Leser Noddy Facts -

The lesser noddy is a small, tropical tern with dark plumage, a whitish-grey head and a long, dark beak.

The nest of the lesser noddy consists of a sturdy platform of seaweed, held together by excrement.

The diet of the lesser noddy consists of small fish and squid, which it picks from the surface of the water.

The lesser noddy may eat fragments of coral before breeding, possibly as a source of calcium for producing its eggs.

Re-Edited.

Around 2007 I thought that a small camera for my pocket was enough ... Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3, Canon PowerShot SX200 IS and Canon PowerShot SX210 IS until I bought another EOS1000D.

And yes, the trees in Germany sometimes have a number. It may be due to the fact that everything that is not regulated by law is prohibited in Germany. So, in principle.

Another aspect is that only about 25% of the employees are still working in real life and the rest are managing something and making meetings ... ;)

Natural ice in the Netherlands is a rare occurrence. In fact, some winters there's no natural ice at all. Maybe that explains why the Dutch love to skate outdoors. They hardly ever get the chance! But when a cold wave hits, and the interconnected maze of canals, rivers and lakes freeze over, it's a spontaneous celebration, a national holiday. Businesses close their doors and everyone goes skating.

The Alblasserwaard tour starts in the town of Kinderdijk, a tourist mecca famous for its windmills. (Molentocht means windmill tour.) The Krimpenerwaard is one of the oldest polders in Holland, dotted with ancient villages, and you can skate through nine of them in a day. (Negendorpentocht means Nine Villages Tour.) You can read about the area's history in this Krimpenerwaard site.

Aside from the scenery, the joys of Dutch skating are the companionship of other skaters, and the delicious food served up along the canals. With so many skaters on the ice, you're guaranteed to find someone who skates at your speed, and gets hungry or thirsty with the same regularity.

The Dragon lying on his sofa and watching scandalous things going on nearby. Filou was stealing Dragon's cat food ! In fact Filou does that very often, you'd think he doesn't get enough to eat at home, but it's still a shocking sight for Tofu.

The camera is now on its way to Canon service for repairs. Over the weekend I tried to take some more photos of the cats but only Tofu was cooperative. You will therefore mainly see photos of Tofu on my photostream in the near future. Only this morning, literally moments before I put the camera into a box and took it to the post office, I managed a few quick snapshots of Cleo and Filou. The cats will probably not miss the camera but I certainly will.

reading fingers have left almost invisible traces on the letters. the story is very old.

what is readable, what can we know...just some shades and hints of the forgotten lives.

Music:

"Sports Hazardeux" by ALBERT MARCOEUR, in 'Sports et Percussions' (1994)

open.spotify.com/track/27pWS2up3iNu37QVv3Zic9

Giraffa camelopardalis

The Entabeni Game Reserve:

Entabeni means 'place of the mountain', is a 220 km2 (85 sq mi) private reserve situated in the Waterberg in Limpopo Province in northern South Africa. The Entabeni Reserve is popular for safari trips because of the opportunity to see big game and a variety of birds and antelope species, as well as its scenery, and the fact that it is in a malaria-free zone.

The reserve is home to lions, African Bush Elephants, lion, South Africa giraffes, African leopards, South African cheetahs, South African warthogs, African buffalos, hippopotamus and other safari animals in a variety of habitats.

Interesting Fact: During the long Arctic night, Redpolls are known to sleep in snow tunnels to preserve body heat.

If you like this and some of my other images, I invite you to take a look at my wildlife/birding blog, which I try to update every few days. ... grenfell.weebly.com and my web page at www.tekfx.ca

I appreciate your feedback and comments! so feel free to contact me for any reason. I can be reached at billm@tekfx.ca or on Flickrmail

All images are copyright. Please don't use this, or any other of my, images, on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission © All rights reserved

Fact 5 : I love changing my everything .. especially juice and hair color :P And every Change i make it's help me in some way to accept the reality

*21\365 project*

{ 5 \ 35 Me project }

Ella was the type to lean a little more towards ‘live and let live’ when given the chance, but she didn’t take lightly being cheated or otherwise done wrong. It was the principal of the thing that she tended to take issue with. Even on the wrong side of the law, she still had a moral compass, though perhaps it didn’t always point due north.

Ella had met her share of shady characters throughout her travels. There was always some degree of dishonesty to a man, she reckoned, but it was all about how much you could live with at the end of the day.

Unfortunately, they’d pin these little tin stars to just about anyone’s chest that would have them, and sadly, hiding behind that little star tended to make a slightly bent man break completely bad.

Ella could wager the lawman had no clue what he was doing when he made eyes for the dappled stud she rode into town on, and she had hard money on the fact that he had no idea what he was calling down on himself when he pulled his gun on her, telling her she’d make it to see another day if she just handed over the reins. Little did he know…

There were few things she held in high regard these days, with all the hard living she’d come to know so well, but Mille and the dappled palomino were two things she held dearest. A history of loyalty had tied them together, and it would take more than some twisted town sheriff to pull them apart.

There are times when knowing when to fold means living to see another day, and though the reins about burned her hand as she handed them over, she knew she’d be seeing the man again, and very soon.

-------

❁ Lelutka

⍟ Doux

❁ Amias

☼ Hazel

⍟ Stoic

☼ Salem

⍟ Riders

❁ Tres Blah

☼ Cheval D'or

⍟ Teegle

Special thanks to my bestie, Tupper, for putting up with my shenanigans

Walburgiskapelle Weschnitz - Erntedank oder privates Thanksgiving?

Die Walburgiskapelle befindet sich im Wald auf dem Kahlberg, einer historischen Stelle, an der Kaiser Karl der Große im Jahr 795 die Grenzen seines Reiches und die der Mark Heppenheim festlegte.

Schon im 16 Jh. ist an diesem Platz eine Kapelle nachgewiesen - wann sie erstmals gebaut wurde, weiß man nicht.

Die Kapelle ist der heiligen Walburga geweiht, die eine Nichte des Missionars Bonifatius gewesen sein soll. Manche glauben, der Platz könnte zuvor ein keltisches und germanisches Bergheiligtum gewesen sein. In der Tat widmeten christliche Missionare oft heidnische Kultplätze um, statt sie zu zerstören.

Für die Kelten-These spricht, dass man Reste von Erzbergbau gefunden hat, den schon die Kelten betrieben.

Auch heute noch finden Wallfahrten zu dieser Kapelle statt - ein magischer Platz mit einer fantastischen Aussicht.

The Walburgis Chapel is located in the forest on the Kahlberg, a historical spot where Emperor Charlemagne defined the borders of his empire and the Mark Heppenheim in 795.

There is evidence of a chapel on this site as early as the 16th century - no one knows when it was first built.

The chapel is dedicated to St. Walburga, who is said to have been a niece of the missionary Boniface. Some believe the site may have previously been a Celtic and Germanic mountain sanctuary. Indeed, Christian missionaries often rededicated pagan places of worship rather than destroying them.

The Celtic thesis is supported by the fact that remains of ore mining, which the Celts already operated, have been found.

Pilgrimages to this chapel still take place today - a magical place with a fantastic view.

Botallack, Cornwall

My last upload of 2022 and another image from the Cornwall tour with Mark, Geoff and Shelly. 2022 has been mainly a series of many low points with very few highlights for me, but Cornwall was definitely the pinnacle and an opportunity to get away and do something for myself with good friends.

I’ve not posted a lot this year, in fact it’s been my second lowest output (a measly 57) since I joined Flickr way back in 2015. So, I’ll bypass all the fake New Year’s celebrations this weekend and dive head first into 2023 next week. As the song says… things can only get better!

See you all in 2023 and many thanks for all the support and comments throughout the year.

Thankfully the Tufted Duck's conservation status is classified as of least concern so perhaps its survival is reasonably secure. In fact when we visit reserves they are often the most numerous duck.

This particular male example was photographed on a breezy day down at St Aidans Nature Reserve.

Hello my amazing Flickr friends !!

Today is a blue day at Color my World Daily and this week it is also an orange day at the awesome Looking Close on Friday Group. And if you follow my « adventures » on Flicker, you may know that, last week I mixed up the dates and themes and I was sure orange was a theme for last Friday. I have no other excuses than the fact that this is sooooo « me ». Yes, I’m a very disorganized soul and I’m getting easily distracted. But dont you worry: I’m pretty much sure I have other assets, just ask my husband and you will see ;-)….

So lucky for me, i did several concepts for the blue vs orange theme and this way I can show you another picture for this theme. I hope it will be accepted, even if i took it last week. If it gets removed, dont worry, there is always another week and another theme. The Looking Close on Friday Group is awesome and the themes are always very inspiring :-).

So I see you later my friends !! Have a beautiful day and I hope you like my picture !!

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments / favs/ general support / happy thoughts!! Stay safe and healthy!! And see you soon on Flickr !!

Buckpool and Fens Pool Local Nature Reserve

What3Words

///thin.spill.bravo

The Cormorant is a family of medium-to-large aquatic birds found worldwide that are expert fishers known for their characteristic posture of standing with wings outstretched to dry.

Appearance:

Cormorants are generally large, dark-plumaged birds with a long, thick, and flexible neck, giving them a somewhat "prehistoric" or "reptilian" appearance. They have a long, thin bill that ends in a sharp hook, perfectly suited for catching fish. Most species have webbed feet with all four toes joined.

Size:

Size varies by species, but the Great Cormorant, a widespread species, typically measures 80-100 cm (31-39 in) in length with a wingspan of 130-160 cm (51-63 in).

Habitat and Distribution: They are highly adaptable and found in a wide variety of aquatic environments, including ocean coasts, estuaries, large rivers, and freshwater lakes and reservoirs across the world, except for the central Pacific islands.

Diet and Hunting: Cormorants are carnivorous, feeding primarily on fish, but also amphibians, crustaceans, and eels. They hunt by diving from the water's surface and propelling themselves underwater using their powerful webbed feet. They can dive to impressive depths, sometimes up to 45 meters (150 feet), and use their hooked bills to seize prey.

Unique Behaviors and Facts

Wing-Drying Posture:

One of the most recognizable cormorant behaviors is perching with their wings spread wide in the sun. This is because their feathers are not fully waterproof (which helps them reduce buoyancy for diving more efficiently), so they need to dry them afterwards.

“It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.”

William Blake

A combination of moments,

light and shadows.

Lines and dots.

All inconspicuous and at the same time quite clear.

🎧Ghost of Johnny Cash

ursus arctos

length: 1 to 2.8 m

weight: 139 kg (male), 95 kg (female)

lifespan: 20 to 30 years

predators: humans

habitat: boreal forest, mountain alpine, arctic tundra

yukon population estimate: 6,000-7,000

they breed for the first time around their 8th year and reproduce every 3 to 4 years

bears routinely distinguish between threatening and non-threatening human behaviour

bears are not mean or malicious; they are very gentle, curious, and tolerant animals

shih shòh (gwich’in)

shär cho (hän)

dlēze (kaska)

srà cho (northern tutchone)

akłaq (inuvialuit)

atsìá sho (big grandpa) (southern tutchone)

shash chō (tagish)

shüh choh (upper tanana)

xóots or xûts (tlingit)

Take your pick.

Helios 44M-7 at F5.6

... at Pouso Alegre. This is the toucan species sometimes portrayed in advertising (the former Guinness advert), cartoons etc. The outsize, fearsome-looking bill is in fact extremely light; it is made of keratin. Its function is poorly known. It may play a part in courtship rituals; it certainly enables the bird to reach more distant fruit in trees. A widespread species in cerrado-like habitats in South America, mainly in Brazil.

150815 349-2

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All images are the property of the photographer and may not be reproduced, copied, downloaded, transmitted or used in any way without the written permission of the photographer who may be contacted by registering with flickr and using flickrmail

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It is the absence of facts that frightens people: the gap you open, into which they pour their fears, fantasies, desires.

________________________

visit my Blog ♥

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2024 Alzheimer's Disease Facts & Figures

www.alz.org/media/documents/alzheimers-facts-and-figures.pdf

Wikipedia

Alzheimer's disease

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer's_disease

With heartfelt and genuine thanks for your kind visit. Have a beautiful day, be well, keep your eyes open, appreciate the beauty surrounding you, enjoy creating, stay safe, and laugh often! ❤️❤️❤️

There is something particularly satisfactory in the fact of posting this picture. And it's a satisfaction that, I am sure, people living in this area will understand very well … Every year in the end of Fall, lakeside is covered by a sea of fog that remain unmoved for month. During the last two weeks, people living above it had perfect clear weather and warm sunny days while people living under it were experiencing the despairing boring constancy of gray light. Most of the time, people living by the lakeside (who don't climb the mountains really often) just don't realize that there's only a few dozen of meters between their depressing weather and the heaven above. And it's probably a good thing for them : knowing it would just make it harder …

Now imagine my situation : I live above the sea of fog, but I work under it (and I'd rather say INSIDE it) ! So now that the days are really short, I leave home late enough to be sure that the day is going to be perfect, but too soon to enjoy even the beginning of it. All day long I think about people above who are enjoying it (recently, my mother-in-law called: she was hesitating between spending her afternoon biking or roller skating). And when I come back home the sun is already down, and the last colors of the cloud are just telling me : “yes, you miss some very nice pictures ...”. And this every morning for the last two weeks. Of course, there's terribly worst situations. But I am sure you will agree : how frustrating it is!!

So yesterday, I decided to take half an hour before going to work to enjoy the sunrise just above the sea of fog, and here is the result. I am sure you'll understand that it is a kind of revenge ;) !

What you see is taken from "Les Hauts-Geneveys" : the "massif du Mont-Blanc", the highest peak of the Alps (4808,73m, France) about 135 km away.

Once a genius, always a genius

I'm doing a pair of SNS's this week for the simple fact I have to many slides scanned and I want to move them. Both will feature EMD covered wagons. This view has BN 826 leading a B-unit and a C636 at Fisher in July 1979. Photo by Greg Stadter, Chuck Schwesinger collection.

With what is certainly the working of the month and quite probably the working of the year Large-Logo EE-type 3's 37402/37407 bring a set of loaded JNA's into Westbury with the 11/;36 from Parkeston Quay running was '6Z37',Amazingly this all happened in excellent light which was nice for a change(a miracle in fact).Scheduled scenes such as this were fairly common 20+ years ago but deffo not now.What a scoop!

---21 april 2021---

Check out these cool cardinal facts:

Cardinals are early nesters.

Both male and female cardinal birds sing.

Some people put birdseed outside to keep cardinals as “pets.”

In many cultures, bird lovers have a special place in their hearts for cardinals.

Many people associate cardinals with pleasant memories or the idea that a deceased loved one is present.

Perhaps the cardinal’s comforting, beautiful, and cheerful song invokes pleasant memories from the past.

Or maybe the bold red color speaks to us; red is the color of blood, which gives us life.

For many, cardinals symbolically represent joy and hope.

When single people encounter cardinals, they believe the bird’s presence represents an omen that new romantic relationships are on the verge of manifesting.

In the United States, when people see cardinals in winter, they feel encouraged to look forward to springtime.

In fact the whole village is named after the Saviour. Sotira in Greek means Saviour. Sotira is a well-known village in the Ammochostos (Famagusta) area of Cyprus and plenty of old churches have survived in the village centre. The "Church of the Metamorphosis/Transfiguration of Christ" is currently closed. There is archaeological work going on, but the building was too small anyway and, in the 20th century, had been replaced by the "Church of the Metamorphosis/Transfiguration of Jesus". I'll come back to this interesting change of title. This old church here goes back to the 13th century, back to the time of the crusades and the French occupation of Cyprus. The building began as a simple barrel roof construction. In Venetian times, the dome was added, and the spire, also in Venetian style, is a 19th century product (still built during the Ottoman occupation). The archaeological dig showed that this church is resting on foundations of a fifth century Christian basilica. So, the question of who the Saviour is, has always been central to this village. Metamorphosis or Transfiguration denotes the visible appearance of Jesus, not as man, but as God. But "Christ"? Christ is already a title presupposing divinity, no need to transfigure here. That is why, I would guess, that in the 20th century the title was changed to transfiguration of Jesus. It makes more sense. Sense is, of course, in the eye of the beholder. If, as Christian doctrine has it, Jesus Christ was one person, but had two natures (God and Man), and if the Trinity consist of three persons, but having only on nature, there is trouble if you apply Aristotelian logic. Things are made not easier by the gospel of John which stipulates that Christ was always there with God and, therefore, had pre-existence. If you find this difficult, it only means that your mind is working. The question of who the Saviour is is not a puzzle the mind can resolve. But if you sing the question, turn it into sound, or into vision, you may be on a different path. Fuji X-Pro3.

This was taken on Misty's birthday and being Misty's birthday means she was spoiled with loads of treats.

Now it looks like Zoraya was giving her a birthday kiss but in fact she was trying to steal the chicken drumstick out of her mother's mouth.

HBW 😊😊😍

This work is dedicated to my friend, Marta, whom I consider as family, in fact as another daughter. However, Marta has a wonderful Mother and Father both of whom I love, so she is a daughter in my heart and always will be!

The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it.

Hubert H. Humphrey

One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

The language of friendship is not words but meanings.

Henry David Thoreau

Thank you for your kind visit. Have a wonderful and beautiful day! ❤️❤️❤️

Down a little laneway which runs along the lower slopes of Wolf Hill, on the edge of Belfast and where the last wolf in Ireland is said to have been killed in the late 1600s, down into the Forth River valley between Ligoneil and Glencairn. There are houses within a few hundred metres of here and spectacular views of the city below. Yet the rough pathway and the fact that the Forth River needs to be forded (while usually a few centimetres deep!) keeps this from being a heavily used pathway in the Belfast Hills.

16-June-2023

Although very small in size, this afternoon heat thunderstorm cell, which is north-east of the Fossalon village, managed to enliven the end of a torrid day, during the first (in the next few days there will be the fourth!) African heat wave.

The cell generated humidity around itself, rapidly transforming a completely clear sky into one chaotically clouded by various types of clouds at different heights where the only rain waterfall seems to put some order.

The plain of Fossalon di Grado, once marshy, then reclaimed (except for the poultry oasis and fishing valley of the "Val Cavanata") extends to the east of the Grado and Marano lagoon, to the west of the Gulf of Trieste and is slightly below sea level, protected by an embankment near the coast; however, the embankment interferes with the breezes and often this area turns into a furnace with still air, but...

...The fact that the airspace is vast and that tourists (of course 😂) go elsewhere, makes this area fascinating and very useful for my interests!

❤

Fun Fact :: part 3

Beagles are known for being very vocal, with barking, baying and howling. According to Paw Nation:

"In fact, it is believed the name 'Beagle' comes the Middle French 'bee gueule,' literally 'wide throat,' but more poetically translated as 'loudmouth.'"

The couple and their dog walk up and down our street every single morning. And every single morning he barks at them. They wave and smile at me as I try to persuade him to stop, no doubt thinking they were smart to get a lab.

In my younger years, I was a rambling man, always ready to go where the next adventure awaited. In fact, when I reached my twenties I worried that I'd end up like this bearded wanderer-- cruising the streets in the early morning hours before anyone was about--"my beard a roughened coal pile and a dirty hat pulled low across my head," to quote a Glen Campbell song. Don't know where along the line I got domesticated and house broken--probably when I met Marg.

Garberville CA

DSC_1322

At the Sculpture Out Back exhibition in Roma, what a wonderful work this is. I wish I could show you more close ups inside these wonderful old cars, made out of bits and pieces. They are really humorous. A classic title and Australian scene, this sculpture would work anywhere and hopefully ends up where it can be rightfully enjoyed by many. This type of work would be a stand out in exhibition at the 2030 Olympics. It sold for $35000 and I can confidently say it was worth every cent. The next shot is a close up of one of the ladies at the front.

Words taken from the work's description -

The sculpture is by Slim Humphries and Grace Gray. It is a tribute to everyday life in the Maranoa (directly, the area around Roma and Mitchell on the Maranoa River in south western Queensland. The federal electorate of Maranoa extends west of Toowoomba south to the NSW border, west to the South Australian border and right up into central western Queensland. In fact, it is the largest in land area in the state and three times the size of the state of Victoria).

The work features a classic 1950's tow truck driver hauling out a 1924 Oldsmobile, with some help! It is a celebration of Aussie bush character, it honours the Outback by making people smile.

For a while, you can’t quite believe this thing has happened. The absolute horror of it was something there were no words for. It seemed utterly impossible, like a natural disaster that lasts for multiple years that was somehow chosen again purposefully or like a whole country choosing an abuser and giving him ultimate power over all of us.

I didn’t know if I was ever going to even post a photo again. I didn’t sleep on the night of the election and I still had to go to work the next day. I have to be stronger than I actually am. I have to at least pretend in a way that might garner an Oscar performance as the main protagonist in the ongoing story of my life. Because, I feel like I am falling apart. The first student I saw on Wednesday morning was a fifth grader who I know was very hopeful Kamala would win. I couldn’t speak because I was so emotional but gave her a hug instead. Now, she’s growing up in a world where she will have no body autonomy. It is so hard to process the election when you are in front of others and have to function as if the world is still in a full state of rotation.

I took two Ibuprofen PM on Wednesday night so that I could fall asleep and, on Thursday, when I initially woke up, it was like my brain was in a bit of a fog and forgot all about what happened. As if, maybe it was all just a passing night terror. And then, it hit me all over again and it was somehow even worse that day. Like, when you find yourself distracted by something beautiful and then you quickly remember the overall reality right now that you are faced with. I managed to put my clothes on and then started weeping into my coffee before biking to work.

I feel sorry for my students the most. For the past few yeas, I have felt so terrible about climate change in the world and how it is changing and now we have someone in office who will do far more damage in this and other respects. His first plans are to abolish the Department of Education and the FDA. Environmental protections will fall by the wayside. Medicare will be privatized. Money for people with disabilities will be cut or eliminated and birth control will either be eliminated or very expensive and hard to get depending on where you live. Forget about human rights for those who are transitioning genders or who are nonbinary. He is of a limited mind and feels strongly that there are only two genders in existence (despite many centuries across the world of multiple genders). He plans on even deporting the citizens who may have voted for him. These are his actual plans in writing and he controls all three branches of our government *and* has declared he now has a mandate. So, I really don’t feel I am over-reacting. In fact, I was told I was over-reacting the first time he was in office and that Roe v. Wade would never be overturned. So, I guess maybe my fears are pretty realistic. I also want to be clear that I will not entertain any right wing, pro-Trump fascist comments on here. If you are in that category, your viewpoints are harmful to people I care about and now you are the ones in power. When you have respect for others, that means you don’t wish for policies that do extreme damage to their lives and vote for politicians to act out all of your fears, hatred, and ignorance. If you voted for Trump, I already know what your opinions are and they are responsible for destroying my county. We’ve let a group of famous billionaires (we all knew enough about to be cautious) join forces to define policies that will control us and I doubt the price of groceries will go down any time, either.

I’m going to try to write a little bit each day on my life experiences from now on. I don’t expect others to care or read it. If you do, that’s ok. If you don’t, you’re busy. Some days, it might be more about a film I’ve watched, a book I’m reading, a dream I’ve had or what music I have been listening to and how that is affecting me. Other days, it might just be a poem. There might be days I am just too devastated to lift my head up and navigate an unwieldy language around incomprehensible things. I have been encouraged by someone in my family to figure out a way to fly under the radar so to speak in terms of my strong opinions. This is the opposite of that and I carry this forward with a sense of anxiety yet also human responsibility. I have been so depressed I am not sure there is anything left in this world worth living for but I am definitely not going to live out whatever time I have left being silent.

Note: the above title is from a Mission of Burma song that you can listen to here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvU5XEJmn0A

The lyrics seem very relevant:

genius.com/Mission-of-burma-fame-and-fortune-lyrics

The fortune cookie saying was from one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago called Yummy Yummy in Lakeview. The restaurant has a Vegetarian menu and many delicious options and is not as expensive as so many others these days.

***All words and photos are copyrighted**

samsung s22

Ravensbourne University Building, London, England

Another Open House London has come and gone last week, didn't seem that long ago I was down in the capital doing the same things last year.

My apologies for not getting my Open House photos uploaded sooner as I know some of you have been keen to see them but I have been so busy since coming back from Open House I haven't had chance to edit the photos until recently.

This is looking out from one of the portals within the Ravensbourne University building next to the O2, is the building with circles all over it, you can't miss it!

For the first time ever, the whole Open House London experience was a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, some tours were excellent like this one at Ravensbourne where you got to know the finest detail of every part of the building but other places I visited were such a let down. For example Lloyds Register building. My girlfriend and I queued first thing to get in but still was around 30 mins and I was looking forward to seeing the modern part of the building. We were allowed in on opening time then to be ushered through a small art gallery and then to the older part of the building, there was no chance of seeing or photographing the Richard Rogers part of the building. Other places got cancelled at last minute, upon arriving at one venue for roof top tours we found a small sign to say that they had been cancelled!

Luck wasn't on my side with regard to pre book events this year so I wanted to really try hard at places that didn't need pre booking but another disappointment was to happen. We went to Somerset house to go on a tour of the building and no where in the guide said you had to pre book the tour. Upon arriving we were told the tour was fully booked, that word booked!! How is it fully booked when it was a first come first served basis? It seemed they were advertising the fact they were doing the your and normal visitors to Somerset House could go on it too as well as Open House visitors which I didn't think was right. We did manage to get on another tour which was the film tour, not my first choice by any means but was very enjoyable.

Sadly this year I have heard similar stories from other Open House visitors and photographers, don't get me wrong I still got a few good photos but felt that some of the tours were not as good as other years that I have been on.

Location Information

Ravensbourne (formerly the Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication) is a university sector college in the field of digital media and design, with a vocationally focused portfolio of courses, spanning fashion, television and broadcasting, interactive product design, architecture and environment design, graphic design, animation, moving image, music production for media and sound design.

Ravensbourne, which was formerly Bromley Technical College, was opened in 1959 by the amalgamation of the Bromley School of Art and the Department of Furniture Design of the Beckenham School of Art. It was originally located at Bromley Common and Chislehurst in outer London before moving to a new purpose-built campus in inner London on the Greenwich Peninsula in September 2010.

Stormy Sunrise Over Sunburst Park

I have to admit...I really didn't feel like getting out of my tent two weeks ago when the alarm went off at 4:30 AM. It had snowed a bit more overnight and everything seemed to be covered in ice. But I pulled out the jet boil, made some coffee, and staggered out into the cloudy predawn light. The Nublet might have only been 4 or 5 kilometers from the Magog Lake campground, but it might as well have been on the moon. I forgot to take my 14-24 out of my bag and between the weight of my tripod, new ballhead and multiple lenses, it was like hauling a couple of boat anchors up that trail. I grimaced several times as young twenty-somethings bounced happily up the trail past me as I sat shoving snow in my face to make up for the frozen life straw in my pack.

Somehow I made it back onto my feet and just managed to make it somewhere between the Niblet and the Nublet (I never did figure out which was which) just as the sun broke through, lighting up the clouds and bits of the range in front of us with a brief burst of orange. Suddenly I quite forgot about the fact that I was exhausted and freezing my butt off and spent the next two hours shooting some of the most gorgeous real estate in the Canadian Rockies. For someone like me, whose batting average was now in the minus territory after striking out with 10 days of shooting in the Northwest last Summer, 10 days of shooting the Dolomites last Fall, and finding the entire Western Hemisphere covered in smoke on my 10 day trip through the Canadian Rockies a month ago...this view literally brought tears to my eyes. Every once in a long while, I actually come across a breaking storm with some decent light. As the lady who set up her tripod next to me exclaimed "Thank you God!"

There was indeed much to be thankful for over those 10 days of shooting in the Canadian Rockies. When my shooting buddy Eric and I first arrived, the forecast was grim. Five days of gray skies...right through our time in Assiniboine. It was beginning to look like we might not see the sun at all. Instead, we were treated to just about everything from 4 inches of new snow, to bright sunshine, to some very decent sunrises and sunsets. The larches were just hitting peak color and we seemed to have arrived during a very small window this year between Autumn and Winter. A couple of days after we arrived home, almost a foot of new snow fell in and around Banff, and a second storm dumped even more later that week.

All of this to say, there will be many more images to come. We both had a fantastic time in the Canadian Rockies and we can't wait to go back. Our travels took us from Banff into Assiniboine for 3 nights before heading North to Jasper and Robson, finishing with trips to Yoho and back to Banff. As I told Eric, I paid for this trip in spades when I got back home and had mountains of work to catch up on…but that trip was easily worth what we paid in cash, time, energy and blood. More photos to come!

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August 15, 2017 - North of Kearney Nebraska, US

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These were not severe storms. In fact it was about 100F and humid. Normal for us here this time of year. We were right on the edge of a passing front. Day 3 of 3 for storms in south central Nebraska.

These small spurts of cells were trying to form, and one did eventually, but wasn't able to catch up or get into position to get that special shot. There were a few good captures from this day but not many.

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Dale Kaminski @ NebraskaSC Photography

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I do not think I have ever paid attention to the fact that turtles have nostrils before I took some close-up images of turtles sunbathing near a pond at the San Diego State University campus. 😂

NikonD7500

Industar - 61 L/Z

f5.6

1/250

ISO100

As a matter of fact, I do feel like a bit of a "Maverick" when I drive my Charger.

After being out on wildfires all summer long, from the far reaches of Alberta, Canada, to the Columbia Gorge in Washington, to the Southern Coast of Oregon, from May 29th to October 23rd, this was the first chance I had to drive the Charger for over a year.

I'm heading to the car wash, and you can't tell it is beyond dusty. Didn't matter, had to take a picture. :-)

And, It was gloriously beautiful fall day. :-)

credits ♡

Look through

Material world

Into the realm of ideas

OlympusOmZuiko 55mmF1.2

Those birds are not brushes, they are real :)

I took this with my best friend yesterday and she thought I was obsessed with birds because everytime I saw a bird in the sky, I screamed "bird" and busted out my camera. Hahaha :)

am I the only one who is bothered by the fact that Flickr messes up the dates?! OH WAIT. OH SNAP. I DID TAKE THIS YESTERDAY. HAHAHAHAHA. Nevermind. It usually does though :P

Goodnight everybody :)