharpfocus photography, washington dc.
"Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books."
John Lubbock
"Always keep your mind as bright and clear as the vast sky, the great ocean, and the highest peak, empty of all thoughts. Always keep your body filled with light and heat. Fill yourself with the power of wisdom and enlightenment."
Morihei Ueshiba
"Go forth under the open sky, and list to Nature's teachings."
William C. Bryan
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"When
I gather
My scattered thoughts
From
The crowd of words
Then
So many answers
So many response
So many replies
And
So many echoes
Gather..."
Seema Chowdhury, Scattered Thoughts
"Substances at base divided
In their summits are united;
There the holy essence rolls,
One through separated souls."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), U.S. essayist, poet, philosopher
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The California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) is a perennial and annual plant, native to the United States, and the official state flower of California. The flowers are solitary on long stems, silky-textured, with four petals, each petal 2–6 cm long and broad; their color ranges from yellow to orange, and flowering is from February to September. The petals close at night or in cold, windy weather and open again the following morning, although they may remain closed in cloudy weather. (Wikipedia)
"Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper I love you
Birds singing in the sycamore tree
Dream a little dream of me
Say nighty night and kiss me
Just hold me tight and tell me you miss me
While I'm alone and blue as can be
Dream a little dream of me"
Elliot Mama Cass Lyrics
"Welcome, wild harbinger of spring!
To this small nook of earth;
Feeling and fancy fondly cling
Round thoughts which owe their birth
To thee, and to the humble spot
Where chance has fixed thy lowly lot."
Bernard Barton, To a Crocus
(Harbinger - a person or thing that announces or indicates the approach of something; forerunner, herald.)
"It is not known precisely where angels dwell - whether in the air, the void, or the planets. It has not been God's pleasure that we should be informed of their abode."
Voltaire
"Angels descending, bring from above,
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love."
Fanny J. Crosby
"Have you ever seen a flower down
Sometimes angels skip around
And in their blissful state of glee
Bump into a daisy or sweet pea."
Jessi Lane Adams
Hyacinthus orientalis (Common Hyacinth, Garden Hyacinth or Dutch Hyacinth), is a perennial flowering plant of the genus Hyacinthus, native to southwestern Asia, in southern and central Turkey, northwestern Syria, Lebanon and northern Israel. It was introduced to Europe in the 16th century.
In Greek mythology, Hyakinthos was a young man admired by Apollo and Zephyr, but killed by a discus in a jealous fight between the two gods. The flower was allegedly named after him when it sprang from his blood. Nevertheless, the ancient plant Hyakinthos is nowadays known as Gladiolus segetum.
"I sometimes think that never blows so red
The Rose as where some buried Caesar bled;
That every Hyacinth the Garden wears
Dropt in her Lap from some once lovely Head."
Omar Khayyam
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“Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.”
A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
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"Soul receives from soul that knowledge,
therefore not by book nor from tongue.
If knowledge of mysteries come after
emptiness of mind, that is illumination of heart."
Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi (1207 - 1273), Soul Receives From Soul
“You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.”
C.S. Lewis
"I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck."
Emma Goldman
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"But beauty is set apart,
beauty is cast by the sea,
a barren rock,
beauty is set about
with wrecks of ships...."
Hilda Doolittle (1886-1961), "The Islands."
"If I’m honest I have to tell you I still read fairy-tales and I like them best of all."
Audrey Hepburn
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The name "pomegranate" derives from Latin pomum ("apple") and granatus ("seeded"). This has influenced the common name for pomegranate in many languages (e.g., German Granatapfel, "Granat" meaning "garnet" and "Apfel" meaning "apple", thus "garnet apple"). Perhaps stemming from the French word for the fruit, "pomme-grenade", the pomegranate was known in early English as "apple of Grenada" -- a term which today survives only in heraldic blazons. This was probably a folk etymology, confusing Latin granatus with the Spanish city of Granada.
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Garlic has been used throughout history for both culinary and medicinal purposes. The garlic plant's bulb is the most commonly used part of the plant. With the exception of the single clove types, the bulb is divided into numerous fleshy sections called cloves. The cloves are used for consumption (raw or cooked), or for medicinal purposes, and have a characteristic pungent, spicy flavor that mellows and sweetens considerably with cooking.
"Life is an endless cycle of souls, swirling along the path of the universe, being reborn, but never truly dying before being reborn again. As long as this cycle continues, we will never really die."
Ameila Wolfe
"Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn."
Mahatma Gandhi
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Februa, also Februatio, was the Roman festival of ritual purification.
The history of these extraordinary pears is as follows:
They are not bruised, not spoiled, but just slightly frostbitten, as they lay on the retailer's counter in the street all day. Last Sunday, I saw these pears at the local city market, and believe me, they looked as though were carved out of marble. Solid, beige, sometimes pink, with light brown streaks, the pears caught my attention with its picturesque appearance. They were gorgeous! Then I was convinced that they are still very juicy and delicious. It is a pity that the next day pears have lost a little bit of its beauty and I had to capture them quickly, and then eat these tasty morsels with great pleasure.
It seems to me that there is something shocking in the process of decay. So sorry for this beauty, which is contained in every living object that disappears before your eyes, and nothing can be fixed, edited or saved ... My photo sketches - an attempt to convey this idea of the brevity of life ("Each man's life is but a breath." (Psalm 39:5-6)), its irretrievable pace...
"The brevity of life, the failing of the senses, the numbness of indifference and unprofitable occupations allow us to know very little. And again and again swift oblivion, the thief of knowledge and the enemy of memory, makes a void of the mind, in the course of time, even what we learn we lose." (Nicholas Copernicus)
Sorry if I had upset or disappointed someone with this series of poor February pears ..:-).
"I see myself on a sailboat, sailing off the edge of the world."
Michelle Shocked
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"Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold."
William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), U.S. poet.
"When the delicious beauty of lineaments loses its power, it is because a more delicious beauty has appeared; that an interior and durable form has been disclosed."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
"Rare is the union of beauty and purity."
Juvenal