View allAll Photos Tagged Variance
Processed using calibrated red, green, and blue filtered images of Saturn's rings taken by Cassini on August 20 2009. Not true color, I applied color channel balancing to show more variance in this version.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/CICLOPS/Kevin M. Gill
The more I look at these magnificent birds the more I admire the diversity and variance in their flight patterns - no wonder they are such masters of the air
Portrait orientation wasn't working on this photo, so I changed perspective and presto. This waterfall is found about 20 minutes drive out off Burnie on the north coast of Tasmania, Australia. Camera Settings: 24mm, f5.6, ISO500, 30sec. via 500px ift.tt/2k1t0Xc
While traveling Porto, each morning I would come here to look at the sails go up, by lunch time they were being taken down. Such a great setting in a beautiful city.
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Immature Female Rufous Hummingbird, I believe. Does anybody have any idea on why the tail markings have black on one side and purplish on the other. It came out of the camera that way and was not due to edits. I've never seen anything like that before and have not seen any color issues out of the camera. I use speedlights but have never seen any color variance like this. I've never seen a hummingbird with color like this on one side and different on the other so I'm a bit confused by this. Never noticed any irridescent colors on the tail feathers before like on the gorget. Any ideas anyone?
The variance of color you see in the background is from a power aura hud I have. I used it for a moment to take this picture.
2013 Pride Parade, Halsted Street, Chicago
Nikon D5100, Tamron 18-270, ISO 320, f/6.3, 270mm, 1/1200s
N8 - One of the quintessential American Railroad watches - produced in 1944, toward the end of the Elgin production of railroad watches, this watch is a typical watch that a railroad employee would have been able to afford. Still a daily watch keeping time within a few seconds daily, and able to maintain the 30 seconds variance per week requirement.
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A last bit of winter... it's not been a rough one but it's always long up here in the north. I'm looking forward to the green and the fresh inspiration that the change of season always brings. I want thunderstorms and butterflies, skirts and flip-flops. So, good bye winter... let's make sure it's until then AND not before.
This was created entirely on my new computer with my new tablet. woot! I have yet to print it out but I'm assuming there will be again some variance from my one screen to the next. I write that again just to prepare myself so as not to get frustrated when I go investigate. Many different shortcuts and methods on the Mac as compared to the PC. The creative process was not smooth. It didn't feel completely satisfying because I had to think about where my hands were going. My fingers just move on my PC. But you don't get somewhere standing still. right? :)
On a bitterly cold morning this Samango monkey came out of the trees and flopped down on the tiles to soak up some heat.
Not widespread or common in South Africa, occurring only in the coastal forests north of St Lucia estuary in KwaZulu-Natal, and in the Afro-montane forests of Mpumalanga. The range extends into similar habitats in neighbouring countries. Another, more southern subspecies, is found in Afro-montane and coastal scrub forests of central and southern KwaZulu-Natal, extending into the Eastern Cape to just north of the Knysna forest. Higher population densities occur at the north coast. The two South African subspecies are only distinguished by colour variances.
Quote from: www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_samango_monkey.html
Mount Sheba
Mpumalanga
South Africa
The universe is a big place. The Hubble Space Telescope's views burrow deep into space and time, but cover an area a fraction the angular size of the full Moon. The challenge is that these "core samples" of the sky may not fully represent the universe at large. This dilemma for cosmologists is called cosmic variance. By expanding the survey area, such uncertainties in the structure of the universe can be reduced.
A new Hubble observing campaign, called Beyond Ultra-deep Frontier Fields And Legacy Observations (BUFFALO), will boldly expand the space telescope's view into regions that are adjacent to huge galaxy clusters previously photographed by NASA's Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes under a program called Frontier Fields.
This image shows a massive galaxy cluster embedded in the middle of a field of nearly 8,000 galaxies scattered across space and time. This "galaxies galore" snapshot is from a new Hubble Space Telescope survey to boldly expand its view by significantly enlarging the area covered around huge galaxy clusters previously photographed by Hubble. In this view the huge cluster Abell 370, located about 4 billion light-years away, lies in the center of this image. It contains several hundred galaxies. The mosaic of fields flanking the cluster contains myriad background galaxies flung across space and time.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, A. Koekemoer (STScI), M. Jauzac (Durham University), C. Steinhardt (Niels Bohr Institute), and the BUFFALO team
NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, MSFC, Goddard Space Flight Center, GSFC, Hubble Space Telescope, Solar System & Beyond, ESA, European Space Agency, universe, space, astronomy, universe, galaxy, galaxies, galactic cluster, galaxy cluster, BUFFALO,
The Arabian Starflower (Ornithogalum arabicum) -and I believe every Star of Bethlemen flower species, performs brilliantly under ultraviolet light. I’ve ordered bulbs from a few more species to confirm it, our gardens should be even more spectacular this coming year.
I suppose it’s helpful to see a “behind the scenes” view of this flower and the setup, which you can find here: donkom.ca/bts/IMG_6842.jpeg
I have a good number of ultraviolet lights being used here, most of them are the Convoy S2 plus a Convoy C8 placed at a distance – it has a much narrower beam and that extra distance helps it cover the subject better. Everything is controlled by a contraption made from Platypod bases, gooseneck arms, and clamps. Generally speaking, this is my typically studio setup for ultraviolet fluorescence work – the lights are placed quite close to the subject.
However, the proximity and intensity of UV light on certain plants generates a reaction. Some plants burn, others move. That makes it difficult to focus-stack these images, since there will be a small variance between shots. A technique I’ve utilized for years is to shoot in the camera’s “high-resolution” mode, sometimes referred to as pixel-shift mode, which allows me to generate a photograph four times larger in resolution than would normally be possible.
The theory is this: the closer you get to your subject, the shallower the depth of field. The inverse is also true, getting farther away maximizes the amount in focus. The camera needs to take eight shots in quick succession (some models shoot more, some less), but the overall time is still short compared to focus stacking. This is a manual stack of two separate images, manually layered in due to the movement that prevents automation.
This was shot on the new Lumix S1R II, and it has a secret weapon compared to its predecessor: longer exposures in high-res mode. The S1R was limited to 1-second exposures using this feature, but the S1R II can shoot up to eight second exposures. This was a two-second exposure.
These techniques and so much more are covered the second edition of my book Macro Photography: The Universe at Our Feet, now with worldwide shipping. Amazon in the US is awaiting their resupply, but you can buy direct from the publisher with global free shipping: www.routledge.com/Macro-Photography-The-Universe-at-Our-F...
A Total Eclipse is an amazing, and unique experience - there is nothing like it. Magical. Spooky. Otherwordly.
High res image - be sure to zoom in!
I've been interested in astronomy since middle school. Hey - I chose the name Dave Stargazer, eh? :) I recall that years ago I realized that we going to get a partial eclipse, but somewhere, not *that* far away, someone was having a Total Eclipse. And I was missing it. I could see one.
But total eclipses are extremely rare, and the area where they occur is quite small. You almost never just happen to get to see a total eclipse. You have to go to where it's happening.
So, in 2017 I was determined to try and see one. We went to southern Illinois, near Carbondale. And the clouds were with us - I mean they weren't with us - they left us alone, and dissappated so we had clear skies. And it was awesome.
They say to just enjoy/experience your first total eclipse - it's so mindboggling. And I mostly did that, but I also did have a plan in place to take some images during totality. And they came out well, but not stellar (oh haha 'stellar' - errr sry). But the experience was so cool...
Then I started looking forward, and planning for the 2024 Great American Eclipse. The 2017 eclipse, and now this 2024 one were even more unusual in that several densely populated areas of the US were in totality.
But there was one other very strange thing about this eclipse - its path *intersected* the 2017 path of totality. In a small area of the US. In southern Illinois. Where we'd seen the 2017 one. Do we go back to the same place?
In Illinois, April is far more cloudy than August, when the 2017 eclipse was. The best odds for clear skies were on the Mexican coast. But that was too far for us. We thought about going to TX where there was a slightly better chance of clear skies - or less cloudy skies. But that's a hike, with no guarantee of clear skies. So - back to southern IL. We didn't head back to the same spot, but one close by - and crossed our fingers we'd get clear enough skies.
I was glued to the cloud forecasts for the week before - looked bad! Rain! Then...maybe not! Ironically TX started looking bad for clouds. How far was I willing to try and drive to get to clear skies by 1:30pm on the day when the core of the eclipse would happen. And traffic. Leaving after the eclipse in 2017 was a rural road nightmare. I didn't want to be stuck in traffic, unable to get to be in the path of totality.
The day before the eclipse, we headed down to Harrisburg, IL. And it rained. And rained. A slow trip. At times some cars pulled off the road it was raining so hard. But it stopped by the time we arrived - some breaks in the clouds. Maybe we'd get lucky.
Next morning, I get up, and it's *completely* fogged in. Like 100ft visibility maybe. Crazy. But I knew that would burn off. Cloud forecast looked... ok, but there were some areas of clouds coming our way.
I had noticed during the 2017 eclipse, that some clouds just evaporated right before totality - I figured the cooling atmosphere driven by the moon's shadow did that. Then I read some other scientists speculating the same thing. We had one of the better cloud forecasts - maybe Arkansas was a slightly better chance. Or Maine haha. So the decision was to sit tight, and hope for the best.
Shortly before the eclipse started, I set up my gear - one camera with a telephoto, set for bracketing via wired remote, and one with a wide-ish lens for perhaps a timelapse done by bracketed intervals.
When the eclipse first starts, you don't notice anything. Only looking through solar safe glasses or the camera with solar filters will tell you that things are changing. It's not until maybe 70% partial eclipse that things seem "different." The light before then could just be due to clouds. But then the quality of the light is no longer "just clouds" - but something a bit odd. Crescent shapes appear among the shadows.
At 90% it starts to really get noticeably dim. And the light has a strange quality. By 97% things are really getting weird. It's like a queer sort of twilight - and getting dark very quickly - not like when the sun goes down with a slow transition. But it's still "daylight" - the rays are coming through a lot less atmosphere than they do at dusk.
Then right before totality, it's still "day" but you can feel the night swooping in - the wind comes up driven by the great variance in temperatures of the total eclipse. Talk about spirits of the air! The birds, animals, insects all start going nuts!
Then the last fraction of the sun is blotted out in quick succession - the Diamond Ring (which is still day!) followed by Baily's Beads, as the sun peeks between the mountains and valleys of the moon.
Then... Totality. The corona. Bright magenta prominences - all visible to the naked eye in all their glory!
It's night where we stand, but on the horizon, you can see twilight. The shadow of the moon is quite small.
I looked for Comet P12 Pons-Brooks, but couldn't spot it - it was very hard to see, near Jupiter. But a new sungrazer comet was discovered during the eclipse! Unfortunately in the following days, it broke up as it neared the sun, and is no more.
The magnificence of the corona is unparalleled - dancing in the brief night.
Then the moon edges away for another glimpse of Baily's Beads, and then the Diamond Ring. Day returns, and grows stronger again.
When will there be another eclipse here? Southern Illinios has had TWO total eclipses in the space of seven years. It will be thousands of years before there is another in Harrisburg.
I'm so happy to have been a part of this one.
Tech Notes:
This is a composite of 12 of my captures during the eclipse. I took more than 6000 captures during the event!
The sun is at the peak of it's 11 year solar cycle - there was a giant sunspot on the far side of the sun which I was hoping would rotate into view, but the one big sunspot you see is quite impressive.
All the lower left images are from the partial eclipse phases. They were done with a magnetic Maven Solar Filter, which allowed me to quickly remove it at Totality, and replace it when it was over. Thanks to Michael Maven who got these to me in time!
Starting at the upper left, we see:
-- The Diamond Ring - two versions
-- Baily's Beads - one large detail
-- Totality
I have been working on a Grand Stack version of totality since the eclipse - 3 weeks already - but I remain not satisfied with the results so far, but that is forthcoming!
This composite came together over the course of a few days.
I have yet to start work on the interval brackets from the second camera. Another composite from those I'm sure will happen, plus I would like to produce a timelapse from them.
You may contact me at dave at davestargazer.com - Cheers!
Sydney Opera House during Vivid festival. Managed to get this great lighting effect because of the rain on the night. via 500px ift.tt/1nrpVfk
The Spanish version of the common Blue, with slight variances, such as blue lunules on the hind wing of the Female and an extra spot on the underwing of the Males.
View on black. The sun sets along the west shore of Pacific Grove, CA. A three shot HDR (6 stop variance) used to just produce the rich colors of sunset and bring the foreground to ilfe.
"Almost" Super Blue Moon, 2023-08-28
This image was taken 2 days before the Super Blue Moon as I could see the clouds were approaching for the next few nights. The Aug 30 Super Blue Moon was 357,225km away vs the Aug 28 Almost Super Blue Moon at 358,730km. (1,505km variance). The Aug 28 moon illumination was 94.2%.
A Blue Moon has nothing to do with the colour of the Moon. Instead, it is all to do with the timing of full moons during the year. The phases of the Moon actually take 29.5 days to complete, meaning 354 days total for 12 full cycles. This falls some way short of the 365 days in a calendar year. Therefore, roughly every two and a half years a 13th full moon is seen. This additional full moon does not fit with the normal naming scheme and so is instead referred to as a ‘Blue Moon’. Future Blue Moons will occur May 31, 2026 and Dec 31, 2028.
Image foreground is a local landmark in Seven Persons and known throughout Southern Alberta, PREMIUM SAUSAGE (2009) INC. The owners named the image "Moon over My Hammy". I think it's perfect for the best pork place around.
Images captured in infrared with a fully modified Canon EOSR and a 720nm filter.
Pato de la Florida Hembra, Female Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors)
Status Migrante Comun (Mc)
pato de Florida o yaguasa aliazul, también conocida como pato media luna, pato de alas azules, barraquete aliazul, es una especie de ave anseriforme de la familia Anatidae nativa de América.
Es pardo manchado y punteado de negro, con diseño alar como el del pato pico cuchara sudamericano, cabeza y cuello ceniciento oscuro, notable medialuna en la cara y mancha blanca en los flancos, en los machos. La hembra no tiene la medialuna en la cara, pero tiene una leve ceja loreal clara.
sta especie de pato vive en lagunas, lagos y pantanos de agua dulce. No teniendo preferencias durante el invierno habita aguas salobres. Se alimenta de vegetación, insectos, y crustáceos acuáticos. Complementa su dieta con semillas, incluyendo las de campos cultivados.
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The blue-winged teal (Spatula discors) is a small dabbling duck from North America. The scientific name is derived from Latin Anas "duck", and discors, "variance", which may refer to the striking face pattern of the male
The adult male has a greyish blue head with a white facial crescent, a light brown body with a white patch near the rear and a black tail. The adult female is mottled brown, and has a whitish area at base of bill. Both sexes have sky-blue wing coverts, a green speculum, and yellow legs
Blue-winged teal inhabit shoreline more often than open water and prefer calm water or sluggish currents to fast water. They inhabit inland marshes, lakes, ponds, pools, and shallow streams with dense emergent vegetation.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Anseriformes
Family:Anatidae
Subfamily:Anatinae
Genus:Anas (disputed)
Species:S. discors
Binomial name
Spatula discors
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www.agreatcapture.com/blog/2020/4/16/winter-light-exhibit....
Utilizing creativity, innovation, light and discovery, Ontario creators from all artistic streams will showcase their exhibits following the curatorial theme of “Cocoon“.
Vessel.
Incubator
Cocoon
In THOUGHT, we express the concept of a vessel that carries an idea. A cocoon, incubating the living, breathing energy of our thoughts.
On the exterior, the THOUGHT is made of hundreds of translucent ping pong balls, dyed a multitude of colours. Suspended from the surrounding trees with aircraft cables, it floats in mid-air.
On the inside, a multitude of carefully arrayed points of light emanating movement. The light flickers and on and off at times, actively attracting attention; slowly dimming form light to dark other times, giving the sense of a breath, a life within. The colours range from white to burnt orange, varying in hue but keeping on the warmer, sunset-like side of the spectrum, gifting a warm, ember-like glow on the snowy ground and surrounding trees.
The other half of the installation, is a solitary, long, wood bench directly below the cloud. Here, the audience is invited to sit and reflect.
Here, the THINKER, can reflect, wonder and dream.
Dream, and engage. A sensor on the bench allows the thinker to communicate with the THOUGHT. The lights bursting through cone alive as the interaction takes place. The quickening, intensity and variance of the effect, solely left to the tinker of the THINKER.
What are you thinking?
What inspires you?
What is going on in your mind
…right now?
________________________
Collective: oneandoneandone x Reila
Follow us on Instagram @thought.thoughbubbleproject, @oneandoneandone_, @reilap and hashtag #oneandoneandone and #thoughtbubbleproject
Artists
Kyung Hyun (Kay) Kim, moved to Canada from Korea in 2003. He has a strong history of innovative work from the creation of high-level concept work, through design to project management. Since completing his studies at OCADU with a degree in Industrial Design, Kay has gained experience in a variety of roles, most recently as the Lead Designer of Future Foods Studio, where he led the concept and execution on a variety of projects, the most recent being the WNDR Museum in Chicago. He is skilled in sharp design thinking, visual delivery software and project implementation. Kay is a keen observer of trends in design, technology and art and the recipient of numerous international design awards. As one of the oneandoneandone founders, Kay's input resonates throughout all of the studio's work.
George Foussias came to Toronto from Greece in 1985, where he studied Architecture at Ryerson and UofT. He has focused his practice in Interior Design for the past twenty years, with a primarily A-list clientele, and projects in every continent. Recognized with a number of prestigious design awards, George currently serves as the Design Director of an international Architectural firm. Along a proficient understanding of design and construction, he has been very involved in developing branding and marketing strategies for a variety of clients, in the hospitality, commercial, retail, residential and industrial sectors. A strong creative, George has been involved in art and design and built projects for Nuit Blanche, Burning Man, the WNDR Museum and a number of other venues; it was only natural that he would be part of founding oneandoneandone creative studio.
Dian Carlo was born in Pasig City, Philippines and moved to Vancouver in 1994. From there, he moved to Toronto where he founded the Toronto-based collective Sodi Designs through which he has been honing his artistic and design skill both in concept and execution /fabrication, placing him among the top of Toronto's specialty project creators. An accomplished artist first and foremost, Dian's sensitivity to design is perfectly matched by his vast experience in building and fabrication. His work has varied in scale from production line light fixtures to commercial and residential work, to City- sponsored large scale installations. Among his larger pieces are productions for such events as Toronto's Nuit Blanche and Burning Man. A natural collaborator, Dian is one of the oneandoneandone creative studio founders, collaborating on a number of projects both for public and private clients and bringing his rare abilities from vision to final product.
Reila Park is a Korean-Canadian architectural designer who uses technology as a main tool for her designs, taking pride in bringing ideas to reality. She has a BDes in Environmental Design from OCAD University and currently works at FORREC, an entertainment design company that has worked with the world’s biggest influencers in the industry, such as Universal Studios, Chimelong Groups and Dubai Parks & Resort. Reila specializes in 3D modelling, visualization, immersive design and VR in a themed environment.
All of a sudden, I had the impulse to photograph the dishes I was washing. So I did.
Here is a wide variance of kitchen things. An older shot for sure but a neat one in my mind. A different perspective.
Happy Smile on Saturday
I captured this image while visiting Jensen Beach, Fl., with friends. I softened the image to add another dimension and variance to the overall scene.
Portrait orientation wasn't working on this photo, so I changed perspective and presto. This waterfall is found about 20 minutes drive out off Burnie on the north coast of Tasmania, Australia. via 500px ift.tt/1Tqstcm
The iconic Hosier Lane in Melbourne. This is a location that you can photograph every few weeks and you will always come away with a different shot. With this image I really wanted to get a human element, but I didn't want the people to be recognisable. If you would like to purchase this photo you can contact me at: hello@aperturevariance.com.au via 500px ift.tt/1WXAHfR
It is tradition in many country's to celebrate May day as the first day of summer and still to this day we have May-pole dancing.
The Maypole is a tall wooden pole (traditionally of maple (Acer), hawthorn or birch) erected to celebrate May Day.
It may be a semi-permanent feature, standing in position year-round until it has to be repainted or replaced, or it may be a shorter, temporary structure. It may be decorated with several long coloured ribbons suspended from the top, festooned with flowers, draped in greenery, hung with large circular wreaths, or adorned with other symbols or decorations, depending on local and regional variances.
Usually school children perform dances around, weaving the ribbons in and out to create striking patterns and to celebrate the warmer weather....
This sunset was so varied, and each aspect of its thrilling finish,
was a spot to ooh and aah. I loved the way the colors were very
different here. May you be blessed with such variance of beauty, that
you will never be bored with the life around you. God bless you all
IMG_2365.JPG
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I was NOT a fan of Zito/Pantone/Safety yellow, though it did not look too bad on the SD50s and SD60s when they were new. In an interesting variance, Zito Yellow SD40 #870 got a ball and bar herald when it was repainted. The train is BRDWA north of Eau Claire, Wis., on the late afternoon of April 22, 1986.
I love the variance of colour in these birds. We were out looking for corncrakes. Heard but not seen - but couldn't pass up this congregation!
"Welcome to the Time Variance Authority. I'm Miss Minutes, and it's my job to catch you up before you stand trial for your crimes!"
This 2004 Mack, paired with a Heil Half/Pack Front Loader, is seen tackling a commercial waste route in the Chicagoland suburbs. This combination has accounted for the bulk of Advanced's Melrose Park fleet for some time, but units such as this one are slowly being replaced and put on "Spare" duty.
The Melrose Park fleet has seen some variance in their new front load orders with primarily McNeilus units mounted on Macks, Peterbilts and Autocars.
This truck dates back to at least Veolia days, and perhaps even Onyx. The unit received an Advanced Disposal wrap/sticker upon Advanced's acquisition of Veolia's North America solid waste operations.
The Pinnacles - Cape Woolamai, Phillip Island This image didn't come cheap. The alarm was set for 4:45, the trek was about 40 minutes each way and to top it off my friend and I were set upon by what seemed 10,000 short-tailed shearwaters or, my preferred name for them, Moonbirds. But we persevered on a dark night with a ton of stars out muttering "Stupid Birds" under our breath. And this is one of the resulting photos. via 500px ift.tt/2ms5I1q
St Swithun was an Anglo Saxon saint, born in Winchester and Bishop of Winchester from his consecration on 30 October 852 until his death on 2 July 863. However, he is scarcely mentioned in any document of his own time. He died in 863 when King Alfred the Great was still a young man. It is possible that St Swithun was tutor to the young king and accompanied him on a pilgrimage to Rome. His death is entered in the Canterbury manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (MS F) under the year 861. He is recorded as a witness to nine charters, the earliest of which (S 308) is dated 854.
More than a hundred years later, when Dunstan and Æthelwold of Winchester were inaugurating their church reform, Swithun was adopted as patron of the restored church at Winchester, formerly dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. His body was transferred from its almost forgotten grave to Æthelwold's new basilica on 15 July 971; according to contemporary writers, numerous miracles preceded and followed the move.
According to legend, St Swithun has a special association with the English weather, a legend which dates from July 971 when the bones of the saint were moved from outside the old Saxon cathedral and brought inside the building, apparently causing a great thunderstorm:
"On St Swithun's Day, if then dost rain,
For forty days it will remain:
St Swithun's Day, if then be fair,
For forty days 'twill rain nae mair."
A Buckinghamshire variation has
“If on St Swithun's day it really pours
You're better off to stay indoors.”
Swithun was initially buried out of doors, rather than in his cathedral, apparently at his own request. William of Malmesbury recorded that the bishop left instructions that his body should be buried outside the church, ubi et pedibus praetereuntium et stillicidiis ex alto rorantibus esset obnoxius [where it might be subject to the feet of passers-by and to the raindrops pouring from on high], which has been taken as indicating that the legend was already well known in the 12th century.
In 971 it was decided to move his body to a new indoor shrine, and one theory traces the origin of the legend to a heavy shower by which, on the day of the move, the saint marked his displeasure towards those who were removing his remains. This story, however, cannot be traced further back than the 17th or 18th century. Also, it is at variance with the 10th century writers, who all agreed that the move took place in accordance with the saint's desire expressed in a vision. James Raine suggested that the legend was derived from the tremendous downpour of rain that occurred, according to the Durham chroniclers, on St. Swithun's Day, 1315.
John Earle suggests that the legend comes from a pagan or possibly prehistoric day of augury. In France, St. Medard (8 June), Urban of Langres, and St. Gervase and St. Protais (19 June) are credited with an influence on the weather almost identical with that attributed to St Swithun in England. In Flanders, there is St Godelieve (6 July) and in Germany the Seven Sleepers' Day (27 June). There is a scientific basis to the weather pattern behind the legend of St Swithun's day. Around the middle of July, the jet stream settles into a pattern which, in the majority of years, holds reasonably steady until the end of August. When the jet stream lies north of the British Isles then continental high pressure is able to move in; when it lies across or south of the British Isles, Arctic air and Atlantic weather systems predominate.
The most false that the prediction has been, according to the Guinness Book of Records, were 1924 when 13.5 hours of sunshine in London were followed by 30 of the next 40 days being wet, and 1913 when a 15-hour rainstorm was followed by 30 dry days of 40.
St Swithun's Day is celebrated on 15 July. Wikipedia
I have been shooting in RAW format the last couple of months... and have been experimenting with crafting a blended image from different exposure settings taken from a single file.
My friend Terry Flick (TexFlix) taught me this technique and also encouraged me to try the RAW (instead of jpeg) format. He felt that RAW gives the photographer more flexibility when the shot leaves the camera - and I now agree.
This shot, taken south of Dallas a couple of months ago, is the result of that blending. I opened the original file in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and then saved different exposures such as (+1, -1, +2,-2, etc) and blended those resulting images together with Photomatix software. I really feel it allows the nuances of light and color to come to the surface.
For example, in this image the single frame photo had the hills in the upper left corner too dark.... and the shades of green in the pasture and in the tree line did not have any variance. By experimentation, I was able to get the variations back into the image that were there in real life....
If you've not tried Lightroom, you can download a free trial at www.adobe.com
If you've not tried Photomatix, you can download a free trial at www.hdrsoft.com
PROTOTYPE GREAT SPIRIT ROBOT
INSTRUCTIONS: rebrickable.com/users/GiiKei/
Long ago at the beginning of it all, Spherus Magna came to face it's destruction. It's rulers, the wise and powerful Great Beings created two great constructs that would restore the planet.
The first machine would end up scattered across the planet's surface, while the other escaped the apocalypse.
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At the end of The Legend Reborn, The agori assemble their villages into a giant city, unknowingly re-assembling an ancient construct by the Great Beings.
After finding it's power source, once more Mata Nui takes on eternity and releases
the Mask of Life, turning to dust, awakening from the sea of endless sand as the re-assembled towering colossus.
With projects as large as this, it's entirely possible that there are issues somewhere to sort out still. If you encounter any, please notify. to alleviate this beforehand, the partlist includes extras of some of the elements used.
MATA NUI HAS RISEN
Stands 36 CM tall with 1017 pieces
Every joint moves with some variance on range,
Torso can crunch and rotate, legs can splay, shoulders move, a third party battery is housed within the torso to lit up the eyes. (LightMyBricks - Battery brick and one white 15cm bit light 4pack)
So I built out a new frame to support these panels, and I did a test fit ....
even though the center section is only 48 long - the combination of brick bent and variance is making them hard to insert into the frame (I still tend to build things modularly for transport)
And I also worry about the ability to invert the panels without falling apart ... Gravity my once strong SHIP ally maybe against me this year - and the end might be in sight for me to throw in the towel....
Also here's a behind the scenes peak at how most of my SHIPs fit together, sections are inserted by the 2x holes and generally friction locks it in place.
Taken just after sunrise the Swinging Bridge over the Merced River. Fresh snow from the night before adds to the photo.
This is a three shot HDR edited using Oloneo's Photoengine then using many layer variances in CS6. Taken in Yosemite National Park, California on February 20th, 2013.
I wanted to try something a little different this time. I decided to try a pano made of long exposures. Surprisingly, it worked out (mostly.) This was made with 14 long exposures that range from 15 to 30 seconds. The only constant was the ISO they were shot at, which was 100. I only changed the aperture to get the shutter speed to stay at or below 30 seconds, otherwise it was f/22. I honestly didn't think LIghtroom would stitch them together, so I wasn't too much about any variances in sharpness due to changing apertures.
Samango Monkey
The youngster made himself comfortable between the glass pane and the burglar bars.
Those two eyes were staring intently at the fruit and vegetables on the kitchen counter.
Edited 2016/04/19 @ 14:53
Not widespread or common in South Africa, occurring only in the coastal forests north of St Lucia estuary in KwaZulu-Natal, and in the Afro-montane forests of Mpumalanga. The range extends into similar habitats in neighbouring countries. Another, more southern subspecies, is found in Afro-montane and coastal scrub forests of central and southern KwaZulu-Natal, extending into the Eastern Cape to just north of the Knysna forest. Higher population densities occur at the north coast. The two South African subspecies are only distinguished by colour variances.
Quote from: www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_samango_monkey.html
Mount Sheba
Mpumalanga
South Africa
Here's another from my time out following the Mass Bay RRE's Narragansett Bay Special which made a round trip over the entire thirteen mile length of the Newport Secondary. The train consisted of two GE centercabs, Newport and Narragansett Bay Railroad numbers 14 and 66 and the five car regular dinner train consist.
The latter is freshly repainted into the very attractive paint scheme featuring colors that pay homage to the state of Rhode Island and the omnipresent sea. It wears a newly applied logo for the Grand Bellevue Dinner Train for which it is the regular power. A GE 65-tonner, it was built in 1943 and was most recently numbered USN 65-00566 where it served with a sister unit at the Portsmouth Navy Yard until being replaced with a trackmobile several years ago. In 2024 she and sister unit USN 65-00308, two years her junior, were purchased by Eric Moffett and turcked to Rhode Island with the the 65-00308 being assigned to the Seaview Railroad freight operations at Quonset Business Park.
She is coupled to diner lounge BC-30 which a Budd RDC-3 built in 1956 for the Pacific Great East Railway. The self propelled car was one of seven the railroad bought which passed to BC Rail and remained in daily scheduled passenger service until discontinued by the province of British Columbia in 2002. It and sister BC-15 spent a couple years on the short lived Wilton Scenic Railroad in New Hampshire before coming to the island in 2007. The car is in the process of being remodeled into a dining car and bar with the headlights and horn operational and used as a shoving platform from the cab.
Pretty little number 66 brings up the rear crossing Willow Lane at the intersection with Depot Street so names because this is where the Portsmouth depot once stood here at about MP 9.2 which would have been about MP 20.8 as measured from Myricks and the junction with the New Bedford mainline back in PC and early CR days.
This was once named 'Coal Mine' station for the deep underground anthracite mines once located here. Anthracite coal was mined for more than a century from 1808 to 1913. Between 1867 and 1883 the coal fed the Taunton Copper works which operated a smelter adjacent the mine on Arnold's point off to the right. In latter years the mine site was the home of Kaiser Aluminum which operated from 1967 to 1987 and was the last major rail customer on the island. Today all the land which is still zoned heavy industrial has been redeveloped into luxury condominiums. The centerpiece of that development is The Tower at Carnegie Abbey rising in the background. The 22 story tower opened in 2009, and at 242 ft it is far taller than any other structure anywhere on the island. It is built exactly on the footprint of the former Kaiser Aluminum plant's extrusion tower where coated aluminum wire was produced and hence fell under the zoning variance for the former manufacturing facility. You can learn more about the site and development here:
portsmouthabbeymonastery.org/kaiser-to-carnegie
www.hoganassociatesre.com/blog/carnegie-abbey-and-the-kai...
Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Saturday May 17, 2025