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Lights hanging in a tree on The Southbank, London. Taken at shutter speed of 8 secs, then manual zoom in and out and focus in and out at the same time. A different effect !!!
"The St. Pierre Cathedral is a cathedral in Geneva, Switzerland, today belonging to the Reformed Protestant Church of Geneva. It was begun under Arducius de Faucigny, the prince-bishop of the Diocese of Geneva, in the 12th century, and includes an eclectic mix of styles. It is best known as the adopted home church of John Calvin, one of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation. Inside the church is a wooden chair used by Calvin.
The area beneath the Cathedral has recently been excavated extensively, revealing a rich history of the site dating back to the time of the Roman Empire. From the 8th to 10th centuries it was one of three cathedrals to coexist on the site. The present building has grown from a cathedral devoted to ecclesiastical use and an early Christian funerary cult; the other two structures, subsumed in the 12th century by the growth of the surviving building, were apparently for different uses, one for public sacraments and the other for church teachings." (Wikipedia)
Everyone celebrates Christmas a little differently. This interesting photograph proves that.
When I was a boy with uncombed hair and a mouth missing a few important teeth, Christmas meant one thing, presents. The more, the better. In our family, gift-giving happened on Christmas Eve. It was the one night of the year when my older brothers couldn’t wait to head out in the dark to the barn quickly to finish their chores.
They never admitted it, but they were just as eager as the rest of us to get back inside and gather around the family. My mother, however, ran on her own schedule. Supper on Christmas Eve was always simple, usually something quick to prepare and even quicker to clean up.
My father didn’t always cooperate with that plan. One of his cherished Christmas Eve traditions was eating dead oysters, along with half a bag of oyster crackers soaked in oyster soup. No one else shared his enthusiasm. More often than not, he was still enjoying his feast long after the rest of us had finished eating and were growing impatient.
But even when Dad finally put his bowl down, we still had more to do.
My mother insisted on reading a chapter from the Bible about the Nativity every Christmas Eve. We children, had to sit around the kitchen table and listen quietly as she slowly read from either Matthew or Luke. We fidgeted, squirmed, and stole glances toward where the presents waited. For many years, it seemed to me the Nativity story must be the longest chapter in the Bible because it took forever for Mom to read.
Gifts were simple back then. In lean years, each of us might receive only one. Sometimes that gift hit us square in the heart. Other times, we wondered if Dad had done the shopping on his own.
Christmas was really a two-day event in our family. Christmas Day meant gathering with the extended family, usually for an early afternoon dinner at my grandparents’ small house in Slayton, next to Dillon’s Alignment Shop, or at the home of one of their sons: Ralph, Larry, or Jack.
Arriving at the host's was always the same. Relatives we rarely saw would exclaim over how tall we had grown or how old we were getting. Occasionally, an aunt would try to kiss the boys, which we did our best to avoid, although I noticed that as my brothers grew older, they did not seem to mind as much.
The hours that followed blended as we ate, visited, and laughed a lot. Most years included a simple gift exchange from names drawn months earlier. I could always predict what my grandparents would give me: a book. I’ll admit that, as a boy, receiving a book at Christmas generated about the same excitement an apple once did for a child on the American frontier.
Now, ghosts of Christmas past attend our family gatherings. The younger folks don’t see them, but I do. As I celebrate my 80th Christmas this year, I will almost hear the voices of my mother and father, along with relatives who shaped my life and now live only in memory.
Someday, I suppose, my children and grandchildren will see their own ghosts.
If I were in charge of the agenda this year, I’d pause the celebration for just a moment and remind everyone to love one another unconditionally, to forgive quickly, and not to hold on to offenses. The young believe they have endless time to live that way. I know better.
The psalmist wrote, “Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.”
But, instead of offering a mini-sermon, I’ll simply smile at each of them, and wish them, and you, a very Merry Christmas.
This photo was taken after I had just gotten my new camera and was messing around with different settings.
The Flying Scotsman at the National Railway Museum, York, UK. Taken using a Samyang 7.5mm fisheye lens, and Olympus Dramatic Tone art filter.
Athens is as bustling at night as it is during the day. At night the different colour lighting in different areas is remarkable, but also the Acropolis can be made out.
Il me semble que ma dernière photo d'Athènes montrait la ville de jour. De nuit on voit d'autres détails, comme les différences de couleurs d'éclairage en function des quartiers (je me demande d’ailleurs pourquoi, c’est la seule ville où je l’ai remarqué à ce point), et l'Acropole qui reste bien visible !
Credits: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet
513B7395
One of the flowers I had been told to explore under a UV light was “stonecrop”, which is a genus of flowers containing more than 400 different varieties. Some do nothing, others light up like fireworks! Fitting for a 4th of July post, enjoy these glowing flowers and read on to learn how to create images like this!
I suppose the first thing you should do is compare this image to the “visible light” version: donkom.ca/bts/PDKP2975.jpg - the flowers are mostly one hue and shade of yellow with yellow-green stems. When they fluoresce under UV light, the buds become rosey, extra hues appear in the centers of some flowers and there is a heck of a lot more depth of colour to the image!
This was shot using three custom-modified UV flashes at point-blank range on a table in my studio. Here’s a BTS shot showing the lighting setup: donkom.ca/bts/PDKP2968.jpg . The flashes actually enter the frame of the final image, but they don’t intersect with the subject so they can be edited out. Even at this close distance, the amount that these Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’ stonecrop flowers fluoresce is very dim. I found the use of my Platypod allowed for a much more solid base for front-heavy flashes opposed to normal tabletop tripods.
To maintain the best image quality, the image was shot at ISO 500, F/14 and 30sec exposure, while I held my flash transmitter in my hand and manually popped the flashes at 1/1 output whenever they beeped stating they had recycled. This process was repeated at three slightly different focus points with my Lumix S1R on a tripod, and focus stacked. Complex interactions and overlaps of elements in the frame meant that shooting with a wider aperture, lower ISO and more frames would just lead to headaches in post-processing. Keeping it simple, only three frames needed to get everything sharp here.
So wait a minute, why do things fluoresce? What exactly is happening when normally-invisible ultraviolet light strikes these flowers? To be clear, my flashes only emit UV light, yet the camera detects and records visible light. The simplest way that I can describe this is that the UV light excites the atoms in the flower, causing the electrons to jump up to a higher orbit/ring. This doesn’t last for very long – instantly to our own perceptions – and the electron decays back to its normal lower orbit. This also releases energy in the form of light within the visible spectrum: fluorescence. Fluorescence actually happens all the time from shorter-wave light within the visible spectrum to longer-wavelength light, it’s all around us hiding in plain sight.
Want to know camera techniques, subject insight, equipment lists and more to create images like this of your very own? There is less than 10 days left in the Kickstarter campaign for my new book, Macro Photography: The Universe at Our Feet - www.kickstarter.com/projects/donkom/macro-photography/ - pledge for a copy now at a price much less that retail!
It's nice to something different for a change. In this beautiful bluebell wood I concentrated on this unfurling fern, using the Bluebells as the background. Shot with 100mm macro lens on a 1:1 Workshop with a client.
I took this picture yesterday while watching the dancers dance to the music of the Manny Cepeda Orchestra. In this image, the trombone player has walked with his trombone into the audience area, and during a part of the music where he didn't have to play, he danced with this member of the audience. He is a very tall man, and appears to be at least 18 or more inches taller than his partner.
This is an infrared image taken with my converted Nikon D300 camera. I've been taking infrared photographs for about 10 years, and with a total of 3 different cameras. It's much easier to take infrared images digitally that it was in the film days. If you like this look, I have an album of infrared photographs, creatively named Infrared.
www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/sets/72157600507865146/
If you enjoy images from musical performances, you might not hate my music album.
www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/sets/72157604237145473/
Other pictures taken in San Diego that I've taken can be seen in my San Diego album. www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/sets/72157623536348425/
Tried something a little bit different then I'm used to...
italic- Ghost Rider
bold- Satan/ the Devil
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I bet you're expecting a man full of sin, one who doesn't care for moral rights or laws. One who can walk the line of both worlds, and still not be scarred. If this is what you predicted, then you're dead wrong. I do walk both lines, but both lead to different trails.
It all started with her death. Imagine a perfect day, one that makes birds sing, and you can smell the dew in the air. Two people sit under a tree, as they usually did on a Sunday evening.
Her father always wanted her to go to church. She never went until I told her to. We went together, and after ever mass, we walked to that tree, and sat just listening to the world around us.
On that day, she said those words which I could never forget.
"I love you."
This is what kills me. These words were my undoing. Fear of what could happen if I took her under my wing. I said some stupid excuse, and went home. Then I decided that I could handle it. I could love her, and that I always would.
Well, you can probably guess what happened from there.
I ran back to the tree, like I was in some kind of movie, the guy chasing after the girl. But I was too late. She wasn't at the tree. I sat down on the ground, leaning on the tree. Then, I remember seeing smoke, coming from one of the streets.
It must have been a car accident I thought to myself. It had to be. But being that "good" man I thought I was, I ran down the hill again.
Once I got down to the street, I saw that it was a car crash. A stupid biker had crashed into a red Honda Civic.
This car accident meant nothing to anyone else around me. It was just a regular crash. But I remember seeing two bodies on the ground, painted with crimson liquid.
I felt something come out of my eye. Something I couldn't fell anymore. There she was, in the middle of the street, laying lifeless. The other victim was there also.
I used to be afraid of the sight of blood. But this was her. I ran into the street, nothing mattered anymore. Cars honking, rushing by me, while I was cradling her.
I yelled to see if anyone had called the police. I screamed it. I broke out into tears. Even though it felt like forever, waiting there, they finally arrived. The men that were supposed to help the citizens were finally here.
They couldn't help her though, no. She was "totaled" in car language.
They said there was a note in the car. They guessed she was writing it while she was driving.
I looked at the letter, and saw tears all over it. I unwrinkled the paper to see this:
John. I know you've been good to me, and I thank you for this. But, you seemed like you couldn't handle a marriage, and that's when I figured out I couldn't handle one either. I figured I couldn't handle anything. We were young, that's all. For lust, I believe. I'm not even sure I ever loved you. Did you ever lov.....
That's when it stopped. A pen mark went across the page from where it stopped. They said she was speeding. A death note.
The doctor said there was nothing he could do, but yet, I knew there was. I was a religious man. Prayer was my way of getting her back. It was the only way.
I prayed on and off for months. I never left the chapel, I slept there. I prayed for answers, but none returned.
One fateful day, I awoke to see a note. No a waver. The only words on the paper were,
Love is forever, but not without a soul.
Then, a place to sign was under it. I looked around, trying to find the person who gave the note. No one was around, and frankly, I was there for years. Time flew by, and I had no idea. The church had been destroyed, but the chapel remained. And the note. To sign the note, my fate was unknown. But love fueled me. It always had.
I signed.
Have you ever felt the feelings of butterflies in your stomach? Imagine it times twelve. Then the feeling of my eyes burning, like pepper spray, but instead of the spray, I got the seeds. I saw flames form around my eyes, and skin peel from my hands.
But then she appeared. She was alive, and she was confused. I approached her, pain still in my body. She saw me once, and fled. I screamed her name, and noticed my voice was changing. More, raspy.
My clothes burned away, and the feel of leather wrapped around me. A chain made of flames slung around my shoulder.
Time to come visit.
The voice dragged me down deep into the chapel.
It seems your prayers were answered.
The voice was like sandpaper rubbing against metal. I couldn't see at the moment, everything was dark. But then I saw red. All of it. The whole world was red. It had seemed like I fell, as I was on my face. I stood up, and saw the chain on my shoulder. It was heavy.
Come John.
The voice could be heard from a distance. I didn't want to go, but my feet were moving. I dragged the chain on the ground, up the hills, and down the hills. This was the Hell he made for me. I finally saw a figure, and it stood out. White and black, while everything else was red.
John... lets see... loved Geneviève Rosa... signed the contract. Yep, you're here. Welcome to Hell.
"What is this place?"
Hm. Duh, I just said Hell.
"This is a lot worse than expected."
So you expected to come down her?
"No... that's not what I... meant."
Well, you sold your soul to... me.
"That's what that note was?"
Yeah. Sorry, the big guy wasn't responding. I tried to help you.
"You can't help me. You're the... devil."
Oh come on. What are you? Human? Wait, never mind, you aren't that anymore.
"What did you do to me?"
A holy man turned Rider. I like irony John. Oh by the way...
He whistled, and I could hear a bike. I still remember hearing that sound. Tires scratching on the sands of Hell. It arrived, and I recognized it immediately. It was the same bike that had killed her.
"Ironic."
Quite. Get on.
"I'm not your faithful believer."
Well you are for Him.
"Let me guess... Ironic."
Look, just get on. You're my Rider now. My Ghost Rider. One who walks Earth, and Hell, making people pay for their sins, and bringing them down here for me. Simple.
I tried to reason with him, saying it was unfair. She had left me, even when I saved her. She took my soul, and threw me away. It not only hurt me, but fueled me with something worse than love.
Hatred. It's what will fuel you through your journeys.
I looked at him, and I remember him smiling.
"What is your bidding."
Perfect. There is a man who brings people back from the dead. I want him... I want Otto Octavious.
I hopped on the bike, and started the bike. Flames appeared from the bike, as I fueled the bike. My hatred could fuel all of Hell. But I had a job to do. I rode my bike up a ramp (ha it's still there) and went back onto Earth. As I said, I had a job to do.
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Yes, that was pretty long, but I really wanted to get the emotion in there. Anyways, you guys wanted this, so hopefully you like it!
Il devrait essayer la Pope Music, croyez pas ? Les artistes de rue ne sont pas tous logés à la même enseigne. J'aime la variété des costumes de scène !
This is simply a different take on my Glowing Jones Soda photo. This time, rather then just putting the glow sticks in the bottles, I decided to cut the glow sticks open and pour them in. It was a lot of fun doing this, not to mention really messy. By the time I was finished half on my room was glowing as well as my face and arms. I have a few other photos from this shoot that I'll post at some point.
Website: www.rapidconversation.com/
If you haven't seen the first photo you can check it out by following the link below!
www.flickr.com/photos/rapidconversation/5649210111/in/pho...
Coloured version of my previous B/W shot.I was playing about with different exposure times and think this was about a a second.
La Samaritaine is a large department store in Paris, France, located in the first arrondissement. The nearest métro station is Pont-Neuf, directly in front at the quai du Louvre and the rue de la Monnaie. The company was owned by Ernest Cognacq and Marie-Louise Jaÿ who hired architect Frantz Jourdain to expand their original store. It started as a small apparel shop and expanded to what became a series of department store buildings with a total of 90 different departments. It has been a member of the International Association of Department Stores from 1985 to 1992.
It is currently owned by LVMH, a luxury-goods maker. The store, which had been operating at a loss since the 1970s, was closed in 2005 purportedly because the building did not meet safety codes Plans for redeveloping the building involved lengthy complications, as the representatives of the store's founders argued with new owners LVMH over the building's future as a department store or a mixed-use development. After seven years of renovation, it has reopened to public on 23 June 2021, having been previewed by the French President Emmanuel Macron journalists the days before. Its retail offerings targeted at affluent consumers, restaurants, and a boutique hotel that includes a penthouse suite with its own private swimming pool.The building has been listed since 1990 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.
Slightly different composition of these awesome boulders.
They're formed by concretion of minerals around a central nucleus and are weathered out of the cliff as it is worn down.
There's a beach in New Zealand with boulders like this - I'd love to get there someday!
Making these long exposures was somewhat difficult as the sea would cycle through flooding over the top of all of them (turning the image into a muddled mess). I was able to time this shot for the lull and get off the rock and out of the way before the flood came back. I got caught a couple of times and it was a little disconcerting standing knee deep in rushing water not sure where the rocks you walked out on were now - my gear got splashed pretty good once or twice but I kept the important bits out of harms way.
I'm super excited to be heading down to Big Sur for a few days at the end of next week. I've just begun to research locations - anyone have any they'd like to share? :)
My Website: www.interfacingnature.com
More emulsion photography. Several months ago, the Poly Photo club in San Diego put on a workshop that included a presentation by one of our members about how to create emulsion art using whole milk, food coloring and dish washing detergent. I loved seeing the results by our members, and decided to try it. Here's a link to a website that shows exactly how to do it:
tinylanscapes.wordpress.com/2015/10/14/fun-with-milk-food...
Lighting stuff: I used a bare YN560-III, in manual mode, to put some light to to the emulsion. The flash was triggered by a Yongnuo RF-603N. I've also posted a picture of the setup that I used, because sometimes people find that to be helpful. Check the first comment down below to see the setup.
More photographs of colorful emulsions (although created differently) are in my pretentiously titled Emulsion Art album.
The area that was to become West Palm Beach was settled in the late 1870s and 1880s by a few hundred settlers who called the vicinity "Lake Worth Country." These settlers were a diverse community from different parts of the United States and the world. They included founding families such at the Potters and the Lainharts, who would go on to become leading members of the business community in the fledgling city. The first white settlers in Palm Beach County lived around Lake Worth, then an enclosed freshwater lake, named for Colonel William Jenkins Worth, who had fought in the Second Seminole War in Florida in 1842. Most settlers engaged in the growing of tropical fruits and vegetables for shipment the north via Lake Worth and the Indian River. By 1890, the U.S. Census counted over 200 people settled along Lake Worth in the vicinity of what would become West Palm Beach. The area at this time also boasted a hotel, the "Cocoanut House", a church, and a post office. The city was platted by Henry Flagler as a community to house the servants working in the two grand hotels on the neighboring island of Palm Beach, across Lake Worth in 1893, coinciding with the arrival of the Florida East Coast railroad. Flagler paid two area settlers, Captain Porter and Louie Hillhouse, a combined sum of $45,000 for the original town site, stretching from Clear Lake to Lake Worth.
On November 5, 1894, 78 people met at the "Calaboose" (the first jail and police station located at Clematis St. and Poinsettia, now Dixie Hwy.) and passed the motion to incorporate the Town of West Palm Beach in what was then Dade County (now Miami-Dade County). This made West Palm Beach the first incorporated municipality in Dade County and in South Florida. The town council quickly addressed the building codes and the tents and shanties were replaced by brick, brick veneer, and stone buildings. The city grew steadily during the 1890s and the first two decades of the 20th century, most residents were engaged in the tourist industry and related services or winter vegetable market and tropical fruit trade. In 1909, Palm Beach County was formed by the Florida State Legislature and West Palm Beach became the county seat. In 1916, a new neo-classical courthouse was opened, which has been painstakingly restored back to its original condition, and is now used as the local history museum.
The city grew rapidly in the 1920s as part of the Florida land boom. The population of West Palm Beach quadrupled from 1920 to 1927, and all kinds of businesses and public services grew along with it. Many of the city's landmark structures and preserved neighborhoods were constructed during this period. Originally, Flagler intended for his Florida East Coast Railway to have its terminus in West Palm, but after the area experienced a deep freeze, he chose to extend the railroad to Miami instead.
The land boom was already faltering when city was devastated by the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane. The Depression years of the 1930s were a quiet time for the area, which saw slight population growth and property values lower than during the 1920s. The city only recovered with the onset of World War II, which saw the construction of Palm Beach Air Force Base, which brought thousands of military personnel to the city. The base was vital to the allied war effort, as it provided an excellent training facility and had unparalleled access to North Africa for a North American city. Also during World War II, German U-Boats sank dozens of merchant ships and oil tankers just off the coast of West Palm Beach. Nearby Palm Beach was under black out conditions to minimize night visibility to German U-boats.
The 1950s saw another boom in population, partly due to the return of many soldiers and airmen who had served in the vicinity during the war. Also, the advent of air conditioning encouraged growth, as year-round living in a tropical climate became more acceptable to northerners. West Palm Beach became the one of the nation's fastest growing metropolitan areas during the 1950s; the city's borders spread west of Military Trail and south to Lake Clarke Shores. However, many of the city's residents still lived within a narrow six-block wide strip from the south to north end. The neighborhoods were strictly segregated between White and African-American populations, a legacy that the city still struggles with today. The primary shopping district remained downtown, centered around Clematis Street.
In the 1960s, Palm Beach County's first enclosed shopping mall, the Palm Beach Mall, and an indoor arena were completed. These projects led to a brief revival for the city, but in the 1970s and 1980s crime continued to be a serious issue and suburban sprawl continued to drain resources and business away from the old downtown area. By the early 1990s there were very high vacancy rates downtown, and serious levels of urban blight.
Since the 1990s, developments such as CityPlace and the preservation and renovation of 1920s architecture in the nightlife hub of Clematis Street have seen a downtown resurgence in the entertainment and shopping district. The city has also placed emphasis on neighborhood development and revitalization, in historic districts such as Northwood, Flamingo Park, and El Cid. Some neighborhoods still struggle with blight and crime, as well as lowered property values caused by the Great Recession, which hit the region particularly hard. Since the recovery, multiple new developments have been completed. The Palm Beach Mall, located at the Interstate 95/Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard interchange became abandoned as downtown revitalized - the very mall that initiated the original abandonment of the downtown. The mall was then redeveloped into the Palm Beach Fashion Outlets in February 2014. A station for All Aboard Florida, a high speed passenger rail service serving Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando, is under construction as of July 2015.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
I loved the two different color temperatures in this. I used my ND filter for this. The top was in slight sun and the bottom in the shade, creating the warm and cool tones.
This was taken at the bottom of Vernal Falls, about 4 miles round trip.
I was enjoying seeing the different flowers, enjoying the different smells. Another small seat at the top and enjoy a rest for a while.
This photo was taken at Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm. Using a different camera, I was able to zoom in much more than the above photo, taken from exactly the same spot. So difficult/impossible to hold the camera steady, so I don't use it very often, but I was curious to see what kind of photo I could get.
"The great grey owl or great gray owl (Strix nebulosa) is a very large owl, documented as the world's largest species of owl by length..... In terms of length, the great grey owl is believed to exceed the Eurasian eagle-owl and the Blakiston's fish owl as the world's largest owl. The great grey is outweighed by those two species as well as several others, including most of the Bubo genus. Much of its size is deceptive, since this species' fluffy feathers, large head and the longest tail of any extant owl obscure a body lighter than that of most other large owls. The length ranges from 61 to 84 cm (24 to 33 in), averaging 72 cm (28 in) for females and 67 cm (26 in) for males. The wingspan can exceed 152 cm (5 ft 0 in), but averages 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) for females and 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) for males. The adult weight ranges from 580 to 1,900 g (1.28 to 4.19 lb), averaging 1,290 g (2.84 lb) for females and 1,000 g (2.2 lb) for males. The males are usually smaller than females, as with most owl species." From Wikipedia. The link below shows how small the skeleton is, compared to the size of the bird.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_grey_owl
Talk about a lucky weekend for Great Gray Owls - just what the doctor ordered! One individual seen on the Saturday and then two different individuals seen on Sunday, 11 March 2018.
On Sunday, I decided to follow a group of friends for the first part of their day's outing. The rest of their day was going to be a walk in an area that is treacherous in winter, as well as being a long hike. The very last thing I need at the moment is to break an arm or a leg - or anything. I am so glad I got up early and started the day with them, as we ended up seeing two separate Great Gray Owls.
The first owl (not this photo) was perched in a group of trees and then flew to a tree that was closer to us. It is always amazing to see such a large owl perched on a very thin branch/twig, showing that most of the bird is a mass of light-weight feathers.
The second owl, seen in this photo, was at first perched in a tree that had beautiful, dead leaves, adding a welcome splash of colour. The light was challenging, but at least it wasn't snowing. A few minutes later, it flew off and landed in a far-away evergreen tree (seen in this photo). Again, the light was a challenge, but I managed to rescue a few shots. After parting from my friends, I had to drive past this location again and was happy to see the second owl still in the same distant tree. I waited a little while, hoping it might fly and land closer, but it seemed perfectly happy staying exactly where it was.
I was just in time to get back to the city and join a different group of friends for a walk at Mallard Point in Fish Creek. Park. The birds we saw were too far away for any decent photos - but I didn't need any, after such an amazing owl morning. After the walk, we headed for Tim Horton's for late afternoon coffee and snack. Just being outdoors on such a lovely, sunny, comparatively mild day felt good.