sunset mt teide approx 1900 m just above cloud base behind scrub brush in lava field no editing fast shutter on zoom lens

I must admit to finding it a bit of a challenge photographing the flying action at this year's airshow. I was only able to make a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon and while I was there, a couple of displays had been cancelled and this group, the Swiss Air Force, struggled at times to be seen, disappearing as they did from time to time, into the very low cloud base.

The other thing about the airshow is that the flying displays take place in the sky (obviously!). So, if you're just a fan of planes and stuff, that's fine (and I saw plenty of great photographs of flying things posted on social media). However, if you want to illustrate the event as being the 'Sunderland Airshow', you need to try and include a local landmark. Thanks heavens someone had the bright idea of moving an old redundant lighthouse, that used to be situated at the mouth of the River Wear, across onto Cliffe Park!

The sky is completely covered by a grey layer of cloud with some lighter parts, which is common with Stratocumulus stratiformis. The layer is thick enough that the Sun would not be visible, hence it is of the variety opacus. The cloud base exhibits undulations, indicating an additional variety: undulatus.

Picture of the day

Arriving into Newcastle International with a 300ft cloud base and fog, is the regular B744 from Dubai.

Distant San Jose city lights reflecting off the low cloud base create an eerie, post-apocalyptic feeling. 100-feet up on the edge of an abandoned missile launch test facility.

The weather was forecast to be pretty awful throughout the entire of the UK this weekend. Regardless of where we decided to visit we knew that there was greater than 90% chance of rain with a cloud base of 300-500m ASL. Pants!

For a change, we decided to head to my Dad's place in North West Cumbria.

Having been there before, I decided it'd be nice for me to take gemma to Crummock Water, famous for its leaping salmon in the autumn. Crummock Water is a reservoir just north of Buttermere and is 2.5miles long, 0.75 miles wide and 140ft deep with incredible views of Grassmoor on the west and the fells of Mellbreak on the east.

a) San Jose y Niño Jesus

b) La Inmaculada Concepcion

Binondo, Manila and San Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan

ivory, silver, velvet, baticuling wood

1890s

a) San Jose y Niño Jesus

head to toe: 11" (28 cm)

body: 5" x 4" (13 cm x 10 cm)

Virina:

H: 22" (56 cm), D: 9" (23 cm)

Base:

H: 6" (15 cm), D: 14" (36 cm)

b) La Inmaculada Concepcion

head to toe: 11" (28 cm)

body: 5" x 4" (13 cm x 10 cm)

Virina:

H: 22" (56 cm), D: 9" (23 cm)

Base:

H: 6" (15 cm), D: 14 (36 cm)

Opening bid: PHP 300,000

Property from the Don Maximo Viola Collection

Provenance: Maximo Viola, Descendants of Maximo Viola

About the Work

by Augusto Marcelino Reyes Gonzalez III

Commissioned by D Maximo Viola y Sison (1857–1933): an exceptional tabletop “San Jose y Nino Jesus.”

The San Jose has a serious, fatherly expression and the Nino Jesus he is carrying on his left hand has a playful but respectful mien. The father carries a solid silver staff of lilies on his right hand. Both San Jose and the Nino Jesus have long hair of “jusi” fibers; the father wears a solid silver “paraguas” halo and the son wears solid silver “tres potencias” symbolizing the three powers of the Lord --- Authority (Exousia in Greek), Ability (Dunamis in Greek), and Strength (Kratas in Greek). The San Jose wears a traditional green robe and yellow cape and the Nino Jesus wears a traditional yellow robe, both are embroidered with floral and foliar designs of the 1890s genre. The father stands on an exceptional “peana” pedestal base of the rare type: a lily emerging from four acanthus leaves which are supported by smaller leaves on a base of foliar forms. The finely–gilded peana is found only with the highest quality ivory statuary. In Roman Catholicism, Saint Joseph is the foster father of Jesus Christ and the Patron of the Universal Church. During the Spanish period and up to prewar (up to 1940), the center of devotion to El Glorioso Patriarca San Jose was at the San Nicolas de Tolentino church (“Recoletos”) in Intramuros; there were weekly devotions on Wednesdays and a big fiesta every 26 November. Unfortunately, the Recoletos church, the 26 November fiesta tradition, and the image of San Jose Patriarca were all destroyed by aerial bombs in February 1945. The other important, traditional centers of devotion to San Jose remain with “Tata Hosep” in Las Pinas, “Tata Bukot” in Navotas, and “Senor San Jose” in Mandaue, Cebu. There is a renewed, worldwide devotion to Saint Joseph as Pope Francis has acknowledged that he often leaves a petition to the saint overnight and receives a resolution in the morning.

Commissioned by D Maximo Viola y Sison (1857–1933): a beatific tabletop “La Inmaculada Concepcion.” The Virgin Mary has a gentle downward gaze, reminiscent of the “La Purisima” festejada at the Iglesia de San Francisco de Asis (Franciscanos) in Intramuros (destroyed during World War II). It has long hair of “jusi” fibers, a silvergilt crown, and an aureole of twelve stars. The long, slender hands are held together in prayer. The image is dressed in the traditional white robe and blue cape, “palikpik” style, embroidered with floral and foliar designs of the 1890s genre. An enameled, silvergilt sun and silver crescent moon are at its feet. The statuette stands on a (deliberately) oversized, silver–leafed, Ming–style “ensaimada” cloud base with the serpent interspersed between. The cloud is supported by a traditional gilded “peana” pedestal with foliar forms. The Roman Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception states that: “We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.” During the Spanish era (up to 1898), and up until prewar (to 1940), the 08 de Diciembre procession of “La Purisima” (“La Inmaculada Concepcion”) at the Iglesia de San Francisco de Asis (Franciscanos) was one of the much – awaited events in the Manila calendar. Although it was La Catedral de Manila that was under the patronage of “La Inmaculada Concepcion,” and although the Jesuits fervently venerated her under that title at the Iglesia de San Ignacio de Loyola on Calle Arzobispo, it was the Franciscanos who organized the annual fiesta in her honor. The late afternoon procession started at San Francisco on Calle San Francisco esquina a Calle Solana, through Calle Solana, entered the Iglesia de Santo Domingo de Guzman (Dominicanos) on Calle Beaterio esquina a Calle Solana for prayers and hymns, through Calle Beaterio, passed La Catedral on Calle Beaterio esquina a Calle Cabildo, then returned to San Francisco via Calle Real del Palacio (currently General Luna street). It was a joyous affair as “Navidades” (Christmas) was already in the air with the cool December breezes; five days later would be the 13 de Diciembre fiesta of Santa Lucia de Siracusa (Saint Lucy of Syracuse) at the Iglesia de San Nicolas de Tolentino (Recoletos) on Calle Cabildo Recoletos, a time when country folk from the surrounding provinces --- Bulacan, Pampanga, Morong, Laguna, Batangas, Cavite --- descended on the church patio with their fresh delicacies and charming wares, to the delight of the city folk who eagerly purchased them, for even then, Manilenos inevitably suffered from “mal de ville” (“city illness”).

Lot 140 of the Leon Gallery auction on June 17, 2023. Please see leon-gallery.com/auctions/The-Sp

"Raven 81' A-29B Super Tucano touching down on runway 30 at Prestwick, on delivery to Nigeria, we were unfortunate with the weather, very low cloud base and strong winds and rain.

June 30, 2025 - Kearney Nebraska US

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A Shelf Cloud rolls ominously across the sky, casting a shadow over the expansive green field below. The contrast between the vivid grass and the brooding sky creates a dramatic atmosphere. A hint of light peeks through the horizon, illuminating the cloud base on this impending storm.

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Dale Kaminski @ NebraskaSC Photography

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472_GHP_SoireeCandids_2019.JPG -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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344_GHP_AnnualMeet_28Jan22 — Greater Houston Partnership 2022 annual meeting with 2022 Chair Thad Hill outlining the organization's priorities for the year ahead while outgoing Chair Amy Chronis provides a look back at the accomplishments of 2021 at the Hilton Americas January 28, 2022. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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June 6, 2019 - Odessa Nebraska US

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A rare day for cloud based structure! On the back side of a passing system gave us a uncanny view of clouds moving from the east to west. It is a very rare occurrence in Nebraska.

Though I'm not chasing severe weather this day... It's what pulled me out to go view some explosive non severe thunderheads. Truly the essence of a good view. Watching mother nature do her thing, and having front row tickets is even better.

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Dale Kaminski @ NebraskaSC Photography

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A glimpse of something other than cloud from the summit of Sgorr Dhearg on Beinn a'Beithir. The cloud-base had lowered during the climb - typical! - but started lifting again after 15 mins of hanging around at the top..

WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU WANT?

We are Blue Tapes, a boutique tape label specialising in sound art and alternative process artwork. We release music from Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

WHY TAPES? ISN'T IT ALL A BIT SELF-CONSCIOUSLY RETRO?

No, tapes are not a dead format. They never went away. They’ve been the format of choice for distributing home-recorded or experimental music pretty much since the inception of that technology, and even the advent of peer-to-peer, cloud-based music services, and social networking hasn’t particularly eroded this - it’s only added more strings to our bow in terms of connecting with other human heads.

Tapes are a good format. Even audio purists like Autechre are insistent that - sonically - cassette tape is their favourite playback format. Even until recently, Autechre promos were issued on cassette tape rather than CD - wanting to sidestep lazy digital pirating was only one small part of the reason for this.

One thing you need to know about Blue Tapes. If something is good enough for Autechre, then it’s good enough for us.

Tapes are still the most economical way of producing physical music product, and the one that can be produced to a high standard in the lowest print run. This is liberating in a number of ways. Firstly, it releases us from any business-based demand of recouping, covering overheads, etc, which in turn prevents us from having to prioritise releasing musically that is “commercially viable”. If a particular piece of music is so niche that about only one person in the whole world other than us and the musician who invented it would ever get it, then it doesn’t appear commercially unviable for to release that. It’s cool by us. If we love it, we will produce it, we’ll add artwork and interesting packaging - and sometimes books, and large-format art you can hang on your wall, and other strange things - and we’ll put our heart and guts into trying to get it out there to people.

OK, BUT WHY NOT JUST RELEASE STUFF ON VINYL? DOES ANYONE EVEN HAVE A TAPE PLAYER ANYMORE?

OK, so for you heathens who don’t own a Walkman, we’ll chuck in a download code with each release. Something that any music fan should have worked out by 2012 - different formats are appropriate for different listening experiences. There isn’t necessarily any one better or best format. You can’t take tapes out running with you, or listening on the bus. Most mobile telephones do this job just fine. Richard Youngs recently correctly observed that vinyl was good living room music, for when you’ve got people round or for a glass of wine in the evening. I don’t think anyone ever really liked CDs.

Tapes are something even more different. The experience of listening to a tape is not at all like listening to a Spotify playlist. Tapes cannot be shuffled. Tracks cannot easily even be skipped. You are submitting yourself as a listener to music on tape in a way which you are not particularly used to anymore, because your control over the experience is limited and passive. You cannot author your own tracklists or create your own sequencing. Tumblr, Flickr, Soundcloud, This Is My Jam etc have trained us all to be maddeningly proficient archivers of content, but in this context your faculties as an editor have been diminished. On some level this somehow stops you from thinking too much about the music, and leaves you more susceptible to its twists and turns, it leads you down the internal logic of its soundworld and you either surf with it or switch it off and come back to it.

And that is the truly great part. Tape is the ONLY format where a recording can be played from halfway through a piece. Most tape players will flip the side over for you, so you can drop in and out of the music at any time, or it can loop forever. As listeners we are freed from the tyranny of the tracklisting and the linear music narrative. Any browsing of last.fm stats reveals all album-type releases to have the greatest number of listeners for track 1, second highest number of listeners for track 2, third highest for etc… if you’re in a band and you put your best track at the end of your album then you are fucked. In our world though, the listening experience becomes cyclical. Each note of music at the ‘end’ of the tape is listened to equally as much as the music at the ‘start’ of the tape.

In future releases we will experiment with this further by releasing actual tape loops: a truly continuous music. Infinite and indestructible.

(Apart from by magnets.)

But vinyl, of course we love vinyl. Everybody loves vinyl. But vinyl is expensive. And can only be produced in mass quantity. Anyone releasing a very niche music on vinyl is taking a huge gamble - often doomed to just become an expensive vanity project. Tapes are utilitarian and bullshit-free. If you hate the music on your tape then you can record something else over the top if it. By contrast, vinyl is positively bourgouis and decadent.

This week, I paid £25 for Sunn O)))’s Monoliths & Dimensions LP. I aim to price all of our releases at £3.33 for music and artwork of comparable quality and imagination.

WHY £3.33?

It’s the number of a bus that goes past my house. Sorry, that’s such a Sarah Records thing to say.

WHY DO MUSICIANS EVEN NEED A LABEL ANYORE? WHEN THEY CAN SELL THEIR OWN MUSIC DIRECT THROUGH BANDCAMP, ITUNES, EVEN AMAZON...

They don’t. But then, they never did. Of all the reasons for wanting to start a label I think this is actually the one that’s hardest to answer. The function of Blue Tapes here isn’t to act as a benefactor, a sort of kindly uncle who chucks money at musicians so he can adopt some of their glamour by association. If anything, it’s to be a collaborator. We’ve constructed so many annoying rules about how and what we release that by the time any actual sound has emerged out the other end of the process it’s practically generative.

Each Blue Tape will consist of one piece of music per tape (or one piece per side) and will come in artwork and packaging supplied by the label. The audio almost becomes soundtracks for still images.

Further down the line, we’re hoping to get all of the musicians actually collaborating with each other, in a kind of international house band, with Blue Tapes acting as the conduit or curator for this. This was something that 4AD did very well.

Of the current crop of traditional labels, only Southern’s excellent Latitudes series is doing anything similarly exciting (although again, trying to collect the full series will kick your wallet about the balls somewhat).

The two labels I have been most excited about in the past five years have both been tape labels: Stunned (RIP), whose every release you wanted to cling to your heart and never let go, and The Tapeworm, who are practically the Penguin Books of the tape scene.

SO WHAT DO YOU ACTUALLY SOUND LIKE?

Really, we want stuff that inhabits its own soundworld. That isn’t too ‘genre’. Sound that sort of makes up its own rules. A lot of this stuff will probably be home-recorded. A lot of it will probably be instrumental. Apart from the releases that are spoken word. No pop songs.

But, of course, we love pop songs. Everyone loves pop songs. Pop songs were the ultimate art-form of the 20th Century, and there’s no reason to assume that the 21st Century is going to be any different so far. Pop music superseded all other art because of its hungry commercial appetite - it was capitalism as high art. Pop music existed to sell things, so it had to evolve to be fibre optic-fast, to continually outdo itself, to extinguish the competition with the cold and precise mechanics of the killing machine.

Pop songs are the source code around which all of our cultural life is programmed. They are a highly-advanced from of brainwashing. They permeate everything. You don’t have to hunt for pop: it hunts you.

Like I said, we love that shit. But if we want anything from this label it is to create a bit of a sanctuary from real life. Tiny tape-sized pockets of time and space that the rest of the world can’t get into.

THAT’S what we sound like. Forcefields.

But seriously, artists who we are currently in talks with releasing stuff from include the modern classical composer and librettist Missy Mazzoli, the avant-playwright and journalist kicking_k, a collaboration between San Franciscan sound artist Zachary James Watkins and Moroccan poet Abderrahim Elkhassar; minimalist electronic composers The Fractal Skulls, Cherry, and 51717, and the improv-doom group Kellar. Our first release (blue one) is The Grin Without The Cat or The Cat Without an Outline by Matt Collins of Toronto.

It’s all very exciting stuff.

WHICH IS BETTER: ANALOGUE OR DIGITAL?

There are no betters in life, only differents! But everything about this label, from the processes used to create the artwork to the tiny-teethed grinding cogs in the cassettes we release is going to be steeped in the former. For some reason, the physics involved in the processes of sunlight burning through a chemical barrier to x-ray an image into paper or film, or how audio information can be remembered by magnetised ferric oxide is easier to grasp and more fun to think about than how a digital camera or MP3 works.

Also, what I like about tapes is they don’t just disappear into the vaults of your iTunes. Instead they turn up randomly in your sock drawer, or behind the sofa, like little lost amulets; staring at you accusingly. And you think YOU, fuck - you. Let me put you on and just forget about this cleaning the house business for five minutes.

We’re launching a website soon. From it you can buy music. £10 for a subscription series, where you will receive a tape a month for four months, or individually for £3.33 each.

bluetapes.tumblr.com/

www.thisismyjam.com/bluetapes

066_GHP_SoireeCandids_2019.JPG -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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A 'fog ocean' of low lying clouds in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia

A leftover from my fog bank shots taken back in April (hence the vibrant Spring greenery), as seen from an overlook in the South District of Shenandoah National Park.

The meteorological definition of fog is a cloud (stratus) which has its cloud base on or close to ground.

Half a dozen times a year, an atmospheric inversion may produce a strange effect: fog lies like a soft white blanket on the Shenandoah Valley and the Piedmont, while the mountaintop is clear. Then you can look down on a "fog ocean," with the lower peaks rising above it like islands.

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To truly appreciate the magnitude of a massive fog system like this is to see it firsthand. I captured some video footage because sometimes photos don't do justice - check out these 2 video clips (hand held) on YouTube if you have a spare moment.

Video Clip 1

Video Clip 2

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HDR -- 3 brackets (-2 | 0 | +2) merged and tone mapped.

THANKS FOR VIEWING!

{Ribbons} Teddy Playmat

{ 100% Original Mesh }

-Copy/Mod

-Includes HUD with 11 textures for; Cloud base, Teddy, Bow Pillow, and each hanging star.

-Includes 17 poses/animations

-Mystory compatible; 5.0% Energy & 3.0% Happiness

* Coming to Woodland Kids Event April 5th 2025 *

356_GHP_SoireeCandids_2019.JPG -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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Still grey and misty,the works seem to keep the cloud base low,whats left of the Altmark in the foreground.This shot taken just before "not a soul insight"one,always remember to look behind.

This morning's cloud base started developing into something interesting at about 7.00am. I believe that these are altocumulus stratoformis undulatus clouds.

This was a shot taken in the Lake District of England as the light was slipping away in the early evening. The mountains can be seen to have a low cloud base over them!

At sunset, surface temperature was a warm 70F with RH @ 25%. Although convection was inhibited, falling precipitation caused strong downdrafts as the moisture cooled the air through evaporation. As a result, a ragged cloud base formed and rain never reached the ground. Gusty winds also failed to reach the ground. If the convection were stronger (like in a month), things would have been a lot more weather-intense.

Picture of the Day

650_GHP_SoireePortraits_2019.jpg -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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036_GHP_SoireePortraits_2019.jpg -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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Peter John 1

This Spitfire MKIX has quite a history, Spitfire AB910's colour scheme is based on Spitfire Mk Vb BM327, ‘SH-F’, named “PeterJohn1”, the personal aircraft of Flight Lieutenant Tony Cooper, one of the flight commanders on 64 Squadron in 1944.

Tony Cooper’s desire to become a pilot began when he had a ‘joyride’ in an aircraft of Alan Cobham’s Flying Circus, sitting on his sister’s lap at the age of five. His dreams were almost shattered when his applications to join the RAF were refused twice, because the medicals showed that he had a badly damaged ear drum. Then in late 1937, aged 21, Cooper was accepted for pilot training with the RAF Volunteer Reserve at Luton. It seemed that the RAFVR was less particular and, as he says, “There was a war coming”.

Instructor

After completing his flying training on Miles Magisters and Hawker Harts, Cooper was sent to the Central Flying School (CFS) at Upavon in July 1940 on a flying instructor’s course. There he flew the Avro Tutor biplane and the North American Harvard – the first aircraft he had experienced with a retractable undercarriage – and within the month he had qualified as a flying instructor.

Cooper spent some time instructing at No 7 Service Flying Training School (SFTS), Peterborough, on the Fairey Battle. Then, in November 1940, he was posted to No 31 FTS at Kingston, Ontario, Canada, instructing on the Fairey Battle, the North American BT-9 Yale training aircraft and, from July 1941, on the Harvard. By June 1942 he had over 1,300 hours total flying and was assessed as an above average flying instruct

Back to UK & to the Spitfire

Whilst at Kingston, Cooper met and married a Canadian girl, but this did not stop him from continually pestering the authorities to be allowed to return to the UK on ‘ops’. Eventually, his wish was granted and he returned to England with his wife, who was moving from a land of plenty to a strange war-torn country with all its restrictions, shortages and dangers, where she knew no-one. Cooper’s parents took her in whilst he attended a Spitfire conversion course at No 61 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Rednal (and its ‘satellite’ airfield of Montford Bridge) in Shropshire, initially flying the Harvard, with which he was by now very familiar, and then Mk 1 and Mk II Spitfires. He completed the OTU course at the end of June 1943 and, although he had less than 60 hours on the Spitfire, he was assessed as an above average Spitfire pilot.

64 Squadron Spitfires

PeterJohn1 In July 1943, Tony Cooper joined No 64 Squadron, which was temporarily based at Ayr in Scotland with its Mk Vb Spitfires, undergoing a period of rest and training. He was to serve with the squadron for the next 16 months. He had yet to acquire any operational experience, but he was now a very experienced pilot with some 2,000 hours of flying under his belt as he entered the fray.

His exposure to operational flying began when 64 Squadron moved from Ayr to Friston in August 1943 and, a few days later, on to Gravesend in Kent. Many of the operations conducted by the Squadron were over occupied Europe. The pilots flew on fighter sweeps and escort missions to daylight bombing raids carried out by medium bombers, such as Martin Marauders or Lockheed Venturas. They also escorted Coastal Command Bristol Beaufighters on anti-shipping strikes off the coast of Holland.

On these sorties enemy anti-aircraft fire, ‘flak’, was, if anything, more dangerous than encounters with Luftwaffe fighters and, in his comments in his logbook, Cooper frequently wrote, “Heavy flak”. The escorting Spitfires were often hit by enemy ground fire and on many occasions Cooper witnessed one or more of the bombers they were escorting being shot down. Sometimes Cooper led a section of Spitfires down low over the Continent to strafe targets such as barges.

Deanland (“Tentland”)

At the end of April 1944, in preparation for the impending invasion of France, 64 Squadron moved to the Advanced Landing Ground at Deanland, near Lewes in Sussex, where conditions were somewhat Spartan. There was no permanent accommodation for personnel, everyone was expected to live under canvas and only four blister hangars were provided for aircraft maintenance work. For many of the Squadron, Deanland (or “Tentland” as it was sometimes known) took some getting used to. Tony Cooper recalls: “Deanland was a bit of a come-down; luckily it was summer time when we suddenly found ourselves on this hump in the middle of the Downs. We were in tents and I found myself using the same equipment my father had used in the First World War: a truckle bed made of wood and canvas and the same materials for a bath and wash stand. Food and drink did arrive fairly regularly, but where from I’m not absolutely sure. At night it was very cold, but when D-Day came along we didn’t get much sleep as we were doing up to four shows a day and were kept very busy.”

An entry in Cooper’s logbook against 5th May 1944 – a day when he flew a dawn patrol for 1 hour and 55 minutes – proudly notes the birth of his son, Peter John. On 22nd May, he records that he took over a new personal aircraft, Spitfire Mk Vb BM327, coded ‘SH-F’, which was named “PeterJohn 1” after his newly-born son, who he was not able to see until the baby’s christening some weeks later.

D-Day

On D-Day, 6th June 1944, Cooper’s logbook shows that he flew twice. No 64 Squadron was tasked with providing ‘Low Beach Cover’ over the American assault. The Squadron ORB records that Cooper was allocated his personal Spitfire BM327, ‘SH-F’, for both sorties. He took off at 0430 hours (before dawn) for his first sortie of the day, as part of a 13-aircraft formation, providing “Fighter Cover for Utah Beach” and landed back after a total of 2 hours and 40 minutes airborne (the first hour recorded as night flying). The naval barrage was so intense that it was not safe to be over the coast and the Wing Leader withdrew the formation to a safer distance. Cooper’s remarks in his logbook give an interesting picture of the confusion that reigned and suggest that the invasion stripes, so painstakingly painted on by the ground crew, were not entirely effective: “Navy shelling coast defences – first landing [by the invading troops - Ed] made at 0620 hours. Nearly shot down by a Thunderbolt – Spitfire in front actually was – Another Spit hit by naval shell and blew up – General Brock’s benefit!”

D-Day from Tony Cooper cockpit Remarkably, Tony Cooper carried his camera with him in the cockpit and took a photograph over the invasion-striped wing of his Spitfire just after dawn broke on D-Day, looking towards another of the Squadron’s Spitfires in tactical formation. The thousands of Allied ships in the Channel are not really visible in the photograph, but they were to the pilots.

On the evening of 6th June Cooper flew his aircraft on another sortie over the invasion beaches, taking off at 2200 hours, this time tasked with, “Fighter Cover for Omaha Beach”. His comments in his logbook against this sortie read, “Hun bombers attacked invasion fleet – tremendous return fire from ships – one bomber destroyed.” He landed back at ten minutes past midnight – almost 18 hours after his first take-off that day – logging two hours and five minutes of night flying. When asked about night landings in the Spitfire on the short, temporary runways at Deanland, which were lit only by ‘goose-neck’ flares, Tony says, “I remember them well, with reasonably controlled terror, especially when it was raining!”

D-Day+1

On 7th June (D-Day +1) Tony Cooper flew three fighter cover patrols over Utah and Omaha beaches; two of them in his personal aircraft “PeterJohn 1”. In all, Cooper was airborne for a total of 7 hours 25 minutes that day. The Spitfires’ freedom of movement was severely restricted by the low cloud base and the many anti-aircraft balloons being flown from the Allied ships involved in supporting the landings; this led to a much increased risk of collision. The last operation of the day took place in the late evening, with Cooper leading a section of 4 Spitfires flying in formation on him in the dark, with no lights showing. This sortie provided ample evidence that it was possible to be nearly as frightened by your own side as by the enemy, as Cooper recorded in his logbook: “Very bad visibility – no attacks – sent forty miles out to sea on return owing to reciprocal homing vectors – very shaky experience – brought in eventually by rockets”. By the time Cooper’s section landed, it was completely dark and his No 4 ran out of fuel as he was taxying back to dispersal. Cooper recorded 2 hours and 35 minutes of night flying in his logbook for the sortie.

June 1944

The intense flying rate continued: on 10th June, Cooper flew three times, then once on 11th, twice on 12th and three times on 13th. As was typical of many other units, June 1944 was the busiest month of the war for No 64 Squadron; its total flying hours amounted to a staggering 1150 hours – the bulk of which were flown in the two-week period after D-Day. Everyone was stretched to the limit, especially the ground crews who had to work long hours to keep the Squadron’s Spitfires in the air. Meanwhile, the pilots had to endure the strain of continuous operations. Cooper’s experience was typical and his personal flying total for the month was 75 hours of which 71 were operational and 25 were flown in the dark.

Spitfire Mk IXs

Tony Cooper In late June 1944, No 64 Squadron was moved to Harrowbeer, in Devon, to become part of the Harrowbeer Spitfire Wing with No 129 Squadron, with Wing Commander ‘Birdie’ Bird-Wilson as the Wing Leader. No 129 Squadron was commanded by Cooper’s good friend, Squadron Leader Johnny Plagis, who was godfather to Cooper’s son Peter John. BBMF Spitfire Mk IX MK356 is now painted as Plagis’ aircraft at that time. His story features on page 28 of this magazine.

A few days later 64 Squadron was re-equipped with Mk IXB Spitfires with which it flew fighter sweeps over France. It continued to take losses. Sometimes pilots were able to bring a flak-damaged aircraft safely home to base, sometimes they force-landed, sometimes they had to bale out and all too frequently a pilot was killed. Many sorties now involved strafe attacks against ground targets such as locomotives, vehicles and barges; inevitably there was enemy flak to contend with and on almost every sortie at least one of the Spitfires was hit. It was, therefore, an event worthy of note when Cooper wrote in his logbook against one bomber escort sortie, “No aircraft hit! All returned”.

On 5th August, after escorting 15 Lancasters of 617 Squadron, which dropped 12,000lb ‘Tallboy’ bombs on the U-boat pens at Brest, Cooper led his section of four Spitfires in a strafe attack on flak positions. He says that as they dived on their target, “It was the worst flak I’ve ever seen in my life”. The No 3 in Cooper’s section was killed during the attack; his No 4 was also hit and forced to bale out only 2 miles off the enemy coastline. The pilot climbed into his dinghy and was picked up by an Air-Sea-Rescue Walrus seaplane, in a courageous rescue, and he was back at base within three hours

September 1944

In September 1944, 64 Squadron and Tony Cooper flew sorties in support of Operation ‘MARKET GARDEN’, the Arnhem Para-landings. Then, on 27th September, during an escort mission for 130 Halifax bombers on a daylight raid against the synthetic oil plants at Bottrop, in Germany, the engine of Tony’s Spitfire Mk IX failed when he was almost halfway across the sea between Belgium and England, having apparently been hit by flak over the target. With the Belgian coast being the nearest, he turned around and glided through 12,000 feet of cloud, breaking out at only 1,000 feet, to crash-land, wheels-up, near Moerbek, Belgium, an area that, as it turned out, was just 4 miles inside the Allied lines and which had been in enemy hands only 36 hours earlier! Tony managed to ‘hitch a lift’ in an aircraft back to Thruxton the next morning and he was flying again that afternoon. His comment in his logbook simply reads: “Engine failed – crash landed – PITY!”

Off ‘Ops’

In November 1944 Tony Cooper was posted off ‘ops’ and back to instructing. In his 16 months with 64 Squadron he had flown some 600 hours, the vast majority of it operational flying and had twice been ‘mentioned in despatches’. He had seen much action, including being involved in the D-Day operations; he had made a significant contribution and was very lucky to be alive. Many of his fellow pilots on the Squadron – his friends and colleagues – had not been so fortunate.

Instructor at 53 OTU

During his time as an instructor at No 53 Spitfire Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Kirton Lindsey and Hibaldstow, Tony Cooper once flew Spitfire Mk Vb AB910 (on 19th November 1944), which is now, of course, part of the BBMF fleet of Spitfires. Remarkably, he also witnessed the infamous ‘girl on the tail’ incident with AB910 at Hibaldstow on 14th February 1945, when Flt Lt Neill Cox DFC* inadvertently took off with WAAF Margaret Horton on the tail of the Spitfire. Tony Cooper’s last sortie in the RAF was flown on 18th June 1945. He now had over 3,200 hours total flying; he had flown some 160 operational sorties and had survived 5 forced landings, two of them at night, two on fire and one as a result of being hit by enemy fire.

053_GHP_SoireeCandids_2019.JPG -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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354_GHP_SoireeCandids_2019.JPG -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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Enjoy.

- Nikon D300 / @18mm

- Tripod

- F22 ( :s But I think It look Well )

Processing

- Some Work in Lr

- No HDR

About

A cloud is a visible mass of droplets, in other words, little drops of water or frozen crystals suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of the Earth or another planetary body. A cloud is also a visible mass attracted by gravity, such as masses of material in space called interstellar clouds and nebulae. Clouds are studied in the nephology or cloud physics branch of meteorology. It is composed for more than 20° of gas.

On Earth the condensing substance is typically water vapor, which forms small droplets or ice crystals, typically 0.01 mm (0.00039 in) in diameter. When surrounded by billions of other droplets or crystals they become visible as clouds. Dense deep clouds exhibit a high reflectance (70% to 95%) throughout the visible range of wavelengths. They thus appear white, at least from the top. Cloud droplets tend to scatter light efficiently, so that the intensity of the solar radiation decreases with depth into the gases, hence the gray or even sometimes dark appearance at the cloud base. Thin clouds may appear to have acquired the color of their environment or background and clouds illuminated by non-white light, such as during sunrise or sunset, may appear colored accordingly. Clouds look darker in the near-infrared because water absorbs solar radiation at those wavelengths

As a follow up to my still image of these mammatus (www.flickr.com/photos/79387036@N07/30186546031/in/photost...), this short timelapse shows the formation of these unusual clouds. Look to the right corner to see them "fall" out of the cloud base. Moving very quickly away from me, these clouds only lasted for a few minutes.

067_GHP_SoireeCandids_2019.JPG -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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...early in St Ives harbour, noted for the quality of light, but here the light is filtered by a low cloud base presenting a much softer, unsaturated scene.

138_GHP_SoireePortraits_2019.jpg -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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I like California sky.

Featured on Fly Away Fly, Cloud Core Scanner, Solaireco, Komfolk, Veoverde, here, and Crunchgear.

The Battle of Britain Day is the name given to the large-scale aerial battle that took place on 15 September 1940, during the Battle of Britain (German: Luftschlacht um England or Luftschlacht um Großbritannien).

In June 1940, Nazi Germany had conquered most of Western Europe and Scandinavia. At that time, the only other major power standing in the way of a German-dominated Europe was the British Empire and the Commonwealth. After having several peace offers rejected by the British, Adolf Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to destroy the Royal Air Force (RAF) in order to gain air superiority or air supremacy as a prelude to launching Operation Sea Lion, an amphibious assault by the Wehrmacht (German armed forces) onto the British mainland.

In July 1940, the Luftwaffe started by closing the English Channel to merchant shipping. In August, Operation Adlerangriff (Eagle Attack) was launched against RAF airfields in southern England. By the first week of September, the Luftwaffe had not gained the results desired by Hitler. Frustrated, the Germans turned towards the strategic bombing of cities, an offensive which was aimed at British military and civil industries, but also civilian morale. The attacks began on 7th September 1940, but were to reach their daylight climax on 15th September.

On Sunday, 15th September 1940, the Luftwaffe launched its largest and most concentrated attack against London in the hope of drawing out the RAF into a battle of annihilation. Around 1,500 aircraft took part in the air battles which lasted until dusk.The action was the climax of the Battle of Britain.

RAF Fighter Command defeated the German raids. The Luftwaffe formations were dispersed by a large cloud base and failed to inflict severe damage on the city of London. In the aftermath of the raid, Hitler postponed Operation Sea Lion. Having been defeated in daylight, the Luftwaffe turned its attention to The Blitz night campaign which lasted until May 1941.

The 15th of September, also known as Battle of Britain Day, is now an annual commemoration of the battle in the United Kingdom. In Canada, the commemoration takes place on the third Sunday of September.

Photo Shot at Coney Island in Brooklyn NY

View it Large here:

www.flickr.com/photos/26562546@N02/12690312204/sizes/o/

Cloud hovering at the top of Kjerag, Lysefjord.

The USAF Heritage flight sent up a P51 to do a check on the cloud base for the F22 display, listening in on the tower frequency we relayed the bad news to those close by.

About this photo:

I had just driven about 10 miles from an overlook above the Columbia River near Vantage Washington. I had intended to do some shooting of that dramatic gorge where the Columbia River cuts deeply through the high steepe country of Eastern Washington. However, a tremendous thunder and lightening storm drove me away.

The lightening above the gorge was spectacular. It filled the sky with fingers of lightning which shot from sky to earth and danced horizontally just below the cloud base. Even if I had wanted to take a few images of the storm, it would have been impossible because as well as the constant and multiple lightening strikes all around the car; the wind was whipping at at least 70 mph.

I have only been in one other thunderstrom that compared to this one, and it was in Waco Texas some years back which also spawned several tornadoes.

From a safer distance, this is what a small slice of that Eastern Washington summer thunderstorm looked like.

051_GHP_SoireePortraits_2019.jpg -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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johndecember.com/mke

Low cloud base.

I'm posting more photos from slides. This powerful sky was taken in 1996. I can't remember if it poured down or not! They were taken on a Nikon F90X with a 24mm Nikkor using Kodachrome.

353_GHP_SoireeCandids_2019.JPG -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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Download full resolution individual photos/videos by clicking the "down-facing arrow" below the preview image on the right hand side of the page. You will then be prompted to select a destination for the photo on your local computer.

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042_GHP_SoireePortraits_2019.jpg -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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On Glanville Place, Volvo B9TL Wrightbus / Gemini 2 number 351 (SN11 EAW) is the first of a very fine batch of buses, new in 2011 (351 to 400 and 951 to 960)

Several of our buses are dressed in black right now, with a very eye catching wrap-around advert for Square: a point-of-sale system for sellers, which enables merchants to accept card payments and manage business operations. Square is cloud-based and offers both physical devices, which read payment card information, and software. It offers financial services and includes features designed to support business operations.

It’s seen to best effect like this, in profile.

The returning Railway Touring Company's 'Cumbrian Mountain Express', 1Z87 1523 Carlisle - London Euston, is seen between Colwich and Rugeley with Class 86/2 No. 86259 'Les Ross/Peter Pan' at the helm on 6th August 2016. The bright sunshine enjoyed earlier in the day has now given way to a gathering cloud base which thwarted any thoughts of the hoped for 'glint shot'. Copyright Photograph John Whitehouse - all rights reserved

162_GHP_Airports_5Oct22 - Greater Houston Partnership State of the Airports with Mario C. Diaz, Director of Aviation, Houston Airports held at the Marriott Marquis October 5, 2022. (Photo by Richard Carson)

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a) San Jose y Niño Jesus

b) La Inmaculada Concepcion

Binondo, Manila and San Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan

ivory, silver, velvet, baticuling wood

1890s

a) San Jose y Niño Jesus

head to toe: 11" (28 cm)

body: 5" x 4" (13 cm x 10 cm)

Virina:

H: 22" (56 cm), D: 9" (23 cm)

Base:

H: 6" (15 cm), D: 14" (36 cm)

b) La Inmaculada Concepcion

head to toe: 11" (28 cm)

body: 5" x 4" (13 cm x 10 cm)

Virina:

H: 22" (56 cm), D: 9" (23 cm)

Base:

H: 6" (15 cm), D: 14 (36 cm)

Opening bid: PHP 300,000

Property from the Don Maximo Viola Collection

Provenance: Maximo Viola, Descendants of Maximo Viola

About the Work

by Augusto Marcelino Reyes Gonzalez III

Commissioned by D Maximo Viola y Sison (1857–1933): an exceptional tabletop “San Jose y Nino Jesus.”

The San Jose has a serious, fatherly expression and the Nino Jesus he is carrying on his left hand has a playful but respectful mien. The father carries a solid silver staff of lilies on his right hand. Both San Jose and the Nino Jesus have long hair of “jusi” fibers; the father wears a solid silver “paraguas” halo and the son wears solid silver “tres potencias” symbolizing the three powers of the Lord --- Authority (Exousia in Greek), Ability (Dunamis in Greek), and Strength (Kratas in Greek). The San Jose wears a traditional green robe and yellow cape and the Nino Jesus wears a traditional yellow robe, both are embroidered with floral and foliar designs of the 1890s genre. The father stands on an exceptional “peana” pedestal base of the rare type: a lily emerging from four acanthus leaves which are supported by smaller leaves on a base of foliar forms. The finely–gilded peana is found only with the highest quality ivory statuary. In Roman Catholicism, Saint Joseph is the foster father of Jesus Christ and the Patron of the Universal Church. During the Spanish period and up to prewar (up to 1940), the center of devotion to El Glorioso Patriarca San Jose was at the San Nicolas de Tolentino church (“Recoletos”) in Intramuros; there were weekly devotions on Wednesdays and a big fiesta every 26 November. Unfortunately, the Recoletos church, the 26 November fiesta tradition, and the image of San Jose Patriarca were all destroyed by aerial bombs in February 1945. The other important, traditional centers of devotion to San Jose remain with “Tata Hosep” in Las Pinas, “Tata Bukot” in Navotas, and “Senor San Jose” in Mandaue, Cebu. There is a renewed, worldwide devotion to Saint Joseph as Pope Francis has acknowledged that he often leaves a petition to the saint overnight and receives a resolution in the morning.

Commissioned by D Maximo Viola y Sison (1857–1933): a beatific tabletop “La Inmaculada Concepcion.” The Virgin Mary has a gentle downward gaze, reminiscent of the “La Purisima” festejada at the Iglesia de San Francisco de Asis (Franciscanos) in Intramuros (destroyed during World War II). It has long hair of “jusi” fibers, a silvergilt crown, and an aureole of twelve stars. The long, slender hands are held together in prayer. The image is dressed in the traditional white robe and blue cape, “palikpik” style, embroidered with floral and foliar designs of the 1890s genre. An enameled, silvergilt sun and silver crescent moon are at its feet. The statuette stands on a (deliberately) oversized, silver–leafed, Ming–style “ensaimada” cloud base with the serpent interspersed between. The cloud is supported by a traditional gilded “peana” pedestal with foliar forms. The Roman Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception states that: “We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.” During the Spanish era (up to 1898), and up until prewar (to 1940), the 08 de Diciembre procession of “La Purisima” (“La Inmaculada Concepcion”) at the Iglesia de San Francisco de Asis (Franciscanos) was one of the much – awaited events in the Manila calendar. Although it was La Catedral de Manila that was under the patronage of “La Inmaculada Concepcion,” and although the Jesuits fervently venerated her under that title at the Iglesia de San Ignacio de Loyola on Calle Arzobispo, it was the Franciscanos who organized the annual fiesta in her honor. The late afternoon procession started at San Francisco on Calle San Francisco esquina a Calle Solana, through Calle Solana, entered the Iglesia de Santo Domingo de Guzman (Dominicanos) on Calle Beaterio esquina a Calle Solana for prayers and hymns, through Calle Beaterio, passed La Catedral on Calle Beaterio esquina a Calle Cabildo, then returned to San Francisco via Calle Real del Palacio (currently General Luna street). It was a joyous affair as “Navidades” (Christmas) was already in the air with the cool December breezes; five days later would be the 13 de Diciembre fiesta of Santa Lucia de Siracusa (Saint Lucy of Syracuse) at the Iglesia de San Nicolas de Tolentino (Recoletos) on Calle Cabildo Recoletos, a time when country folk from the surrounding provinces --- Bulacan, Pampanga, Morong, Laguna, Batangas, Cavite --- descended on the church patio with their fresh delicacies and charming wares, to the delight of the city folk who eagerly purchased them, for even then, Manilenos inevitably suffered from “mal de ville” (“city illness”).

Lot 140 of the Leon Gallery auction on June 17, 2023. Please see leon-gallery.com/auctions/The-Sp

355_GHP_SoireeCandids_2019.JPG -- Greater Houston Partnership “Emerald City” Soiree 2019 with photography sponsored by Conoco Phillips at Hotel ZaZa August 24, 2019. (Photo by Richard Carson)

***DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS***

Download full resolution individual photos/videos by clicking the "down-facing arrow" below the preview image on the right hand side of the page. You will then be prompted to select a destination for the photo on your local computer.

This cloud based gallery will be available for three months in order to enable you to download all of the photos to your computer for safe long term storage. While the gallery may be in the cloud for longer than this time you should endeavor to file and secure the photos for future use in whatever manner you deem appropriate.