SharpFocus photos on Flickr

Frutas y dolor by Blas Torillo

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Frutas y espinas

The Pansy Violets by Natalie Panga

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The name 'pansy' is derived from the French word pensée meaning "thought", and was so named because the flower resembles a human face; in August it nods forward as if deep in thought.

The pansy or pansy violets are a large group of hybrid plants cultivated as garden flowers. Pansies are derived from Viola species Viola tricolor hybridized with other viola species, these hybrids are referred to as Viola × wittrockiana or less commonly Viola tricolor hortensis. The name "pansy" also appears as part of the common name for other Viola species that are wildflowers in Europe.

Viola tricolor, known as Heartsease, is a common European wild flower, growing as an annual or short-lived perennial. Lady Mary Bennet of England, afterwards Lady Monck, is responsible for introducing the pansy in 1812; she found every variety of Heartsease available and planted them all in her garden. The all-pansy garden reseeded and multiplied, creating new varieties of the flower. In 1813, a well-known florist called Mr. Lee, who worked at Vineyard Nursery, happened to encounter Lady Monck’s collection and anticipated his profit in further cultivating the flower. While Lady Monck’s initial interest in the natural world procured the pansy’s place in socialites’ hearts, it was Mr. Lee’s Romantic views on cultivation that furthered the flower’s popularity.

(from Wikipedia)

Ophelia's oft-quoted line, "There's pansies, that's for thoughts", in Hamlet (Act IV, Scene V) comes from this tradition: if a maiden found a honeyflower and a pansy left for her by an admirer, it would mean "I am thinking of our forbidden love" in symbol rather than in writing.

And Live Like It's Heaven On Earth by Natalie Panga

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"I am nothing special, of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough..."

Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

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Pattaya Street Life: Unfiltered Night Scenes off Soi Buakhao 🍢, Thailand by Wilfried Strang

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True Thailand experts know that Pattaya’s real, gritty identity pulses deep within the side alleys. This frame delivers a raw evening scene tucked away in a soi off the notorious Soi Buakhao. A mobile Thai street food cart sizzles under a bright LED light strip, while a customer in a black dress stands waiting, checking her smartphone. In the background, a combined massage parlor and beauty salon is dominated by a massive advertisement framed by glowing pink neon signage. To secure this sharp low-light sequence, I relied on my documentary workhorse: the Sony Alpha 7 IV (ILCE-7M4) paired with the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II at 53mm, f/4, 1/160 sec, and ISO 5000. Explore premium image licensing at www.strangphotography.com

A Chestnut-sided Warbler foraging among the branches by Amarnath

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During spring migration at Magee Marsh, midges, crane flies, adult fly variants, and small beetles emerge in massive numbers around the swamp forest. This provides the much needed protein to the migrating Chestnut-sided Warblers.

Warblers typically stay at Magee Marsh for 1 to 3 days after their flight from South American and Mexico before flying over the open waters of Lake Erie at night. Crossing Lake Erie requires immense physical endurance for these little birds. If headwinds or storms blow in from Canada, the birds stay at the marsh for up to a week until conditions improve.

Magee Marsh is a great spot for warbler viewing during Spring migration.

Tagetes From Tages by Natalie Panga

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The August's last, loveliest smile...

"Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits."

Samuel Butler

"Give me juicy autumnal fruit, ripe and red from the orchard."

Walt Whitman

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Scooters, a tuk-tuk, and a taxi, all lined up waiting for the same green light. Bangkok in Thailand by Wilfried Strang

Paper Wasp, Polistes Gallicus,flying to sugar water 9486 by Edward Mistarka

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Paper Wasp, Polistes Gallicus,flying to sugar water at hummingbird feeder. Jan 22, #167 explore.

kaleidoscope by Jesse Edsell-Vetter

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uploaded " 7/3/06 for flickr's 100 best photographers

Queen Anne's Lace (the flower of wild carrot)

Somerville, MA USA

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This is Sukhumvit 11 at night, one of Bangkok's busiest nightlife corners, caught in that few-second pause between the light turning green and the whole row of vehicles actually moving. Riders and passengers packed onto scooters, most of them checking phones while they wait, a classic blue-and-red tuk-tuk idling next to them, and a taxi's rooftop light glowing behind. Above it all, the elevated BTS station and its walkway loom over the intersection, steel and concrete stacked over a street that never actually stops moving, even when everyone in the frame is standing still.

This is the kind of scene that sums up getting around Bangkok after dark — every form of transport the city runs on, stacked into one intersection, all waiting on the same signal.

Here's why I set the camera the way I did. Night traffic scenes like this are almost entirely mixed lighting — LED signage, streetlights, headlights, shop lighting, none of it consistent. I opened up to f/5.0, wide enough to gather real light but still tight enough to hold focus across a wide row of riders stretching from one side of the frame to the other. 1/100 sec was the balance point — slow enough to keep ISO from climbing further, fast enough that the riders, mostly stationary but shifting slightly, stayed sharp rather than smearing. Even with that balance, ISO 5000 was necessary to pull a clean exposure out of a scene with almost no strong, even light source — a completely fair trade for holding onto detail on every rider's face and every reflection off the wet street.

28mm on the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II kept the frame wide enough to capture the entire row of vehicles and the elevated station towering above them, without losing the scale of the scene by zooming in too tight.

Part of my ongoing series on Bangkok street photography and Southeast Asia nightlife — the traffic, the tuk-tuks, the everyday grind of getting around this city after dark. More Thailand travel photography on my page

Technical details:

Sukhumvit 11, Bangkok, Thailand. 1/100 sec, f/5.0, ISO 5000, 28mm — Sony Alpha 7 IV with Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II.

www.strangphotography.com/behind-the-lens-frame-by-frame#...

Every Heart Sings A Song by Natalie Panga

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"Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.'

Plato

" ...but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death."

Leonardo da Vinci

* Best seen in larger size on black (click image above)

Grapes And Grape Juice by Natalie Panga

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"The juice of the grape is the liquid quintessence of concentrated sunbeams."

Thomas Love Peacock, Melincourt; Or Sir Oran Hautton

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buona notte by arnds photos

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perched upon the balcony of the royal hotel, a curious seagull graces us with its presence, not once but twice, under the cloak of night. its form is caressed by a mere breath of twilight, every feather etched sharply against the dimming sky. in its eye, a reflection of the day’s last secrets, as it surveys the realm of rooftops and fading lights. the moment captured, is a dance of shadows and light, a silent ode wrought by the exquisite noctilux lens of a leica, wide open at f/0.95, with the ISO held at a humble 100 by the new leica sl3. a scene not merely seen, but felt, as the dusk whispers to the bold and the silent alike.

Red Apples Smiled At Me by Natalie Panga

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" In the house of words was a table of colors. They offered themselves in great fountains and each poet took the color he needed: lemon yellow or sun yellow, ocean blue or smoke blue, crimson red, blood red, wine red."

Eduardo Galeano, The Book of Embraces.

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* Lightbox: Best seen in larger size on black (click image above)

Strawberry Still by Natalie Panga

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"To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders."

Lao Tzu

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* Lightbox: Best seen in larger size on black (click image above)

Roses In Blue Vase by Natalie Panga

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"This unlikely story begins on a sea that was a blue dream, as colorful as blue-silk stockings, and beneath a sky as blue as the irises of children's eyes..."

F. Scott Fitzgerald, Flappers and Philosophers

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Scarlet Sessions - Unstoppable by Zack

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Scarlet Sessions - Unstoppable: Bold color meets an effortless vertical presence, emphasizing a silhouette defined by confidence and high-gloss glamour. Looking for feedback on the balance of specular highlights versus skin tone recovery, how do you feel about the exposure here?

Macro Shot of a Green Fly on Leaf by LIGHTCAMACT

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A vivid macro photograph capturing a green long-legged fly perched delicately on a soft green leaf. The fine details of its iridescent wings and metallic body shine through against a blurred natural background, emphasizing the beauty of small creatures in nature.

#LIGHTCAMACT

The Crownless Again Shall Be King by Natalie Panga

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"From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king."

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

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* Lightbox: Best seen in larger size on black (click image above)

I See You by Walter Wallace

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Cheetah taken at the Memphis Zoo

Couples by Blas Torillo

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Pinzas para ropa

Glowing Present by Natalie Panga

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"The soul of the world had opened and I fantasized that everything wicked, distressing and painful was on the point of vanishing...all notion of the future paled and the past dissolved. In the glowing present, I myself glowed."

Robert Walser, The Walk

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Eastern Song by Natalie Panga

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"Pleasure is a freedom song,

But it is not freedom.

It is the blossoming of your desires,

But it is not their fruit."

Kahlil Gibran

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* Lightbox: Best seen in larger size on black (click image above)

Gentle Alertness by photo516

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Intimate portrait of a senior black and white dog with pointed ears gazing directly into the camera. Natural daylight with soft focus background creates an engaging, personal moment.

Cool To Warm by Natalie Panga

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“Sunrise paints the sky with pinks and the sunset with peaches. Cool to warm. So is the progression from childhood to old age.”

Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

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The End Of Flirt by Natalie Panga

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"You get use to someone—start to like them, even—and they leave. In the end, everyone leaves."

Rachel Ward, Numbers

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Todas juntas by Blas Torillo

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Flores

Golden Slumbers by Natalie Panga

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"Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,

Smiles awake you when you rise."

Thomas Dekker

"Love is the crowning grace of humanity, the holiest right of the soul, the golden link which binds us to duty and truth, the redeeming principle that chiefly reconciles the heart to life, and is prophetic of eternal good."

Petrarch

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* Lightbox: Best seen in larger size on black (click image above)

The Last Sunrays Of The Year 2011 by Natalie Panga

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"Gone - flitted away,

Taken the stars from the night and the sun

From the day!

Gone, and a cloud in my heart."

Alfred Tennyson

This photo was taken on 31st December 2011 at sunset...

* Best seen in larger size on black (click image above)

Love Like Rain by Natalie Panga

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"Love like rain, like the smell of a tangerine, like a surprise found in your pocket."

Deb Caletti, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart

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* Lightbox: Best seen in larger size on black (click image above)

Super Heroine - Paradox of Power by Zack

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Super Heroine - Paradox of Power: Exploring the intersection of strength and vulnerability through light. Captured using a Godox V1 snoot for face detail, a secondary V1 with 30x120cm for general fill, and red gelled AD200 for depth.

Abstract Study #29 — Debris by cooper.gary

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been a while

sabbatical within other art

not far from where we are

is there to be noticed

Canon EOS M; Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro; RAW Image Post: Affinity Photo 1.8.3 — Unsharp Mask Filter; Levels Adjustment; Lighting Filter; HSL Adjustment.

2020-06-04-EOS-1009

(Spring 2020) GT Cooper

Northern cardinal male landing at feeding location by Edward Mistarka

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Male northern cardinal chasing off carolina wren from feeding location. Large size gives better view. More tips on bird in flight photography: Don't get sloppy when you set the focal point, if you do it that way. Many of my greatest images were out of focus due to my being too lazy to go around and setup something to actually focus on where I thought the birds would give the most open wing span. Fractions of an inch can make a big difference!

Grape Significance by Natalie Panga

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* Lightbox: Best seen in larger size on black (click image above)

Good Day Sunshine by Natalie Panga

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“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.”

Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy-Tacy and Tib

Mouldy Fruit by Natalie Panga

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"I hate to keep things long in case they go mouldy from over-keeping."

Miguel de Cervantes

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I Saw Old Autumn by Natalie Panga

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"I saw old Autumn in the misty morn

Stand, shadowless like Silence, listening

To Silence."

Thomas Hood

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"The Emerald Gaze – Green Iguana in Profile" by Yann Abgrall

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A striking green iguana captured in a moment of calm, resting on a branch under soft, directional light.

Photographed at the ZooParc de Beauval (France), this image highlights the reptile’s vivid green tones and textured scales with precision and depth.

Shot with a telephoto lens to enhance background separation and draw full attention to the subject.

Everything aligned for this portrait – light, texture, detail, and composition.

Any feedback or constructive criticism is very welcome – I’d love to improve and grow.

8th March Greeting by Natalie Panga

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To all of you, of every age and country...

Today is your day!

(8th March is being celebrated as International Women’s Day all over the world.)

"If women didn't exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning."

Aristotle Onassis

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Hide-And-Seek by Natalie Panga

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"You can keep as quiet as you like, but one of these days somebody is going to find you."

Haruki Murakami, 1Q84

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male and female cardinal in flight 5321 by Edward Mistarka

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Male cardinal checking out young female cardinal.Check out the new hair feathers on this young babe at large size.

Ex Hoc Momento Pendet Aeternitas by Natalie Panga

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Eternity is hinged upon this moment...

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