View allAll Photos Tagged attenuator
[Hawaii Vacation 2015, Day 10 of 11]
As we were driving back down the road, I looked to my left and noticed a small unofficial viewpoint at the side of the road. I quickly stopped the car and told my son I was going to take a look. I was amazed.
I quickly pulled the tripod out of the truck and set up for the shot. As minutes passed I watched the misty clouds descend to the mountain tops. I'm guessing this shot could have been sharper with a better lens, but I did the best I could with my 18-55mm kit lens.
There were actually helicopters flying between the mountains. In hindsight I wish I had captured a shot or two with a helicopter (which looked very tiny) to give a sense of scale. This capture does not adequately show how grand in scale the Waimea Canyon is!
Single exposure with 0.9H +0.9H stacked to attenuate the brightness in the clouds above the mountains.
Verde & Company Limited.
Georgian era buildings, East London.
Shut down due to greedy, disproportionate rate increases.
LR2172
2 of 2, Ithanks to all for ID information, ID based on the shape of the calyx lobes - attenuate; the length of the coralla tube-one was mesaured at 34mm; the shape of the coralla tube-fairly straight; two species of Ipomopsis in the Huachucas-this and macombii, Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Huachuca Mtns, growing in a sandy wash, plant about 12 inches tall, elevation 5126 ft, 25 September 2015
[ aka TEST SHOTS W/ CHEAPSCALE REDSCALE ;]
[ THE SUN, IN A PARTIALLY CLOUDY SKY, SHOT WITH A HOLGA 135 LOADED WITH REDSCALE FILM AND FILTERED WITH WELDER'S GLASS NO. 14, I BELIEVE. USING ANY STANDARD REDSCALE FILM, ALL OF THE LIGHT ABOVE A CERTAIN MAGNITUDE, WOULD BE GREEN. REDSCALE IS DIFFERENT, OF COURSE (AS YOU CAN SEE), CREATING THESE COOL/ODD EFFECTS. [FIRST ATTEMPTS CONDUCTING NUMEROUS TESTS W/ DIFFERENT FILTERS. ETC.]
>>> Another image from my recently processed test roll of Dragon redscale film {an inexpensive Amazon find ;). The redscale film I've traditionally used holds flares so beautifully, and my tests were subsequenttly all shot at the sun, as an aside when I was shooting zoomed in FD solar images.
With this roll, I also used a variety of filters to see how redscale responded (again, it can at t as a wonderful filter, essentially, on its own). I've had a problem with the data, scans from three rolls. I'll take care of the minor issue later and post more with, hopefully, accurate filter info. This image, I believe, was shot through a piece of welder's glass no. 14. I simply shot the solar disk, and the artifacts/effects are otherwise credited to, uh... the sun. A bit fun/odd/trippy/et al. ;-}
BTW, if you've read some of these rambling descriptions, you understand that my life is an atypically chaotic force of emotion and intuition, with my rational thinking struggling to surface. Grief. But THANK YOU for looking at my odd images, and in some cases, for the insightful, compassionate comments (if I don't respond.... sincere apologies. There are a couple in particular, but all comments, e-mails, et al. are quite meaningful. [INSERT TRONA SELF-DEPRECATING JOKE ATTEMPT TO BREAK THE AWKWARD E-SILENCE FOLLOWING MY LAPSE INTO MILD CANDOR ;-] Thanks.
Prost.
Mimegralla sepsoides
Family: Micropezidae (Stilt-legged Flies)
Order: Diptera
Thanks Tony-d for help with the ID on this one. This is the first time this species has been ID'd to research grade on iNaturalist, though there is an unconfirmed prior observation at the same location earlier in 2025.
The observation seems consistent with McAlpine,1998:
"Fore basitarsus dark brown on at least basal half, pale yellowish distally; mid and hind femora fulvous, each with large dark brown zone centred just before middle and lighter brown preapical zone; /: anterior extremity of mesoscutum evenly convex; abdominal tergite 3 subtrapezoid, broadest across the acute anterolateral angles, with posterolateral angles rounded off; sclerotised part of segment 7
produced and attenuated posteriorly ................................................................................ M. sepsoides"
This fly strode around purposefully and aggressively, as a wasp would do. This mimicry might deter a spider from attacking, for example.
The habit of pointing the forelegs out in front is also found in the more common member of this genus, M. australica. Peter Chew of Brisbane insects has noted that this is a Batesian mimicry of a wasp.
Location is the Holmes Jungle Nature Reserve near Karama in the Northern Territory.
References
Peter Chew, 2025, Brisbane insects
www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_acalyptrata/BlackStiltLe...
McAlpine, D. K. (1998). Review of the Australian stilt flies (Diptera: Micropezidae) with a phylogenetic analysis of the family. Invertebrate Systematics, 12(1), 55-134.
DSC00981-4-TZ DN SH UP 2x
Part of IC2944 (aka "running chicken nebula") in the southern sky, this nebula is asociated with the bright star (mag 3.1) lambda centauri. This nebula is near invisible to common LRGB color filters, but have a rich Hidrogen alpha emission. This is a Ha-L-RGB composite for about 8 hours. The bright star in the frame leads to optical reflexes difficult to attenuate, but I still decide include it to reveal the surroundings. GSO RC 30cms scope, camera STF8300/AO-8 from La Colonia, Illapel, Chile.
[ null.daten ]
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# Random date selection [041417] and subsequently imagery from the TRONA LO-FI SCIENCE OBSERVATORY
The often pictured M16 nebula, 8 hours with 16min subs, telescope TEC 140mm APO-camera STF8300/AO-8, from La Colonia, Illapel, Chile. The Hydrogen alpha filter gives details and "3D" effect but at the cost of pink coloration, that I tried to attenuate. I'm happy with this work, but will work in a close up to the center of this nebula with another scope. Comments welcome, have a nice day !
La comunmente fotografiada nebulosa M16, 8 horas con subexposiciones de 16 minutos, telescopio TEC APO 140mm-cámara STF8300/AO8, desde La Colonia, Illapel, Chile. El filtro Hidrógeno alfa aporta muchos detalles y efecto "3D", pero con el costo de una coloración rosa que traté de atenuar aquí. Me ha dejado contento esta imagen pero proximamente trabajaré en un zoom al centro de esta misma nebulosa con otro telescopio. Comentarios bienvenidos, tengan un buen día !
A first winter White-rumped Sandpiper at Slimbridge WWT - Gloucestershire showing the attenuated rear end & long primary projection evident in many Neartic waders. Just enough light in this one to show a hint of "rusty" fringing on the wing coverts & tertials.
Chiesa di San Palmerio (primo quarto del XIII secolo).
La facciata riceve slancio dalle due lesene che salgono ai lati del portale e dai pilastri angolari che la dividono in tre specchi conclusi da arcate a tutto sesto.
Quella centrale è forata da una luce cruciforme mentre l'apertura a lunetta non è romanica.
Il portale è del tipo architravato e lunettato con centina a tutto sesto rialzata di un concio e architrave che si appoggia su stipiti monolitici.
La decorazione è affidata alle basi e ai capitelli, oltreché alla bicromia, ottenuta alternando conci di media pezzatura in basalto scuro e vulcanite rossastra.
La disposizione dei conci in filari nella facciata attenua l'effetto verticale prodotto anche dai 7 m di altezza dei muri.
Nei fianchi a vista si notano monofore strombate sia internamente sia esternamente.
Nella parte alta corrono archetti a doppia ghiera impostati su peducci.
Alcuni presentano forma ad angolo acuto di tipo gotico.
Church of San Palmerio (first quarter of the 13th century).
The façade receives momentum from the two pilasters that rise to the sides of the portal and from the corner pillars that divide it into three mirrors concluded by round arches.
The central one is pierced by a cruciform light while the lunette opening is not Romanesque.
The portal is of the lintel and lunette type with a raised round arch of a segment and architrave that rests on monolithic jambs.
The decoration is entrusted to the bases and capitals, as well as to the two-color, obtained by alternating medium-sized ashlars in dark basalt and reddish vulcanite.
The arrangement of the ashlars in rows on the facade attenuates the vertical effect produced even by the 7 m high walls.
On the visible sides there are splayed single lancet windows.
In the upper part run double ring arches set on corbels.
Some have an acute-angled shape of the Gothic type.
_MG_7681m
Been a while since I've uploaded any images here... sorry! I recently got back from a trip to southern Utah. Here's one of the many images from my trip -- check my blog for more details, story, etc.
You can now find me on facebook as well, Art in Nature Photography.
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Image description:
Incredible patterns and colors formed naturally by a thin layer of plant oils from decaying leaves floating in a small puddle in a deep canyon in Utah's Escalante National Monument. The fantastical colors you see, which change with the viewing angle, are a result of a phenomenon called iridescence. As light hits the oil it can either reflect off of the surface, or travel through the oil (refracting) and reflect off of the water surface. These multiple phase-shifted reflections then recombine, attenuating and amplifying select frequencies of light through wave interference. The degree of phase-shift (and thus the perceived color) is modulated by the thickness of the film.
Hearkening back to one of the earliest astrophotos I took back in 2004 (flic.kr/p/2BUxr), I've reprised this in 2021 with better equipment and darker skies. This area of Sagittarius features the Lagoon Nebula (M8), with IC 1274 off to its left, the Trifid Nebula (M20) above it, and open cluster M21 above that. Below the Lagoon are two very tiny globular clusters, NGC 6544 and NGC 6553.
I used a Radian Raptor 61 with a quad-band filter, which is why the reflection nebula of the Trifid is attenuated. 61 subexposures of 2 minutes each (~2 hours total) were captured with an astro-modified Canon 6D at ISO 1600 from the very dark skies of Palouse Falls, WA.
A tough, all-terrain, 4x4 vehicle, with Power Functions remote control and an unusual steering mechanism.
After its birth in the 20th century and flowering in the 21st century, Lego building became the only hobby done by anybody in the whole of the galaxy. As interstellar travel boomed, modellers built more and more spaceships, based on their journeys. This phenomenon created an insatiable demand for greebles to cover the hulls of these MOCs. This was further accentuated when compulsory participation in SHIPtember, NoVVember and Febrovery was brought into law, 857 years ago.
The most prized of all of greebles were minifig hands. Fortunately, in an infinitely large universe, these occurred naturally, just like mattresses and ratchet screwdrivers. Limb trees on Braichiau VII enabled this planet to become one of the richest in the galaxy. The exports were heavily taxed and this led to a flourishing trade in illegal arms.
Before they could be taken off the planet, in ships such as the LL372 Phoenix, the minifig hands first had to be brought to the spaceport. Special 4x4 Greeble transporters were built to quickly traverse the planet's rough terrain, carrying refrigerated tanks of minifig hands. Ironically most of this packaging was unnecessary and was itself just a big greeble, that the designers thought would look good.
Llwyngwril Systems chose an unusual chassis for their machine, mainly because they couldn't find any other examples of it on the "internet" (The "internet" was a forerunner of the now ubiquitous sub-ether network). The Greeble Transporter was conventionally powered by an XL motor but was steered by two, large linear actuators. These were powered by an M motor. Many prototypes had to be built before a suitable solution, which combined good structural rigidity and steering geometry, was found.
In order to prevent dirt from flying up onto the truck's clean bodywork, the designers decided to add devices that would confine it below and clog the vehicle's fragile work parts. The experimental Mud Attenuation Temporary Tabs were built by Rowntree's of York. This company had become incredibly successful due to the need to feed the now infinite hordes of Lego Car Blog Elves with Smarties. It demerged from Nestle and diversified into automotive parts manufacture. Rowntree's MATTs proved to be a great success and were fitted to many subsequent machines.
The inter galactic trade in greebles suddenly died out 242 years ago, with the invention of the brick separator. Suddenly builders could take their creations apart and reuse the pieces, rather than just buying more and more and more and more components from the billionaire greeble magnates of Bricklink. The price of minifig hands plummeted and most of the 4x4 Greeble Transporters were put up for sale. Many were bought by the HALO Master Chef to replace the aging Warthogs used in his meals-on-wheels service.
Although the twilight sky can certainly inspire awe even when it is devoid of clouds, the most memorable sunsets tend to be those with at least a few clouds. Clouds catch the last red-orange rays of the setting sun and the first light of the dawn like a theatre screen, and reflect this light to the ground. But certain types of clouds are more closely associated with eye-catching sunsets than others. Why?
To produce vivid sunset colors, a cloud must be high enough to intercept "unadulterated" sunlight...i.e., light that has not suffered attenuation and/or color loss by passing through the atmospheric boundary layer. (The boundary layer is the layer near the surface which contains most of the atmosphere's dust and haze). This largely explains why spectacular shades of scarlet, orange, and red most often grace cirrus and altocumulus layers, but only rarely low clouds such as stratus or stratocumulus. When low clouds do take on vivid hues, as they often do over the open ocean in the tropics, it is a clue that the lower atmosphere is very clean and therefore more transparent than usual. Source: www.spc.noaa.gov
This is the front security gate and (3 foot) high wall surrounding Government House in Perth, Western Australia.
(I used to jump higher than that wall when I was at infant school!)
Oct 2011. Just as Queen Elizabeth 2nd and Prince Phillip arrived to stay.
(Wikipedia)
Government House is the official residence of the governor of Western Australia, situated in the central business district of Perth, the state capital. It was built between 1859 and 1864, in the Jacobean Revival style.
Government House is located on St Georges Terrace (Perth's main thoroughfare), sitting on the same block as Council House and the Supreme Court buildings. The site has been used by governors since the establishment of the Swan River Colony in 1829; the current building is the third to have served that purpose on the site. The buildings and gardens of Government House are of exceptional heritage significance, being listed on the Western Australian Register of Heritage Places and classified by the National Trust. They are regularly opened for public viewing.
Description
The building is a two-storey mansion designed by Edmund Henderson in the early Stuart or Jacobean Revival style, set on 32,000 square metres (7.9 acres) of English gardens in the centre of the Perth business district, between St George's Terrace and the Swan River. The unique architectural character of the building is characterised by the use of stonework and bonded brickwork, incorporating square mullioned windows, decorated gables and ogival capped turrets. The attenuated gothic arcading at ground floor level derives from another form of Victorian Revival expression Fonthill Gothic. The building has 16 rooms on the ground floor and 25 on the first floor. According to the Western Australian Register of Heritage Places Assessment, Government House is a "unique example of a Victorian Gentleman's residence" set in landscaped gardens with mature plantings and a number of commemorative trees.
Chiesa di San Palmerio (primo quarto del XIII secolo).
La facciata riceve slancio dalle due lesene che salgono ai lati del portale e dai pilastri angolari che la dividono in tre specchi conclusi da arcate a tutto sesto.
Quella centrale è forata da una luce cruciforme mentre l'apertura a lunetta non è romanica.
Il portale è del tipo architravato e lunettato con centina a tutto sesto rialzata di un concio e architrave che si appoggia su stipiti monolitici.
La decorazione è affidata alle basi e ai capitelli, oltreché alla bicromia, ottenuta alternando conci di media pezzatura in basalto scuro e vulcanite rossastra.
La disposizione dei conci in filari nella facciata attenua l'effetto verticale prodotto anche dai 7 m di altezza dei muri.
Nei fianchi a vista si notano monofore strombate sia internamente sia esternamente.
Nella parte alta corrono archetti a doppia ghiera impostati su peducci.
Alcuni presentano forma ad angolo acuto di tipo gotico.
Church of San Palmerio (first quarter of the 13th century).
The façade receives momentum from the two pilasters that rise to the sides of the portal and from the corner pillars that divide it into three mirrors concluded by round arches.
The central one is pierced by a cruciform light while the lunette opening is not Romanesque.
The portal is of the lintel and lunette type with a raised round arch of a segment and architrave that rests on monolithic jambs.
The decoration is entrusted to the bases and capitals, as well as to the two-color, obtained by alternating medium-sized ashlars in dark basalt and reddish vulcanite.
The arrangement of the ashlars in rows on the facade attenuates the vertical effect produced even by the 7 m high walls.
On the visible sides there are splayed single lancet windows.
In the upper part run double ring arches set on corbels.
Some have an acute-angled shape of the Gothic type.
_MG_7684m
Somewhat attenuated advertisement for RFT Stern Radio. Lettering used to run across the top and bottom edges of this sign. Some information at:
generationtapedeck.blogspot.com/2009/12/zweites-turchen.html
The signage was removed in 2018: www.bz-berlin.de/berlin/pankow/die-neon-kassette-von-friedri
It was at about this point in time that I started thinking about that quarry I mentioned earlier, visible on the far side of Loch Linnhe. Called the Glensanda Quarry, it is an enormous enterprise, and while it can't be invisible, it has been designed to minimise its visual impact. There is no road in or out of it, everything has to come and go by sea. The actual quarrying operation is not taking place down near the shore line, it is taking place up near the top of the mountain, where you can just see a pale line. The granite goes through a primary crusher up at the quarry and is then fed into a vertical shaft that takes it down to near sea-level, where a conveyor belt then takes it to the secondary crusher on the sea-shore, after which it gets loaded onto ships and sent off all around the country and overseas.
My interest in it is that on the shoreline, not far from the loading facility, there is a castle! To get to it, keeping in mind there is no road, involves a long full day's walk across the wilds of Morvern and back. However, it is only 4.27 kilometers away from here and my drone has a theoretical range greater than that, and its across water, so the signal strength should not attenuate too much! My only worry is recalcitrant seagulls!
Rain can give a strong attenuation to the brightness of lightning and I often enjoy the effect it brings to my photos. More from the archives ...
Lightning, 2013.07.13, 2818
Thoughts?
Amedeo Bocchi (Parma, 24 August 1883 - Rome, 16 December 1976) - Fishermen of the Pontine Marshes (1920) dimensions 131 x 221 cm - Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery, Piacenza
E' forse la sua opera più rappresentativa; fu completamente eseguita sul vero, Ie vibrazioni di luce e di colore, attenuate dalle frasche della capanna, non presentano ancora la violenza rilevabile nella "Famiglia del pittore", dipinta anch'essa tutta dal vero, I'anno precedente.
Studiò all'Accademia di Parma con Cecrope Barilli, poi a Roma (1902) alla Scuola libera del nudo, infine a Padova con Achille Casanova, dal quale apprese la tecnica dell'affresco. Espose per la prima volta alla Biennale di Venezia nel 1910. Si dedicò con perizia all'affresco e alla tempera in chiese ed edifici civili (Cassa di Risparmio di Parma). Numerosissime le esposizioni, sia in Italia che all'estero, e vasti i consensi di critica, specialmente tra la prima e la seconda guerra mondiale (primo premio per il ritratto femminile a Monza, nel 1926). Molti suoi dipinti tra il 1919 e il 1930 sono ambientati nelle Paludi Pontine. Nel marzo 1967 l'Accademia di S. Luca gli organizzò a Roma una importante Mostra retrospettiva a Palazzo Carpegna. Lo interessa in modo particolare la resa della luce, che risolve in ampie sintetiche trasparenti campiture in cui i colori cantano o vibrano in preziosi cangianti.
It is perhaps his most representative work; it was completely performed on the truth, the vibrations of light and color, attenuated by the branches of the hut, do not yet show the violence detectable in the "painter's family", also painted entirely from life, the previous year.
He studied at the Academy of Parma with Cecrope Barilli, then in Rome (1902) at the Free School of the nude, finally in Padua with Achille Casanova, from whom he learned the fresco technique. He exhibited for the first time at the Venice Biennale in 1910. He devoted himself with skill to fresco and tempera in churches and civil buildings (Cassa di Risparmio di Parma). Numerous exhibitions, both in Italy and abroad, and widespread critical acclaim, especially between the first and second world wars (first prize for the female portrait in Monza, in 1926). Many of his paintings between 1919 and 1930 are set in the Pontine Marshes. In March 1967 the Academy of S. Luca organized an important retrospective exhibition in Rome at Palazzo Carpegna. He is particularly interested in the rendering of light, which he resolves into wide transparent synthetic backgrounds in which colors sing or vibrate in precious iridescent colors.
This is a whirligig beetle (Orectogyrus cf. pallidocinctus, Gyrinidae) from forest rivulets in the Yangambi Man and Biosphere Reserve (DR Congo, collected in november 2013, preserved in ethanol). It hunts on the water surface and is equipped with two pairs of eyes, one below and one above the water surface. Notice that there are parasites in the gutter of the left elytron (wing) and also on the last segment of the abdomen. These parasites are host-specific and transmitted while the beetles touch each other during copulation.
Studio stack based on 86 images (ISO200, f/13, 0.5sec, diffused ledlight), assembled in ZereneStacker (Pmax & Dmap), uncropped image, 3x, about 12mm wide.
Setting up the specimen:
The beetle (a collection specimen) was taken out of the ethanol and left to dry for an hour, then it was mounted on an insect pin (nr 00).
The pin was pricked in a black support, leaving 1.5cm between insect and support. The support + insect was placed in a small black pot, making sure the insect was perfectly horizontal and 0.5cm under the edge of the pot. The pot was slowly filled with water, till the water adheres naturally to the beetle, then drops of water were added to obtain the natural look of immersion these beetles have. Showing the adherence of the water to this beetle was one of the challenges.
Getting rid of reflections, from the water and the beetle:
The black support and black pot are essential to avoid reflections from below the water surface, but it's not enough. I used a circular polar filter. The lamp was placed at 45° from the left and a paper diffusor was arched over the entire setup.
f/13
Normally I use a f/5 - f/6.3 for stacking, and I tried with this specimen, but it rendered the dust particles on the water way too sharp. Refreshing the water didn't really help, dust just kept coming in, and setting up the delicate specimen again and again is not so fun =).
Getting rid of stacking artefacts:
Water moves and so does the dust that floats on the water. The rough stacked image (Pmax or Dmap) suffered a lot from these dust particles that made dotted lines over the water surface. Making the dust sink in the water by using a detergent was not an option as it would break the surface tension and immerse the beetle as well. With f/13 the dotted lines were still there but easier retouched in ZereneStacker and finally reduced/attenuated using GIMP.
If I make this setup again (I still have the specimen), then I eventually add a tiny Lemna, just to have some more color and a reference to the depth in this image.
Once on the ground, snow can be categorized as powdery when light and fluffy, fresh when recent but heavier, granular when it begins the cycle of melting and refreezing, and eventually ice once it comes down, after multiple melting and refreezing cycles, into a dense mass called snow pack. When powdery, snow moves with the wind from the location where it originally landed, forming deposits called snowdrifts that may have a depth of several meters. After attaching itself to hillsides, blown snow can evolve into a snow slab—an avalanche hazard on steep slopes. The existence of a snowpack keeps temperatures lower than they would be otherwise, as the whiteness of the snow reflects most sunlight, and any absorbed heat goes into melting the snow rather than increasing its temperature. The water equivalent of snowfall is measured to monitor how much liquid is available to flood rivers from meltwater that will occur during the following spring. Snow cover can protect crops from extreme cold. If snowfall stays on the ground for a series of years uninterrupted, the snowpack develops into a mass of ice called glacier. Fresh snow absorbs sound, lowering ambient noise over a landscape because the trapped air between snowflakes attenuates vibration. These acoustic qualities quickly minimize and reverse, once a layer of freezing rain falls on top of snow cover. Walking across snowfall produces a squeaking sound at low temperatures.
The energy balance of the snowpack itself is dictated by several heat exchange processes. The snowpack absorbs solar shortwave radiation that is partially blocked by cloud cover and reflected by snow surface. A long-wave heat exchange takes place between the snowpack and its surrounding environment that includes overlying air mass, tree cover and clouds. Heat exchange takes place by convection between the snowpack and the overlaying air mass, and it is governed by the temperature gradient and wind speed. Moisture exchange between the snowpack and the overlying air mass is accompanied by latent heat transfer that is influenced by vapor pressure gradient and air wind. Rain on snow can add significant amounts of thermal energy to the snowpack. A generally insignificant heat exchange takes place by conduction between the snowpack and the ground. The small temperature change from before to after a snowfall is a result of the heat transfer between the snowpack and the air.[1] As snow degrades, its surface can develop characteristic ablation textures such as suncups or penitentes.
The term snow storm can describe a heavy snowfall, while a blizzard involves snow and wind, obscuring visibility. Snow shower is a term for an intermittent snowfall, while flurry is used for very light, brief snowfalls. Snow can fall more than a meter at a time during a single storm in flat areas, and meters at a time in rugged terrain, such as mountains. When snow falls in significant quantities, travel by foot, car, airplane and other means becomes severely restricted, but other methods of mobility become possible, such as the use of snowmobiles, snowshoes and skis. When heavy snow occurs early in the fall (or, on rarer occasions, late in the spring), significant damage can occur to trees still in leaf. Areas with significant snow each year can store the winter snow within an ice house, which can be used to cool structures during the following summer. A variation on snow has been observed on Venus, though composed of metallic compounds and occurring at a substantially higher temperature
In the abandoned city of Pripyat, near the Chernobyl plant. Taken on 12 March, 2011.
View large.
Viewing it at work, the blues are much more attenuated than on my laptop. Not sure what's going on there...
www.google.com/search?q=Fountain+Formation+in+Colorado+Sp... Another evening walk near Colorado Springs, Colorado. This scene is part of the landscape of Red Rock Canyon Open Space on the border between Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs. The red sandstone here (see link above) is part of the Fountain Formation which runs much of the Front Range ( east slope of the Rockies) in Colorado. The Open Space here offers the advantage over other locations in offering hikers the luxury of walking between smaller pinnacles. The cloud cover attenuated the setting sun. Anatomical resemblance is purely accidental.
Scorpion is such a great name for these trucks (Truck Mounted Attenuators or mobile crash cushions).
This is the front Main drive security gate and (3 foot) high wall surrounding Government House in Perth, Western Australia.
(I used to jump higher than that wall when I was at infant school!)
Oct 2011. Just as Queen Elizabeth 2nd and Prince Phillip arrived to stay.
(Wikipedia)
Government House is the official residence of the governor of Western Australia, situated in the central business district of Perth, the state capital. It was built between 1859 and 1864, in the Jacobean Revival style.
Government House is located on St Georges Terrace (Perth's main thoroughfare), sitting on the same block as Council House and the Supreme Court buildings. The site has been used by governors since the establishment of the Swan River Colony in 1829; the current building is the third to have served that purpose on the site. The buildings and gardens of Government House are of exceptional heritage significance, being listed on the Western Australian Register of Heritage Places and classified by the National Trust. They are regularly opened for public viewing.
Description
The building is a two-storey mansion designed by Edmund Henderson in the early Stuart or Jacobean Revival style, set on 32,000 square metres (7.9 acres) of English gardens in the centre of the Perth business district, between St George's Terrace and the Swan River. The unique architectural character of the building is characterised by the use of stonework and bonded brickwork, incorporating square mullioned windows, decorated gables and ogival capped turrets. The attenuated gothic arcading at ground floor level derives from another form of Victorian Revival expression Fonthill Gothic. The building has 16 rooms on the ground floor and 25 on the first floor. According to the Western Australian Register of Heritage Places Assessment, Government House is a "unique example of a Victorian Gentleman's residence" set in landscaped gardens with mature plantings and a number of commemorative trees.
Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) is a pair of residential towers in the Porta Nuova district of Milan, Italy. They have a height of 110 metres and 76 metres and host more than 900 trees (approximately 550 and 350 trees in the first and second towers respectively) on 8,900 square metres of terraces.
The towers were designed by Boeri Studio (Stefano Boeri, Gianandrea Barreca and Giovanni La Varra). It also involved input from horticulturalists and botanists.
It is called Bosco Verticale because each tower houses trees between three and six meters that help mitigate smog and produce oxygen.
It is also used to moderate temperatures in the building in the winter and summer. The plants also attenuate noise. The design was tested in a wind tunnel to ensure the trees would not topple from gusts of wind.Botanists and horticulturalists were consulted by the engineering team to ensure that the structure could bear the load imposed by the plants. The steel-reinforced concrete balconies are designed to be 28 cm thick, with 1.30 metre parapets.
On November 19, 2014, Bosco Verticale won the International Highrise Award. On the 12th of November 2015 Bosco Verticale was selected as the “2015 Best Tall Building Worldwide”.
Lincoln, Nebraska
Olympus OMD - EM1-2 with Olympus 75-300 zoom and 4X microscope objective.
These little snow plates are pretty small - only 1 to 3mm. The patterns are mostly due to air bubbles in the ice. The thickness of the ice at the bubbles is very thin and "thin film interference" takes effect. In this case green and orange were enhanced.
"Thin-film interference is a natural phenomenon in which light waves reflected by the upper and lower boundaries of a thin film interfere with one another, either enhancing or reducing the reflected light. When the thickness of the film is an odd multiple of one quarter-wavelength of the light on it, the reflected waves from both surfaces interfere to cancel each other. Since the wave cannot be reflected, it is completely transmitted instead. When the thickness is a multiple of a half-wavelength of the light, the two reflected waves reinforce each other, increasing the reflection and reducing the transmission. Thus when white light, which consists of a range of wavelengths, is incident on the film, certain wavelengths (colors) are intensified while others are attenuated. Thin-film interference explains the multiple colors seen in light reflected from soap bubbles and oil films on water. It is also the mechanism behind the action of antireflection coatings used on glasses and camera lenses." (wikipedia)
You are the music, while the music lasts.
~ T.S. Eliot
Dr. Oliver Sacks – the New York Times’ “Poet Laureate of Medicine” – has written many books about strange conditions of the human mind/brain in his long and illustrious dual careers as a neurologist and psychiatrist on one hand and a soul-stirring non-fiction writer on the other. While all his books are worth any intelligent reader’s time, one book has always stood out for me: Awakenings. In the preface, Dr. Sacks described writing the book as a struggle of escape from habitual modes of thoughts and expression. Indeed, this book espoused the unfamiliar perpetual darkness of some ill-fated human minds; but it did so only to coax latent seedlings of light out of the tenebrous in a way that enlightens the reader at many levels.
For those of you who haven’t read Awakenings (or, seen its brilliant screen adaptation), here Dr. Sacks profiles lives of patients in a ‘chronic hospital’ (that most medical professionals find ‘uneventful’) and explores deeper meanings of being a human being, especially under the ‘strangest and darkest of circumstances’. His patients – survivors of the great Encephalitis Lethargica epidemic that came and went mysteriously after the first world war and affected about five million people worldwide – had substantial lethargy, somnolence, and were in a sleep like state for decades. They showed no behavior, perhaps they registered none either. As Dr. Sacks puts it, “they would sit motionless and speechless all day… registered what went on about them with active attention, and with profound indifference. They were as insubstantial as ghosts, and as passive as zombies…”. If thoughts crossed these brains, if any at all, it's unlikely they were the usual ones that cross yours and mine every now and then.
From a clinical standpoint however, these zombies reminded neurologists of another debilitating brain disorder: Parkinson’s disease, which is caused by loss of dopamine. Yes, the same dopamine that is often labelled these days as the ‘happy’ neurotransmitter due to its role in brain’s reward circuit. In 1967, around the time Dr. Sacks was working with his catatonic patients, western medicine learned that symptoms of Parkinson’s can be attenuated by providing patients with L-DOPA (a chemical precursor of dopamine), the ‘miracle drug’. Dr. Sacks introduced L-DOPA to his patients experimentally in 1969. What followed was a mix of miracles and adverse effects, but ‘awakening' of most patients from their perpetual sleep. They started expressing themselves and were ‘visibly better in all possible ways’ as they ‘forged a deep and affectionate relationship’ with the doctor and each other.
One small molecule – one gigantic outcome.
With the newfound ability to express themselves after L-DOPA treatment, some patients subsequently revealed inner churning of their minds while catatonic. Patient Rose R. explained how she thought about 'nothing' the whole time: “It’s dead easy, once you know how”, she said, “One way is to think about the same thing again and again. Like 2=2=2=2; or, I am what I am what I am what I am…”. Other patients expressed how it felt to be cured, and expressed thoughts that may sound uncannily familiar to many. “Hey, Doc!” would say Mr. Ronaldo P., “I’m sick of L-DOPA – what about a real pill from the cupboard the nurses lock up? The ‘euthanazy’ pill or whatever it’s called… I’ve needed that pill since the day I was born”.
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I was reminded of Oliver Sack’s Awakenings while processing the above image from the Isaac Hale Beach, Hawai’i. During May-July, 2018, the Big Island experienced an unprecedented series of volcanic eruptions that gained international attention. From 24 fissures, rivers of lava rolled towards the ocean burning, vaporizing, and annihilating everything in its path. Skirting the parking lot by meters, the two story high lava engulfed most of the park, stopping only a mere 270 feet from the boat launch. After almost an year, when we visited the park, a brand new black sand beach – the Pohoiki beach – had come into existence from the eroding lava. The sand here was coarse with painful sharp edges (no one was barefoot on the beach), and intermediate rocks that broke off from the main body of lava were rolling back and forth under the surf in their destined journey to being rounded off into finer sand. As waves rolled in, these rocks collided and churned with a distinct grumble that could be heard easily above the ocean. These psychedelic groans under the cloudy sky, now that I think of it, were probably utterance of a newborn land trying to play itself a music of nothing, something like patient R; I am what I am what I am what I am…
"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there."
Leslie Poles Hartley (English Writer, 1895-1972)
© Copyright Natalie Panga - All rights reserved. EXPLORED January 18, 2012.
* Best seen in larger size on black (click image above)
This photo is as much about a feeling as a visual. Walking through this scene underscored just how much of a transformation had occurred in the span of a few short hours. I've walked through here countless times but on this morning it was almost unrecognizable. Moreover, it had the feel of an enchanted place, an almost mystical quality that I've experienced before in places where the snow takes on the qualities of a Currier & Ives print. The overwhelming sense was one of being closed in; as if being indoors in an outdoor setting. In part because the snow limited visibility through the trees; but also because of the quality of light. It was much more suggestive of a room illuminated by skylight, but with shadowy areas in the corners. No way to photograph it, but the snow cover has a way of attenuating noise and sounds, which enhances the sensation of being indoors. I framed this photo from the perspective of the wind, with the lens facing the same direction as the wind-driven snow the night before. So intense was the storm that the snow was projected as much horizontally as vertically. And it was insanely sticky owing to the warmth of the air. The effect was a thick coating of snow on vertical surfaces rather than just having the snow settle on horizontal surfaces as is usually the case. For me that's what really transformed the scene because the normally dark tree trunks were temporarily turned white. This magic kingdom lasted only a brief time after sunrise. The snow melted away very quickly in the warmth of the sun's intense rays. Soon the entire seen receded into a nondescript section of woodland with a muddy track in the foreground. It's a scene I would have never even bothered to photograph absent the snow.
Farmland on the edge of Sheffield.
A new limited edition photo added to my website. A productive bank holiday monday so far.
The light on the wall is an attenuated camera obscura created by a tube in the accordion blind.
IMG_7182
This mast is the Hannington transmitting station which is a television and radio transmitting station located on Cottington's Hill near the village of Hannington. The transmitter is actually in the parish of Kingsclere. The station provides broadcast services to Berkshire and north Hampshire, and includes a 131.4 metres guyed steel lattice mast. Surmounting the mast is a GRP aerial cylinder, which contains the UHF television transmitting antennas, which brings the overall height of the mast to 151.9 metres.
Hannington's digital broadcasts were severely attenuated to the East before DSO (Digital Switch-Over) so as not to cause co-channel interference with Guildford transmitter. Those restrictions were removed soon after DSO in 2012.
This mast is on the The North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) which is located in the English counties of West Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The name North Wessex Downs is not a traditional one, the area covered being better known by various overlapping local names, including the Berkshire Downs, the North Hampshire Downs, the White Horse Hills, the Lambourn Downs, the Marlborough Downs, the Vale of Pewsey and Savernake Forest. Cottingtons Hill has a summit elevation of 229 metres with a steep slope on the northern side but a much more gentle slope on the southern side.
The downland is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation which runs from Dorset in the west to Kent in the east and also includes the Dorset Downs, Purbeck Hills, Cranborne Chase, Wiltshire Downs, Salisbury Plain, the Isle of Wight, Chiltern Hills and the North and South Downs.
Réalisé le 13 juillet 2018 au Domaine de Maizerets, ville de Québec, Québec.
On la reconnait à ses fleurs plutôt tournées vers le sol et pendantes au bout de longs et minces pédoncules. Leurs lobes sont veinés de rouge-brun et les 5 pétales sont légèrement dentés, atténués en pointe. Les feuilles sont disposées en paires à intervalles distancées et leurs pétioles sont frangés de poils. Prenez le temps de la chercher, car elle fleurit surtout à l'ombre.
It is recognized by its flowers rather turned towards the ground and hanging at the end of long and thin peduncles. Their lobes are veined with red-brown and the 5 petals are slightly dentate, attenuate in tip. The leaves are arranged in pairs at spaced intervals and their petioles are fringed with hair. Take the time to look for it, because it blooms especially in the shade.
Made on July, 13th / 2018 at Domaine de Maizerets, Quebec city, Quebec.
A close up view of a section of NGC 7023, also known as the Iris Nebula. Off the top frame, the star HD 200775 shines brightly, illuminating the nebula with blue light. This view includes near-infrared light, revealing the reddened light of stars attenuated by their dusty environment. Red and brown hues represent light shining through dust, while blue represents light reflecting from dust and gas.
Data from the following proposal were used to create this image:
The Exciting Wavelength of Extended Red Emission
Red: ACS/WFC F850LP
Green: ACS/WFC F625W
Blue: ACS/WFC F475W
North is 169.96° clockwise from up.
Primula vulgaris is a perennial growing 10–30 cm (4–12 in) tall, with a basal rosette of leaves which are more-or-less evergreen in favoured habitats. It flowers in early spring in the northern hemisphere (February–April) on slopes and meadows.
The leaves are 5–25 cm long and 2–6 cm broad, often heavily wrinkled, with an irregularly crenate to dentate margin. The leaf blade is gradually attenuated towards the base and unevenly toothed. The single stem, extremely short, is hidden in the centre of the leaf rosette. The delicately scented flowers are 2–4 cm in diameter, borne singly on short slender stems.
The flowers are typically pale yellow, though white or pink forms are often seen in nature. The flowers are actinomorphic with a superior ovary which later forms a capsule opening by valves to release the small black seeds. The flowers are hermaphrodite but heterostylous; individual plants bear either pin flowers (longuistylous flower: with the capita of the style prominent) or thrum flowers (brevistylous flower: with the stamens prominent). Fertilisation can only take place between pin and thrum flowers. Pin-to-pin and thrum-to-thrum pollination is ineffective.
For Project 365, 2022 Edition: Day 316/365
This homonym, sliver, is pronounced sly-ver. Once a batt comes off the drum carder (see previous photo) it can be torn into strips like this one. Usually I spin directly from these onto the spinning wheel. However, today I spent a couple hours preparing the fibre further. I drew the strips through a diz, a small curved brass object with several holes of different sizes. Dizzing attenuates the fibre to make it more consistent in thickness. This soft, light strand is called sliver. It's extra work I've never tried before, but hopefully it will be easier and more fun to spin, and produce more consistent thickness of yarn.
Thank you to everyone who visits, faves, and comments.
My tribute to those who have served their country.
The weather in Canberra on Monday 25th April 2016 was good for those heading to the Australian War Memorial for the Dawn Service.
This is an enhanced view of the scene just before the service started. I was positioned on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin in front of Reconciliation Place, looking across the lake to Anzac Parade, the Australian War Memorial, and Mount Ainslie. I say "enhanced" because it was far darker than this to my naked eye. However, it was similarly dramatic and moving.
To cap the moment, the reflection of the Mount Ainslie aircraft guidance beacon light shimmered in the very gentle breeze, looking for all the world like the eternal flame that burns inside the memorial (see the reflection towards the bottom of the image).
www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/eternal_flame/
Parkes, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
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At the time when this image was photographed, I was using a Hasselblad 500C/M V-series camera paired with an early model CFV II 16MP digital back, S/N 3DSR12142, manufactured in 2008. This back has a CCD sensor. These sensors can only operate at low ISO values, and have a 32 second maximum exposure time to avoid overheating. It is thus not well suited to low light night sky photography. That said, I have been surprised by the result. They have been close enough to being "presentable" to encourage me to find ways to reduce the impact of various classes of noise.
The fine grained sensor speckle noise is easily removed during my normal post-processing sequence. The images that I get consistently have some unusual broad, diffuse dark spots on them. I have cleaned the outer surface of the IR filter and that didn't fix the problem, so the physical features that give rise to these artifacts must be sandwiched between the sensor itself and the bottom surface of the IR filter, a place that is out of reach for me to clean. After many experiments, I have produced a modified form of dark frame subtraction that is effective for attenuating these noise spots. Dark frame subtraction in its true and complete form is a common component of astro-photography post-processing.
Photography notes ...
The photograph was taken using the following hardware configuration ...
- Hasselblad 500C/M body (1994).
- Hasselblad Acute Matte D 42262 Focusing Screen.
- Hasselblad CFV II Digital Back for Hasselblad V mount camera 16MP (2008).
- Hasselblad 45 Degree Viewfinder PME-45 42297 (2001).
- Carl Zeiss lens - Sonnar 150mm f4 CFi - Nr 8912760 - Hasselblad - Prontor shutter (2003)
- FotodioX B60 Lens Hood for Select Hasselblad Telephoto CF Lenses
(Year of manufacture indicated in braces where known.)
Acquired the photograph with an ISO of 50, exposure time of 30 seconds, and aperture of f/4.
Post-processing ...
Finder - Removed the CF card from the camera digital back and placed it in a Lexar 25-in-1 USB card reader. Then used Finder on my MacBook Air to download the raw image file (3FR extension) from the card.
Lightroom - Imported the 3FR image. Used the Map module to add the location details to the EXIF header. Applied various adjustments in the Develop module. Output the image as a JPEG image using the "Maximum" quality option (4080 x 4080 pixels).
photoFXlab - Applied the "Topaz Simplify Dust 1" filter with reduced Structure. Decided not to apply the "Topaz DeNoise" filter because the levels of chromatic noise and banding did not justify such action. Saved the image as a JPEG image using the "Maximum" quality option.
> Applied the "Modified" Dark Frame Subtraction Process (see below) at this point in the sequence.
PhotoSync - Copied the JPEG file to my iPad Mini for the final processing steps and posting to social media.
Photoshop Express - Applied some final custom Lighting and Color adjustments. Straightened the image. Output an image with 4054 x 4054 pixels.
ExifEditor - Copied the EXIF data from the Lightroom output image to the current working image.
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"Modified" Dark Frame Subtraction Process
The CFV II 16MP digital back that I am using with a Hasselblad 500C/M V-series camera produces images that consistently have some broad, diffuse dark spots on them. I have cleaned the outer surface of the IR filter and that didn't fix the problem, so the physical features that give rise to these artifacts must be sandwiched between the sensor itself and the bottom surface of the IR filter, a place that is out of reach for me to clean.
The fine grained sensor speckle noise is easily removed during my normal post-processing sequence. I have found the following, a modified form of dark frame subtraction, is effective for attenuating the larger noise spots. Dark frame subtraction in its true and complete form is a common component of astro-photography post-processing.
- Processing sequence to attenuate the relatively broad, diffuse dark spots that consistently show up on images captured with CFV II 16MP digital back, serial number S/N 3DSR12142, manufactured in 2008.
- This sequence is a modified form of dark frame subtraction ...
- Acquiring the Dark Frame ...
- Image acquired with a plain white target, small aperture, short exposure time, low ISO (as per the target image to be operated on).
- Processing the Dark Frame ...
- Imported into Lightroom.
- +5 EV exposure adjustment, then saved.
- Then applied partial noise reduction as per the target image ...
- Used TopazLabs Simplify Dust1 to remove speckle noise.
- Used TopazLabs DeNoise "JPEG Strong" with 100% Color and DeBanding to reduce the luminance, chromatic noise, and banding noise. This is important because I don't want to contribute additional noise when blending this image with the photograph.
- TopazLabs photoFXlabs Lighting (Shadows to 0%) to make the background darker
> The result is a relatively smooth image with slightly dark background and the elevated noise features as very dark spots.
- Removing the sensor dark spot noise from a target image ...
- Open Dark Frame in Pixelmator.
- Add new layer (Layer/New) and open Target Frame (Choose Picture).
- Whilst the Target Frame is selected, set blending mode to Difference and Opacity to 100%.
- Adjust the Opacity of the blending with the slider. An opacity of 50% corresponds to zero contribution from the Dark Frame. An opacity of 100% provides full subtraction of the Dark Frame.
- Merge all layers (Layer/Merge All Layers).
- Save (File/Save) then tick the box for "Save copy as JPEG", best quality (Quality/Best), adding a suffix of "-PXMDifference???.jpg" to the filename where ??? is the Opacity percentage value.
My kind friend Justin said this photo should have an inspirational saying under it, so I titled it "Don't Miss Your Window of Opportunity".
The fog was super-thick when I reached the beach, but in a few minutes golden light unexpectedly burst through the fog as the sun descended just above the horizon. After scrambling to get my camera set up for the shot, within minutes the sunlight was mercilessly reclaimed by the fog. So when your window of opportunity appears, go for it!
Now that we've gotten through that corny motivational stuff, let's talk about the technical details. I wandered the beach looking for a suitable foreground object and settled on this interesting rock with sharp angles. I initially tried my soft-edge grad ND filters, but they just didn't attenuate the sky enough, so I switched to my trusty Lee 0.9H grad ND filter. In aperture priority, I metered at f/8, which is supposedly the "sweet spot" of this lens, but quickly stopped down to f/10 to get a longer 0.5 second exposure.
This was shot with my new Nikon d7100 and Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens. So far, the Tokina lens seems a bit sharper than the 10-20mm Sigma lens I was previously using, but then again I also simultaneously changed camera body and stopped using a UV filter (due to vignetting if I stack my Lee filter holder over a UV filter on the Tokina lens).