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I went on a road trip with my good friend and shooting buddy diapaulic and his daughter Olivia to explore the abandoned Alexian Brothers Novitiate outside of Gresham, Wisconsin.
Sitting on some 232 acres of land along the Red River in Shawano County, the Alexian Brothers Novitiate was originally built in 1939 by Mrs. Jennie Peters as a home for her invalid daughter, Jane, who died before the residence was completed. Following her late husband's request, Mrs. Peters had designed the structure to make it easily convertible into a facility for the Alexian Brothers. Mrs. Peters lived in the house until 1948, and in 1950 Brother Nicholas Barteleme arrived as the first Rector. In 1954 a $1,500,000 addition was added that connected to the original house. The Novitiate program was moved to Chicago in '68, and the estate was put up for sale in 1969. The remaining Brothers left in 1972 and a caretaker was put in charge to oversee the grounds and buildings. On January 1, 1974, a group of about 45 armed Native Americans calling themselves the Menominee Warrior Society stormed the abandoned Novitiate, seizing the property and taking the caretaker and his family hostage, saying that they would hold the facility until the Alexian Brothers turned it over to them. After 34 days of chanting "DEED or DEATH" they evacuated the building as part of an agreement that offered the deed to the Menominee Tribe for $1. Due to lack of funds they were forced to relinquish all ownership of the estate five months later. A fire gutted the three-story mansion in October of 1975 and it has been deserted ever since.
A cool way to view mine or anyone else's photostream is on fluidr.
First Devon & Cornwall - 84 - Holywell Bay
Date taken: 19/07/15
Location: Manor Road, Newquay, Cornwall, UK
Newly re liveried Eurostar 3211 speeds through Stratford International with train 9074 1015 St Pancras to Marne La Vallee.
Always good to be home!
A service I'd yet to cover since it's arrival in September is the '5k' variant of the overhauled service 5 cross-city circular.
Service 5k is a Monday-Saturday only three journey service in one direction from Hull Interchange heading eastbound and following the usual 5 all the way until ASDA Kingswood, where it'll terminate.
The journeys run as: one in the peak circa 5:30pm, and the final two runs of the evening circa 10:50pm and 11:20pm.
Seen here just coming onto Bellfield Avenue is former Manchester Enviro 400, 19060.
I know this sounds terrible, but since around the time of this trip, Rohingya refugee boats were hugely on everyone's mind while I was living on the Thai-Burma border, I felt like I was getting a tiny taste of what it's like to be overcrowded and exposed to sun.
The former Arriva London DLA374 (LJ03 MSY) is seen in the northern part of Bolton about to pick up its school. Last allocated to Thornton Heath for the 198 and 250, it is well used to pottering around suburbia.
Sometimes I feel as if my guitars have thier own toy story going on. Showed my old Ovation some proper lovin' today and got the pictures to prove it.
Nikon D700
Nikkor Micro 60mm f/2.8D
1/40, f/3.5 ISO 800
(1 in a multiple picture album)
I had to chuckle as Highway 9 in the higher elevation of Zion neared Checkerboard Mesa. There was a sign which said, "Curve Ahead". No kidding! There was a huge formation in my windshield and I would have likely turned to miss it without the warning.
Checkerboard Mesa is a very interesting piece of rock. The horizontal lines are carved by sand-carrying wind. The vertical lines are cracks in the surface of the monolith.
So pleased to see the starling at a recent trip to Newquay in Cornwall.When first coming to Plymouth in the late seventies they were in abundance in the city and now it is a rare site to see one.
Thank you for viewing and any comments.
Left to right: Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes), Connor Hawke, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Zatanna, the Atom, Guy Gardner, Blue Devil
Blue Beetle: I want that blue Ninjago guy head for him and the fairy wings instead of the clear bee ones. If anyone has them for trade, I'm in the market.
Connor Hawke: Simple update: plain legs. That is all.
Black Canary: She's finished. Billy did a great job with the torso. CapeMadness on Bricklink was more than willing to cut a dark blue AR jacket. Thanks to them, I have this sweet Dinah. She deserves and will receive a solo pic.
Green Arrow: I changed the hips and added the sleeve thing. Do you guys like the hips?
Green Lantern: I made the hair the darker version.
Superman: I love the comic suit, but the print TLG made for MoS was just too steasy not to use. I figure when he's with the JLA he can wear this.
Batman: Big updates. I got the BrickWarriors vambraces and CitizenBrick legs for him. I think they really complete the look. Do you guys prefer this cape or the Ring Wraith cape for him? I'll do whichever you guys like. He's also sporting my patented two batarang technique and custom gas pellets made from long antenna ends.
Wonder Woman: I like Sting as her sword above traditional molds. I also prefer the Cap shield for her traditional outfit than any of those dark brown ones. When the new Cap shield comes, I'll use that, obviously.
Aquaman: I love TLG's Aquaman torso, but I just wasn't feeling that for him. I prefer this. Those are TinyTactical sleeve ends on his wrists. I take Aquaman seriously, so no jokes here, please. What gets me is when people say his powers only work underwater. You can be impaled on a trident anywhere. And stabbing people with a trident is badass.
Zatanna: Simple.
The Atom: Someone deserves credit for the body armor use, but I can't remember who. I came up with the cowl use a while ago and posted my intention to make the Atom with it, but could never follow through until now. Thank you, unsung hero. Sound off in the comments if you think it's you.
(EDIT: Julianosaurus came up with it)
Guy Gardner: Another secret someone gets torso credit here. Pretty simple custom once the jacket is figured out. Sporting an aluminum bat construct made of wine bottle and cylinder.
(EDIT: Shabazel is the one who used that torso first)
Blue Devil: I made this muscle tee from a Batman torso and have been using it a lot. Anyway, my Blue Devil here has a Harry Potter head and aside from that is pretty simple. I chose to make the more modern design of him.
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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;
clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...
www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...
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In the night between 9 and 10 July 1943, the Allies landed in Sicily, an event that marked a decisive chapter for the fate of the Second World War: the operation was intended to open a front in continental Europe, invade and defeat Italy, was called in code "Operation Husky". The Anglo-American army, with its ships and landing craft (totally 2800 units), with its 150 thousand men, with its 600 tanks, with its 1,000 cannons, appeared in front of the Sicilian coasts during the night: it consisted of two units, the US 7th Army commanded by General Patton, and the British 8th Army commanded by General Montgomery. The British sector landed on the eastern coast, between Noto, Pachino, Portopalo, while the American sector landed between Licata and Scoglitti, a coastal belt comprising the Gulf of Gela.
This premise to describe the places of my photographs, made between Gela and Licata, partly on those same beaches that saw the formidable landing of men and vehicles during the Second World War (not without bloodshed), often thinking of how places so beautiful they were the scene of tragic events about 77 years ago. A little regret of mine I was not being able to photograph a large American landing craft underwater, sunk about 500 meters from the coast, no more than 6-7 meters deep: it is about 20 years that I "go to find it" with free diving, and every time I see it I always feel a great emotion (sooner or later I will have to decide to get with me an underwater camera). I revisited (every time it is always a great emotion) the bunkers and casemates present on the whole stretch (and beyond) Licata-Gela, in some of them I entered inside, while in others the presence of earth made exploration impossible internal.
In the town of Licata I always feel strong emotions going for a stroll, especially in the oldest part of the town in its historic center: I saw the Black Christ, which is located inside the Mother Church, the Black Christ according to legend miraculously escaped the fire of the church started by the Saracens who, allied with the French, sacked Licata on 11 July 1553, claiming many victims; the wood did not burn but was only blackened by the flames, the faithful shouted a miracle, in reality it is very likely, as it was in use at the time, that instead the statue of Christ was carved on a dark wood; it is also said that the Saracens used incendiary arrows to burn the statue, the crucifix was however pierced by arrows by the Saracens, three are seen stuck in his body, an arrow is present just above the left eye, the original arrows were removed in followed by Maltese settlers and replaced with silver arrows. Wandering aimlessly, I found in the oldest part of the city, literally hidden from view behind a group of houses, a cave (unfortunately abandoned) that was certainly inhabited in ancient times (early Christian era?) Composed of two rooms and a central column, with small indentations carved into it, I imagine to be able to store objects. Licata is also characterized by being a country where many stray dogs live, I have never seen skeletonized dogs, a sign that the population to some extent takes care of them. Characteristic in Licata, on the other hand as in many Sicilian villages, to see men, most of them a little older, sitting together to converse in the small squares, perhaps outside their respective clubs, always in shaded areas sheltered of the summer heat wave.
My next photos, divided into groups, will have as their theme the town of Licata, and its beaches.
Most of the photos are confused-blurry-blurred-imprecise-indecisive ... the Anglo-Saxon term that encompasses with a single word this photographic genre is "blur", these photos were made in the shooting phase, deliberately lengthening the exposure, and not as an effect created subsequently, in retrospect, in the post-production phase.
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Nella notte tra il 9 e il 10 luglio 1943, avvenne lo sbarco degli Alleati in Sicilia, evento che segnò un capitolo determinante per le sorti della Seconda guerra mondiale: l’operazione aveva lo scopo di aprire un fronte nell’Europa continentale, invadere e sconfiggere l’Italia, venne chiamata in codice “Operazione Husky”. L'armata anglo-americana, con le sue navi e mezzi da sbarco (in toto 2800 unità), con i suoi 150 mila uomini, con i suoi 600 carri armati, con i suoi 1.000 cannoni, si presentò davanti alle coste siciliane durante la notte: essa era composta da due unità, la 7a Armata statunitense comandata dal generale Patton, e l’8° Armata britannica comandata dal generale Montgomery. Il settore britannico sbarcò sulla fascia costiera più ad oriente, tra Noto, Pachino, Portopalo, mentre il settore statunitense sbarcò tra Licata e Scoglitti, fascia costiera comprendente il golfo di Gela.
Questa premessa per descrivere i luoghi delle mie fotografie, realizzate tra Gela e Licata, in parte su quelle stesse spiagge che hanno visto il formidabile sbarco di uomini e mezzi durante la seconda guerra mondiale (non senza spargimento di sangue), ripensando spesso a come luoghi così belli siano stati scenario di eventi tragici circa 77 anni addietro. Un mio piccolo rammarico è stato il non poter fotografare sott’acqua un grosso mezzo navale da sbarco americano, affondato a circa 500 metri dalla costa, a non più di 6-7 metri di profondità: sono circa 20 anni che “lo vado ritrovare” con immersioni in apnea, ed ogni volta che lo vedo provo sempre una grande emozione (dovrò decidermi prima o poi a procurarmi una macchina fotografica subacquea). Ho rivisitato (ogni volta è sempre una grande emozione) i bunker e le casematte presenti su tutto il tratto (ed oltre) Licata-Gela, in alcuni di essi sono entrato dentro, mentre in altri la presenza di terra ha reso impossibile l’esplorazione interna.
Nel paese di Licata provo sempre forti emozioni andando a zonzo, soprattutto nella parte più antica del paese nel suo centro storico: ho rivisto il Cristo Nero, che si trova all’interno della Chiesa Madre, il Cristo Nero secondo la leggenda scampò miracolosamente all’incendio della chiesa appiccato dai Saraceni che, alleati coi Francesi, saccheggiarono Licata l’11 luglio 1553, mietendo tante vittime; il legno non bruciò ma venne solamente annerito dalle fiamme, i fedeli gridarono al miracolo, in realtà è molto probabile, come era in uso all’epoca, che invece la statua del Cristo fu scolpita su di un legno scuro; si narra anche che i saraceni usarono frecce incendiarie per bruciarne la statua, il crocifisso fu comunque trafitto dalle frecce dai saraceni, se ne vedono tre conficcate nel suo corpo, una freccia è presente poco sopra l’occhio sinistro, le frecce originali furono tolte in seguito dai coloni Maltesi e sostituite con frecce d’argento. Girovagando senza una meta precisa, ho trovato nella parte più antica della città, letteralmente nascosta alla vista dietro un gruppo di case, una grotta (purtroppo abbandonata) che anticamente fu certamente abitata (epoca paleocristiana ?) composta da due camere ed una colonna centrale, con delle piccole rientranze scavate al suo interno, immagino per potervi riporre degli oggetti. Licata è anche caratterizzata per essere un paese nel quale vivono molti cani randagi, non ho visto mai cani scheletriti, segno che la popolazione in qualche misura si prende cura di loro. Caratteristico a Licata, d'altronde come in tantissimi paesi siciliani, vedere gli uomini, la maggior parte un po’ più anziani, seduti insieme a conversare nelle piccole piazze, magari al di fuori dei rispettivi circoli, sempre in zone d’ombra al riparo della canicola estiva.
Le mie prossime foto, divise in gruppi, avranno come tema il paese di Licata, e le sue spiagge.
La maggior parte delle foto sono confuse-mosse-sfocate-imprecise-indecise...il termine anglosassone che racchiude con una sola parola questo genere fotografico è "blur", queste foto sono state così realizzate in fase di scatto allungando volutamente i tempi di esposizione, e non come un effetto creato successivamente, a posteriori, in fase di post-produzione.
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EXPLORED! Highest position: 147 on Thursday, July 9, 2009
Still busy, these next two weeks will probably be even worse...
Getting stronger, on Thursday they scheduled me the final job interview (already succesfully passed through two) for a really interesting opportunity.
I will be meeting the General Manager of the company. Sounds good!
The shot
Another sunrise from my April Tuscany trip. Taken some minutes before "Tuscany Sunrise @75mm". Tighter crop, less contrasty.
I'm in love with that place.
The Processing
Photoshop: (SINGLE EXPOSURE)
- Duplicated the background layer, switched to soft light mode and applied a gradient mask (sky only)
- Switched to LAB mode and applied two curves to improve contrast and tones
- Back to RGB, added a vibrance layer to boost up minor tones
- Used color balance tool to improve colors
- Duplicated the background layer, switched to linear add and applied a gradient mask (foreground only)
- Created an Overlay layer to adjust light
- Resized
- Run Noise Ninja to reduce Noise
- Sharpening (Smart Sharpen + more accurate)
- Framing and signature.
Take a look at it, LARGE on Black :
The best is yet to come, on Black
@ You all
Comments, faves and critiques are always welcomed!
I wish you all a splendid sunday and a marvellous week ahead.
I will be checking your streams out tonight.
"Stairway To Heaven" (Led Zeppelin)
There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven.
There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.
There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who stand looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.
And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune,
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long,
And the forests will echo with laughter.
If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder.
Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,
The piper's calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind?
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
There are so many different species of daises , this one is quite a large, flat one. It seemed to be welcoming the sun. It is such a happy flower. How could it ever be called a weed !
To the Daisy:
When, smitten by the morning ray,
I see thee rise alert and gay,
Then, chearful Flower! my spirits play
With kindred motion:
Wordsworth
HI ALL, To my AMAZEMENT!! I was able to get on the internet right now!! No clue why I haven’t been able to for more then a month. No clue how long I can stay on or if I will be able to get back on anytime soon.
My health is oretty lousy with allergies on top and pretty bad to. No covid I have been tested more then once. The guy in the next apartment seems likely to have covid, but refuses to be tested or mask up or isolate and the building doesn’t seem to be able to do anything. Guy next door says it isn’t his problem if anyone gets it they were ment to get it.
Anyway I have been stuck in my apartment due to health so I haven’t encountered him much so that is a good thing.
How are you all doing?? I hope well!! Enjoying life?? Doing anything fun this summer??
I better send this while I hopefully can.
Please take care and prayers for you all.
I hope you are all well. :)
Charles.
I do force this old body out for walks when i can and of course I need food so to get grocerys a very painful difficult thing to do. Ordering them to be dilivered is not affordable for me and not have internet accesse makes that not possible even if i could. But getting out some is good and thus these two pictures.
Hugs all. No clue when I'll be on again.
Charles.
To view more of my images, of Orford, in Suffolk, please click "here"!
I would be most grateful if you would refrain from inserting images, and/or group invites; thank you
Orford is a small town in Suffolk, England, within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB. Like many Suffolk coastal towns it was of some importance as a port and fishing village in the Middle Ages. It still has a fine mediaeval castle, built to dominate the River Ore. The main geographical feature of the area is Orford Ness, a long, wide shingle spit at the mouth of the Ore. Orford Ness has in the past been used as an airstrip testing facility and in the early 1970s it was the site of a powerful radar station as part of the Cold War defences against low flying attacking aircraft; today it is a nature reserve run by the National Trust. Orford provides the only point of access to the nature reserves of Orford Ness and Havergate Island. Both sites can only be accessed via ferry boat from Orford quay. The Orford Ness ferry runs on selected days between April and October and the Havergate Island ferry on selected Saturdays. The population of Orford greatly increases during the summer months due to its flourishing sailing club. As well as the Castle, Orford's attractions include river cruises, three pubs, a traditional post office which sells fresh bread, a traditional bakery, a smokehouse and a restaurant; the Butley-Orford Oysterage.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SCT004,SCT010 are stabled at Forrest on 6PM9 SCT after a derailment at Malbooma earlier and wait for crew time off before heading east bound once again 16-4-14
I wanted to show you all something else but portraits so I went through some of the pictures that I took in august and found this one! It´s from one of all the evenings I was out trying to capture something of nature, and apparantly I took this!
For the moment I have like a thousand of picture that I´d like to show you! But I wont just publish them all at once, that would be so boring, cause than I have nothing new to share with you later on! Hopefully I will be able to publish them all before forgetting them, cause that would be boring......
I have waited all month for the house to clear and to get some time in a dress. Now that I have some time its just too darn hot in the UK (at least for me). So time to search around on the cutting room floor. Not sure if this picture is cool or hot...... but it does indicate that I am still here.
on Explore on 26th of Oct 2007
For the once among you that liked this creation and wonder what it really pictures, and how I did it, well, here it is ;)
This is a picture of my partner while driving. There was the early full moon at around 8PM a few weeks ago while I took the picture and decided to do a manipulation and make the moon huge. While I was busy doing it with Corel PaintShop Pro, the idea came to make it like he was going to fly to the Moon himself. Than the idea went on it's own and I decided that we were living in a time when we could easily breath without helmets but instead with a small mask made of a special kind of metal that covers the eyes and nose - so there it was, the space vehicle that could be anything, some kind of an airplane, or a car like small shuttle.
Note the sigaret though, and the fact that his mouth is not covered by the mask above. meaning - we could eat and smoke while breathing the air we need through the mask.
Hope my explanation makes sense to the sci-fi and surrealism lovers among you :)
And thank you for the lovely comments and the invites - really appreciate it so much!
This is the view looking south along Linthorpe Road in Middlesbrough on the morning of Sunday 9th February 2020. The structure in the foreground, sheltering the photographer from the damp conditions, carries the A66 trunk road. It's a prospect that might greet a traveller who has just arrived at nearby Middlesbrough station and is looking to find the town centre.
By the way, the title is not intended to be ironic. On this - my first proper visit to Middlesbrough - I found the town to be vibrant and full of character. When I was last here, in the nineteen-seventies, I think I merely passed through the station by train.
Kodak Tri-X 400
Nikon FM2
Nikkor 24mm lens
Epson V600 scanner
Ilfosol 3, 1+9, 7 minutes 30 seconds, 20º C.
Like to see these pictures as LARGE as your screen? Just click on this Slideshow : www.flickr.com/photos/reurinkjan/sets/72157627765541022/s...
Landscapes "out of the ordinary" as the inhabitants are, that`s Tibet.
Kyirong county in South Lato occupies the valleys of the Kyirong Tsangpo River (Trishuli) and its tributaries as well as the adjacent Gungtang-chu headwaters and the basin of lake Pelkhu Tso. The Kyirong gorge and valley form one of Tibet`s most beautiful picturesque alpine regions; and it boasts sites of historic importance, connected with King Songtsen Gampo, Padmasambhava, Milarepa, and Sakya Pandita, among others. The county capital is located at Dzongka,
Area: 8.869 sq km.
Vertorama
An interesting Photo Trip with friend at Sabah, Land Below the Wind my hometown. :)
Press L for Large, press F for Favourite
Location : Tanjung Simpang Mengayau (Tip Of Borneo) Kudat, Sabah, Malaysia
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New as SN57DDV 845 to Lothian Buses. Refurbished, repainted and reregistered as MXZ1755 and transferred to Lothian Motorcoaches. Subsequently transferred to Lothian Country Buses with the addition of a green surround to the destination board and rear upper. Now on hire to East Coast Buses.
The prototype Rafale first took to the air as long ago as 1986, but this is an aircraft at the cutting edge of modern fighter technology. The French Air Force flies both the single-seat Rafale C and two-seat Rafale B variants, while the French Navy operates the carrier-borne Rafale M. Both air arms have taken this very agile multi-role machine - capable of air-to-air, air-to-ground (including nuclear strike) and reconnaissance missions - to war in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Mali and Syria. Having signed up to be the type's debut export customer, Egypt has been receiving its Rafales, and further deals have been signed with India and Qatar. Other nations are eyeing the type. Base Aérienne 113 Saint-Dizier is the home station for the French Air Force Rafale display aircraft, flown this year by Capitaine 'Marty' Martinez.
I would like to wish a very special friend and contact a belated Happy Birthday! I hope you had an awesome day!
I've just come back from another fabulous trip to Nepal, some trekking, some chilling, some peace. She surely is my spiritual home and I was so very glad to visit her warmth once again. Whilst trekking in the Annapurna Himalaya I made some things next to the trail. Here's an excerpt from my journal on the day I made this little sculpture:-
Nepal isn't like anywhere else I've ever been. It seems to change me on the inside, it's not just the outside environs that are different.
Other places in the world have left my soul untouched. It's as though I've simply taken the me from home and travelled with it to a foreign land. I'm still the home 'me', stood somewhere else.
But Nepal is different, it seeps through my pores and changes me to what I should be. I feel at peace, confident and full of joy. My sensitivity becomes a blessing and never a chore. It's as though my sensitivity was designed to live in and appreciate the multi-faceted beauty of this place.
It is much more than the mountains, the landscape, the trails, the walking. It's the people, the magical encounters, the just about bloody everything. But most of all it's the way I can open my heart and soul and let all the world pour in. Without cynicism, without fear, without shyness, without worrying about difficult emotions and how I will handle them. Without the need to manufacture situations so I can sheild myself from things I can't cope with, all and everything that holds me back, makes my sensitivity difficult and taxing and sometimes the bane of my life. Here I am free, unleashed, filled with joy and happiness.
I can let my sensitivity fly free and grab onto every wonderful flower, tree or bird and to experience the rhythmic magic of simply placing one foot in front of the other. This is where I am meant to be , unshackled and home at last.
Now don't get me wrong. I have a rich and fulfilled time at home. But the mundanaties of life push spikily against my psyche and make some everyday tasks and relationships difficult. To feel every nuance can render you often vulnerable, confused and overwhelmed. Aching to hide from the world and to launch my vessel into the river of my own inner thoughts. That's why I love to cycle, to run, to walk, to climb and to create. The sublime lives within these things and I go looking for them to release my soul on a long leash and to let it stretch its legs for a while.
But being in Nepal is not simply a holiday, a break from those taxing minutiae of everyday life. I am not free of those things through simply being away, when I've travelled to somewhere in the States, Europe or South America I've brought a lot of those things with me.
But here I've stepped through the secret door in the back of the wardrobe into another me and another realm.
It's only when I'm here that I remember. It's only here when I am totally me once again. All those times when my innards soared skywards when climbing a snow covered mountain at home, when I've cycled to a long toiled for hill summit or lived the moment when a sculpture resonates, becomes vibrant and electric, when it is more than the sum of its parts. All those times join together with all the months I've spent in Nepal, connecting together all the sublime times in my life.
Another existence running in parallel, rich and diverse and perfect. Perhaps that's what Buddhist enlightenment feels like. Where you can ride the waves and ripples of life. It does not matter what happens, it only matters how it affects you. If the rough feels as important and as interesting as the smooth then maybe you've found the secret to how you should live your life.
I cannot manage to live in this enlightened way much of the time but I am so very grateful to have as much of it as I do. I hope to extend the length of these moments and tie the ends together with little knots in the strands of experience. And maybe one day I'll have a very long length of tightly woven cord, stretching from one side of my existence to the other and nothing, and everything will matter all at the same time.
Aside from how this place makes me feel it is brimful of brilliant in such a wonderful myriad of ways. Today was an experience of a thousand different treats.
We waited for the sun to warm us before shouldering packs and trudging into dense bamboo forest. We entered a deep gorge that is the gateway into the Annapurna Sanctuary and the trail cuts a path along the steep gorge walls like a wound.
Laim, Bamboo and Rhododendron forest dapple the light onto our faces and beneath our feet is a carpet of fallen coloured leaves while massive, savage peaks cut holes in the fabric of the sky.
Julia was a little way behind so I stopped awhile and sat on a warmed, sunlit stone. I collected up some red, orange and yellow leaves and cut circles around a five rupee coin. I stripped some sedge grass and pinned them on with Berberis thorns.
Unusually I could step off the trail here and pin my sculpture up in a tree. Normally the drop offs, either side of the trail, are so steep that you can touch the top of the trees. Nepal is so very corrugated and dramatic but not so good for setting up a little sculpture amongst the foliage. But here was perfect with plenty of room to pick a good spot with bright sunshine and plenty of contrast. Within a few minutes it was positioned and set against the dark trunk of a Rhododendron tree. The breeze swung the branch it was fixed to so I snapped away hoping for something good and sharp and clear.
My land art comes in thirds. Every third attempt just seems to click. All the elements combine just as I imagine they may do if I had had a plan in the first place.
A quick stop on a rock in the sunshine, surrounded by beautiful hued leaves. A quick circular route with scissors and a construction was soon created. Everything combined as I would want it. The place, the materials, the sunshine: click, it was all there.
So this was the third of the three and how I would want it to be. All the pieces fell into place without me really trying very hard.
If you live your life without expecting anything and then are happy with whatever life dishes up, then surely that's a better way to be. If you can conjure up that carefree existence, go with the flow and live from moment to moment it just seems to come together how you may have wanted it to if you'd spent any time wondering how you will want it to be. But the key seems to be not wasting any time pondering on what you would wish for and grasping gently and just letting everything be. Maybe not everything will be just how you would like it, but surely you'll settle for one in three!
Had to try again, glad I did! The eye shadow is wicked!! I was unsure about the make up and long lashes, but it works!
We are human and so we hurt... To break the cycle we become less human
She's about 50% human 50% computer imaged so far but the balance is tipping.....
gawd - i love my job...i'm out all day and i see some stellar stuff - the clouds were dope today - and i knew of this lone plains cottonwood at the entrance to fossil creek - just as i got there a huge hawk took off from the tree that i didn't even see - it circled around and headed back to the tree - i got it on it's approach and even though i was shooting super wide - i was still able to capture it....
I took a quick visit to the new underground car park at Bath's newest retail development - currently a favourite with the Bath flickr group. I didn't realise till afterwards that each zone is colour coded. I did feel a bit weird taking photos while there were security camera warnings everywhere.
I may return there tonight as i'm off to the open evening for the 'Bath in Time - City on Show' exhibition where one of my images is on show. In fact you can see if here on Page 37 of this interactive magazine where it's been published and distributed around Bath www.thebathmagazine.co.uk
Will catch up tomorrow night.
This is one of my pictures from over a year ago taken during a workshop led by Marc Adamus. After most of the group started their trek back from the beach at Oceanside, Oregon, I was trying to get the streaks in the receding waves. The colorful sunrise had by then started to decline. But if for nothing else, I needed that practice to get the timing right. The trick is relatively simple. You wait for the wave to go past you and as it is receding, open the shutter for a long exposure. In this case, 2 seconds.
Couple of things I would like to point out. I was there, that sea stack was there, the was the lone seabird sitting on it and the rest of the elements were there. But the edit is a creative one. Might not appeal to everyone and I am fine with that. For a lot of my images, I keep going back and forth for days, months and this case over a year. What looks good to my eyes today may not look the same a few days hence. Giving it a break sometimes helps. Which is why you hardly ever see pictures from me shared immediately from a trip.
A friend ased, “Do you prefer a Sunrise or Sunset?”
I love both but given a choice, I prefer a Sunrise. Here is why:
Sunsets are relatively predictable. You are already wide awake and can observe the changes coming throughout the day. You probably have already checked the weather and seen where the clouds are. May be some website or app has predicted a great sunset. For example, one of my photography friends checks live video from remote TV station cameras to see where the likelihood of a good sunset is.
On the other hand, sunsets are also relatively dirty air quality events. Especially in a large urban environment with all the vehicular pollution, smog and the warm air causing the air to be not so clean. Sometimes however these might cause spectacular sunsets like with the recent Saharan sand storm or smoke from the wildfires out west.
Sunrise on the other hand is a clean affair with less vehicles on the road and atmospheric pollutants blown away or settled down. Also the cooler night time temperatures can cause the air to clean up bit particularly when there is dew.
Sunrises also have the advantage of being less commonly photographed and you do not see nearly as many photographers as you do at sunset. My most recent experience with the “Valley View Sunrise” shot in Yosemite was a perfect example. There was no one else but the three of us and that composition with the sunstar coming up next to the El Capitan has not been shot before. Most people can stay up late but just hate waking up early and I am no exception. But why I do I like Sunrises over Sunsets all things being equal?
In the famous words of Forrest Gump:
“You never know what you're gonna get,"
Sigiriya or Sinhagiri (Lion Rock Sinhalese: සීගිරිය, Tamil: சிகிரியா, pronounced see-gi-ri-yə) is an ancient rock fortress located in the northern Matale District near the town of Dambulla in the Central Province, Sri Lanka. The name refers to a site of historical and archaeological significance that is dominated by a massive column of rock nearly 200 metres (660 ft) high. According to the ancient Sri Lankan chronicle the Culavamsa, this site was selected by King Kasyapa (477 – 495 CE) for his new capital. He built his palace on the top of this rock and decorated its sides with colourful frescoes. On a small plateau about halfway up the side of this rock he built a gateway in the form of an enormous lion. The name of this place is derived from this structure —Sīhāgiri, the Lion Rock. The capital and the royal palace was abandoned after the king's death. It was used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigiriya
Olympus E-M1
OLYMPUS M.14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ
Aperture ƒ/5.6
Focal length 14.0 mm
Shutter 1/1250
ISO 200