View allAll Photos Tagged Tending
As mentioned in an earlier post, maple syrup is made by boiling off water until a desired sweetness or sugar content is reached. Measuring the density of the syrup is a common way to do that. Here is a worker who is adjusting the wood fire under the evaporating pan containing the sap. The steam of course is the water that has been boiled off. The amount of concentration varies over the season with more sugar in the sap early on. About a 25 fold concentration is required to get the desired product. The final color can vary from amber to very dark and depends on the sap. Making maple syrup was taught to the early European colonists by the Native Americans who had discovered how to make syrup earlier in their history.
The last few months our regular Wattlebirds have been looking after and feeding this pacific koel. Then are know as parasite birds, the female dumps her eggs in honeyeaters nest for them to look after. The two main birds are usually are noisy friarbirds and the Red Wattlebirds that tend to raise them. This is the second time I have seem Mr and Mrs Wattie raising one.
A guy was out kicking rocks waiting for these three GE's when he should have been shooting the KCS 2973. Such is life.
A few of the more scenic locales on the MNNR's stretch south of New Brighton tend to favor morning light. With that, I opted for a touch of the dark side amidst the bucolic high tension lines as the line jogs to the southwest on another warm and dry evening.
Divers artistes.
Paris, 1931 – après une évolution de la tendance générale vers l’art figuratif dans les années 1920 finissantes, Theo van Doesburg, Auguste Herbin, Jean Hélion et Georges Vantongerloo fondent le groupe Abstraction-Création, comptant ainsi contrer l’influence des surréalistes menés par André Breton.
La situation est similaire aujourd’hui. L’abstraction dans la peinture peut-elle révéler une nouvelle manière d’aborder l’art ? Constitue-t-elle une réponse plus adaptée aux questions émergentes, loin des sujets, récits et autres thèmes de l’art figuratif ?
L’histoire du Consortium Museum est profondément enracinée dans l’abstraction et le minimalisme, qui ont enrichi notre jeunesse et alimenté nos rêves utopiques d’un monde meilleur imaginé par des artistes et architectes progressistes – principalement des hommes...
Heureusement, dans les années 1980, les modernismes non-occidentaux, les récits non binaires et le pouvoir des femmes ont remis en question nos certitudes, ouvrant la voie à un monde plus équilibré dans lequel passion et avidité, opportunisme et engagement authentique, talent et compétence coexistaient, et coexistent toujours pour l’instant. Mais rien n’est encore complètement figé.
L’exposition que nous organisons met en lumière ces stratégies formelles, suscitant un lyrisme renouvelé à travers un sentiment de distance et de confort.
Le titre 20 under 40 peut sonner comme un énième slogan, mais l’âge de 40 ans marque une frontière intangible et subjective entre le statut de jeune artiste et celui d’artiste au mi-temps de sa carrière. Nous avons porté notre regard sur les plus jeunes car ils-elles ont généralement leur propre logique et une approche non conventionnelle de l’art abstrait, surtout quand il s’agit de peinture. Gestuelle vs narration, expressivité vs construction, non-représentation vs personnages et paysages, ornemental vs descriptif, et ainsi de suite – une génération éclectique qui relève le défi moderne de se mesurer à la longue histoire de la peinture abstraite – son avenir se trouve entre leurs jeunes mains. Ce qui ne veut pas dire qu’ils-elles se voient non-figuratif pour toujours !
— Franck Gautherot & Seungduk Kim
Various artists.
Paris, 1931 – after a shift in the general trend towards figurative art in the late 1920s, Theo van Doesburg, Auguste Herbin, Jean Hélion and Georges Vantongerloo founded the Abstraction-Création group, hoping to counter the influence of the surrealists led by André Breton.
The situation is similar today. Can abstraction in painting reveal a new way of approaching art? Is it a more appropriate response to emerging questions, far from the subjects, narratives and other themes of figurative art?
The Consortium Museum’s history is deeply rooted in abstraction and minimalism, which enriched our youth and fueled our utopian dreams of a better world imagined by progressive artists and architects – mostly men…
Fortunately, in the 1980s, non-Western modernisms, non-binary narratives, and the power of women challenged our certainties, paving the way for a more balanced world in which passion and greed, opportunism and genuine commitment, talent and skill coexisted, and still do for now. But nothing is completely fixed yet.
The exhibition we are organizing highlights these formal strategies, eliciting a renewed lyricism through a sense of distance and comfort.
The title 20 under 40 may sound like yet another slogan, but the age of 40 marks an intangible and subjective boundary between being a young artist and being a mid-career artist. We focused on the younger generation because they usually have their own logic and an unconventional approach to abstract art, especially when it comes to painting. Gesture vs. narrative, expressiveness vs. construction, non-representation vs. figures and landscapes, ornamental vs. descriptive, and so on—an eclectic generation that is taking on the modern challenge of measuring itself against the long history of abstract painting—its future lies in their young hands. Which is not to say that they see themselves as non-figurative forever! — Franck Gautherot & Seungduk Kim
an HDR shot done of a groundkeeper tending to the cricket ground at Campbell Park in Milton Keynes.
apologies for not being around so much - a series of brithday celebrations have gotten in the way of my Flickr'ing!
I trust that everyone is having a great Thursday!
Part of my in the park (Set) and HDR (Set)
Facebook + Twitter + RedBubble + 9876543210
Flickr: Jon Downs + Flickr: (Jon Downs) + Flickr: Jon Downs [textures]
Press L to view in Lightbox
© Jon Downs 2011 All Rights Reserved.
Crow in the spotlight ...
Sony ILCE-7R
300mm F2.8 G
The mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) is a perching duck species found in East Asia. It is medium-sized, at 41–49 cm (16–19 in) long with a 65–75 cm (26–30 in) wingspan. It is closely related to the North American wood duck, the only other member of the genus Aix. Aix is an Ancient Greek word used by Aristotle to refer to an unknown diving bird, and galericulata is the Latin for a wig, derived from galerum, a cap or bonnet.
The adult male is a striking and unmistakable bird. It has a red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face and "whiskers". The breast is purple with two vertical white bars, and the flanks ruddy, with two orange "sails" at the back. The female is similar to female wood duck, with a white eye-ring and stripe running back from the eye, but is paler below, has a small white flank stripe, and a pale tip to its bill.
Both the males and females have crests, but the crest is more pronounced on the male.
Like many other species of ducks, the male undergoes a moult after the mating season into eclipse plumage. When in eclipse plumage, the male looks similar to the female, but can be told apart by their bright yellow-orange beak, lack of any crest, and a less-pronounced eye-stripe.
Mandarin ducklings are almost identical in appearance to wood ducklings, and very similar to mallard ducklings. The ducklings can be distinguished from mallard ducklings because the eye-stripe of mandarin ducklings (and wood ducklings) stops at the eye, while in mallard ducklings it reaches all the way to the bill.
The hooded crow (Corvus cornix) (also called hoodie is a Eurasian bird species in the Corvus genus. Widely distributed, it is also known locally as Scotch crow and Danish crow. In Ireland it is called grey crow, just as in the Slavic languages and in Danish. In German it is called "mist crow" ("Nebelkrähe"). Found across Northern, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as parts of the Middle East, it is an ashy grey bird with black head, throat, wings, tail, and thigh feathers, as well as a black bill, eyes, and feet. Like other corvids, it is an omnivorous and opportunistic forager and feeder.
It is so similar in morphology and habits to the carrion crow (Corvus corone), for many years they were considered by most authorities to be geographical races of one species. Hybridization observed where their ranges overlapped added weight to this view. However, since 2002, the hooded crow has been elevated to full species status after closer observation; the hybridisation was less than expected and hybrids had decreased vigour. Within the hooded crow species, four subspecies are recognized, with one, the Mesopotamian crow, possibly distinct enough to warrant species status itself.
Except for the head, throat, wings, tail, and thigh feathers, which are black and mostly glossy, the plumage is ash-grey, the dark shafts giving it a streaky appearance. The bill and legs are black; the iris dark brown. Only one moult occurs, in autumn, as in other crow species. The male is the larger bird, otherwise the sexes are alike. Their flight is slow and heavy and usually straight. Their length varies from 48 to 52 cm (19 to 20 in). When first hatched, the young are much blacker than the parents. Juveniles have duller plumage with bluish or greyish eyes and initially a red mouth. Wingspan is 98 cm (39 in) and weight is on average 510 g.
The mallard or wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, the Falkland Islands and South Africa. This duck belongs to the subfamily Anatinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae.
The male birds (drakes) have a glossy green head and are grey on wings and belly, while the females (hens or ducks) have mainly brown-speckled plumage. Both sexes have an area of white-bordered black speculum feathers which commonly also include iridescent blue feathers especially among males. Mallards live in wetlands, eat water plants and small animals, and are social animals preferring to congregate in groups or flocks of varying sizes. This species is the main ancestor of most breeds of domesticated ducks.
The mallard is a medium-sized waterfowl species although it is often slightly heavier than most other dabbling ducks. It is 50–65 cm (20–26 in) long (of which the body makes up around two-thirds), has a wingspan of 81–98 cm (32–39 in),[16] and weighs 0.72–1.58 kg (1.6–3.5 lb). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 25.7 to 30.6 cm (10.1 to 12.0 in), the bill is 4.4 to 6.1 cm (1.7 to 2.4 in) and the tarsus is 4.1 to 4.8 cm (1.6 to 1.9 in).
The breeding male mallard is unmistakable, with a glossy bottle-green head and white collar which demarcates the head from the purple-tinged brown breast, grey brown wings, and a pale grey belly. The rear of the male is black, with the dark tail having white borders. The bill of the male is a yellowish orange tipped with black while that of the female is generally darker ranging from black to mottled orange. The female mallard is predominantly mottled with each individual feather showing sharp contrast from buff to very dark brown, a coloration shared by most female dabbling ducks, and has buff cheeks, eyebrow, throat and neck with a darker crown and eye-stripe.
Owing to their highly 'malleable' genetic code, Mallards can display a large amount of variation, as seen here with this female, who displays faded or 'apricot' plumage.
Both male and female mallards have distinct iridescent purple blue speculum feathers edged with white, prominent in flight or at rest, though temporarily shed during the annual summer moult. Upon hatching, the plumage colouring of the duckling is yellow on the underside and face (with streaks by the eyes) and black on the back (with some yellow spots) all the way to the top and back of the head. Its legs and bill are also black. As it nears a month in age, the duckling's plumage will start becoming drab, looking more like the female (though its plumage is more streaked) and its legs will lose their dark grey colouring. Two months after hatching, the fledgling period has ended and the duckling is now a juvenile. Between three and four months of age, the juvenile can finally begin flying as its wings are fully developed for flight (which can be confirmed by the sight of purple speculum feathers). Its bill will soon lose its dark grey colouring and its sex can finally be distinguished visually by three factors. The bill colouring is yellow in males, black and orange for females. The breast feathers are reddish-brown for males, brown for females. The centre tail feather is curled for males (called a drake feather), straight for females.[citation needed]
During the final period of maturity leading up to adulthood (6–10 months of age), the plumage of female juveniles remains the same while the plumage of male juveniles slowly changes to its characteristic colours.[citation needed] This plumage change also applies to adult mallard males when they transition in and out of their non-breeding eclipse plumage at the beginning and the end of the summer moulting period. The adulthood age for mallards is 14 months and the average life expectancy is 3 years, but they can live to twenty.
In captivity, domestic ducks come in wild-type plumages, white, and other colours. Most of these colour variants are also known in domestic mallards not bred as livestock, but kept as pets, aviary birds, etc., where they are rare but increasing in availability.
A noisy species, the female has a deeper quack stereotypically associated with ducks. Male mallards also make a sound which is phonetically similar to that of the female, but it is a deep and raspy sound which can also sound like mek or whak. When incubating a nest, or when offspring are present, Females vocalise differently, making a call which sounds like a truncated version of the usual quack. They will also hiss if the nest or their offspring are threatened or interfered with.
The mallard is a rare example of both Allen's Rule and Bergmann's Rule in birds. Bergmann's Rule, which states that polar forms tend to be larger than related ones from warmer climates, has numerous examples in birds. Allen's Rule says that appendages like ears tend to be smaller in polar forms to minimize heat loss, and larger in tropical and desert equivalents to facilitate heat diffusion, and that the polar taxa are stockier overall. Examples of this rule in birds are rare, as they lack external ears. However, the bill of ducks is very well supplied with blood vessels and is vulnerable to cold.[citation needed]
Due to the malleability of the mallard's genetic code, which gives it its vast interbreeding capability, mutations in the genes that decide plumage colour are very common and have resulted in a wide variety of hybrids such as Brewer's duck (mallard × gadwall, Anas strepera).
Source:
Wikipedia
L'ETA' DI MEZZO
foto 10: Paradossi Stefano a 18 anni,
foto tessera per la patente B.
foto anno 1971
________________________________________________
LA TENDA ROSSA 1° parte
Nel 1971... a fine luglio ero euforico.
Grazie a mio zio Luigi,
che aveva una scuola guida a Ponsacco,
ero riuscito a prendere la patente per tempo.
Bruciando tutti i miei coetanei,
avevo tra le mani la tanto sospirata patente B.
Dal mio compleanno,
erano trascorsi solo una decina di giorni.
A dire il vero, ora che ricordo meglio, non avevo proprio la patente,
bensì un foglietto rosa che mi abilitava a guidare in via provvisoria.
il documento ufficiale sarebbe arrivato a settembre, con comodo.
D'improvviso guarda caso, ero coccolato da tutti.
Il problema però, era convincere mio padre a prestarmi l'auto.
Era ed ancora oggi lo è, gelosissimo del proprio mezzo.
Presto mi resi conto che sarebbe stato impossibile.
Addirittura andarci da solo in ferie... impensabile.
Dopo lungo discutere avevamo scelto Orbetello,
in provincia di Grosseto.
Un luogo veramente incantevole,
con una laguna che ricordo allora primordiale.
Avevo la patente.
La fortuna mi corse incontro, divenendo, da semplice comprimario, e forse da lasciare anche a casa,
ad elemento importante e decisivo.
Solo in tre potevamo guidare, uno era già fuori causa.
Era il mio amico Claudio, soprannominato subito gamba fara,
aveva 22 anni, purtroppo per lui si era fratturato una gamba la settimana prima dell'agognata vacanza al mare.
La diagnosi fu inesorabile,
40 giorni di gesso e poi riabilitazione.
C'era la necessità di un'autista di riserva.
Visto che le auto erano due, puntarono su me.
Il problema era... dove caspita era Orbetello,
a me pareva lontanissimo.
_______________________________________________
Sabato 31 luglio, partenza ore 7.
Siamo in 6, con 3 tonnellate di bagagli, si fa per dire,
tra cui una grande tenda rossa.
Le auto, per fortuna avevano il portabagagli annesso.
A me tocca guidare la Fiat 500 di Claudio,
di colore rosso pure quella.
Subito prima di partire un bel problema,
l'infortunato non c'era il verso di farlo salire in macchina.
La gamba era ingessata dritta dall'inguine fino in fondo al piede.
Qualcuno sogghignando... disse di volerlo spedire per corriere.
I vaffa di Claudio, svegliarono due o tre famiglie nella corte in San Marco dove abitava con i suoi.
La buttai la.
Dobbiamo sacrificare una seduta.
12 occhi che s'incrociano, cercando consensi.
Poi una gran pacca sulle schiena.
Caspita ha ragione Stefano.
Via il seggiolino accanto a quello di guida della 500.
Sembrava facile e non lo era affatto,
poi lo strappammo via come un dente ad un'elefante.
Piano che diamine, quando torniamo mi serve di nuovo,
tuonò imbizzarrito il povero e sofferente Claudio.
Nell'altra auto si stiparono 4 persone più le tante valige.
Per fortuna era una vecchia giardiniera della Fiat,
che io ho sempre chiamato semplicemente, "giardinetta".
Un cimelio di fine anni 50 mi sembra.
Per capirci, per quelli che hanno un po' di anni sulle spalle,
quella con le bacchette di frassino sulle fiancate.
La prima "station wagon" al mondo prodotta su vasta scala.
La 500 rossa invece, vuoi anche per il colore "estroso" era diventata simile ad un "risciò"... ed io il cinesino alla guida.
Partenza effettiva dopo 2 ore abbondanti.
Ritardo "mostruoso" come avrebbe detto il compianto Fantozzi.
Ed a pensarci bene, la sceneggiatura a seguire,
potrebbe benissimo essere pensata da una mente così fertile.
Segue testo foto successiva
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© Il testo è di esclusiva proprietà dell'autore, Stefano Paradossi, che ne detiene i diritti e ne vieta qualsiasi utilizzo da parte di terzi. La foto fa parte dell'Archivio Fotografico della famiglia Paradossi.
© The text is of exclusive property of the author, Stefano Paradossi, who owns the rights and prohibits any use by third parties. The image is part of the Photo Archive of the Paradossi family.
I tend to avoid visiting Dinorwic quarry in summer. I feel that under blue skies it just doesn't have the same atmosphere. A light dusting of snow illuminates traces of earth works, the different levels, ruins, inclines and tracks. It's always a different experience every time I come here, but my favourite is in misty conditions.
One last Texas leafcutter ant (Atta texana) photo for now. This ant was approaching the entrance of their subterranean colony with a blade of grass for the fungus chamber.
The river otter is adapted for both land and water with short legs, webbed toes, and a strong, flattened tail. Otters have five toes and the heel pad tends to be somewhat horseshoe shaped. The ears appear large on its small flattened head. River otter fur ranges from light to dark, rich brown.
myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/mammals/aquatic/river...
Mutualisms between ants and treehoppers are so effective that sometimes multiple species can occur together on the same plant without conflicts. Here, a Myrmecaria ant worker tends to a short-horned Tricentrus sp., while an extravagantly adorned Pyrgauchenia biuni feeds nearby. Both of these treehoppers feed on the plant phloem, tapping into the stem with their proboscis, and secrete excess sugary fluid which the ants gather. In return the ants not only fiercely protect the treehoppers from predators, but sometimes also assist in distributing the young hoppers to suitable branches on the host stem. Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).
U tend to build up the colour slowly, with thin washes. Hopefully the pencil drawing will show through the washes, so I won't have to draw the buildings all over again. The background areas need to be left fairly low key to suggest aerial perspective too.
We have arrived at the start of our hike to Huchuy Qosco (Old Cusco) This will be a long hike (~8 miles) at high elevation (11,000 Ft) and we are ready. A highlands woman drives her flock of sheep off to pasture. Village of Sihua, Peru.
I tend to avoid 'moto-sai rap chang', but if you need to go somewhere quick, there is nothing better to beat the traffic. The motorcycle taxi is used extensively in the Asian cities. Samlor, a two passenger seat tricycle is now relegated for only tourist transportation in larger cities and is used less and less in smaller provincial towns.
Motorcycle taxis are known to drive fast and furious and are generally used for short trips. In cities like Bangkok and Saigon they are big part of delivery crew from everything your food, drink to funeral flower arrangement. In two months, I only took it twice and survived.
143. TMR Thailand 2020- March-18, P1380848; (2020 March) Uploaded 7. May 2020, Lmx -ZS100)
. . . Not sure if this is the female or male, but it looks to me like the bird is tending to the eggs by rolling them. I don't see any small heads bobbing up and down just yet!
Have a great week Facebook, Flickr, and 500px friends!
food is a dangerous subject matter because it tends to disappear as you're working with it . My initial plans was to photograph some Danish from my favorite bakery Crispelli's in Royal Oak. However bread and butter is the king, as a carbohydrate junkie anything from pastries to bread and confections etc. is something that I eat all too often. This is epi bread with a little butter on it.
Epi bread is a type of artisan bread which is often made at French-style bakeries. The bread is a popular picnicking bread, since it consists of a series of yeast rolls which are interconnected to look like a stalk of wheat.
A woman tends to her cattle in Pushkar in the state of Rajasthan, India.
If you want to look at more of my photography you can check my website and social media links below:
www.facebook.com/geraintrowlandphotography
www.instagram.com/geraint_rowland_photography/
American Wigeons are extremely plentiful in the Courtenay River Estuary at this time of year. We tend to, like Mallards, take them for granted but this one's sudden flight caught the camera's eye.
Someone I love often say these words to me. I tend to be a little of a perfectionist, and of course, I have never gotten perfection. I am learning just that through this project; perfect is the enemy of good.
I had already decided yesterday what I would shoot for today’s post, but I would have liked it to be a little better. But I like it, it think it’s good, and it’s okay to have good.
Mainsail pronounced in Britain and Australia as " MAYN-suhl".
The mainsail is the primary source of power in a racing yacht. During the 80th Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race the winner of the two previous events, Law Connect, tore its mailsail and despite running repairs it meant the race this year was won by Comanche (now a five times winner).
Here the crew of Palm Beach, which finished fifth in line honours, is working to see the mailsail is all in order before sailing again. Whereas once these sails were made of canvas and grew heavy with damp air, these modern sails are very light and thin. They are strong and hold their shape well, but are quickly broken down by UV radiation. Because they are made of kevlar fibres they are black and provide excellent weight to strength ratios. But their durability is poor, making them primarily useful for expensive racing yachts.