A digital watercolour attempting to tackle the notorious difficulties of tonal balance in a dark subject

Mining at Botallack

The remains of the mine buildings at Botallack give a fascinating glimpse of Cornish mining over a century ago. During the 19th century there were over 100 engine houses in the St Just district, though mining has been documented in the area much further back than this.

Early mining records date from at least the 1500s. Those mine workings were far simpler than later ones and much closer to the surface because of the difficulties of drainage. Some archaeological evidence suggests that the area was mined in the mid-Roman period, around 200 AD, and there may even be some evidence suggesting Bronze Age workings.

The entire of Botallack mine closed in 1895 due to rapidly falling copper and tin prices. Most other Cornish mines had already closed at this time.

Mining under the sea

As at Levant and Geevor, Botallack is a submarine mine, with its workings reaching half a mile out under the seabed. Many of these workings would have been produced with hammers, chisels and gunpowder, long before compressed and mechanical air drills were invented.

Botallack produced roughly 14,500 tonnes of tin, 20,000 tonnes of copper and 1,500 tonnes of refined arsenic. A staggering 1.5 million tonnes of waste would have been dumped into the sea and dyed it a distinctive red colour.

Excerpt from bluelapisroad.wordpress.com/2022/02/18/architectural-gem-...:

In Kennedy Town, less than three hundred meters from Smithfield Municipal Market and Forbes Street Playground (site of the former slaughterhouses), a sleepy neighbourhood has been tucked away on a quiet hill slope for a hundred years. A staircase on Sands Street is all it takes to separate the two worlds, one bustling and the other tranquil. Once consisted of seven terraces built on the slope between Hong Kong University above and Belcher’s Street below, the secluded neighbourhood is commonly known as the Seven Terraces of Sai Wan (西環七臺). Also called Western District, “Sai Wan” is the general name for the area encompassing Kennedy Town (堅尼地城), Shek Tong Tsui (石塘咀) and Sai Ying Pun (西營盤). The seven terraces can be traced back to Li Sing (李陞), the richest Chinese merchant in 19th century Hong Kong. One of his sons Li Po Lung (李寶龍) inherited the sloped land when his father died in 1900. Li Po Lung decided to develop the land into residential terraces and an amusement park. He named the terraces and amusement park with references to his favorite ancient Chinese poet Li Bai (李白). Chinese pavilions, outdoor stages, dance floors, merry-go-round, playgrounds, and even an artificial pond for rowing boats, coupled with street performances, handicraft fair, small fireworks, chess competitions, etc. made Tai Pak Lau (太白樓), Li’s amusement park, into a trendy destination from 1915 and on. It was especially popular with wealthy men and prostitutes coming from the nearby Shek Tong Tsui (石塘咀), the city’s most famous red light and entertainment district in early 20th century. Just like many places in Hong Kong, Tai Pak Lau was rather short-lived, lasting for merely nine years before closing down due to financial difficulties of Li Po Lung. The park was then converted into today’s Tai Pak Terrace (太白臺) residential street. Despite the bankruptcy of Li Po Lung in 1924, the seven terraces, especially the topmost terraces such as Academic Terrace (學士臺), To Li Terrace (桃李臺) and Ching Lin Terrace (青蓮臺), continued to thrive as an upscale residential neighbourhood for wealthy Chinese.

Photo taken a few kilometers away from Reford Gardens | Les Jardins de Metis located at Grand Metis.

Visit : www.refordgardens.com/

From Wikipedia:

Elsie Stephen Meighen - born January 22, 1872, Perth, Ontario - and Robert Wilson Reford - born in 1867, Montreal - got married on June 12, 1894.

Elsie Reford was a pioneer of Canadian horticulture, creating one of the largest private gardens in Canada on her estate, Estevan Lodge in eastern Québec. Located in Grand-Métis on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, her gardens have been open to the public since 1962 and operate under the name Les Jardins de Métis and Reford Gardens.

Born January 22, 1872 at Perth, Ontario, Elsie Reford was the eldest of three children born to Robert Meighen and Elsie Stephen. Coming from modest backgrounds themselves, Elsie’s parents ensured that their children received a good education. After being educated in Montreal, she was sent to finishing school in Dresden and Paris, returning to Montreal fluent in both German and French, and ready to take her place in society.

She married Robert Wilson Reford on June 12, 1894. She gave birth to two sons, Bruce in 1895 and Eric in 1900. Robert and Elsie Reford were, by many accounts, an ideal couple. In 1902, they built a house on Drummond Street in Montreal. They both loved the outdoors and they spend several weeks a year in a log cabin they built at Lac Caribou, south of Rimouski. In the autumn they hunted for caribou, deer, and ducks. They returned in winter to ski and snowshoe. Elsie Reford also liked to ride. She had learned as a girl and spent many hours riding on the slopes of Mount Royal. And of course, there was salmon-fishing – a sport at which she excelled.

In her day, she was known for her civic, social, and political activism. She was engaged in philanthropic activities, particularly for the Montreal Maternity Hospital and she was also the moving force behind the creation of the Women’s Canadian Club of Montreal, the first women club in Canada. She believed it important that the women become involved in debates over the great issues of the day, « something beyond the local gossip of the hour ». Her acquaintance with Lord Grey, the Governor-General of Canada from 1904 to 1911, led to her involvement in organizing, in 1908, Québec City’s tercentennial celebrations. The event was one of many to which she devoted herself in building bridges with French-Canadian community.

During the First World War, she joined her two sons in England and did volunteer work at the War Office, translating documents from German into English. After the war, she was active in the Victorian Order of Nurses, the Montreal Council of Social Agencies, and the National Association of Conservative Women.

In 1925 at the age of 53 years, Elsie Reford was operated for appendicitis and during her convalescence, her doctor counselled against fishing, fearing that she did not have the strength to return to the river.”Why not take up gardening?” he said, thinking this a more suitable pastime for a convalescent woman of a certain age. That is why she began laying out the gardens and supervising their construction. The gardens would take ten years to build, and would extend over more than twenty acres.

Elsie Reford had to overcome many difficulties in bringing her garden to life. First among them were the allergies that sometimes left her bedridden for days on end. The second obstacle was the property itself. Estevan was first and foremost a fishing lodge. The site was chosen because of its proximity to a salmon river and its dramatic views – not for the quality of the soil.

To counter-act nature’s deficiencies, she created soil for each of the plants she had selected, bringing peat and sand from nearby farms. This exchange was fortuitous to the local farmers, suffering through the Great Depression. Then, as now, the gardens provided much-needed work to an area with high unemployment. Elsie Reford’s genius as a gardener was born of the knowledge she developed of the needs of plants. Over the course of her long life, she became an expert plantsman. By the end of her life, Elsie Reford was able to counsel other gardeners, writing in the journals of the Royal Horticultural Society and the North American Lily Society. Elsie Reford was not a landscape architect and had no training of any kind as a garden designer. While she collected and appreciated art, she claimed no talents as an artist.

Elsie Stephen Reford died at her Drummond Street home on November 8, 1967 in her ninety-sixth year.

In 1995, the Reford Gardens ("Jardins de Métis") in Grand-Métis were designated a National Historic Site of Canada, as being an excellent Canadian example of the English-inspired garden.(Wikipedia)

Visit : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsie_Reford

LES JARDINS DE MÉTIS

Créés par Elsie Reford de 1926 à 1958, ces jardins témoignent de façon remarquable de l’art paysager à l’anglaise. Disposés dans un cadre naturel, un ensemble de jardins exhibent fleurs vivaces, arbres et arbustes. Le jardin des pommetiers, les rocailles et l’Allée royale évoquent l’œuvre de cette dame passionnée d’horticulture. Agrémenté d’un ruisseau et de sentiers sinueux, ce site jouit d’un microclimat favorable à la croissance d’espèces uniques au Canada. Les pavots bleus et les lis, privilégiés par Mme Reford, y fleurissent toujours et contribuent , avec d’autres plantes exotiques et indigènes, à l’harmonie de ces lieux.

Created by Elsie Reford between 1926 and 1958, these gardens are an inspired example of the English art of the garden. Woven into a natural setting, a series of gardens display perennials, trees and shrubs. A crab-apple orchard, a rock garden, and the Long Walk are also the legacy of this dedicated horticulturist. A microclimate favours the growth of species found nowhere else in Canada, while the stream and winding paths add to the charm. Elsie Reford’s beloved blue poppies and lilies still bloom and contribute, with other exotic and indigenous plants, to the harmony of the site.

Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada

Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.

Gouvernement du Canada – Government of Canada

© Copyright

This photo and all those in my Photostream are protected by copyright. No one may reproduce, copy, transmit or manipulate them without my written permission.

The Helix, Falkirk

I've seen many images of the Kelpies here on Flickr and wanted to visit them myself, so when the opportunity arose during our mini-break to Queensferry and Edinburgh this bank holiday it was duly programmed into the sat-nav as they are only a short drive away (5 miles) from the Falkirk Wheel.

I must say that I have reservations about "modern art" and often consider the "art part" is convincing people that it is art. However, I found these incredibly impressive art installations and worthy of the stop-off. My only gripe about our visit is the inconsiderate maintenance crew that left two cherry pickers parked right against one of the sculptures with the cage strategically placed under the horse's nose over the bank holiday weekend. I think the most skilled Photoshop exponent would have difficulty removing them. Certainly beyond my capabilities and hence my chicken's approach to simply hiding them from view.

The origins of the Kelpies...

The Kelpies are a pair of 30m high horse-head sculptures built of structural steel with a stainless steel cladding. They stand next to a new extension to the Forth and Clyde Canal, and near the River Carron, in The Helix - a new parkland project built to connect 16 communities in the Falkirk Council Area. The sculptures were designed by sculptor Andy Scott and were completed in October 2013 and following installation opened to the public in April 2014. The sculptures form a gateway at the eastern entrance to the Forth and Clyde canal, and the new canal extension built as part of The Helix land transformation project. The Kelpies are a monument to horse powered heritage across Scotland.

The name was chosen by Scottish Canals at the inception of The Helix project, in 2005. The Kelpies name reflected the mythological transforming beasts possessing the strength and endurance of 10 horses; a quality that is analogous with the transformational change and endurance of Scotland's inland waterways. The Kelpies represent the lineage of the heavy horse of Scottish industry and economy, pulling the wagons, ploughs, barges and coal ships that shaped the geographical layout of the Falkirk area.

According to sculptor Andy Scott, "The original concept of mythical water horses was a valid starting point for the artistic development of the structures." He also said that he “took that concept and moved with it towards a more equine and contemporary response, shifting from any mythological references towards a socio-historical monument intended to celebrate the horse’s role in industry and agriculture as well as the obvious association with the canals as tow horses”. In 2008 Scott created three-metre-high miniature versions in his Glasgow studio. These were then scanned by lasers to help the steel fabricators create accurate full-scale components.

According to Scott the end result would be "Water-borne, towering gateways into The Helix, the Forth and Clyde Canal and Scotland, translating the legacy of the area into proud equine guardians".

"A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor." Unknown.

Coast photography is fraught with difficulties. The sand that sneaks through each slit of the gear and can scratch our precious lenses, the wind that threatens to fall the tripod, the waves that uncontrollably break against the rocks where we stand, water in suspension that dirties filters and lenses, and so on. But it still offers such magical possibilities that it is difficult to resist.

In the province of Cádiz we have the wonderful "Costa de la Luz". When I returned here a few months ago to dedicate myself to photography, I did it with the idea of ​​immortalizing the most incredible places of our mountains as well as our coast. Normally I go alone to photograph, but this day I was fortunate to be accompanied by the nature photographer Reklu Fernández. I could not imagine that in the best moment of the sunset we would be surrounded by a group of about ten "guys" who looked us defiantly. At first we thought we were going to suffer an assault, but after deciding to leave the place with relative ease and check that they were not following us, we came to the conclusion that their intentions were different. It is really sad to know that our coast is dangerous during the winter because the drug traffic is not controlled enough. I would like my photos to attract visitors to our province, but I am obliged to warn that at twilight it is better to avoid parts of the coast where you can find yourself alone. We left quickly and nothing happened. We will return in summer when the coast will be full of tourists and there will be more security. We will not give up taking more photos on the coast.

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"Ningún mar en calma hizo experto a un marinero." Anónimo.

La fotografía de costa está plagada de dificultades. La arena que se cuela por cada rendija del equipo y puede rayar nuestros preciados objetivos, el viento que amenaza con caer el trípode, las olas que rompen incontrolablemente contra las rocas donde nos situamos, el agua en suspensión que ensucia filtros y lentes, etc. Pero aún así ofrece posibilidades tan mágicas que es difícil resistirse.

En la provincia de Cádiz contamos con la maravillosa Costa de la Luz. Cuando volví hace unos meses aquí para dedicarme a la fotografía, lo hice con la idea de inmortalizar los lugares más increíbles tanto de nuestra sierra como de nuestra costa. Normalmente voy solo a fotografiar, pero este día tuve la suerte de ir acompañado del fotógrafo de naturaleza Reklu Fernández. No me podía imaginar que en el mejor momento del atardecer íbamos a ser rodeados por un grupo de unos diez individuos que nos miraban desafiantes. Al principio pensamos que íbamos a sufrir un robo, pero después de decidir abandonar el lugar con relativa tranquilidad y comprobar que no nos seguían, llegamos a la conclusión de que sus intenciones eran otras. Es muy triste saber que nuestra costa es peligrosa durante el invierno porque no se vigila lo suficiente el tráfico de drogas. Me gustaría que mis fotos atrajeran visitantes a nuestra provincia, pero me veo en la obligación de avisar que a la hora del crepúsculo mejor evitar partes de la costa donde os podáis encontrar solos. Nosotros nos fuimos rápido y no pasó nada. Volveremos en verano cuando la costa esté llena de turistas y haya más seguridad. No vamos a renunciar a hacer más fotos de nuestra costa.

...towards the future.

The difficulties I find with merely existing (thanks to a personality disorder) make my life fairly dull and mundane. It's little adventures like this one to a building site that spice up my life. I'm nervous, so it gives excitement, I don't like heights so scaling structures is a thrill- that sort of thing. Tell most people I had a good night out at a housing development... and they probably wouldn't understand.

It was pretty cool getting this shot, as it was taken from an unfinished bridge. I've been to many a bridge in my time to get light trails, but this was quite different. Knowing I'm the very first photographer to get this view- that felt pretty special.

This is the first car-light-trail I've kept so far in my use of the Voigtlander 21mm. It's always been just that little bit *too* wide for my liking. This time though, it's helped me capture both the motorway and the construction site offices. It makes it that little bit different from my previous efforts.

E' difficile al giorno d'oggi navigare tra le stelle.

Tenersi in equilibrio tra lo sciocco e il vanesio, virare a dritta accostando il pazzo, mettersi al traverso per evitare la collisione con il presuntuoso, riaccostare a sinistra per cercare acque migliori dove poter mettere l'animo predisposto a solcare spazi certi per raggiungere la stella preferita.

By 1816 Betts and his immediate family were experiencing serious financial difficulties and while it is not known when or where he died, property originally owned by him was certainly for sale by 1825 when the area’s second citizen of note arrived from Scotland by way of Blackville. Robert Doak (b. April 4, 1785) had been born in Ochiltree, Ayshire, the son of Agnes (Duncan) and Robert Doak, Senior. In 1808, he married Jane Kirkland and in 1815 when he was only 30, he and his family arrived on the Miramichi where he worked for several years as an innkeeper. In 1818, however, his elder brother James and his family joined Robert on the Miramichi. The brothers formed a partnership with Alexander MacLaggan who was operating a sawmill in Blackville. In the early 1820s, while continuing their partnership with MacLaggan, the Doak brothers moved twenty miles up river where their father, Robert Doak, Senior, had recently settled. Here in what was to become known as “Doaktown,” they acquired a considerable amount of property (some of it from the family of Ephraim Betts) and established water-powered carding and grist mills, a sawmill, an oat mill, and an extensive farming operation.

Robert Doak, rather than his elder brother James, became the settlement’s leading citizen, serving not only as the community’s largest employer but also as a School Trustee, Town Clerk, Clerk of the Market and Justice of the Peace. Such was his prominence that he became known far and wide as “Squire” Doak.

In Florida, the difficulty of taking photos at the water level resides in the fact that there may be snakes in the grass and alligators in the water, which has nothing to do with the northern regions. When I shoot at the water level,

I check if alligators are close by and if there are snakes in the grass, but would I really see them ???

When the "locals" see me lying so close to the water, either they smile or they tell me that only tourists are not aware of the danger of doing so.

Some told me that they saw alligators attacking deer and would not want to be in my place.

En Floride, la difficulté de prendre des photos au niveau de l'eau réside au fait qu'il peut y avoir des serpents dans l'herbe et des alligators dans l'eau, ce qui n'a rien à voir avec les régions nordiques. Lorsque je prends de telles photos au niveau de l'eau, je regarde attentivement si des alligators peuvent s'approcher de moi et s'il y a des serpents dans l'herbe, mais est-ce que je les verrais vraiment???

Lorsque les "locaux" me voient ainsi étendu près de l'eau, soit qu'ils sourient ou soit qu'ils me disent que seuls les touristes font preuve de tant de négligence, qu'ils ont déjà vu des alligators s'attaquer à des cerfs, qu'ils ne voudraient pas être à ma place.

Orange county, Florida, USA

Difficulty Breathing...

Well, I was able to get out for a couple of hours this afternoon to watch the osprey near my home. After waiting for what seemed like forever, lunch arrived... theirs, not mine.

I had difficulty with the processing of this photo and almost trashed it ... but instead I reached out to a friend who has never let me down and again has done an amazing job with salvaging this photo. Thanks for being there.

360 degree spherical panorama.

Devil's Tower National Monument, WY.

180x360 stitched spherical panorama created from 50 images.

For 360 panoramic view open image in Flickr on pc.

Image will automatically begin rotational view after loading.

Left click and drag to view up/down left/right.

"esc" to view as 360 x 180.

Left click mouse to return to auto rotational view.

Slower computers may have difficulties in viewing with smooth rotation.

You may view my other 360 images here: flic.kr/s/aHsm3TrgKq

The Tay Bridge carries the main-line railway across the Firth of Tay in Scotland, between the city of Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife. Its span is 2.75 miles (3.5 kilometres).

The present structure is the second one on its site.

From about 1854, there had been plans for a Tay crossing, to replace an early train-ferry. The first bridge, opened in 1878, was a single-track lattice design, notable for lightness and low cost. Its sudden collapse in a high wind on 28 December 1879 was one of the great engineering disasters of history, and its causes are still debated today.

The second bridge was a double-track construction of iron and steel, opened in 1887 and still in service. In 2003, a strengthening and refurbishing project was recognised by a major award for the scale and difficulty of the work.

File: 2012003-0055

Dean Forest Railway, Norchard Station, near Lydney, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom, on Wednesday 11th October 2012.

If you want to know about the heritage railway and its history, feel free to skip to Chapter Two: About the subject of Dean Forest Railway.

Chapter One: What is this photo about, and why I took the photo.

I am a photographer, but I am also a graphic designer. At that time I took the photograph, I was a very busy full-time single parent and full-time carer for my kids, so my career was put on hold. However whenever I have time to spare, I try to keep up my photography and graphic design skills by doing some projects when I can.

This was one of the graphic design projects I was doing. The project was to design a (non-existence) fictional CD album art, and I would prefer to take my own photographs, then import them into my graphic design work. The subject of the album art was about a fictional female singer-songwriter, whom had lived in an old industrial town, and wanted to leave so she could pursue her dreams of stardom.

For the album art design, I needed photos of old buildings, coal mines, and anything I can think of that would give the feel of a ran-down industrial places. Try to give the impression that the factories closed down, and that the coal mines have ran out of coal, all in black and white. The title of the album is called The Old Dying Town.

I was aware of some disused warehouses in Gloucester, and an old coal mine in Wales, those would made good background for the album art. I somehow noticed this heritage railway station not far from Lydney, in Gloucestershire, and stopped there, to see if there’s anything I can take photos of, for the design.

While looking around, and taking photos of the steam and diesel passenger trains, I noticed at the north end of the station, there was some kind of an out-of-the-way storage space for old rolling stock, like old carriages and boxcars. I think they kept the broken or damaged old railway vehicles there, maybe awaiting restoration, or to be broken up and used as spare parts.

So I took some shots, moved around for different viewpoints, try to get anything worthy of a background. I figured it would give the illustration of a railway scrapyard, and gives a gloomy feel that the fictional town lost its railway links. Hoping the photo would give the illustration of the town becoming a ghost town.

The photo was shot in 2012, and when I visited there in 2021, they were doing some improvements to this area, including building a platform.

Point of note: Those photographs were done with the camera set to Black and White, I did not take the photos in colour, and they were not converted into B&W by means of photo-editing software.

Chapter Two: About the subject of Dean Forest Railway.

The Dean Forest Railway is a 4 to 5 miles long heritage railway, still running vintage steam, and classic diesel trains, as a tourist attraction in the Forest of Dean, in Gloucestershire.

It started in 1799 as an idea for a horse-drawn tramway, linking the Forest of Dean to the rivers Severn and Wye, for the transportation of coal and iron materials.

Between 1800 to around the 1870s, it went through so many processes. Like building lines and branching out, changing company names, financial problems, rival companies, converting from horse-drawn tramway into steam powered railway, merging companies, change of railway gauge sizes, and so many other factors.

It became known as the Severn and Wye Railway during those years.

From around the 1870s onwards, in order to cope with financial difficulties, and to help with funding, they started fee-paying passenger services in addition to the goods carrying services. But ongoing financial problems, lack of traffic, and many other factors, continued up until around the 1940s.

After the Second World War (1939-1945), the railways in this area started to go downhill, mainly due ot declining coal industry in the area, lack of passengers, improvements in transportation elsewhere, and the nationalised of British railways.

Many stations and lines started closing down, or completely shut down, during the 1950s and 1960s.

Starting from the early 1970s onwards, a railway preservation society was formed to try to buy and save as much of the old railway, and run it as a heritage railway for tourism, and was then named as Dean Forest Railway.

At the current moment, the Dean Forest Railway is approximately between 4 to 5 miles long between Lydney and Parkend, with Norchard station as its home base, but they are hoping to extend the line to 7 miles in near future.

They run a range of mostly steam trains to 1960s diesel trains, with various carriages, and at least 5 stations.

For more in-depth details, simply Google “Dean Forest Railway” for a full history or for visiting.

NOTICE:

Do NOT use the comment boxes as advertising spaces or billboards for the groups, those will be deleted.

A project that explores the difficulty of Japanese society in expressing itself frankly and truthfully, which has taken me far beyond what I initially thought, and it was pure grace. At first I decided to use butoh dance as a narrative device in order to help me and my subjects expressing what would have been impossible showing otherwise. Then relating to the difficulty to express themselves being marginalized for not conforming to the high standards of Japanese society, I wanted to portray some people without limbs who thanks to fashion, art and sport have been able to find new sources of beauty and meaning.

I really have difficulty finding any images from my archive that relate to pigs; so I took a snap shot from the street vendor to show these spring (red) couplets that we can hang around our main doors to welcome the coming year with good fortune and I would love to wish you all the best in the year of the pig! Gong Xi Fa Cai (恭喜發財)!

But besides some difficulties loading film and metering, I had an absolute blast bouncing along the hiking trail, photographing everything I could. Rain? No problems, the Konica can handle that. Can't see more than a few metres? Awesome! Fog makes photography much easier. :-)

Film: Kodak Ektar 100

Camera: Konica Autoreflex T3 with 50 mm f1.8

Developed by Fotopro.

Digitised with a digital camera. Positive conversion, colour and levels done with Negative Lab Pro.

Difficulty: 10

The source of numerous psychic disturbances and difficulties occasioned by man's progressive alienation from his instinctual foundation, i.e., by his uprootedness and identification with his conscious knowledge of himself, by his concern with consciousness at the expense of the unconscious. The result is that modern man can know himself only in so far as he can become conscious of himself--his consciousness therefor orients itself chiefly by observing and investigating the world around him, and it is to its peculiarities that he must adapt his psychic and technical resources. This task is so exacting, and its fulfillment so advantageous, that he forgets himself in the process, losing sight of his instinctual nature and putting his own conception of himself in place of his real being. In this way he slips imperceptibly into a purely conceptual world where the products of his conscious activity progressively replace reality. Separation from his instinctual nature inevitably plunges civilized man into the conflict between conscious and unconscious, spirit and nature, knowledge and faith, a split that becomes pathological the moment his consciousness is no longer able to neglect or suppress his instinctual side.

-Carl Gustav Jung

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"The best way out of a difficulty is through it."

~ Anonymous

memories, memories, memories...

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1. "Be a friend to yourself, and others will.",

2. "Have you smiled today? It is healthy for you to smile every day!,

3. "A lovely flower blossom looks its best in the sunshine.",

4. "The wonderful thing about flowers is how they smile when they bloom."

..................

Thanks for stopping by

and God Bless,

hugs, Chris

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

I struggled to get this shot both physically and photographically. It's a rather large flower, and yet I couldn't quite get the soft focus and sufficient detail ... which I suppose is counterintuitive. The stamen rise from a milky white cup (the receptacle) which adds to the difficulty, but at least I captured that. Physically, this was around 4800 foot elevation in the Nisqually Meadows on the slop of Mt. Rainier in Washington state. The altitude was beginning to get to me after a few days at 5000-8000 feet, but perhaps the "damage" was done. I got on the ground to get this, but I couldn't get up. Weird feeling. Fortunately, two hikers, whom shall forever be thought of as my "guardian brawny broads" (this was just a short time ago, but we still had a collective sense of humor) helped me up as though i was a feather and, believe me, I was no feather. I got an email from one of them in August asking how I was, and referring to me as "Moby Dick." I really miss those days and those people.

Gentian is also known as Gentiana, and there are 400 species of this beauty growing in alpine habitats in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

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Good morning everyone! Hope all is well with you!

I continue to have difficulties with flickr . . . . for some reason my contact's page is full of the same image from different people . . . . then when I click on the image it takes me to someone else's stream - whom I do not know! So, I am doing my best to visit -

be patient with me. Is anyone else having problems?

Wish everyone a great Monday and Thanksgiving week! e

If you have the time . . . this is really best seen on black.

View On Black

I know...I should have waited until Friday.

You clever and observant contacts will note that there is texturing applied to this macro, perhaps resulting in the tagmaster's again erroneous label of "butterfly." Despite the fact that some of my favorite images on Flickr are of textured macros, I have great difficulty applying them to my own. An odd circumstance which I still don't really understand fully, as I have no trouble in applying the technique to landscapes. In any event, it took a steely will (or maybe just stubbornness) to upload this one.

And for you purists, the SOOC version is in comments. This also provides yours truly with a bit more comfort knowing you'll see the "good" shot...;-)

Under the category of never did this enough, CP-D&H's daily Saratoga Springs, NY to Albany train 450-451 was noting short of interesting during the 2010-2012 time period. The train featured all types of EMD power. Iowa Chicago & Eastern SD40-2's came into CP's fold and were deployed system-wide including in the Northeast areas.This train was a definite favorite for the guys who lived close to the Capitol region near Albany. Everything from CP and SOO to D&H blue and gray, and colorful leasers plied the rails making it a must to see. Shooting the northbound run was not without its' difficulties, when the crew reached Kenwood and was ready to go north, it all depended how long lunch lasted whether you'd get sun on the northbound trip. We lucked out this day on July 2, 2011 with ICE 6430-6418 and CP packman 5750 crossing the Mohawk River in Cohoes, NY.

Excerpt from bluelapisroad.wordpress.com/2022/02/18/architectural-gem-...:

In Kennedy Town, less than three hundred meters from Smithfield Municipal Market and Forbes Street Playground (site of the former slaughterhouses), a sleepy neighbourhood has been tucked away on a quiet hill slope for a hundred years. A staircase on Sands Street is all it takes to separate the two worlds, one bustling and the other tranquil. Once consisted of seven terraces built on the slope between Hong Kong University above and Belcher’s Street below, the secluded neighbourhood is commonly known as the Seven Terraces of Sai Wan (西環七臺). Also called Western District, “Sai Wan” is the general name for the area encompassing Kennedy Town (堅尼地城), Shek Tong Tsui (石塘咀) and Sai Ying Pun (西營盤). The seven terraces can be traced back to Li Sing (李陞), the richest Chinese merchant in 19th century Hong Kong. One of his sons Li Po Lung (李寶龍) inherited the sloped land when his father died in 1900. Li Po Lung decided to develop the land into residential terraces and an amusement park. He named the terraces and amusement park with references to his favorite ancient Chinese poet Li Bai (李白). Chinese pavilions, outdoor stages, dance floors, merry-go-round, playgrounds, and even an artificial pond for rowing boats, coupled with street performances, handicraft fair, small fireworks, chess competitions, etc. made Tai Pak Lau (太白樓), Li’s amusement park, into a trendy destination from 1915 and on. It was especially popular with wealthy men and prostitutes coming from the nearby Shek Tong Tsui (石塘咀), the city’s most famous red light and entertainment district in early 20th century. Just like many places in Hong Kong, Tai Pak Lau was rather short-lived, lasting for merely nine years before closing down due to financial difficulties of Li Po Lung. The park was then converted into today’s Tai Pak Terrace (太白臺) residential street. Despite the bankruptcy of Li Po Lung in 1924, the seven terraces, especially the topmost terraces such as Academic Terrace (學士臺), To Li Terrace (桃李臺) and Ching Lin Terrace (青蓮臺), continued to thrive as an upscale residential neighbourhood for wealthy Chinese.

Having difficulty identifying this but assume that it is a Usnea.

and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties :-)

Harry Truman

rose, 'Rainbow sorbet', little theater rose garden, Raleigh, north carolina

When I first visited the west coast of North America I had great difficulty identifying the various cormorant species. In breeding plumage they are easy, but for the rest of the year, and in juvenile plumage, they are difficult. In breeding plumage Brandt's Cormorant has a blue throat and a few white head plumes, and it is a bit bigger: www.flickr.com/photos/timmelling/54392497392/in/photolist Pelagic Cormorant has a white thigh spot and a tufted head and a small area of red skin on the face: www.flickr.com/photos/timmelling/14829399299/in/photolist And finally the Red-faced Cormorant is usually only in the far north and has head tufts and a larger area of orange on the face, not red as the name suggests: www.flickr.com/photos/timmelling/14853001059/in/photolist But both Brandt's and Pelagic occur right along the Pacific coast of the USA and Canada.

So what species are these in non-breeding plumage with no helpful colours, or crests, or thigh spots? Well these are all Pelagic Cormorants, apart from one Brandt's, which is the bird facing left just left of centre. You can see it is a bit bigger than the others with a thicker neck and bigger bill. It is usually the thin broom-handle neck that I use to identify Pelagic Cormorants as size is difficult to judge on isolated birds. The gull is Glaucous-winged by the way. I photographed them on an offshore rock near Zeballos on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

One last thing, when I started birdwatching most of the world's cormorants were in the same genus Phalacrocorax. But DNA has shown that these three North Pacific cormorant species (plus the recently extinct Spectacled Cormorant) are well separated, so have been placed in the genus Urile, which is the Russian name for Red-faced Cormorant, seen here showing its double head tuft: www.flickr.com/photos/timmelling/51873618680/in/photolist

I have difficulty identifying mushrooms to species and making this more difficult is the fact that some Boletus have recently been assigned the genus Suillus. If I have the species correct, perhaps this is correctly called Suillus edulus.

Also, maybe this is B or S. granulatus. These specimens are large (6-9 inches across). This and the other 3 that I photographed were growing along a road that the South Fork Tieton Trail, Yakima County, Washington crosses. Animals are eating them and apparently uprooted one of them.

My goal was to hike this trail, locate and photograph Spruce Grouse but I found none.

IMG_2083

Moremi Game Reserve

Okavango Delta

Botswana

Southern Africa

Botswana has the largest elephant population on the continent due to tight protection and civil unrest in neighbouring countries. The relative difficulty in accessing the wildlife areas coupled with the military threat to poachers has allowed the elephant population in Botswana to grow.

The Okavango Delta also sees high concentrations of elephants due to the permanent water source.

There have been incidents of poaching in Botswana, mainly rhino, but the government decided to set up a military task force in the fight against the scourge. Poachers were ruthlessly dealt with and the task force became a full-time anti-poaching unit.

The Linyanti area of Botswana was once a hunting concession but in the past 10 years, with only photographic tourism being offered, the elephants are starting to return en masse to the region and Linyanti today is being touted as equal to Chobe when it comes to elephant experience. – Wikipedia

We had no difficulty getting close to the turnstones on St Ives beach.

An Ultra-Orthodox Jew examines a citron fruit which is part of 'The Four Species' every Jew should have towards the feast of SUKKOT.

There are many, many commandments in Judaism. It's a religion that dictates all your life from the moment you open your eyes to the moment you close them. As such, it can help arrange people that have difficulties in arranging their lives, and it opens a big place to obsessive lines: 'did I do that good enough'? e.g. 'is this citron good enough for the feast?'

Attempting self-portraiture outdoors, reflector used. JPEG processed in Luminar and macOS High Sierra photo editor.

Recently I've been inspired by the compositions produced by printer malfunctions.

marina got tissue paper stuck in her teeth.

christmas morning.

update on my daughter:

tami and john and jordan were able to get an early flight home and flew in on christmas day. good thing, miranda and bryce, noah and daisy had an 11 1/2 hour layover in Phoenix on wednesday. I don't think tami could have stood that.

john took her to their hospital when they arrived home. they gave her pain medicine [finally] and she's on antibiotics. they did a cat scan and found, says john, possible abysesses, possible contamination of the site, and what looks like a camera or camera part in her illium.

john is taking her to a surgeon in Eureka in about an hour and maybe they'll learn more then.

will keep you all posted.

in the meantime, happy holidays....

**It is thursday night at 7:15 PST, my daughter is going into surgery right now.

and now she's out of surgery with flushed out intestines [she had a clipped bowel] and antibiotics for the infections.

she'll be in the hospital for several days and then home to heal.

knock on wood.

A classic Victorian mansion, this building clearly represents some of the Army's architectural motivations. Recognizing the difficulties for officers and their families of being assigned to remote posts, the Army built homes such as this one to provide a measure of urbanity. The placement of this imposing structure at the center of Officers' Row, with the status of residents decreasing proportionally with distance from the center, mirrors the social and organizational stratification of a military post.

Built in 1892 of fire resistant stone, this building was the fifth Commanding Officer's Quarters at the post. As the highest status residence, the C.O. Quarters hosted many visiting dignitaries and distinguished guests. Among these visitors was President Theodore Roosevelt who visited the region at least four times between 1911 and 1917.

"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones." - John Maynard Keynes

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I'm having difficulty letting go of the 'jack-o-lanterns as a metaphor for life' theme lately. Problem is, they are still out there. Most people in the village have stashed away their Halloween deco and cleaned up the remains. But here and there I come upon scenes like this with rotting pumpkins slowly dissolving into orange goo. For reasons I can't explain, I find them even more compelling now that I did when they were freshly carved. I think it's fueled in part by the sense of personality imbued by the facial features which are softening in the way I associate with elderly people. The effect is heightened by the manner in which the jack-o-lanterns are cast off and left to decay right where they were originally placed. I've had a lifelong fascination with sadness in the decay of objects that were originally intended to bring happiness. That concept is becoming less abstract for me these days. Deep down is a realization that, with each passing year, I have much more in common with these decomposing jack-o-lanterns than I care to admit.

Politeness will bridge over many difficulties.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=avMIRubcGVY&NR=1

Whenever people suffered the difficulty in real life, they either faced the challenge with courage or hided themselves in their secret garden temporarily, made their sophicated thoughts within, and then find way to breakthrough again.

Have you ever own your secret garden ? It could be a real place in the world , or just a mental place at your mind, which made yourself feel safe & help you calm down from the suddently sufferings in real life.

Try to create the secret garden through the overlayering composition, it can be a place mixed with variable emotions, happiness, sorrow, hate, sadness, peaceful etc, not necesarry a subjective garden in vision, maybe just a private corner under the tree, on the meadow, or even the space between the leaves & air.. tell me how you think about your secret garden.

Through difficulties to the stars!

www.flickr.com/photos/halvorsong/</a

| Buy this photo on Getty Images |

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Recientemente National Geographic nomino al Parque Nacional Conguillío entre los 10 bosques mas bellos del planeta. La BBC, denominó a este Parque Nacional como uno de los últimos refugios del mundo en preservar el paisaje donde vivieron los dinosaurios. En este lugar se filmó parte del documental “Paseando con Dinosaurios”, y en 1980 fue declarado Reserva de la Biosfera por la UNESCO. Cuantos pergaminos para un parque que atrae miles de visitantes todo el año y que facilmente se le puede ubicar entre los mas bellos de Chile, siendo visita obligada en Otoño cuando sus bosques cambian de color ofreciendo un espectaculo inigualable.

El parque está situado en la Región de La Araucanía, 148 km al noreste de Temuco, en Chile. Tiene una superficie de 60.832 ha inicialmente formado por dos parques distintos (PN. Conguillío y PN. Los Paraguas) siendo unidos y formando el parque actual. Conguillío proviene de “Ko-nqilliu” que en lengua mapuche significa “piñones en el agua” o “entre piñones”.

La belleza del parque se debe a sus lagos y lagunas, al volcán Llaima (3.150mts), uno de los mas activos de Sudamerica, su vegetación nativa, destacando las araucarias, los ñirres, los coihues, las lengas, palos santos, raulíes, entre otros, que junto con las variadas plantas y flores conforman uno de los parques más visitados de Chile, llamando la atención mayormente a los turistas extranjeros. Uno de los sectores que más atrae a los turistas que gustan del trekking es la subida a la Sierra Nevada, el parque ofrece en total 14 senderos de distinta dificultad para los amantes de las caminatas, cabañas y campíng. El parque se encuentra abierto todo el año excepto del Sector Captren cerrado en invierno por la nevadas.

En el año 2009 si inicia un proyecto de creación de un Geoparque en la Araucanía ideado por CORFO que conformaría el primero en Chile y traería una nueva idea de turismo al país y la región, de esta forma en 2010 se inicia la planificación de este que integraría la zona andina de la Araucanía abarcando desde el volcán Tolhuaca por el norte a los Nevados de Solipulli por el sur, logrando en el año 2011 comenzar con capacitaciones y comenzar el estudio de los puntos más interesantes para el público turista. En el centro de este primer Geoparque de 8.100km2, se ubica el Parque Nacional Conguillío. Este territorio, contiene en total seis áreas protegidas, cinco volcanes, y una gran geodiversidad, con diversos tipos de paisajes y una historia geológica que abarca más de 200 millones de años.

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Recently National Geographic nominated Conguillío National Park among the 10 most beautiful forests on the planet. The BBC called this National Park one of the last refuges in the world to preserve the landscape where the dinosaurs lived. In this place part of the documentary "Walking with Dinosaurs" was filmed, and in 1980 it was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. How many parchments for a park that attracts thousands of visitors all year round and that can easily be located among the most beautiful in Chile, being a must in Autumn when its forests change color offering an unparalleled spectacle.

The park is located in the La Araucanía Region, 148 km northeast of Temuco, in Chile. It has an area of ​​60,832 ha initially formed by two different parks (PN, Conguillío and PN, Los Uguas) being united and forming the current park. Conguillío comes from "Ko-nqilliu" which in the Mapuche language means "pine nuts in the water" or "between pine nuts".

The beauty of the park is due to its lakes and lagoons, the Llaima volcano (3.150mts), one of the most active in South America, its native vegetation, highlighting the araucarias, the ñirres, the coihues, lengas, holy sticks, raulíes, among others, which together with the varied plants and flowers make up one of the most visited parks in Chile, attracting the attention of foreign tourists. One of the sectors that most attracts tourists who like trekking is the climb to the Sierra Nevada, the park offers a total of 14 trails of varying difficulty for lovers of hiking, cabins and camping. The park is open all year except for the Captren Sector closed in winter by snowfall.

In 2009, if you start a project to create a Geopark in the Araucanía devised by CORFO, which would be the first in Chile and would bring a new idea of ​​tourism to the country and the region, in this way in 2010 the planning begins. it would integrate the Andean zone of the Araucanía covering from the Tolhuaca volcano on the north to the Nevados de Solipulli on the south, achieving in 2011 to start training and to begin the study of the most interesting points for the tourist public. In the center of this first 8.100km2 Geopark, the Conguillío National Park is located. This territory contains a total of six protected areas, five volcanoes, and a great geodiversity, with diverse types of landscapes and a geological history that covers more than 200 million years.

Nightcliff is a northern suburb of the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, and is set on the shores of Darwin Harbour (named after Charles Darwin).

Although the origin of the name Nightcliff has always been surrounded by conjecture and controversy, the naming can be tracked back to 8 September 1839 (the time of discovery of Port Darwin/Darwin Harbour by European explorers). Early that day, HMS Beagle, which was engaged on an excursion of the Australian coast, sailed into the area and anchored in Shoal Bay near Hope Inlet. John Lort Stokes, William Forsyth and several other crew members left Beagle on a longboat for an excursion and passed around Lee Point, in the vicinity of which, there appeared to be a major opening. Stokes was later to record.

"The sea breeze setting in early, we did not reach it till after dark, when we landed for observations at a cliffy projection near the eastern entrance point: this we found to be composed of a kind of clay, mixed with calcareous matter. We had some difficulty in landing, and then in scrambling up the cliffs by the light of a lantern. If any of the watchful natives happened at the time to be on the look out, they must have stood in astonishment at beholding such strange persons, who at such a time of night, with no ostensible object were visiting their shores".

The term 'Night Cliff' was thus applied to the locality, and it subsequently appeared in this form on Surveyor-General George W. Goyder's original plan of 1869. Goyder also mentioned the locality a couple of times in the diary he kept as leader of the Northern Territory Survey Expedition.

The Nightcliff foreshore was the site of Royal Australian Air Force camps with spotlights and large guns used to defend Darwin from Japanese aircraft bombing during the Second World War. During 1941, a naval outpost including a large concrete artillery outpost bunker was established on the headland. Various other defence facilities were constructed inland as large numbers of military personnel moved into the area. The 2/14 Field Regiment A.I.F. (Australian Infantry Force) was given the task of planning and constructing a hutted camp which became known as "Night Cliff's Camp". After the war, increasing pressure for suburban development caused the Nomenclature Committee of the N.T. to officially name the area on 29 October 1948. The conjoint version of the name, "Nightcliff" was adopted.

Today, a long footpath along the foreshore of Nightcliff is used for walking and cycling, particularly in the evenings after work. Along the footpath there is Nightcliff Jetty, Nightcliff Beach and Nightcliff Swimming Pool.

After an overnight snowfall, some trains came across difficulties on their journeys, and amongst them was the 6F67 loaded aggregates from Tuebrook Sidings to Ashton-in-Makerfield. It passes Huyton hauled by Class 60 'Graham Farish' over 60 minutes late due to difficulties in exiting Tuebrook Sidings.

Whenever people suffered the difficulty in real life, they either faced the challenge with courage or hided themselves in their secret garden temporiarily, made their sophicated thoughts within, and then find way to breakthrough again.

Have you ever own your secret garden ? It could be a real place in real world , or just a mental place at your mind, which made yourself feel safe & help you calm down from the suddently sufferings in real life.

Try to create the secret garden through the overlayering composition, it can be a place mixed with variable emotions, happiness, sorrow, hate, sadness, peaceful etc, not necesarry a subjective garden in vision, maybe just a private corner under the tree, on the meadow, or even the space between the leaves & air.. tell me how you think about your secret garden.

Moremi Game Reserve

Okavango Delta

Botswana

Southern Africa

Botswana has the largest elephant population on the continent due to tight protection and civil unrest in neighbouring countries. The relative difficulty in accessing the wildlife areas coupled with the military threat to poachers has allowed the elephant population in Botswana to grow.

The Chobe River front was once only a part of the ancient elephant migration routes but with civil war in Angola and the war of liberation in Namibia the elephants fell victim to mass poaching.

Rival armies were killing elephants for target practice and to sell ivory for weapons. The elephants reacted to this threat by not crossing Chobe River, instead the Chobe then became the dry season refuge for the herds and over the years the numbers built up and the reputation of Chobe grew.

There have been incidents of poaching in Botswana, mainly rhino, but the government decided to set up a military task force in the fight against the scourge. Poachers were ruthlessly dealt with and the task force became a full-time anti-poaching unit.

The end of the war in Namibia, and relative peace having returned to Angola, the elephants have slowly but surely started moving across the Chobe River again. There are many elephants that have not had the experience of the migration routes and still see Chobe as a dry season refuge.

The Linyanti area of Botswana was once a hunting concession but in the past 10 years, with only photographic tourism being offered, the elephants are starting to return en masse to the region and Linyanti today is being touted as equal to Chobe when it comes to elephant experience.

Other areas of Botswana such as the Okavango Delta also see high concentrations of elephant due to the permanent water source.

Road Warrior at Burning Man 2007 having technical difficulties with his scooter.

Taken several weeks ago now, it was a nice evening down on this beach but I had hoped for some more cloud cover. It's a difficult spot, the sand is very soft but next time I'll take the Manfrotto sand feet.

I haven't been out shooting for what seems like ages now. My mind has been busy though, considering whether or not to buy the new D800. I have reservations about its 36mp sensor or to be more precise its relatively low pixel pitch (4.88µm) which will show up diffraction at a wider aperture, estimated to be f/9. Hmm, I'm still waiting to see what Canon are bringing out to replace the 5D2 before I make my mind up. When I do make my mind up I have to consider what lens to marry it with. Presently there are 3 in contention, the Zeiss 18mm (more DoF), the Zeiss 21mm or Nikons own 16-35mm f/4. all great lenses but not such an easy choice. That is if I don't go with Canon. Any advice or help would be a help believe me.