Our local Baptist church, one of the old dissenters of the Reformation, the Protestant Left, if you will. This building, a simple hall, goes back to the 18th century. Religious dissent had always been dominant in our village - the Anglicans, the church not of but above the people, was pushed by landlords into the village. You can sit here and talk, and there are these playground items. What do you make of them? It is clear that this congregation is not simply offering spiritual deliverance to their own flock, they are rather offering a service to the whole community: there is a mother and toddler group, coffee mornings, meetings of the local history group and a dedicated service to the many (mainly Muslim) refugees in our village. If public "relevance" is a criterion for what a church parish should have, then the Baptists are relevant in our village. Relevant, but very small, and with an ever growing average age in the congregation. The plastic slides outside the entrance to the building become gate keepers - keeping out "irrelevance" or the fate that happened to the Methodists here, the closure of the church. Do people care? The property developers do, very much so. Leica M Mono, Voigtlander CS 2.2/50.

Well...I finally returned to Venice tonight. I had my fingers crossed the entire 53 minute drive that the intermittent rain drops wouldn't turn into a shower and that the very cloudy sky wouldn't vanish prior to my arrival. The rain never came and the clouds were still there long after I left.

A lot has changed in my photography and post abilities since I arrived in California Christmas Eve. While those first few trips to Venice in January and February were amazing, I struggled a bit to be efficient. The reflections, sky and quickly fading winter light left me in a frenzy to get in a lot of long exposures, reflections and shots of the pier in no real order and despite taking roughly a 1,000 shots during those trips, many were unusable. I was focused on getting it all in and hoping somewhere in the quantity was some quality. I have a much better plan now and all the time spent the last couple months capturing Scotch in those very low light settings forced me to be a lot more precise with my shooting decisions and gave me a better understanding of what it means to be patient. I was very hopeful that some of those aspects I've been trying to refine would yield a much more consistent set of shots this time around.

Venice is an amazing place. The low tide that slowly pushes across the shore was even more recessed tonight, perhaps 30ft closer to the sea and the flat reflection shore seemed like it was 200 feet long. There were perfect reflections everywhere and every direction. I arrived about a half hour before sunset and set up to shoot some very low angle reflections. As the light shifted between me and Santa Monica, I abandoned the pier and focused on the crimson sunset. As with previous trips, a dozen or so people showed up with camera phones out a few minute before and after the sunset and then scattered off to whenever they were going before. I saw a sky similar to this here back in january and still look at and post photos from that trip. Each time i saw the sky like this in Venice, it was in the exact same spot and seemed to appear almost in an instant. I took a few long exposures to start with the 10 stop filter, but then decided to get natural looking shots and tried hard to frame well for a panorama since I didn't want to cut out any of this sky and had no desire to back up.

My last trip here came in March and was a major disappointment due to weather conditions, an overall bad shoot, a parking ticket and a smashed rear bumper. Ever since, I've hoped for a return of clouds and a colorful sky and with a favorable forecast I decided to return tonight and was so glad I did. This is a 3 photo panorama. The rocks on the right sit right by the giant lifeguard headquarters which separates Venice from Santa Monica it seems. This is my favorite spot in Venice to shoot and far enough from the pier to at least give me a chance to find street parking. I have the feeling that Venice will end up as my default location for sunsets though I definitely won't stop exploring the Southern California coast any time soon. Seems like I'm going to be here a while...

▪️WHEN & WHERE▪️

•Venice Beach

•Venice, California

•September 19th, 2016

▪️SETTINGS▪️

Canon T4i

•EF-S18-135mm IS STM

•3 photo panorama

•@18mm

•ISO 100

•f/5

•1/135th second

•CPL

Delicate Portrait of a Woman V2

Created with Midjourney

PP work in Adobe PS Elements 2024 Raw filters

Further PP work in Luminar Neo Portrait filters

soft minimalist portrait of a woman, pale pink and soft gray tones, white background, delicate lighting, ethereal atmosphere

--chaos 15

--ar 5:6

--stylize 250

--profile db715wt

If you are inspired by my creations and want to use my prompt/text please give me the courtesy of either credit me or at least say: inspired by Irene Steeves. Thanks for your understanding.

Thank you all for the visit, kind remarks and invites, they are very much appreciated!

All art works on this website are fully protected by Canadian and international trademark law and personality rights laws, all rights reserved. The images may not be copied, reproduced, manipulated or used in any way, without written permission from the artist. Link to trademark law or personality rights registration:

www.canada.ca Intellectual property and copyright.

Update April 02, 2025. Now I only accept new group invitation that allows all media types including videos.

Thanks for 8,418,063 views 🙏 July 29, 2026

Entered in: New!! Challenge 261.0 ~ Face Off ~ The Award Tree

www.flickr.com/groups/awardtree/discuss/72157721925409252/

I've only been back in LA a few days now and it feels a bit odd that I didn't take a single photo back in Maryland for the 2 weeks I was there. I didnt bring my good tripod since it doesn't fit in my carry on and forgot a piece to my travel tripod making it worthless. The only tripod I had was the 1ft tall one I use for Scotch portraits which is no for any other type of shooting. I did spend an afternoon driving to some of the places I used to frequently visit with Scotch last summer but they just didn't seem as exciting as before. Perhaps I've just been way to spoiled by the coast of Southern California

I originally shot this last summer when Scotch and I were driving around the very rural Rocky Ridge, Maryland area. I had just crossed over the Monocacy River Bridge and snaked up a hill until this property appeared in the distance. I pulled off the road and took a few shots before the light disappeared. At the time I took this, it was one of my favorite shots to date and then I forgot about it.

I was barely into manual at the time, still getting used to using a tripod for everything and had absolutely zero editing abilities or understanding. The image I loved last June seemed flat now, with no details, some incorrect color and lighting adjustments, and no longer had the same appeal to me at all. I decided to plug the original into my current style of post and really liked the difference it made. Still a beautiful place with the Catoctin Mountain range in the far distance.

Legore Bridge Road

Just over the Monocacy River

Rocky Ridge, Maryland

June 21st, 2015

8:35PM

SETTINGS

Canon T4i

EF-S18-135mm IS STM

50mm

f/5.6

ISO 100

1/100th second

© Reza Ghasemi

Nature is an art created by God while its understanding is an art formed by humankind.

Only personal comments, no logos please. Thank you for your understanding!

You have to be able to afford a Porsche and not necessarily park between piles of scrap metal.

Seen in the old town centre of Wetzlar

6D & 24-105L

----------------------------------------------------

-A MB Photography Studio artwork-

© Copyright | All rights reserved

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Deterior surdus eo nullus, qui renuit audire

Latin proverb

There are none so deaf as those who will not hear....

Thanks for your recent visits, favorites, comments and invitations. I go slow, but everything is very much appreciated, as always....

All rights reserved. Image can not be inserted in blogs, websites or any other form, without my written permission.

The stare down.

S / He sitting on parking structure. When s/he flapped wings and hopped on edge towards me in a glare.. I stood my ground, snapped pic, sat down. We met a happy understanding of closeness at that point and shared each others space in peace and harmony.

Nature.. a most wonderful teacher.

Red Tail Hawk

We know what he wants and he knows we know.

** Awards, invites & links will be deleted. Post these and you will be blocked forever. **

In the end there doesn't have to be

anyone who understands you.......

There just has to be someone who

wants to.

Robert Brault

Well, it had to happen, because to complete the proper Victorian aesthetic look in my downstairs office and reading room I had to change the Angle-Poise light I had on my desk, which was a spare from my attic office, up in the roof space.

So I found this lamp instead, which is in the classic Accountants/Banker style, but the shade is in white, instead of green or blue. I loved those colours, but felt that they would be too dominant on the desk itself. [Not that I am fussy or anything]. Also, you can’t see it in this photo, but there is a rather nice white glass ‘tulip-shaped’ lamp to the side, behind the sofa, which has a sort of elegance that I thought this light had on my Victorian desk and would echo in style to match.

Now I sound like some house interior magazine waffling on about design. But, I will be spending a lot of time in here, so I might as well get it right, and that’s my excuse and I am sticking to it!

So here I was working in the evening on the MacBook and using my written notes and reference books in my usual way.

This is for a part of a series that I am going to show on my website and Flickr, depending how it all goes, and as to what goes where, I will sort it out as it goes along. Actually there has been quite a lot of work that I have been organising over the past few months. I have had one of those patches where the writing flowed and I just wanted to keep going. A lot of it has ended up in a series, well, four of them so far, rather than just singles because the photographs were either taken on the same day in roughly the same location yet each seems has something to say, or they go together as a group because the weather was similar over a period of time. But seeing them as a series together just gives them more power. Whether this will work on Flickr I am not sure, as the format is a bit restricting, but on my website I can place them all up on a page of their own. On Flickr I might just choose a few examples to tempt you to go and look at it on my website, designed with the poem to go with it. The important thing for me is that they appear together somewhere. But then I will also be printing them out as well…

I know that on Flickr many just scroll through…perhaps not even reading the text that goes with it, or the poem, but lately I have been thinking about this and have decided that I am not going to concern myself with this behaviour anymore. It is there if people wish to engage with it more fully. Because I used to produce creative work for a living you got used to keeping a copy for yourself. And by that I mean a physical, printed copy. Nothing beats it, because you feel as though you have actually done something, and for me that is important to show that you have a body of work. Social media, and even websites can lose information, shut down, or be sold off to the highest bidder…and your work might be lost if you haven’t backed it up, not to mention the subscription fees..which keep going up.

I think that if you are serious about your work, you need to treat it seriously, and lately I am thinking that perhaps the body of work I leave might be of use in the future. I have been encouraged by the reaction to it on Flickr and elsewhere, and that has really helped me to continue producing it. But I have also been thinking about my own well-being and what I enjoy doing. And that is going out with my camera and being inspired to write poetry to go with it. In this way, the joy of producing that work will continue to shine through the work itself as long as I get the balance right.

And for those of you who are itching to know what those piles of books are in the image..don’t worry, there is going to be more about that later. Books should be shared and collections loved, and I have been collecting all my life…

The time seems to be going by faster. A lot has happened since my last upload, both on the world stage and personally, because of various power-cuts, another water-leak in my home, and other matters I am behind in my own schedule for about a month. This winter has been tough. I have had to also block some people on here, as I did not like their controlling behaviour; that is just not acceptable. If you do not like my work then just move on, but also perversely, those that do like it but want to invade my life and use either my work or my empathetic nature for their own benefit can also remove themselves from my presence. You have missed the point entirely of my work.

I am here to share my own journey of the soul, and to help you with yours if you want me to, through art and conversation. Perhaps as creative people we can all find an equilibrium in this, as it is something we can do, that we can rely on to help us through the turbulent years in our lives. I know for myself that this is true, as my work has helped me to remain relatively sane in difficult times. It is also good to share, not just in challenging times, but also in the good times.

The creative arts have always had a place in shaping history too, it can be very powerful. And it can also be quietly consoling.

As well as producing work for my own portfolio it has always been my intention to provide a gallery on Flickr and a website that shows my work in such a way that it can be a constructive help. I wanted both of them to be a calm space, a place you can go to when you need to think, or settle your mind. I wanted these works to provide an understanding of the human condition, of the difficulties of keeping your faith, whatever God you follow, and also the joy that spiritual faith can provide.

And most of all, I wanted my work to offer hope in any dark times you might be going through.

Thank you all for your support and I hope to keep sharing my work and enjoying the wonderful images that you all share on Flickr. In our own way, perhaps we can make the world a better place. It is a privilege to be in the Flickr community and those who care not only about their own work, but also each other.

And If you would like to see more of my work, have a look at my website at:

www.shelleyturnerpoetpix.com

Update..

Thank you to all those who have responded to this Explored image...and a special thank you to those who read the accompanying text...as that was what this image was for, just to keep people in the loop as to what I am up to. But maybe the algorithm fancied a read today, who knows? At least, for the moment, it is more benign than Kubrick's "Hal"...

"Open the door Hal...open the door Hal..."

Love to all, Shell xx

Our language has wisely sensed these two sides of man's being alone. It has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word "solitude" to express the glory of being alone. Although, in daily life, we do not always distinguish these words, we should do so consistently and thus deepen our understanding of our human predicament.

Paul Tillich

Magic Art Photography

With the giant humanoid inflatable creature (by Amanda Parer). at the Brisbane Powerhouse

Great Yarmouth

Time and reflection change the sight little by little

'till we come to understand. - Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)

1/30 sec., (hand held) f4.5, ISO 400, focal length 30 mm

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKKpoCy0a5Y

Better Viewed Big On Black

Sharpie- she looks understanding everything.

Happy Female Clown

Created with Midjourney, I love the new V8 rendering!

PP work in Adobe PS Elements 2024 Raw filters

A portrait of a happy clown, even soft light with the face, bow and hat lit more-- q 4

--chaos 20

--ar 3:4

--v 8

--stylize 200

--profile pq231g2

If you are inspired by my creations and want to use my prompt/text please give me the courtesy of either credit me or at least say: inspired by Irene Steeves. Thanks for your understanding.

Thank you all for the visit, kind remarks and invites, they are very much appreciated! 💝 I may reply to only a few comments due to my restricted time spent at the computer.

All art works on this website are fully protected by Canadian and international copyright laws, all rights reserved. The images may not be copied, reproduced, manipulated or used in any way, without written permission from the artist. Link to copyright registration:

www.canada.ca Intellectual property and copyright.

Update April 02, 2025. Now I only accept new group invitation that allows all media types including videos.

Hello

I usually make a point of visiting your site and giving my opinion on some of your photos each time you visit my site and I see that you choose several photos as a favorite without my knowing what prompted you to to choose. What would make me happy once on occasion without being on each visit is to have an idea of what interested you in the photos is it the landscape, the subject, the colors, the circumstances, format, ect. I believe that the purpose of photo sites is to exchange opinions on the photos that interest us. Thank you for your understanding. Regards Michel

In the place of it

Of flowers

Cassie

Grabbed this Lilac

I used to know Cassie when she was 17

At the outset we were friends ( little sister )

Cute as a button she quickly ...

Became a better friend at Wendy's urging

Cassie still is a cute flower

( I want more brunches ! )

:-)

Wendy just smelled the lilac

Then Cass in a hurry to get back to her understanding husband of 20 years Allan in Aylmer Québec ( Ottawa ) ...

Passed the flower to Wendy so she could get going and drive her car home

Wendy put it on my jacket boutonnière and took a picture

Cassie said Oh you look good with the flower I gave you

Wendy had to remind Cassie that she was the one who gave it to me

What comes around

Goes around !

:-)

Initial photo of appropriated lilac

Oh yes Cassie and that look

:-)))))

Oh by the way

I ended up with the flower ...

Cuz I'm a ...

Good Boy

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPQQf7uWu5U

De Phazz

:-)

g

Montreal

"Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding." - Albert Einstein

● Black & Large

● Exif/Camera Details

● Most Interesting photos

© Rui Almeida 2011 | All rights reserved.

All photos they may not be used or reproduced without my permission. If you would like to use one of my images for commercial purposes or other reason, please contact me. Depending on the situation may have to assign the work as specified by the author.

◘ No images in comments please, or you or you can be blocked, but group invites are welcome

At New Richmond WI

No 21 eng 551 waits for the Omaha Local eng 4402 to finish up at DOboy Mill. July 1977.

These last two shots really had to be in monochrome. I did think about reducing the saturation levels so the barest colour appeared, but in the end I went for classic black and white. I wonder sometimes if some people today struggle with understanding what black and white photography is about. We live in a world of instant simulation, and it takes imagination and effort to "read" a black and white.

Ansel Adams once likened working in colour to be like playing an out of tune piano (Adams was a concert pianist before turning to photography).

'"I can get—for me—a far greater sense of ‘color' through a well-planned and executed black-and-white image than I have ever achieved with color photography," he wrote in 1967. For Adams, who could translate sunlight's blinding spectrum into binary code perhaps more acutely than anyone before or since, there was an "infinite scale of values" in monochrome. Color was mere reality, the lumpy world given for everyone to look at, before artists began the difficult and honorable job of trying to perfect it in shades of gray.' www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/ansel-adams-in-color-...

I like that description. Mind you I recently purchased "Ansel Adams in Color" (Little, Brown and Company, 1993), and although there's not a lot of his colour slides left (most have deteriorated with time), what is in this collection is a real treasure.

Seem to be stuck on my trip to Cuba two years ago...I am rediscovering it, in my own way.

When it's three o'clock in New York, it's still 1938 in London.

(Bette Midler)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

England prevails

Unspoken rules

Shared understandings

Govern interactions

Two young ones growing up together

Project 365 day 9

understanding is the first step to acceptance

in search of lost time XXXVI

Book / Magic Art Photography / Facebook / Instagram

I usually don't shoot much mid-day however I had my camera with me as I passed this little farm yard south of Idaho Falls and saw the rain storm approaching from the south. This reminded me once more of Jay Masiel's advise to always carry your camera. Jay would even have his with him when he ate out, placing it in the middle of the table, ready for use if he saw something interesting.

View the Entire - Rural Idaho Set

View the Entire - Idaho Set

View my - Most Interesting according to Flickr

blog - JamesNeeley.com

Visit my Redbubble product page!

Massimo Nittardi @ Redbubble

All rights reserved - NittardiPhotos

I’d first like to say thank you for all the kind words and understanding I’ve received over the last week. I needed to share my love for Toby and your reactions to my indulgence was over whelming, again thank you. Carla and I needed to get away so on Thursday we went to Royston to visit my daughter. The dogs loved that place and some lonely walks around the heath and fields were heartbreaking but help the healing. Yesterday afternoon I went to the cliffs with the camera and had some fun with my recent purchase a OM System 5. It was a bit of a impulse buy a couple of months ago which I regretted immediately, what do I need another camera for and another system as well! I’m very happy with my Canon and Fujifilm gear and have no intentions of replacing them, but I was after a gadget. I’ve had Olympus OM cameras before, an OM10ii and OM5ii, swapping the OM5 for a XT2 back in 2018. I loved the computational features and when I saw the OM5 had added to these especially the ND filters my curiosity was piqued. This photos taken yesterday with the inbuilt ND16 filter at 1/4”, handheld, I’m quiet impressed.

out on the street in the moonlight, this feels so right..

Its just like dejavu, me standing here with you

June 5th at 9:22PM

Venice, Piazza San Marco

Arrived after a 4 hour train ride and almost got robbed at the train station in Rome by a group of four angry Italian women inside the train. They were ushered to the exit by the security man while i make my way to our seats.As I almost walked passed them, not understanding why all the shouting is for lool until one of the nice young Italian lady gently grabbed my hand and told me to sit next to her... she whispered.. thieves...grab hold of your handbag and make sure everything is there.. it took me few minutes to digest this info..i froze and sat still .. the security man pushed them off the train..my husband was back there buying refreshments not knowing the situation until i told him. Thank god nothing was stolen =P

the security man just instructed us to keep an eye on our luggage on every stop. we did as instructed and nothing stolen =P

P.s wanted to show a short video of the views taken from the train and another one when we first arrived Venice, however, non seemed to work. =*

guess I'll work on pictures then =P

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. ~Albert Einstein

www.estractphoto.com

Hint: View this in its largest format.