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Champion House, East Haddam CT
Topaz Simplify - Watercolor I
Topaz Impression - Turner Sunset I SL 66%
Topaz Impression - Quick Sketch I (Masked) 75%
Photo was taken Dec 28th, 2011. This is Skaha Lake in British Columbia. Photo was taken with a Nikon D300 10-24mm lens 5 exposures. Processed in Photomatix Pro and then duplicate file processed in Topaz Simplify.
Dynamo ENB V3
Photoshop (Topaz Simplify 3)
Original Image for reference: puu.sh/dMDiU/21f25e0fb7.jpg
I always want to simplify. Get rid of stuff. Less clutter in our lives. Keep it simple. Focus on what is important.
Just a little fun with spheres. The sphere above each one has a two stud difference between the one below it.
Picture: A handicapped man with no hands is writing Chinese calligraphy on the street. This sense telling me that nothing is impossible. I admire him... God Bless.
Location: Longmen Grottoes, Henan. PRC
The Longmen Grottoes (simplified Chinese: 龙门石窟; traditional Chinese: 龍門石窟; pinyin: lóngmén shíkū; lit. Dragon's Gate Grottoes) or Longmen Caves are one of the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist art. Housing tens of thousands of statues of Buddha and his disciples, they are located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of present day Luòyáng in Hénán province, Peoples Republic of China. The images, many once painted, were carved into caves excavated from the limestone cliffs of the Xiangshan and Longmenshan mountains, running east and west. The Yi River flows northward between them and the area used to be called Yique ("The Gate of the Yi River").[1][2][3] The alternative name of "Dragon's Gate Grottoes" derives from the resemblance of the two hills that check the flow of the Yi River to the typical "Chinese gate towers" that once marked the entrance to Luoyang from the south.[4]
There are as many as 100,000 statues within the 1,400 caves, ranging from an 1 inch (25 mm) to 57 feet (17 m) in height. The area also contains nearly 2,500 stelae and inscriptions, whence the name “Forest of Ancient Stelae", as well as over sixty Buddhist pagodas. Situated in a scenic natural environment, the caves were dug from a 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) stretch of cliff running along both banks of the river. 30% date from the Northern Wei Dynasty and 60% from the Tang, caves from other periods accounting for less than 10% of the total.[3] Starting with the Northern Wei Dynasty in 493 AD, patrons and donors included emperors, Wu Zetian of the Tang dynasty, members of the royal family, other rich families, generals, and religious groups.[1][5]
In 2000 the site was inscribed upon the UNESCO World Heritage List as “an outstanding manifestation of human artistic creativity,” for its perfection of an art form, and for its encapsulation of the cultural sophistication of Tang China.
Geography
Mt. Longmen as seen from Manshui Bridge to the southeast. May, 2004.
This complex is one of the three notable grottoes in China, which is 12 km to the south of Luyong. The other two grottoes are the Yungang Caves near Datong in Shanxi Province, and the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang in Gansu Province in west China. The valley formed by the Yi River enclosed by two hills ranges of Xiangshan (to the east) and Longmenshan (to the west) hills have steep slopes on the western and eastern slopes along the river. Yi is a north flowing tributary of the Luo River. The grottoes are formed in 1 km of the stretch of this river and were carved on both banks, in limestone formations creating the "Longman’s Caves". Most of the work was done on the western bank, while the eastern bank caves, of smaller numbers, served as residences for the large groups of monks.[2][4]
Within the approximately 1,400 caves, there are 100,000 statues, some of which are only 1 inch (25 mm) high,[6] while the largest Buddha statue is 57 feet (17 m) in height.[7] There are also approximately 2500 stellas and 60 pagodas. The grottoes are located on both sides of the Yi River. Fifty large and medium sized caves are seen on the west hill cliffs which are credited to the Northern, Sui, and Tang Dynasties, while the caves on the east hill were carved entirely during the Tang Dynasty.[3] The plethora of caves, sculptures and pagodas in Longmen Grottoes depict a definite "progression in style" with the early caves being simple and well shaped with carvings of statues of Buddha and religious people. The change of style is more distinct in the Tang Dynastic periods which are “more complex and incorporate women and court figures as well”. The caves have been numbered sequentially from north to south along the west bank of the Yi River. Entry to the caves is from the northern end.[5]
[edit]History
[edit]Early history
The earliest history of the creation of Longmen Grottoes is traced to the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei dynasty when he shifted his capital to Luyong from Dàtóng; Luyong's symbolic value is borne by the fact that it served as the historic capital for 13 dynasties. The grottoes were excavated and carved with Buddhist subjects over the period from 493 AD to 1127 AD, in four distinct phases. The first phase started with the Northern Wei dynasty (493 and 534). The second phase saw slow development of caves as there was interruption due to strife in the region, between 524 and 626, during the reign of the Sui dynasty (581-618) and the early part of the Tang dynasty] (618-907). The third phase, was during the reign of the Tang dynasty when Chinese Buddhism flourished and there was a proliferation of caves and carvings from the 5th century to the mid 8th century. The last phase, which was the fourth, was from the later part of the Tang dynastic rule extending to the Northern Song Dynasty rule, which saw a decline in the creation of grottoes. It came to an end due to internecine war between the Jin and Yuan dynasties.[2][3][4][8]
Guyangdong or the Shiku Temple, credited to Emperor Xiaowen, was the first cave temple to be built at the center of the southern floor of the West Hill. Xiaowen followed up this activity and excavated three more caves, two in memory of his father and one in memory of his mother; all three caves are grouped under the title of the "Three Binyang Caves" (Binyangsandong), which were built by the emperor over a 24-year period. Over 30% of the caves seen now were built during this period.[3]
In 527, the Huangfugong or Shikusi grottoes, a major cave, was completed. It is a well conserved cave located to the south of the West Hill.[3]
In 675, Fengxiansi Cave, on the southern floor of the West Hill was completed during the Tang dynasty rule. This marked the third phase of creation and the peak period of the gottoes' creation. It is estimated that 60% of the caves seen at Longmen came about in this period from 626 till 755. During this period, in addition to the caves which housed Buddha statues of various sizes, some Buddhist temples were also built in open spaces with scenic settings in the same complex. However, these are now mostly in ruins. During this phase, Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu Zetian were instrumental in intensifying the activity when they were ruling from Luyong.[3]
Entrance to Longmen Grottoes (Longmen Shiku) under Manshui Bridge over Yi River ( Yi He)
[edit]Later history
During the period of 1368 to 1912, when two dynasties ruled in China, namely the Ming dynasty from 1368 to 1644, and the Qing Dynasty from 1644–1912, there was cultural revival and the Longmen Grottoes received recognition both at the national and international level.
During the Second Sino-Japanese war, the Japanese looted the site and took many of the statues back to Japan. Many of these relics are now in Japanese museums.
Vandalism occurred in the 1940s, a result of political unrest. With the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the grottoes have been declared as protected area and are being conserved. The Constitution of China, under Article 22, which among other issues also provides for protection of the natural heritage sites, has been further defined under various legal instruments enacted to protect and conserve this cultural heritage of China.[3]
The Longmen Relics Care Agency was established in 1953 under the Ministry of Culture.[3] A 1954 site inventory was undertaken by the newly established Longmen Caves Cultural Relics Management and Conservation Office. The State Council declared the Longmen Grottoes as a national cultural monument needing special protection in 1961. In 1982, it was declared as one of the first group of scenic zones to be protected at the state level.[9] The Management and Conservation Office was renamed the Longmen Grottoes Research Institute in 1990; and the People’s Government of Luoyang City became responsible for the management of the heritage monuments.[3] The governing organization was renamed the Longmen Grottoes Research Academy in 2002.[10]
During the Warring States Period, the general Bai Qi of Qin once defeated the allied forces of Han and Wei at the site. The site was subjected to significant vandalism at several points in its history. Major artifacts were removed by Western collectors and souvenir hunters during the early 20th century. The heads of many statues were also destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Two murals taken from the grottoes are reported to be displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri.[5][8]
Source from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longmen_Grottoes
Operations image of the week:
The flight dynamics experts working on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter mission meet regularly to assess progress of the spacecraft's almost-year-long aerobraking manoeuvres at Mars.
The TGO orbiter swung into an initial, highly elliptical orbit at Mars on 19 October last year.
Aerobraking - using drag from the faint wispy tendrils of the upper-most part of the martian atmosphere to slow and lower the spacecraft into its final science orbit - began on 15 March, and will take most of a year, following a cautious ‘slow-as-you-go’ strategy.
As with Goldilocks and the famous bears, staying too high won't drag on TGO sufficiently to reach its intended orbit anytime soon, while dipping too low into the atmosphere could slow it too much, with unwanted results.
Therefore, the flight dynamics team carefully assess the results of every aerobraking orbit, and make detailed predictions on the subsequent orbits based on realtime results. This means there is a lot of data to keep up with.
They have, of course, many sophisticated tools, applications and databases available to help determine orbits, visualise trajectories and calculate future spacecraft manoeuvres.
"But the white board in our briefing room is the best tool we've found for giving everyone an up-to-the-date, realtime view of aerobraking progress during our frequent review meetings," says ESA's Robert Guilanyà, seen above, the TGO flight dynamics team lead.
"A large group of people need to see and discuss the data collected from the atmospheric passages to plan subsequent aerobraking activities. Marking up the white board by hand is simple, easy and instantly viewable by all."
From 25 June to end-August, aerobraking is on pause due to Mars and Earth lining up on opposite sides of the Sun in a conjunction that greatly reduces the reliability and robustness of communication to and from the spacecraft.
Aerobraking will resume in August, and should continue until early 2018, when TGO will perform a series of final manoeuvres to transition to its approximately 400-km high, circular science orbit.
Credit: ESA
Model : Angela Ong
Taken by : Kweong
Location : Taiping Lake Garden
Just tired for editing and due to disappointed on Canon because this morning I just knew Nikon increase lens price last 2 months and I want to buy 24-70L but atfer I call to the store take an order he told me the lens was increase by USD 200..... because after I walk out from the Canon Singapore fax a notice to them. No more old stock from him... I just saw in their lens display cabinet... and he told me yesterday just sold 2 lenses. I tell myself don't buy Canon lens anymore for this coming 2 years. 5D MK II also increase another USD 100. What I have to do now? Go for film!!!
EOS 650 + EF 28mm f/1.8
I remember a time when I shot bright, pastel coloured images. Super narrow depth of field and with long lenses. Style evolves as we discover more about ourselves through our work. The understanding that how we photograph is more about use than our actual subject comes and everything changes.
I'm happier now with one camera a 35mm lens and my subject. The simpler the shoot the more at home I feel. For me simplification is amplification.
Shot with the most basic of camera.
Model : Angela
Taken by : Kweong
Location : Taiping Lake Garden
End of this series.
Photo Video : Coming soon.
“Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.” Joshua Becker, Simplify
"Live simply that others might simply live." ~Elizabeth Ann Seton
Have a great Friday....and thanks for all your visits!!!! Will catch up soon :-)
© Darlene Bushue - All of my images are protected by copyright and may not be used on any site, blog, or forum without my permission.
also please take a moment to visit my website
I made a product box and tested it out using this old bold and washer. The picture was good but boring so I decided to have some fun using some Topaz plugins I recently purchased. This is using Simplify.
Visited my parents in my home town in the north of Sweden this weekend. This is where I typically take a walk when I am there visiting.
Kelso Calif. at the Kelso Train Depot/ Visitor Center.
During the late 1930s, the Union Pacific often used helpers to move trains from Ogden to Wahsatch. The UP wanted to simplify this move so they asked their "Department of Research and Mechanical Standards" (DoRMS) to design a locomotive that could pull a 3600 ton train unassisted over the 1.14% grade of the Wahsatch.
The designers determined that to pull a 3600 ton train, a tractive effort of 135,000 lbs would be needed. Assuming a factor of adhesion of 4.0, the weight on drivers would have to be 4.0 * 135,000 = 540,000 lbs. Given an axle loading of 67,500 lbs each, this would require 8 drivers or an x-8-8-x wheel arrangement. The designers agreed upon the 4-8-8-4 design. Next, the horsepower and cylinder sizes were computed based on 300 psi boiler pressure. Although they weren't planning to pull these freight trains at 80 MPH, the DoRMS designed them for 80 MPH in order to have a sufficient factor of safety built into the design. What resulted is considered by many to be the most successful articulated steam locomotive ever built. 4000 was delivered to Omaha at 6PM, September 5, 1941.
The 25 Big Boys were built in two groups. The first group, called "class 1", were built starting in 1941. They were numbered 4000-4019. The second group, "class 2", were built in 1944. They were numbered 4020-4024. The last revenue freight pulled by a Big Boy was in July of 1959. Most were retired in 1961. The last one was retired in July of 1962. As late as September, 1962, there were still four operational Big Boys at Green River, WY.
The total mileage of each of the Big Boys from class 1 were roughly the same -- 1,000,000 miles. 4016 had the lowest mileage -- 1,016,124. 4006 had the highest mileage -- 1,064,625. Of the second group, 4024 had the highest mileage -- 811,956.