The whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybrida) is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek khelidonios, "swallow-like", from khelidon, "swallow". The specific hybridus is Latin for hybrid; Peter Simon Pallas thought it might be a hybrid of white-winged black tern and common tern, writing "Sterna fissipes [Chlidonias leucopterus] et Hirundine [Sterna hirundo] natam".

This bird has a number of geographical races, differing mainly in size and minor plumage details.

C. h. hybrida breeds in warmer parts of Europe and the Palearctic (northwestern Africa and central and southern Europe to southeastern Siberia, eastern China and south to Pakistan and northern India). The smaller-billed and darker C. h. delalandii is found in east and south Africa, and the paler C. h. javanicus from Java to Australia.

The tropical forms are resident, but European and Asian birds winter south to Africa and the Indian Subcontinent.

The scientific name arises from the fact that this, the largest marsh tern, show similarities in appearance to both the white Sterna terns and to black tern.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiskered_tern

During an unusually mild November day on my NC property, intuition led me to a specific place by the water. I discovered a dozen newts swimming about (emerged from dormancy beneath leaves at the bottom.)

Warm, sunny winter days are an idyllic time for newts. All snakes and frogs are in deep hibernation and they can frolic in the water without fear.

♬ but I miss you in the mornings when I see the sun... ♬

the things:

Konoha - Quercus ella - Avenue set @ We <3 Roleplay (25% discount during the event) One Oak tree,

7 Seasonal textures, hanging moss can be removed in edit, and a 2nd version with ferns

Space Cadet - relief smoke @ mainstore

Tetra - chill t-shirt @ mainstore

Stealthic - Retreat @ mainstore

Dunlin - Calidris alpina

The dunlin (Calidris alpina) is a small wader, sometimes separated with the other "stints" in Erolia. The English name is a dialect form of "dunling", first recorded in 1531–2. It derives from dun, "dull brown", with the suffix -ling, meaning a person or thing with the given quality. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific alpina is from Latin and means "of high mountains", in this case referring to the Alps.

It is a circumpolar breeder in Arctic or subarctic regions. Birds that breed in northern Europe and Asia are long-distance migrants, wintering south to Africa, southeast Asia and the Middle East. Birds that breed in Alaska and the Canadian Arctic migrate short distances to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America, although those nesting in northern Alaska overwinter in Asia. Many dunlins winter along the Iberian south coast.

An adult dunlin in breeding plumage shows the distinctive black belly which no other similar-sized wader possesses. The winter dunlin is basically grey above and white below. Juveniles are brown above with two whitish "V" shapes on the back. They usually have black marks on the flanks or belly and show a strong white wingbar in flight.

The legs and slightly decurved bill are black. There are a number of subspecies differing mainly in the extent of rufous colouration in the breeding plumage and the bill length. Bill length varies between sexes, the females having longer bills than the males.

@algonquinoutfit : RT @Swift_Canoe: "You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your element in each moment." -… t.co/8cyUKvsiLj (via Twitter twitter.com/algonquinoutfit/status/799614503964930048)

All My Links

So it would seem this is my first apparent attempt at Dark Macro which seems to be a trend emerging on Instagram so I have recently learned. With my last post proving to be a disaster it would seem sometimes it's, as in music as well, for example, Gothic Metal (Minority) vs Chart Music (Mass Popularity); Photography fairs no better as sometimes abstract artistic creation is only for those who appreciate that specific expression.

With that said I do however appreciate all the faves, follows, comments and feedback I really do! So, I hope everyone is well and, as always, thank you!

An interesting species of sunbird specific to a small part of the Western range of mountains / hills and forests in India. This bird is endemic to that region. The area hosts many types of sunbirds and this is one of the colorful ones.

Slightly bigger than the regular Purple / Purple Rumped sunbirds around 15 cms long, these males are quite colorful with their crimson plumage. (Not to be confused with the Crimson sunbird which looks very similar, but the range doesn't overlap).

They are quite easy to sight in the region due to their color and are often found around flowering plants and trees / plants with insects and spiders. This is a lifer that we wanted very much, but despite many sightings, barely got this shot.

Thank you so much for your views and feedback. Much appreciated.

Had a nice session with around a dozen of these flying around a specific bush. As usual, took a few hundred shots; this is my favourite of the bunch.

www.jochenmaes.com

Primate DNA is only five percent different from ours. Like us, they feel jealousy, envy, love, shame, grief, depression... They are very social beings, they are sensitive and each one has a different personality, according to the experts, as happens in humans. They develop tools for specific purposes, which involves reasoning, anticipating the future and acting with the tool. They adopt orphans, which demonstrates social bonds, empathy and altruism. They have self-awareness, cooperative problem-solving and learning by example and experience, so they have symbolic capacity and a culture of their own, which they pass on from one generation to the next. Chimpanzees even surpass humans in certain memory tasks. An ape at the age of two is able to do small sums and use tools, while a two year old does not even know how to do sums or reason the why of the tool. They give pets to their children and they even learn words in sign language, being able to establish a conversation with their caregiver. They are able to teach their offspring sign language so that they can communicate with their caregivers. And so on. And they share a very important trait with humans, a trait not found in any other animal... laughter.

This image is dedicated to Bobby. Bobby was a chimpanzee used for decades as a laboratory animal at the Coulston Foundation in Alamogordo, New Mexico. He was born in captivity and at a very young age participated in biomedical experiments. By the age of 19, he had been anaesthetised more than 250 times and biopsied as many times. His life was spent in solitude inside a tiny metal cage. His body was bruised and scarred. In a deeply depressed state, he was incessantly self-harming, a clear sign that he intended to end his life. In 2002 he was transferred to Save the Chimps, a chimpanzee sanctuary in Louisiana, USA. Dedicated to Jeannie. Jeannie was in the service of science for nine years. At the age of six, she began her career in the pharmaceutical laboratories of Merck, Sharpe and Dohme. Shortly afterwards she was donated to the Buckshire Corporation and ended up at LEMSIP, Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates in New York at the age of 22. During that time she participated in several invasive experimental protocols including repeated vaginal douching, multiple cervical, liver and lymph node biopsies. She was infected with HIV and hepatitis C, and participated in rhinovirus vaccination protocols. She was anaesthetised more than 200 times. She died at the age of 31 at the Fauna Foundation, Canada's only primate sanctuary. Dedicated to Newt. Newt was born in 1979 at LEMSIP. At the age of four months he was sold to the Southwest National Primate Research Center in San Antonio, Texas. Newt was HIV-positive and was widely exposed to hepatitis B virus. Before he was four years old, he began intermittently self-harming. In 2003 he had his canines removed. Newt's clinical reports indicated that he had bites and lacerations on his hands, fingers, thighs, arms, legs, wrists and scrotum. A psychiatric report determined that Newt was in a profound state of insanity and derangement. He was attempting to commit suicide and end his life. This image is dedicated to all primates who have suffered psychological and physical torture, deprivation of liberty, abominable experiments and death in scientific laboratories, pharmaceutical, automobile, cosmetic, aeronautical, aerospace multinationals... and dedicated especially to Bobby, Jeannie and Newt.

The chimpanzee Mama, hours before she died and the reunion with her caretaker.

Silvio Rodríguez - Al final de este viaje / Al final de este viaje (1978)

We are the prehistory that will have the future. We are the remote annals of man. These years are the past of the sky. These years are a certain agility with which the sun draws you into the future. They are the truth or the end, they are god. We are left, those who can smile in the midst of death, in full light.

Supergrass - Tales of Endurance, Pt. 4, 5 & 6 / Road to Rouen (2005)

Making sense of what I've heard and what is on my mind.

.....

PS: When I look into the eyes of an ape, all I see in them is sadness and eyes that ask me, why, why? And I can only lower my gaze to the ground, while I shed some tears and feel a deep shame... shame of being human... a "Homo stupidus".

Aphex Twin - Stone In Focus / Selected Ambient Works II (1994)

My husband built this birdhouse back in Alaska to specific sizes for swallows. Chickadees used it two years in a row. It stood high on a metal pole away from interlopers.

Then we moved here, birdhouse included, and finally, tree swallows! Sounds like quite a few hungry ones inside.

Photo today by my husband, Howard Marsh, using his D4 and my 500mm f/4 on the Manfrotto monopod.

La Ceja, Colombia.

Zenaida auriculata (Eared dove / Tórtola torcaza)

The Eared Dove is a resident breeder throughout South America from Colombia to southern Argentina. It is a close relative of the North American Mourning Dove. The head has a grey crown, black line behind the eye, and the blue-black on the lower ear coverts. These black markings give the species its English and specific name.

Wikipedia

Una moderna torre vichinga che emerge dalle acque fino a 28 metri di altezza. Si chiama Fjordenhus (la casa tra i fiordi) il primo edificio interamente progettato dall’artista danese Olafur Eliasson ed il suo team di architetti dello Studio Other Spaces (SOS).

Costruita sul fronte del porto di Vejle, sulla penisola dello Jutland in Danimarca, l’architettura è stata concepita da Eliasson come «un’opera d’arte totale» che include mobili e illuminazione progettati ad hoc, e alcune opere d’arte site-specific. Situato di fronte The Harbour Island, una zona residenziale e commerciale in fase di sviluppo, Fjordenhus è accessibile da una passerella o dal lungo pontile progettato dall’architetto-paesaggista Günter Vogt e si caratterizza per un imponente ingresso a doppia altezza con diverse aperture che affacciano sul porto per sottolineare il dialogo continuo tra terra e mare. La struttura si compone di quattro cilindri di mattoni che si intersecano, scavati seguendo il profilo di complesse forme curve, circolari ed ellittiche in modo da ottenere pareti curve e archi parabolici, oltre a un altissimo pozzo d’aria tondo centrale. Il complesso è il risultato di uno studio sulla percezione dell’architettura al mutare delle maree, della luce durante il giorno e nei diversi periodi dell’anno.

(da web)

First time I have seen, or photographed one of these, UKs most threatened butterfly. The male is on the left.

I decided to take a drive down to south Devon to camp for several nights, with the specific intention of spending a day on Aish Tor to see HBFs. So I spent 8 hours on Sunday on Aish Tor. It was exceedingly hard work, once I got up onto the hillside, having parked in my ignorance of the location, at Newbridge car park down on the River Dart; it was sultry and very hot and the butterflies had twin turbo boost full on: they simply never seemed to stop moving. Added to that, there were ticks everywhere in the sea of metre high bracken that covered the hillside, so long sleeves and trousers tucked into socks was de rigeur and made it even less comfortable!

Having spent much of the the morning, tagging along with a lady who had been before and seemed to know the best location, I branched off alone to search higher up the slopes where fritillaries seemed more frequent. It was 3 hours altogether before I had one settled on bramble flower in a less than ideal location, low down in a corner of a small area cleared of bracken. In mid afternoon another one showed up to investigate dog poo on the path where I was resting. Not long after that I had another male nectaring on bramble, but it was tight to photograph in a narrow path trodden through the bracken. Late in the afternoon I was shown these two mating specimens by a couple I spoke to, which probably saved the day!

Thank you for your faves and comments.

My youngest son Shane asked me to take a picture of his Lego train, as if it really existed and functioned in the real world. Like it would have changed dimensions. It had to be an exciting photo in a specific atmosphere. I tried to realize that with this photo, and he told me that this is close to what he had in mind and he is happy with it.

When the male is ready to mate, the sperm is transferred from the opening of the primary genital on the 9th segment close to the end part of the abdomen to the subsidiary genitalia situated on the segment 3 and 2, which is close to the base of its abdomen. In the beginning of the process, the male holds the female with his claspers on the back of the female’s head, while the female twists her abdomen forwards and downwards to collect the sperm from the secondary genitalia of the male Damselfly. This specific position is referred as “wheel” or “heart”, and the termed used when they indulge in this process is “to be in cop”.

The female Damselflies, when ready to deposit eggs, hover around the water body to find suitable habitat for egg laying. Some also lay eggs inside the tissue of plants. For laying eggs in the water, the female Damselflies may submerge under the water for at least 30 minutes, and at intervals, climb on the aquatic plant’s stem. During this period, the male guards the female and the eggs from other rival male Damselflies.

The common reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name Emberiza is from Old German Embritz, a bunting. The specific schoeniclus is from Ancient Greek skhoiniklos, a now unknown waterside bird.

All matter, unless at the lowest temperature absolute, emits light (or, radiation). The hotter, the more so. As long as light is visible - and it does not matter where it comes from - we can use it for photography, generally speaking. In this specific case, however, the light source does not agree with my electronic shutter ("banding") so that the mechanical shutter was used. Fuji X-E3 plus Samyang tele lens at F5.6.

La Ceja, Colombia.

Zenaida auriculata (Eared dove / Tórtola torcaza)

The Eared Dove is a resident breeder throughout South America from Colombia to southern Argentina. It is a close relative of the North American Mourning Dove. The head has a grey crown, black line behind the eye, and the blue-black on the lower ear coverts. These black markings give the species its English and specific name.

Wikipedia

The musk lorikeet (Glossopsitta concinna) is a lorikeet, now the only species in the genus Glossopsitta. It inhabits south-central/eastern Australia. The little lorikeet and the purple-crowned lorikeet were previously included in the genus. The musk lorikeet was first described by ornithologist George Shaw in 1790 as Psittacus concinnus, from a collection in the vicinity of Port Jackson in what is now Sydney. John Latham described it as Psittacus australis. Its specific epithet is the Latin concinna elegant. Other common names include red-eared lorikeet, and green keet, and formerly a local Sydney indigenous term coolich. The names green leek and king parrot have been incorrectly applied to this species in the past. 56331

One of the many thrills of Winter Birding in the Upper Midwest is owls. The LE Owl breeds in Canada as well as Northern Michigan, but they are never easy to find in spring or summer because they don't reuse nesting grounds. In fact they aren't easy to find in winter either, but they will drop in on an area and hang out in a specific spot for a random period of time before they disappear again.

So...what to do? Keep an eye on Rare Bird Alerts and then go to that spot the next day, which is what I did. I found this bird in a Metropark south of Detroit during the last week in December. The LEO favors dense forest thickets and tight evergreens, which is why we usually see images of this owl with twigs encumbering its beautiful appearances. However for a few minutes, this bird perched a few feet off the ground before returning to a favorite perch in 'twiggier' areas at higher levels.

To add to my unreasonably good luck, I got this shot about twenty minutes after arriving after a four hour trip. Sometimes bird photography is easy.

Tateyama is a large volcano. The name does not refer to a specific peak but to the group of peaks associated with the volcano.

Murodou (室堂) as well as Midagahara (弥陀ケ原) and Bijo-daira (美女平) to the west are a sequence of lava plateau.

Murodou (室堂) is located at an altitude of 2,450 m. There is a transfer station between Tateyama Tunnel Trollybus and the bus service to/from Bijo-daira (美女平) near Tateyama town proper. There is a network of trails marked by poles to explore the volcanic terrain in Murodou including hotsprings, ponds, religious buildings etc.

Tateyama is directly hit by the northwestern monsoon in winter. There is no weather station in Murodo as it is completely closed down from December to early April due to heavy snowfall. Unazuki weather station, not far from Murodou in the the Kurobe-gawa gorge, records an average annual precipitation of 3,587 mm. Murodou is supposed to have more precipitation. Wettest months are December and January.

This photo was taken at the end of April.

You can ski in Tateyama until June. There is no lift but instead you can take bus to climb back to Murodou.

Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky

Wheels in motion

Best experienced in full screen...thanks for viewing

Distinctive pair and . . they both are designed to use their razor-sharp wheels to cut slices through pizzas! But these two specific bikes will not be used for that and instead will be enjoyed TOGETHER as a pair of lovely and unique objects.

Theme: "TWO-GETHER""

Thank you for taking the time to view this photo, faves and comments from you are greatly appreciated.

I just found this a fascinating bird to watch. I don't know the specific species but I hope one of my flickr friends will enlighten me....

Those sideburns were spectacular!

Oh, HOW I love this specific spot, in my Chateau de La Hulpe- land blessed wanderings! In ALL Seasons! If you notice, there is only a few meters distance between the spot I took each photo. What you see here is not actually a river, but a lake, which becomes narrow-formed at a certain point, and then stops at the borders…I normally follow my path on both sides of it, turning around at a point nearby, where a little bridge exists, which it is not included in my photos….

That morning, it was a misty, velvety November week-day! With all that very special silence surrounding me ….With all those magical Earth-colours and odours…Just very few people around, but with a soft smile on their face , and bright eyes…. And a heart-warming “Bonjour!!”, every time passing close to me…

*** Wishing you all, a DELIGHTFUL Weekend!!

This capture was taken during our summer vacation in southern France. With the girls on the pool, I had some extra time to play with my gear and try to capture smaller things. Even not taken this with a specific macro lens, I like the bumblebee all over remaining lavender....stay safe and away, cheers, Udo

Specific problems

Successive theories

Throughout continuity

#1663

114

‘Sal de Tavira/Flor de Sal de Tavira’ are sea salts that have specific physical and chemical properties which differ from those of common salt. They are unrefined, unwashed and additive-free sea salts that give dishes a unique taste. They come from the salt pans located in the Ria Formosa National Park, Algarve.

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CATALÀ

El marcòlic vermell o lliri morat (Lilium martagon) és una espècie de planta de la família de les liliàcies. També es diu consolta vermella. És endèmic a tota Euràsia, des dels Pirineus fins a Àsia Central i Corea. És una de les plantes que hom anomena lliris i consta de diverses subespècies.

Creix en boscs o prats, a muntanya. És bulbosa perenne que fa d'un a dos metres d'alt. Les flors, nombroses en cada planta, són normalment de color porpra rosat, amb taques fosques i són flairoses.

(Avís de la Wikipedia en anglès: aquesta flor és tòxica pels gats.)

ENGLISH

Lilium martagon, the martagon lily or Turk's cap lily, is a Eurasian species of lily. It has a widespread native region extending from Portugal east through Europe and Asia as far east as Mongolia.

Horticulturally it is in Division IX (true species). It is stem-rooting, growing between 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) and 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) tall. The flower colour is typically a pink-purple, with dark spots, but is quite variable, extending from near white to near black. The flowers are scented. Numerous flowers are borne on each plant, and up to 50 can be found on vigorous plants. The green stems can be flushed with purple or red and the leaves are elliptic to inverse lanceolate, mostly in whorls, up to 16 centimetres (6.3 in) long and often lightly hairy underneath.

This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Lilium martagon was used in hybridising with L. hansonii at the end of the 19th century by Mrs RO Backhouse of Hereford, England.

The name Turk's cap lily, also applied to a number of other species, comes from the characteristic reflexed shape of the petals. The specific epithet martagon is a Turkish word which also means turban or cap.

Lilium martagon, like many in the genus, is highly toxic to cats and ingestion often leads to fatal kidney failure; households and gardens which are visited by cats are strongly advised against keeping this plant or placing dried flowers where a cat may brush against them and become dusted with pollen which they then consume while cleaning. Suspected cases require urgent veterinary attention.Rapid treatment with activated charcoal and/or induced vomiting can reduce the amount of toxin absorbed (this is time-sensitive so in some cases vets may advise doing it at home), and large amounts of fluid by IV can reduce damage to kidneys to increase the chances of survival.

WIKIPEDIA

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Gracias amigos Flickeros por visitar mi galería, por sus comentarios y favoritos. Tened todos un magnífico día.

NOTICE

Thank you Flicker friends for visiting my gallery, for your comments and favorites. Wish you wonderful day.

COMPTE!

Gràcies amics Flickers per visitar la meva galeria, pels vostres comentaris i favorits. Tingueu un dia estupend.

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In this specific case the out of focus seems relatively acceptable to me...

I found this small and very cute weevil wandering around my garden. The wee pest wouldn't stop wandering(!), so I had to compromise on the dof (much less than I'd have wanted; maybe next time). Also, the colour was a bit dull in the image, so I added a tiny hint of warm colour in post processing.

I think this might be one of the Sitona species, but happy to be corrected if it's not, or to get more specific species details if it is, if anyone knows.

This was going to be a light beach picture, but I crashed as usual before changing the windlight. I really wish someone would make a mac specific viewer, with all the phototool magic.

Working on changing landscape and features. The waves are from the former owner, I am still wondering if I should keep them or change for longer waves.

Quick picmonkey edit.

All photos copyright 2015-2024 by Yarin Asanth. Please note the copyright. The photos are property of the photographer Gerd Michael Kozik! No further use of my photos in any form such as websites, print, commercial or private use. Do not use my photos without my express written permission !

The same procedure every year. Two applications are required to fly a drone in Thailand. A kind of driving licence or personal licence from the CAAT and a specific drone licence from the NBTC. Both applications require a lot of paperwork, forms have to be filled out and uploaded, photos with serial numbers, entry documents, an insurance confirmation, a residence address. If all goes well, the application to the CAAT has already been approved before the trip and so the application can be submitted to the NBTC with the entry stamp on the day of arrival. Ideally, processing will take less than half a day and you will then be sent a transfer order. The fee is 224 baht including bank charges. In the end, you have two certificates that allow you to fly a drone legally. I wouldn't do it without the certificates, because if the worst comes to the worst, you are covered, especially in the event of an accident.

A wonderful scenery between Ao Nang and Railay, a special the view from above!

(Warning: this is a long one, so grab some popcorn and settle in.)

Photographing landscapes has provided me with countless opportunities to have my mind blown over the past few years. From summits in the Canadian Rockies, to countless sunrises in the Sierras to spectacular night skies in remote corners of Utah to beautiful coastlines in Oregon....so many incredible moments. Of all of these experiences, the one I endured last Friday was truly special. It was a personal triumph and one that I have literally been working toward for the past two years.

Tom Bricker was the first one to mention the Diving Board to me. I had seen the shot by Ansel Adams, of course, and had always wondered where he took that shot from, but I figured you would just...you know. Get closer. I was sure that the location must be just beyond Curry Village. What was the big deal?

The big deal is that the diving board is a location in Yosemite that cannot be reached by taking one of the major, well maintained trails. Back in Ansel's day you just took some ropes and charged up the Leconte Gully. But the gully has long been deemed unstable due to frequent rockfalls. The standard route nowadays begins on the mist trail and winds around behind Lost Lake before heading steeply straight up the side of base of Half Dome. From what we were able to gather from scouting online, this would be a 16 mile round trip hike and the word "strenuous" was being thrown around by some very hard core hikers and climbers. My heart sank as I first heard these reports. After all, the hike up the Upper Falls trail had nearly finished me off a few years before. How in the world could I expect to haul my camera gear up the Mist Trail let alone the nearly vertical sections of this crazy trail to the foot of Half Dome?

But I really wanted that shot. I hit the treadmill and began building up my endurance. (Of course the first night was only 10 minutes, but hey. It was a start.) I also began challenging myself with some more difficult hikes, the most recent of which was up to the Fern Ledge in Yosemite. As the Summer drew to a close, we finally had a chance of thunderstorms and the promise of a possible sunset, and I sent Tom an urgent message: Can we go for it on Friday?

So last Friday, Tom and I took off at 4 AM for Yosemite. By 10:30 AM we were taking off from the Mist Trail parking area. Man I was feeling good! No stops at all on the way up to the first bridge. I was blowing past old people and asian tourists like they were standing still. Then the REAL climbing began. By the time we made it to the top of Nevada Fall, I was wiped. But we hadn't started the tough section yet. Tom and I had found a short cut up from Emerald Pool and we had a GPS map with us on Gaia. We were all set. What could go wrong?

So up we went.

The trip from Emerald Pool to the regular bush trail junction was easily the hardest climbing I've ever done. The nearly 30 pounds on my back turned out to be a huge mistake as I nearly gave up several times. Between the steep terrain and the bushwhacking, I was toast. When we hit the junction, things only got worse. I was having to stop almost every 100 feet and poor Tom just sat there waiting for me. After clawing my way up another 700 feet or so, I finally collapsed, unable to continue. I told Tom to head up without me, but he refused. After a long break, it finally hit me: I could dump whatever I wasn't going to use at the top and grab it on the way down! So out came my 24-70 lens (way too hazy for a valley shot), the tripod, almost all of my food, two jackets and over a liter of water. I dropped by stuff in a neat little pile behind a tree reminding myself that it would be a bad idea to forget those items on the way down.

Suddenly the backpack was WAY lighter and even though it hurt, I continued to force my way up. For the final 500 feet, I hung back and sent Tom up ahead. After another 1/2 hour break, I lurched back onto my feet and with the soundtrack of Rocky playing in my head, I charged up the last 500 feet to the Diving Board...some EIGHT hours after leaving the parking lot.

The view was absolutely spectacular as Half Dome rose far more majestically than I could have ever imagined. Although we didn't get quite the epic sunset we were hoping for, we did get some color during the last few minutes, just enough to give some atmosphere. A goal I had set two years prior had just been achieved. I had made it all the way to the diving board!

Our smiles began to fade as it dawned on us that it was getting dark in a real hurry and my car was still 8 miles away. There would be no "short cut" on the way down as we were pretty sure we would not survive a hike back down the sketchy ravine we had just clambered up. So down we went on the long, normal route around past Lost Lake. About 45 minutes later, I said something like "Hey Tom....where's my stuff?" Both of us were convinced that it must still be below us, so we plowed on. After we had gone another 1/2 hour or so, it dawned on us that we must have passed it. We were both beyond exhausted and nearly out of water. But Tom, being the hero that he is, charged back up to look for it. But didn't find it. He had a quarter of a liter of water left and I had maybe a half. I wasn't even sure if I could make the hike out, so I took a deep breath and told Tom we just needed to leave my lens...and all of my other stuff up there, which would have been roughly $2500 to replace.

Ouch.

Okay...this is taking way to long. I'll skip to the end.

After we passed Lost Lake on the way down, we found water in a creek and used my filter to keep from dying on the way back. Tom made it back to the car around 2:30 AM and very kindly drove the car around to the trailhead as I had some severe blisters. I didn't make it back to the trailhead until 3:30 AM.

Fast forward to last Monday when I drove back to Yosemite to find my stuff. I stayed overnight in El Portal and set off the next morning, this time without the 30 pounds taking only water and food. I left at 4 AM and by 8 AM I found my stuff exactly where I had left it! I made it up there in HALF the time! My lens and gear were undamaged and I breathed a huge sigh of relief before heading back down.

For those of you who might be interested taking this hike, I'll have much more details for you including maps, etc on my blog in the very near future. Sorry for the ridiculously long story and THANK YOU for reading the whole thing if you are still with me! The Diving Board was truly a once in a lifetime trip for me....at least for now. I MIGHT try it again, but if I do, it will be with MUCH less gear and more water!

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“Specificity sharpens the gathering because people can see themselves in it”

After watching the habitual pattern of this superstar, I followed it one outing. He came to this specific tree in the background that had a cavity filled with sow bugs. He had cleaned out this honey hole as it was a great source of fuel for his migration journey. He stayed for 5 days and has finally moved on. Click for large view.

The specific alpestris is Latin and means "of the high mountains", from Alpes, the Alps.

The horned lark was originally classified in the genus Alauda.

The horned lark Is suggested to have diverged from Temnick's lark around the Early-Middle Pleistocene, according to genomic divergence estimates.[3][4] The Horned lark is known from around a dozen localities of Late Pleistocene age, including those in Italy,[5] Russia, The United Kingdom and the United States. The earliest known fossil is from the Calabrian of Spain, around 1–0.8 million years old. In 2020 a 46,000 year old frozen specimen was described from the Russian Far East.

Recent genetic analysis has suggested that the species consists of six clades that in the future may warrant recognition as separate species. A 2020 study also suggested splitting of the species, but into 4 species instead, the Himalayan Horned Lark E. longirostris, Mountain Horned Lark E. penicillata, Common Horned Lark E. alpestris (sensu stricto), alongside Temnick's Lark..

The Konik (Polish: konik polski or konik biłgorajski) or the Polish primitive horse is a small, semi-feral horse, originating in Poland. The Polish word konik (plural koniki) is the diminutive of koń, the Polish word for "horse" (sometimes confused with kuc, kucyk meaning "pony"). However, the name "konik" or "Polish konik" is used to refer to certain specific breeds. Koniks show many primitive markings, including a dun coat and dorsal stripe.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konik

The horses we met live in a big area of a forest, partly surrounded with a fence and partly with a natural border - River Barycz. Before winter, they are caught and moved to a smaller area. As primitive wild horses, they don't need stables, though. The offspring was very curious about us and scared at the same time... .-)

Taraxacum (/təˈræksəkʊm/) is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus is native to Eurasia and North America, but the two most commonplace species worldwide, T. officinale (the common dandelion) and T. erythrospermum (the red-seeded dandelion), were introduced into North America from Europe and now propagate as wildflowers.[4] Both species are edible in their entirety.[5] The common name dandelion (/ˈdændɪlaɪ.ən/ DAN-di-ly-ən, from French dent-de-lion, meaning 'lion's tooth') is also given to specific members of the genus.

Like other members of the family Asteraceae, they have very small flowers collected together into a composite flower head. Each single flower in a head is called a floret. In part due to their abundance, along with being a generalist species, dandelions are one of the most vital early spring nectar sources for a wide host of pollinators.[6] Many Taraxacum species produce seeds asexually by apomixis, where the seeds are produced without pollination, resulting in offspring that are genetically identical to the parent plant.[7]

In general, the leaves are 50–250 millimetres (2–10 in) long or longer, simple, lobed, and form a basal rosette above the central taproot. The flower heads are yellow to orange coloured, and are open in the daytime, but closed at night. The heads are borne singly on a hollow stem (scape) that is usually leafless and rises 10–100 millimetres (3⁄8–3+7⁄8 in) or more[4] above the leaves. Stems and leaves exude a white, milky latex when broken. A rosette may produce several flowering stems at a time. The flower heads are 20–50 millimetres in diameter and consist entirely of ray florets. The flower heads mature into spherical seed heads sometimes called blowballs[8] or clocks (in both British and American English) containing many single-seeded fruits called achenes. Each achene is attached to a pappus of fine hair-like material which enables wind-aided dispersal over long distances.[citation needed]

The flower head is surrounded by bracts (sometimes mistakenly called sepals) in two series. The inner bracts are erect until the seeds mature, then flex downward to allow the seeds to disperse. The outer bracts are often reflexed downward, but remain appressed in plants of the sections Palustria and Spectabilia. Some species drop the "parachute" from the achenes; the hair-like parachutes are called pappus, and they are modified sepals. Between the pappus and the achene is a stalk called a beak, which elongates as the fruit matures. The beak breaks off from the achene quite easily, separating the seed from the parachute

The trail to this specific look off is called Gibraltar Rock Loop.

Gibraltar Rock Loop is located along the incredible Musquodoboit Trailway, in Nova Scotia, Canada.

on the historic Chinese clan jetties in Georgetown, Malaysia. Each house uses their own unique design on windows and doors, all i believe made by local jetty or clan specific craftspeople.

Unsurprisingly for me i like the most vibrant best :)

☞ IG

☞ Flickr album Malaysia

© All rights reserved. Please do not use my images and text without prior written permission.

After Eric Gail and I decided on shooting the North Window for sunrise, we grabbed a couple of hours of sleep and headed back from the campsite in the dark. (Eric, by the way, has some serious mojo when it comes to getting campsites at the last minute on busy weekends. I think this was the third time in a row he just rolled up to a site that was marked "full" and somehow a got campsite.)

As soon as we parked, I made a bee-line for this particular spot as I knew it would fill up early. I need to thank Eric for tipping off to this location the day before. When you see photographers perched up in this position from below, it really does look intimidating. You can't really see the ledge or for that matter any possible way to crawl out there without using some serious rock climbing skills. But once you actually begin claiming up to this spot, there are only a couple of sketchy spots to negotiate before you arrive at one of the most stunning locations in Arches National Park. The arch within an arch is immediately visible as you look through the North Window to the Turret Arch directly behind.

And so I crawled out there in the dark and set up on a little outcropping of rock and dug in for the long haul. And sure enough, an army of photographers began to arrive 20 minutes later. By sunrise entire van loads of photographers were now milling around the window. It was interesting to watch several of them asking "WHO in their right mind would climb out there?" initially before their curiosity inevitably got the better and up they came.

For this particular shot, the "glow" behind the rock is actually light pollution, presumably from Moab, but I liked the way it played off of the early morning burn that was beginning to set up off to the East. I spent most of my time shooting up there with the Rokinon 12mm as I wanted to pull in as much color off to the East as possible while shooting through the window.

I finally gave up my spot to several other photographers who were circling like vultures behind me after the sun finally came out from behind the clouds. It was truly a spectacular morning and one has since become one of my favorite mornings of shooting to date. I can't wait to get back there!

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Sunday 01-03-2020 we went for a walk down the Worcester & Birmingham canal .Starting at Tardebigge Wharf....there are 30 locks in total over about 2 1/2 miles .We were not doing them all .....there was a specific shot i was after (about 10 locks down)....this is not the one i will post that later .But what a beautiful location it is ....some lovely compositions and some very nice walks

Just finished a big week of concerts and spent yesterday racing from a sunrise in Laguna Beach out to Death Valley for a sunset attempt. I was tempted to get right into processing those shots, but I thought I would pause and take a look back first at my ever growing backlog of photos. I still have quite a pile from my trip up to the Columbia River Gorge from last May, and Spirit Falls was definitely one of the big highlights of the trip. A big shoutout again to Ryan Engstrom without whom we would have never found this particular set of Falls. To this day, I have no clear idea where these falls were located other than they were on the Washington side of the gorge. We were racing against the clock as our daylight was disappearing fast and suddenly Ryan yelled for us to pull over at a non descript pullout. From where we pulled over, we could hear no sound of running water, and off to the side of the road there was simply a jumble of boulders and scraggly looking trees. We all thought Ryan had lost it at that point. But trusting Ryan, (who had been pretty reliable so far), the four of us plunged over the ravine, and the spot Ryan led us to was easily one of the most gorgeous locations I've ever seen.

Our time shooting down there was very short, but I definitely want to return there soon. I just hope I can find it again on my next visit.

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As photography enthusiasts we are each drawn to a specific genre. Granted we admire all sorts of pictures, but there is a certain class of images we particularly are drawn to. Some like portraiture, some still-life, others formal landscape photography, and some street...

It was a while before I found myself admiring New Topographics photos. I found my admiration was in their honesty and utilization of space. I found that I related to their aesthetic because I was immersed in that type of scenario all around me. Intentionally regular and bland and not necessarily "pretty" I found them quite worthy of my attention.

I found myself being a more honest photographer when I adapted the New Topographics style and followed their tenets. Then one day I went back through my SD cards and found that I had been taking such pictures on many occasions without knowing it.

There is quite some overlap between New Topographics and Uncommon Places picture making, but at their cores they are very distinct.

With this particular scene I tried to push the envelope and present a landscape far beyond the aesthetics of 'calendar' pictures.