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ꕥNGR is dedicating September to Suicide Preventionꕥ
There is no single cause for suicide. It most often occurs when stressors exceed current coping abilities of someone suffering from a mental health condition.
✦ From September 1st -30th we will be posting facts about suicide prevention.
✦We will also be holding a photo drive - Dates & times will be posted for availability
✦Writings on the Wall Gallery - Put your favorite inspirational/motivational quote or words on the wall.
✦Strides against Suicide Masked Gala - Sept. 22nd 5-7 pm slt
A candlelight vigil will be held at halftime during the gala
Although we are not doing sponsorship packages, we will be taking donations all month. All donations can be sent to NuGammaRhoCharity inworld. A receipt will be sent to you upon sending.
↳All Donations will be going to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention↲
For more information visit : afsp.org/
.....early yesterday morning....managed for some time....today though the skies are dark grey and heavy....short lasting showers and storm like winds are the case....a day to spend as much as possible at home.
...isn't always easy...no matter what it is...but then...what is easy in life?
...it's up to us to make things easy or difficult...
...and making things easy, sometimes invloves seriously hard work...
...on various levels...practical, psychological, personal, social...
...I'm striving to reach at this point of easiness...
...by gaining discipline....oh my! is that hard!...
...but SO rewarding when it happpens!
...to all of you who would possiply like the same...
...my best wishes and support : )
...and to all of you, who are already there...
...my deepest respects.
Striving for perfection
And hiding when it comes
Seeing its reflection
And the fire it becomes
m.youtube.com/watch?v=yNyEOuG6Z6s (MGMT: "INTROSPECTION")
Hat tip to Mr. Lichtenstein (Mirror #1, 1969)
Middle class India is currently in a celebratory mood. Word has it India is to be the next economic super power in the world. Yet a 2001 World Resources Indicator report which shows that 2 million of the most wretchedly poor people of the world live in 51 countries, also indicates that almost half of these people live in India and China alone!!!
The secret of joy in work is contained in one word -- excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it. ~~ Pearl S. Buck
we all should strive for knowledge, not necessarily in this way :)
texture from NinianLif
I don't know why but I feel that this is not my style & that its not me who captured it, who knows this might be my style!! time will answer that
Here's another six image panorama of Jubilee Creek in the Knysna forest.
Many people who know me also know that I often spend more than a few hours editing a single photo. This panorama was no exception. My camera might be able to capture all the details in the highlights and shadows in a scene like this, but I do have to tweak all the photos if I want my final image to look as realistic as possible. This is my basic workflow...
1. I open all the RAW files and make some basic adjustments. Then I save 2 copies (as TIFF files), one copy exposed for the highlights and the other for the shadows. Then I blend each of those pairs together using luminosity masks.
2. Next I stitch the blended photos together into one panorama using PTGui or Photoshop's Automerge feature (whichever does a better job). Then I save the resulting pano as a 16-bit TIFF file.
3. I open the stitched image in Photoshop and start off by cropping it to create the strongest possible composition.
4. Then I'll balance the overall exposure (if necessary) using gradient masks and the "blend-if" tool, and I'll also add some midtone contrast and tweak the white balance.
5. Next I might adjust specific colours which still don't look quite right. The red tones are often overrepresented in a forest photo, so I usually have to tone those down quite a bit. I also try to remove any blue and cyan tones from the sky that are reflected off the leaves.
6. Then I will adjust the black and white points and tweak the contrast until everything looks as close as possible to reality. Then I save my photo as a 16-bit TIFF file.
All those steps are easy to follow when you know how to do them. I've had lots of practice over the years, so I could probably perform them in my sleep. I wouldn't need more than about 20 minutes to complete those simple tasks. So why do some of my photos take several hours to edit? Because the final step is always the most important step...
7. I get up and walk away from my computer and won't return for at least 5 minutes. This gives my eyes some time to readjust to the reality of the world around me. When I return to my computer I ask myself one simple question; What DON'T I like about this photo? It might be a colour that appears a bit oversaturated (usually the greens or yellows), or it could be a small twig that catches my eye too often and becomes a distraction. I'll try to fix as many of those problems as possible, before getting up and walking away from my computer again for another 5 minutes. I will repeat this process of self-critique and small adjustments until I wouldn't change another single thing in my photo. Sometimes I'll only be 100% happy the next morning.
So that's why (in case you were wondering) it often takes me many hours to edit a single photo. :)
I shot this from the sidewalk. It's on Parliament Hill, east of the East Block, and it stands out alone against the sky, a memorial to the War of 1812, which Canada won. (We know we won because we're still here, not part of the US. Heh.) I don't recall seeing it the last time I was in Ottawa. I like it.
Cholistan-Rohi,
Pakistan.
Rohi vithri megh malhaaraan,
Bootay bootay thiyaan gulzaraan,
Shala moriyam dost maharaan
Bhaag suhaag di mausam aayen
Tr.: “Every plant in sprouting and Cholistan is turning into a garden. This is because the rain has come. O friend, you also come back”.
I reached, the only standing fort out of thirty five built earlier, The Daravar Fort. On the eastern flank of this massive brick-built fort stands a beautiful and petit marble mosque. Erected on an artificial platform the design of this mosque reminds the visitor of the great jamia mosque of Delhi.
Passing through the mosque, I walked towards the fort and entered through a huge wooden spiked gate. Every portion of the fort held a mystery inside. I could see so many frames longing to be captured. The massive brick structure seemed to be striving for survival. The remains were calmly resting as if it has been ages they are like this. The more I moved further, I was being pushed into a state of sweet solitude. I was enjoying the experience to the utmost. The aroma of tranquility prevailed all over and the dominant seemed weaker. The fear of all the powerful started fading away. In the absence of colors, light and shade played a talismanic role. The amazing sciagraphy, due to the different levels in the typology and the changing angle of the rays of light, played magical feats and created shadows which spoke a different language every other hour. Shadows have always accompanied me; always been a companion to me in this journey where I love carrying this crowd of loneliness around me.
Soon the sun started to set down. The light was getting darker. And once again, I had to bid farewell to my companion and move on…for another journey!
“When faced with a mountain, I will not quit! I will keep striving until I climb over, find a pass through, tunnel underneath or simply stay and turn the mountain into a gold mine, with God's help.”~Robert Half
I have this silly dream (currently working on it) to visit every lighthouse in the west coast of the USA. :)
Anyway, this tunnel is on the way to Point Bonita Lighthouse--located in the entrance of the San Francisco Bay, which it was an adventure to find. Thank goodness for GPS navigation systems. :-)
::|| Listening to DJ eko extended mix of this awesome song ::||
NOTE:
-This is one shot. NO HDR.
-I simply applied in PS CS3 unsharp 20/60/0 and re sized for web.
-I was really testing the metering system of the new camera (called Spot in Nikon or Partial in Canon) . I was testing how it handles super bright backgrounds. Read more about digital camera metering systems or consult your camera manual. :)
_
Our Daily Challenge ... our parents war.
My parents fought to ensure that their children got the education they missed out on. My father qualified to go to High School but he had to leave to get a job, apprenticed to his father, who was a baker. My Mother went to High School but couldn't leave home to train as a nurse because her brothers were away at war and she was needed to help on the farm. So, education and working in our chosen field was high on the agenda. I know that it was often a struggle especially when Dad died at 46 and Mum had to do it alone.
I finally got my replacement camera on Tuesday and I spent a frustrating two days trying to work out how to change the Asian language to English. Finally went to a store today which had the same camera and had a look to see where the language control was in the menu and "Hey presto" I can now read what it says. It has some great new features to try out too. We also finally got a new aerial for our Internet today. So far it seems considerably better so hopefully I will now be able to catch up.
How many times have you, all alone, or with your very lovely lady, performed the tedious and bittersweet exercise of ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ since y’all’s first Vegas Visit in 1993! Quite a lot when you consider that there were some years in which you and your very lovely lady did multiple stays on the Vegas Strip just to compete in major ballroom dance competitions. Most times your very lovely lady would sleep in late on departure day and then spend most of the day laying out at the pool until checkout time. Sometimes you two would spent the entire departure day attending dance workshops. On rare occasions your woman might briefly join you on your final camera safari — But mostly you would spent your departure day doing your Flickr Camera Safari alone. 😏
So Gents — 😁 Strive to use your departure day to perform your last Flickr camera safari. And also try to find a really nice airy spot on the Vegas Strip where you can do your final lunch. Look for some nice spot on the Strip with a shady patio overlooking the Las Vegas Strip where you can sit and begin your leisurely and final exploration of that often elusive phenomenon commonly known as ‘Island Time!’ 🌞😎
Oh, and by the way, you were supposed to depart Vegas on the 6pm Southwest flight, but they cancelled that flight because they couldn't find someone to fly the plane. Presently you are scheduled to take the 11pm flight home, but you are not confident that flight won't be cancelled -- so you have booked an extra hotel night at the NY-NY just in case.
So perhaps you won't be Leaving Las Vegas today. 😏