View allAll Photos Tagged SharpFocus
“Some of my old memories feel trapped in amber in my brain, lucid and burning, while others are like the wing beat of a hummingbird, an intangible, ephemeral blur.”
Mira Bartok, The Memory Palace
Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant Humulus lupulus. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor, though they are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine. [from Wiki]
"Except. What is normal at any given time? We change just as the seasons change, and each spring brings new growth. So nothing is ever quite the same."
Sherwood Smith, Crown Duel
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED June 23, 2013.
"If winter is slumber and spring is birth, and summer is life, then autumn rounds out to be reflection. It's a time of year when the leaves are down and the harvest is in and the perennials are gone. Mother Earth just closed up the drapes on another year and it's time to reflect on what's come before."
Mitchell Burgess, Northern Exposure, Thanksgiving, 1992
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED November 22, 2013.
All rights reserved ©
For Macro Mondays: "Sharp as a Tack" theme
I tried my hand at focus stacking this week and have had a pretty difficult time with it. None of my images pleased me enough to post. For this shot, I resorted to using a single image taken using a tripod with my camera in manual mode, ISO 800, f20. I added a Gaussian blur to the background to smooth things out.
I really feel I have been sharpening my photography skills this week--as well as the lead in my pencil!
"A star falls from the sky and into your hands. Then it seeps through your veins and swims inside your blood and becomes every part of you. And then you have to put it back into the sky. And it's the most painful thing you'll ever have to do and that you've ever done. But what's yours is yours. Whether it’s up in the sky or here in your hands..."
C. JoyBell C.
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED August 26, 2013.
Here is a juvenile Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) fishing the salt marsh just west of the Laguna Madre. During our Birdcamp trip to South Padre Island, I was fascinated watching their precision "fly-fishing" — true masters of low-level flight.
But they certainly work hard for their meals! For the nearly one hundred skimming passes I filmed, I never saw one catch a fish. Contrast that with herons and egrets that come up with a fish about 2 out of every 3 attempts. But the flying sure seems like a lot of fun!
© Eric Herr. All Rights Reserved.
The character Fú (福) meaning "good fortune" or "happiness". (GETTY IMAGE)
Chinese calligraphy(Brush calligraphy) is an art unique to Asian cultures.
Happy Lunar New Year, Best Wishes for the Year of the Horse!
Kung Hei Fat Choy (Cantonese)
Gong Xi Fa Cai (Mandarin)
Keung Hee Huat Chai (Hokkien)
Today is the 3rd Day of CNY
“You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen. When the cold rains kept on and killed the spring, it was as though a young person died for no reason.”
Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED August 28, 2013.
“You must give everything to make your life as beautiful as the dreams that dance in your imagination.”
Roman Payne
Groene Specht - Eurasian Green Woodpecker, Picus viridis - Spechten (Picidae)
An unforgettable moment with a European Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis). I captured this beautiful bird at a drinking pool, creating a perfect mirror reflection in the calm water just as it looked up into the sky.
The contrast between its vibrant green feathers, the red crown, and the soft blue/green tones of the water reflection is absolutely magical.
What catches your eye first in this composition? The reflection or its gaze? Let me know in the comments! 👇
"Sooth me like chamomile,
take all my worries away."
Marisa Lishay
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved.
"...after all it is only in the darkest nights that stars shine more brightly."
Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib A.S
“I was always attracted not by some quantifiable, external beauty, but by something deep down, something absolute... For want of a better word, call it magnetism. Like it or not, it’s a kind of power that snares people and reels them in.”
Haruki Murakami, South of the Border, West of the Sun
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved.
'We are lonesome animals. We spend all our life trying to be less lonesome. And one of our ancient methods is to tell a story, begging the listener to say, -- and to feel, "Yes, that's the way it is, or at least that's the way I feel it. You're not as alone as you thought."
John Steinbeck
"...in this air of withering sweetness."
Robert Frost
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED September 15, 2013.
"All colours will agree in the dark."
Francis Bacon
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved.
"If a man would travel far along the mystic road, he must learn to desire God intensely but in stillness, passively and yet with all his heart and mind and strength."
Aldous Huxley
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved.
* Lightbox: Best seen in larger size on black (click image above)
"As imperceptibly as Grief
The Summer lapsed away..."
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED December 10, 2011.
Thank you very much, my dear Flickr friends!
* Best seen in larger size on black (click image above)
The garden strawberry was first bred in Brittany, France, in the 1750s via a cross of Fragaria virginiana from eastern North America and Fragaria chiloensis, which was brought from Chile by Amédée-François Frézier in 1714. Cultivars of Fragaria × ananassa have replaced, in commercial production, the woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca), which was the first strawberry species cultivated in the early 17th century. (from Wikipedia)
"Do you know quince? It's a fall fruit that grows in a manner quite like apples and pears — but its similarities end there.
Quince is a tough fruit, not well known, and often hard to come by. But it has the most amazing sweet and secret reward. Here's how to get at it..."
"There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to outcarol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain… Or so says the legend."
Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED September 11, 2013.
I started the morning on Hailuoto island shooting hawks during their early hunt and managed to get some amazing shots. While scanning the surroundings for more action, I suddenly noticed a curious Stoat (Mustela erminea) watching me from a gravel road.
I quickly lowered myself down to the road level to get onto its eye line. Instead of running away, the fast little predator started sprinting directly toward me, occasionally pausing at the edge of the ditch before getting incredibly close. It was an unforgettable experience to witness this elusive creature from just a few feet away!
"My day has been too long. In the morning I saw the sons of the Unamis happy and strong; and yet, before the sun has come, have I lived to see the last warrior of the wise race of the Mohicans."
James Fenimore Cooper
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED November 24, 2013.
"O many Junes shall come and go,
Flow'r-footed o'er the mead;
O many Junes for me, to whom
Is length of days decreed."
Amy Levy
"Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first."
Ernestine Ulmer
"I love the smell of lemongrass, tangerine peels, and pummelo peels. They're almost like perfume in your kitchen."
Martin Yan
© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED February 9, 2012.
* Best seen in larger size on black (click image above)
"An August day will find me
upon the summer breeze
On the distant sound of the thunder,
in the gently swaying trees.
In the golden fields of harvest,
is where I can be found;
As autumn time approaches
and leaves comes tumbling down..."
Marilyn Ferguson
"The joys of the summer surround me
I feel a soft breeze on my face
The breath of the air blows away all my cares
And brings the delights on this place..."
"Foods high in bad fats, sugar and chemicals are directly linked to many negative emotions, whereas whole, natural foods rich in nutrients - foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes - contribute to greater energy and positive emotions."
Marilu Henner
"The blissful evening glow
spread across the meadows
and I called this light
the blood I shed.
My hot burning blood lay
consoling the entire world..."
Robert Walser
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED June 11, 2013.
Generated By Midjourney V6
---
**Prompt :**
Portrait cinématographique d’un roi mystique druidique, homme d’âge mûr au regard perçant vert émeraude, peau texturée ultra réaliste avec pores visibles et micro-imperfections naturelles. Il porte une couronne finement ciselée en métal ancien ornée de gemmes bleues luminescentes diffusant une légère énergie magique. Sa chevelure longue, ondulée, brun cuivré, est subtilement animée par un vent invisible, tressée avec précision en une natte épaisse descendant sur sa poitrine.
Barbe dense et soigneusement travaillée mêlant gris argenté et brun profond, chaque poil rendu avec une netteté extrême. Armure druidique en métal organique et cuir sombre, incrustée de pierres précieuses brillantes et de motifs celtiques complexes, reflétant une lumière douce et diffuse.
Autour de lui gravitent des créatures féeriques : papillons iridescents aux ailes translucides, scarabées métalliques aux reflets émeraude et or, libellules lumineuses. Elles flottent en suspension dans un environnement cosmique, mélange de forêt enchantée et de nébuleuse stellaire.
Arrière-plan riche en particules lumineuses flottantes, poussières d’or et d’ambre, bokeh magique, profondeur de champ cinématographique. Éclairage volumétrique dramatique venant de face et légèrement latéral, créant des reflets subtils sur les gemmes et une lueur mystique sur le visage.
Ambiance : fantasy épique, royale, mystique, intemporelle.
Style : hyperréalisme, rendu 8K, ultra haute définition, textures détaillées, éclairage global illumination, ray tracing, color grading cinématographique (teintes chaudes or/cuivre contrastées avec bleus profonds).
Qualité : masterpiece, photoréaliste, détails extrêmes, sharp focus, cinematic lighting, HDR.
---
**Prompt:**
Cinematic portrait of a mystical druid king, a mature man with piercing emerald-green eyes, ultra-realistic skin texture with visible pores and natural micro-imperfections. He wears an intricately crafted ancient metal crown adorned with glowing blue gemstones emitting a subtle magical aura. His long, wavy copper-brown hair flows gently as if moved by an unseen wind, partially braided into a thick, detailed braid resting on his chest.
His beard is full and meticulously groomed, blending silver-gray and deep brown tones, with each strand rendered in extreme detail. He wears a druidic armor made of organic metal and dark leather, embedded with luminous jewels and intricate Celtic patterns, softly reflecting ambient light.
Surrounding him are ethereal creatures: iridescent butterflies with translucent wings, metallic beetles with emerald and gold reflections, and glowing dragonflies. They hover in a magical suspension within a surreal environment blending enchanted forest elements with a cosmic nebula.
The background is rich with floating particles, golden and amber dust, magical bokeh, and cinematic depth of field. Dramatic volumetric lighting from the front and slightly from the side enhances the gemstones and casts a mystical glow across his face.
Mood: epic fantasy, regal, mystical, timeless.
Style: hyper-realism, 8K resolution, ultra high definition, extreme detail, global illumination, ray tracing, cinematic color grading (warm gold/copper tones contrasted with deep blues).
Quality tags: masterpiece, photorealistic, ultra-detailed, sharp focus, cinematic lighting, HDR.
---
--ar 3:2 --v 6 --style raw --q 2 --s 250 --chaos 5 --seed 12345
"Spring, the sweet spring, is the year’s pleasant king,
Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring..."
Thomas Nashe
Quince are large yellow knobbly apple-shaped fruits that have a slightly floral flavour and ripen in the Autumn. On the tree they have a white furry layer over their skin that will probably be rubbed off if you see them for sale. You see old Spanish ladies buying bags full at the market. They will be boiling up huge pots of them to make Carne de Membrillo, a sweet quince paste that is traditionally served with a nice cured Manchego cheese.
foodblogandthedog.wordpress.com/2012/10/27/persian-quince...
chicaandaluza.com/2011/11/14/dulce-de-membrillo-quince-je...
"Open up your eyes, then you realize,
Here I stand with my everlasting love!
Need you by my side, there's no need to hide,
Never be denied, everlasting love!
From the very start, open up your heart
Be a lasting part of everlasting love!"
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED August 24, 2013.
"A Light exists in Spring
Not present on the Year
At any other period..."
Emily Dickinson
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED April 23, 2013.
* Lightbox: Best seen in larger size on black (click image above)
"...when the red-fingered moon
rises after sunset, erasing
stars around her, and pouring light equally
across the salt sea
and over densely flowered fields."
Sappho
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED November 19, 2013.
"All the world glows with roses, roses, roses..."
Saul Chernihovsky (1875-1943) Russian-born American poet.
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED November 27, 2013.
Taken from Hatcher Pass, Alaska
Very high-contrast light. Cranked the shadows & highlights to balance.
_8196h
"You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world." (Matthew 5:14, The Message)
Anonymous, The Message Remix
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© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED June 7, 2013.