View allAll Photos Tagged Useful
Adventures in Seeing # 6 - Little Things
Noticing the little things that I use frequently and seeing how useful they are in their own humble way.
It took the inspiration from the Slavic Sirens that they are in many Slavic tales & folklore having enough similarities with the Ancient Greek sirens
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For more useful information click here
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A tattoo in BoM including a full body but also separate multiple layers for mix & match.
The Pack Includes
- Bom Layers
- Omega Applier
A warm thanks to my dearest Viktor Savior
Time for another build to bite the dust! This time I have no regrets whatsoever, because I secretly hate this build ;) Still, taking apart builds is a good time to revisit techniques used as well as reflect over what you would have done differently if you'd built it today. It's chance to take a trip down memory lane to see how you've developed as a builder :)
Also included a couple of pictures that shows how some of the parts are built.
One shows the tree without any leaves. This trunk is by far the most frustrating I have ever built - and that's saying a lot ;) Essentially the texture of the tree is attained by winding lego threads around a stem made of technic connectors, and as the thread is being wound you insert pieces along the way that is just held in place by the thread. The texture is rather gnarly, but is basically the result of what pieces you decide to bind to the tree. The whole thing is very unstable and if a thread comes loose, or even just shifts a bit, most pieces attached by that thread will just fall off. The look is ok I suppose, but it's really not worth the agony xD
The other photo just shows the back of the masonry technique used here. I wanted to create a masonry technique with a 1x2x3 measurement since I feel it's more in line with a real brick. I also wanted to have only a half plate gap between the bricks as a full plate (pun intended) of mortar is too much. Practically the technique has a bit too many limitations to be useful in most situations though, so not sure I'll use it anymore, but you never know :)
This nasturtium looked as if it’s had a hard time with the petals slightly stripped and probably eaten. I’m sure it would not have been chosen for any floral display, however there’s still some pretty potent beauty here, the fact that the petals aren’t prefect makes it interesting and the fact that it’s a pale yellow rather than the bright vibrant orange or yellow also makes it special. The bees and pollinators I’m sure think that it’s a useful meal too.
Thanks for stopping
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
A towel, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
by Douglas Noal Adams
Taken at Warehouse 21
This may be old news, but this old hinge plate is perfectly suited for building walls with an angle. The white SNOT brick can slide stepless between those two positions but the fixed position at the end of the hinge plate also works to align the wall sections.
66199 heads the 09.36 Wakefield - Felixstowe, with the chimneys of Hanson's Kings Dyke brickworks in the background.
I went off this spot after the trees on the right were severely pruned so that the background was dominated by new housing - fortunately they've now recovered to provide a useful blind!
Secret to shooting in the middle of the day: lean into it.
Secret to shooting in any environment that's not working out: lean into it.
Secret to anything that's not working out: probably just leave. But maybe lean into it, I dunno, I haven't tested this part of the theory!
There's an urge, on my part, to codify the entire creative process when talking about it here, maybe it's me trying to break it all down to make it useful.
Maybe it's me secretly trying to explain myself To myself! It occurs to me, while writing this...maybe all our art is us secretly trying to explain ourselves To ourselves, if only we had the presence of mind to listen. Another theory I've gotta test out, but boy, it sure sounds good.
Found this old Dodge in Idaho. Looked like it was still used, as the tires were inflated and in good shape.
'Useful photography' is the name of the magazine. It showcases photography without artistic pretensions, it's only meant to be practical.
Here you see the modern target posters anyone can order by Internet for shooting practice: terrorists, bank robbers, all sorts of attackers in a cliché outfit.
One of the editors of the magazine, Frank Schallmaier, collected them. They were on exhibit, last fall in The Hague, and when the visitors mingled with them, this happened...
www.youcantbeserious.com.au/blog/2011/10/21/really-useful...
Let's all buy useful gifts this christmas!!!
“The most useful asset of a person is not a head full of knowledge ... but a heart full of love, ears open to listen and hands willing to help.”
This tiny sketch pad was given to me by my dear cousin Charles and his wife Hilary when they visited me in 2011 from Melbourne, Australia.
Thanks for visiting, stay safe and healthy. #BeKind
The Großerhund Leicht was a variant of the standard Großerhund unmanned interceptor units employed by Strahl forces. So named because of their reduced armoring compared to the regular units, they were found to be just as effective in direct combat, as the standard Excimer lasers used by the Mercenary troops could easily penetrate the armor of the standard Großerhund anyway. However, their lack of IR seekers meant they were less useful in search-and-destroy operations.
Glitter sticks from a moving camera.
Well this was fun. Having looked at Janet Towbin’s useful examples for the Intentional Blur theme for the Macro Mondays group I decided to try creating the rotational tunnel effect image style. But how do you do it in a moving macro? And so the challenges began! And what fun they were.
The first problem with this sort of image is that I needed to get the subject rotating around the axis of the lens, and with a fair degree (sorry – unintentional pun, lol) of turning. Being confident of a low chance of success I also wanted a process which as repeatable as possible so I could experiment. I decided to use the moving camera approach. But that created its own problems too.
This image was done with Little-Ickle camera on its back in the centre of my HiFi deck. Speed was set to Long Play (aka 33 1/3 rpm for those not currently imbued with ancient wisdom). Singles speed (45 rpm) would have probably been better as you can see from this shot – it would have achieved a more complete arc for the slowest shutter speed that Little-Ickle could cope with under these conditions – around 1 second. (But the camera might have fallen over ;) ). This camera had the advantages that it was light enough not to damage the deck and could focus relatively closely so I didn’t have to stand on a ladder.
How to trigger the shutter on a spinning camera and review the results? Well Little-Ickle solved this too: just connect to Wi-Fi and trigger and review from a tablet app! Woohoo: it worked surprisingly well :)
Next the subject. Something small with highlights and bright colours. So I used cocktail glitter sticks (the ones that look like witch’s broom but with tinsel strips rather than twigs). They came in bright colours – green, blue and magenta are used in this shot. I found it best to hold the sticks horizontally and to keep them still (twizzling them created lots of dots rather than concentric stripes). The total subject size across this image is, I guess, between 2 and 3 inches. I was trying to get it within the guidelines by keeping the sticks close to the lens. Little-Ickle, poor challenged thing, tried manfully with autofocus and did surprisingly well though clearly (sorry again!) there was a lot of focus blur on some parts.
Lighting was solved by using a table lamp with a clear bulb to provide sharp highlights. There was a fair bit of ambient daylight around too so I used a black cloth over everything including me. Just glad the neighbours didn’t look in the window…
In all I took 175 shots and could have happily gone on. About 50% were total rejects and the rest had some merit. About 15% were suitable for straightforward processing. They were very varied and all said something different. This shot is one of the more colourful ones and is in a group which look like alien eyes because they have a sort of shine in them, I know not why. I may publish some of the others if there is any interest.
Processing was straightforward: just emphasised the colours and contrast, reducing the black point to deal with the ambient light (all simple slider stuff in LR). Little-Ickle creates quite a bit of noise at this shutter speed (look at the image enlarged) so I tried to tone it down a little causing some minor softening, but in every other respect the blurring of the image was totally in camera.
Thank you so much for looking and reading (award yourself a Smartie for endurance if you’ve got this far lol).
[Processed in LR with slight colour/contrast boost in Topaz Adjust.]
PS I have published some of the others in the Alien Ocular Set album.
Doesn't the aroma of my sexy feet and shoe leather really turn you on? Just shut up and keep kissing and licking my feet and sandals!
This is the last photo taken by my Pentax before it gave up the ghost, coughed and spluttered. It was a useful engine.
My brain seems to be empty. Empty of anything useful and it certainly does not contain a story. So in the hope that one might materialise I've started to type just to see what might happen.
I watched "There Will be Blood" last night and thought it was quite interesting and thought provoking. It seemed to me to be a study in the search for wealth and how, perhaps to people on the outside, someone's search for wealth will eventually reach a line and when that line is crossed then they will have earnt enough. When you view it from afar it is easy to think "if I had that much wealth then that would be enough for me and I would be happy and stop seeking more." Except when it is you seeking that wealth the line keeps moving, like you are trying to reach the horizon but of course you can never get there.
Daniel Day-Lewis' character in the film seemed to be chasing that horizon, always wanting more and never being happy with what he has. On the one hand wanting more can be seen as positive ambition, but on the other it may be seen as trying to fill an aching hole. The consumer society and the myth that happiness is found in needing and wanting more. Nirvana in shopping.
But is it just consumerism that is the problem? I go by the adage - be happy with what you have - but still it's ok to be ambitious? Perhaps not ambitious for a bigger car/house/ipod/iphone/camera but ambitious for better experiences, more knowledge, happier times.
I believe human beings have reached the top of the food chain because of our need to improve on what we do, how we are, how we live. A ceaseless restlessness to strive to do things better, more efficiently, to always improve on things. An urge to fight against creeping boredom by stimulating yourself to progress.
But I wonder whether these inner drives are not discerning and can be directed and applied to anything. When these urges are pointed towards possessions and then you start to try and improve yourself through the things that you buy. There must be a fundamental disconnect between that inner drive to improve and then satiating that desire by buying the latest gadget. The relief is only fleeting and then you are back to where you were. Needing to improve and yet all you have is a new whizzy phone or whatever. "Perhaps the next latest model will be the one that finally makes me enlightened? When can I get that one? I am already bored of this new one!"
At least if you learn a new skill, take a nice walk, make or create something then you as a person have developed a little more with something that you will keep with you forever. That new gadget simply satiates the desire to have one and once you do the hunger comes back anew so once again you want something new too (is there an Owl in here?). One step forward, one step back. "Why do I never seem to get closer to my destination?"
I noticed the Beech tree that I gathered these leaves from about a week ago. It grows on a steep slope next to an aqueduct crossing a ravine. Being a small tree its leaves were brighter and fresher and the colours more stark.
I wobbled down the slope and used a perfect hooked stick, I found nearby, to hold down a branch whilst I collected some leaves. I couldn't use just any tree so it was necessary to perform such a precarious maneouvre. It wasn't long before my concentration was instantly snapped from the branch I was grasping, to a sudden slip down the slippery slope. But fortunately after coming to stop at the bottom I realised I had enough leaves for my project and so I left my bottom, the tree and the treacherous slope to their own devices. Although, of course, my bottom followed on behind.
I knew that this morning there would be a frost and the hope of blue skies and sunshine. So I stitched together the leaves late on in the day yesterday so it would be ready to photograph at dawn amongst the sparkling crystals that Jack Frost had left behind.
I left it on the ground overnight and it frosted over but melted before I could capture it still frozen. Maybe that'll be a challenge for another day, frosted sculptures at dawn, approriate now I can look forward to winter.
So that's it, frost, sunshine and autumn beech leaves along with the contents of my mind over the last half an hour. Seems there was a little more in there that I thought! But then I can ramble on demand. As anyone who has been on the receiving end of any one of my one-way conversations can testify!
LEGO Build for Global Challenge X for the the Lands of Roawia LEGO Castle game.
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“As you can see, Durrough Bend Hospital is in a truly sad state of affairs after those nasty Queen’s soldiers ruined so much of it. We couldn’t bring any poor soul here to heal, and this is why Durrough’s main hospital by the Bastion is so badly cramped, hardly anyone can heal properly, very bad for the mind being cramped up with other poor souls moanin’ all the time…”
Lady Seonaid certainly had no problem talking, Caelan noted silently as he watched her animated sales pitch to High Alderman Gillespie, who seemed to blithely take in her high-speed gab like someone interested but only from a distance, which he was…
“And we did have a previous allotment from Grand Duke Cartney, bless his soul, but that only paid for some of the broken windows and all the doors, but the well is still not functionin’, with no wench and needin' a bit a’ dredgin’…”
Ugh, Caelan thought again. Will she not finish? At least he had his glory with him, Lady Kenzie, whom everyone knew by now was his fiancee, as he had proposed so publicly at the grand party the Duke threw in celebration of Lenfald’s Independence. What a mad occasion that was, everyone yelling in joy and cheering “Lenfald Free Forever!” over and over again. The women threw flowers, the gentlemen their hats, and the soldiers and sailors just about everything else…
“And so your honorable High Alderman in order to prepare properly for what God-forbid could be another bloody conflict with the uncouth and heatless Loreesi, we must restore this hospital as overflow for poor Durrough, packed to brim with the sick and healin’ as it is…”
Caelan glanced at his love, so beautiful she shined even on a cloudy day such as this one. Kenzie was listening intently to Lady Seonaid, as if every word mattered, and nodded with her frequently. Caelan wondered to himself how women managed to bond so quickly and find agreement with someone so disagreeable, so long as they were a woman as well.
“How much?” Gillespie suddenly interrupted Lady Seonaid, finally getting to both her point for her, and nearing the end of his own patience to deal with the seemingly never-ending flow of words. Caelan thought to himself that Gillespie didn’t seem like most politicians he knew, and against his better judgement began to admire him a bit.
It was abrupt, and having stopped her train of thought like a cart turned over on High Street, she had to think before finally stating, “I believe the sum of One Thousand Draken will be quite enough to put us in good stead.”
Even the Alderman, used to having people ask him for all sorts of things and amounts of money, was taken aback. “Milady, I would say you are making a joke, except your reputation for not having a sense of humor has preceded you. This amount is simply not possible, not now and not for the foreseeable future. Since we can consider this further repair as a preparation for any potential combat, perhaps I can spare One Hundred Draken from the war chest…”
He never finished as the good lady then launched into a high-energy objection, restating everything she had already said, with the words “urgently needed” a good half-dozen times sprinkled in, and a new insistence on raising taxes to fill the bill.
The High Alderman, up to this point an admirably patient and calm man, began to lose it. “Taxes! Milady, raising taxes in plentiful time of peace is difficult enough, but in these uncertain times, with the Nation so young, we might as well start the riots ourselves and save the time at it!!!”
And this was the moment Sir Caelan was waiting for, lacking only a white horse to ride in on in his moment of saving the day! “Lady Seonaid,” he began plaintively, and glancing at Kenzie, who was already in on the secret, “I believe I have the solution to the problem.”
Both the Alderman and the demanding Headmistress of Durrough Hospital turned to him, surprised and expectant.
He proudly offered a sack of items he had been lugging around these long minutes, and exposed the contents. It was a wealth of gold and silver items, stolen knick knacks and goodies of various value. But it was the leather purse he offered that really mattered. “All recovered from the last few Queen’s Troops caught by my Lenfel Scout Snipers. And in this purse you will find somewhere around five hundred Draken as well.”
Instead of the joy that he thought it would bring, however, Lady Seonaid looked at him hard and stated, “I cannot accept stolen items! And this is blood money, no doubt, as you and your ruffians are so very likely as to put those arrows so deeply in your victims that we are forced to work on them like mad to fix…”
“Milady, let me explain,” he interrupted her, not willing to have his moment of glory diminished, “these items have no names on them, they came from a large stash of booty gathered from all over Roawia so we can’t find their owners, and the thieves were captured alive and unharmed by my men. Normally it would be considered war-booty for the Scouts, but knowing your predicament here, and as your Order healed me a few months ago, I convinced them instead to donate them to your cause. They are yours, and you can accept them with a clear con….”
Before he could finish, the expected joy on Lady Seonaid’s face finally appeared, and taking the sack in hand she wore a huge smile, and immediately offered — Lady Kenzie her deepest gratitude. “What an angel you are Kenzie,” she exclaimed with sudden sweetness, “this will be long remembered! We all know you of course coming from such an excellent family and all, so generous and lovin’.”
Caelan blinked. Had he missed something here?
“Thank you Milady,” Kenzie nodded with grace, “but they are actually a gift from Sir Caelan here…”
“Oh, nonsense Kenzie, we all know brutes like soldiers would never think of something like this themselves, don’t be so modest, we all know who really is behind such generosity…”
This last did not get past him, and not wishing to cause a scene with an objection, all the young Baron could do was exchange bewildered glances with High Alderman Gillespie, who suddenly looked like he badly needed to burst out laughing…
“Besides,” Seonaid suddenly threw in, “we spend so much time patchin’ him up and repairin’ the havoc his soldiers cause that it’s owed anyway. Now my lovely generous patron let me show you what we will do with your beautiful gift…” She grabbed Kenzie by the hand and began to lead her alone toward the garden, and having gotten what she needed for her cause, she left the men behind as if they didn’t exist.
Kenzie only had time to look at Sir Caelan and mouth “I’m so sorry” before being dragged off.
“Did I miss something…was there a thank you buried in there somewhere…”
“Not for you!” the Alderman gave way to his laughter. “Your men could have spent that money on drink, or their women or children, but you all should have known that no good deed…”
“…goes unpunished,” Caelan finished for him, all glory gone with the treasure.
“Well my Baron, tis a fine mess you’ve created,” still he chuckled, “for I must now ask ye a question. Booty declared must be taxed, and you just declared that lot. So, ye have not paid yer taxes on that lot yet, have ye?”
Caelan sourly changed his mind. Gillespie was a politician sure enough….
Here are some techniques that I've found useful, some of them are my own, some are others. In either case I've tried to add a note with a link to the first use of the technique I could find. Let me know if there's an earlier use or if you find them useful!
Imagine if this was where you caught up on all the latest gossip?
Sometimes I wish life was this simple.
Another shot from the roof of a van; turns out those things are quite useful!
This is a creative commons image, which you may freely use by linking to this page. Please respect the photographer and his work.
A tobacco barn in decline in Charlotte County, Virginia. 2018 update: this barn is barely standing, but it's still there.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
2023 Weekly Challenge 47/52 ~ Useful
Thank you to everyone who pauses long enough to look at my photo. All comments and Faves are very much appreciated
Quality prints, greeting cards, puzzles and many useful products can be purchased at >> kaye-menner.pixels.com/featured/warragamba-dam-2-nsw-aust... OR www.lens2print.co.uk/imageview.asp?imageID=69712
Our beautiful Warragamba Dam, New South Wales, Australia. (Greater Sydney catchment).
I visited the dam just a few days ago. It is set in such a natural and beautiful bush land environment. It was around 1.3 hrs drive from the north of Sydney.
This image is a panorama of three of my photographic images I stitched together in Photoshop to make this Panoramic image. This one shows the rock wall on the side of the dam which show part of the Visitor Center above.
It was a hot day, and as we've had lots of rain recently, the colors or the bush land were magnificent. The greens were very green and even the water was a beautiful blue. Did lots of walking and just enjoyed the views.
The body of water for collection is called Lake Burragorang.
As at Wednesday 13th January 2021, the dam was at 97.2% capacity level.
www.waternsw.com.au/supply/visit/warragamba-dam
Look out at Warragamba Dam and see the past and future of Sydney's water supply. Marvel at this engineering masterpiece as it nestles quietly in native bushland. Delve into the history of the dam builders who laboured to create one of the world's largest domestic water supply dams. Look into the future at the interactive 'Water for Life' exhibition. Just a 30 minute drive from Penrith, or one hour from Sydney's CBD, bring the family and escape the everyday at Warragamba Dam.
View at the Visitor Centre
There are three viewing platforms at the Warragamba Dam Visitor Centre which offer excellent vistas of the upstream dam wall and Lake Burragorang.
Warragamba Dam Wall
Pedestrian access to parts of Warragamba Dam wall is available on weekends and public holidays ONLY between 10am and 4pm , except Christmas Day and Good Friday.
[Wikipedia] Wikipedia] Warragamba Dam is a heritage-listed dam in the outer South Western Sydney suburb of Warragamba, Wollondilly Shire in New South Wales, Australia. It is a concrete gravity dam, which creates Lake Burragorang, the primary reservoir for water supply for the city of Sydney.
Look out at Warragamba Dam and see the past and future of Sydney's water supply. Marvel at this engineering masterpiece as it nestles quietly in native bushland. Delve into the history of the dam builders who laboured to create one of the world's largest domestic water supply dams. Look into the future at the interactive 'Water for Life' exhibition. Just a 30 minute drive from Penrith, or one hour from Sydney's CBD, bring the family and escape the everyday at Warragamba Dam.
Quality prints, greeting cards and many useful products can be purchased at >> kaye-menner.pixels.com/featured/splash-of-yellow-by-kaye-... OR www.lens2print.co.uk/imageview.asp?imageID=48328
Macro photograph of a bright yellow Chrysanthemum.
Chrysanthemums, sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants of the genus Chrysanthemum in the family Asteraceae. They are native to Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia and the center of diversity is in China. There are countless horticultural varieties and cultivars.
The name "chrysanthemum" is derived from the Ancient Greek: χρυσός chrysos (gold) and Ancient Greek: ἄνθεμον anthemon (flower).
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Useful Beauty / Castelo Mendo, Portugal.
Una hermosa pieza de metal para sujetar una contraventana.
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A beautiful piece of metal to retain a window shutter.
Albert Bridge is a useful footbridge across the River Welland, just downriver of the old Great North Road bridge in the centre of Stamford. According to the plaque on it, Albert Bridge dates from 1881 when it replaced the one totally destroyed in the flood of July 1880.
Many thanks to all those who take the time to view add them as favourites and comment on my photographs. It is very much appreciated.
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© All rights reserved R K ERTUG. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.
Around 5 weeks ago I bought this order, and it came today! I ordered a bunch of foliage, and some other useful pieces that will be used in future MOCs. Tell me what you think!
A situation many Ukraine citizens have faced today following the Russian invasion this morning.
There are going to be situations where "your flexible friend" the credit card or electronic payment are just not that useful. If the banks are closed, the internet is off and cell phone towers have been destroyed - then cash is handy - but if things get truly desperate then gold is probably the best option.
All it takes is for the electricity to be off and all of our modern payment methods are useless.