Suffering from the Black Dog its all a struggle at the moment , so many great images from my contacts, I need to buck up and get out there.

Canon EOS-1D X

EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x

ƒ/5.6

700.0 mm

1/640

ISO 1250

first of all, with your self and hopefully, with an audience. They can learn all these new techniques and think that they’re easier to use, but creating great images isn’t about the tools :-)

Jerry Uelsmann

Ukraine Matters! Peace Now!

roses, 'Love and Peace', little theater rose garden, raleigh, north carolina

The June full moon rises adjacent to Ferns Nipple in Capitol Reef National Park.

One of the best kept secrets of the National Park System, Capitol Reef is full of unique sights, stunning vistas, and spectacular landscapes. About as far away from any metropolitan area you can find, this is a great location for dark skies and great images.

Recognition:

Merit Image - JUN 2023 Professional Photographers of California (PPC) State Image Competition - Landscape category

Merit Image - MAR 2023 Professional Photographers of San Diego County (PPSDC) - Nature/Landscape category

To all who have shared your great images, keep them coming, may you have a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year.

This image seems out of place here in what should be the middle of winter, but because its so warm, it seems fitting.

This from a past trip to Steptoe butte in eastern Washington.

Photography is like surfing, sometimes you catch a wave, sometimes you freeze your twig-and-berries off sitting in the water for nothing. I usually feel blessed if I come away form a shoot with one image. Many end in abject failure and you get nothing for the pain of early mornings and gas money. However, I came away from this trip with sooooo many great images that I may be posting them till I die. My wife loves this one.

Let me know what you think.

Monza Park - June

As I arrived at Durdle Door to take a sunset shot I saw this man painting the scene and thought it would make for a great image. It was a challenging shot to take because of the low sun shining almost directly into the camera, but I use 2 ND grad filters on the left hand side to bring it down by one and half stops.

Happy Bokeh Wednesday!

This shot is completely unprocessed, uncropped. No artificial light. No adjustments what so ever!! No zoom, no filters. Just me, my camera, and a Macro lens.

I say this only to prove, that great photographic imagery starts with a great image.

All those neah sayers that believe processing is just about fixing a poor image and the digital age requires no thought or skill. So not true...great processing always begins with a great image.

Explore #8

I think I am like most photographers, at least like most who came into photography through the digital era. When I am planning to go someplace where I plan to do some real shooting, I do research. What time of year is best? What are the icons of the location? What is unique about the location? And, yes, what have others shot at that location?

A lot of this research is to see what worked for others, but its also to be sure you shoot it differently. Well, the family was planning a trip to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. So I hit the web. The park is a tough one because its awe inspiring to be there, amazing to experience, but very hard to shoot. The rocks all tend to blend together, and depth and scale are very hard to convey. The Stature of Liberty can fit in the Canyon after all, but you can't see that scale in the images.

However, while I was looking I stumbled across one image that took my breath away. A local of the area shot an image of the sun hitting a crack in a canyon wall (a reflection of the light actually) that made the rock look just like Fire Falls at Yosemite- but without the water. The photographer was Vince Farnsworth and I give him full credit on this one. I am just ridding his coat tails.

We planned the whole trip around being there when the sun would work for this image. We planned to stay overnight very close to the site. The time of year was perfect. Everything was perfect. Then the weather.

We got there and the Canyon seemed to fight back. I would say it was raining but that would be an understatement. It was more like a monsoon. Not odd for this part of the State, but I had hoped to avoid it. First, the rain gets all over your gear. Second, you have to perch yourself on a cliff edge to get this image. Not a place you want to be in high winds. In fact I got another great image in a different section of the park of a full rainbow, but it was very hard, shoot, wipe, shoot, wipe, I felt like I was back home in Oregon shooting waterfalls in the spring. I will probably post that image later.

I got to the parking area in the pitch dark and the rain was crazy. I waited it out for a while, after all, the window to get the light right was not too small, so I had some wiggle room. In the end, fortune did smile on me, because the rain stopped when the sun rose and I made it to cliff edge ok. I was greeted a short time later with the Dragon's Tongue (Vince's name).

I don't want to give too many more details about where and how to find this magical location. I had to do some serious sleuthing to find it myself. I don't want it to get trashed. If you really want the details you have to buy me a soda here in Keizer and I will tell you more.

Let me know what you think.

... at the river Naab

thank you very much for your appreciated commetnts, favs and invites!

Wishing all my flickr friends a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a very photogenic new year. Thanks to all for your views and comments and all those great images you post.

These little Brachyscome flowers are still looking pretty in the garden :)

Have had a lovely few days away on the south coast and I look forward to catching up with all your great images now :)

Thanks for all the kind comments and faves on my images.

Amazing what you can do or how you can generate great images with AI!

Ok Ok Ok, I know, you have probably seen this location before. Yes, its a bit cliche, I know, but I had to do it. See, I am a landscape photographer, mostly. We just went on a vacation to NYC and Boston. Just not many landscape opportunities on a trip like that. So I had to get in some high quality night images where I could. When you are camped out in a City for a few weeks you can scout and get some real original compositions, but I did not have that much time there. So if you want to be sure you come back with some great images, you almost have to follow the footsteps of those before you. Thats where this came from. In doing research on Boston night images, this comes up over and over. So I throw my hat in the ring, this is my version of the classic location. I love the work of Bill McIntosh, his images are always so dark, so this follows that vain.

Thank you to Tom Wilson and Wilson (my Son, the tripod monkey) for joining me on the evening shoot. And to the other photographer who was there and kind enough to let us steal his tripod location (very cool of you dude).

Let me know what you think.

This was just a test, I know this isn't a great image! I took this with my phone, linked my phone to my computer and uploaded, This is an amazing leap for an old guy like me!

I'm back! Sort of! Shot back in August on a wonderful misty morning (all misty mornings are wonderful in the wood!) in Hillock Wood, I was taken by this glorious branch with its deep curve. Still in full green, I'm sure I've shot this before, but always makes a great image.

Sorry to disappear on everyone, unfortunately health issues took away my ability to walk. I have been having pains in my lower leg off and on since May this year and some months ago came on with a vengeance that meant I could not walk for more than 30 seconds without having to sit down. Crutches and sticks made no difference. So following several trips to A&E, MRI scans and lots of prodding and poking, I am still none the wiser. Thankfully I am back walking again now but have not been out with the camera since I took this shot. Still have more tests in the pipeline to rule out damage I did to my back nearly 7 years ago now. Also vascular is being looked into! All fun and games.

Desperate now for some good misty weather as the leaves are starting to change. I won't be posting every day for now until I get some more content, but we shall see.

Hope you are all well.

Andy

You'd think a stinging bee would be avoided by hungry birds, but apparently not. They probably are adept in making sure the stinging abdomen is held outside the mouth area like this cardinal is demonstrating.

Or maybe they make sure it is dead and not stinging before they ingest it?

I have a feeling this male was courting a female that was flying around the area at the time. He spent a good two minutes sitting on this branch and it seemed he had no intention of eating the bee himself. Probably part of their courting/mating ritual where the male offers food to the female as evidence of his undying love :)

It sure worked out for me since I had a full two minutes to capture great images, as opposed to the three seconds that I'm used to from these beautiful red birds!

The bee is best seen when the image is enlarged...

This is a snapshot, photographed in RAW format to see how far can a cellphone go in post process, and its amazing for a smartphone, not even close to a DSLR, but it delivers great image quality.. Thanks :)

Landscape photography is a fleeting love, at least the subjects are that is. Iconic trees die, idiots tag rocks, and arches collapse. I went looking for Windstone Arch in Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada expecting to see that same iconic scene I have seen in many other great images. Found the cave, found the odd rock face inside the cave, did NOT find the arch. Why? It was not there anymore. Poof. Gone. Erosion or some dummy with powertools, I don't know, but the actual upright of the old arch was not there anymore. The cave is still as stunning and still totally delivered in the image though. I was just surprised to find it missing.

I visited this cave late in the day because conventional wisdom says to visit it in the morning. Naturally I try to steer clear of wisdom (actually I try to steer clear of crowds). This way I got the cave to myself. I shot it tight, I shot it wide, I tried several angles, but in the end I liked this wide shot best. I thought the wide perspective pulled the viewer into the scene. I also shot this in a focus stack, but I actually preferred the foreground a little soft, again, so it pulled the viewer in.

We found that this specific cave was interesting but by no means the only cave with these neat wind-swept qualities and strange internal formations. I shot a few others that might get posted, but you should know that if you head out there to shot this cave and can't find it, there are plenty of other great caves to shoot. I almost feel bad going with this super popular spot instead of using another lesser-known cave. I feel the same way when I go to the Portland Japanese Garden and try NOT to shoot 'that' Japanese Maple Tree. But, I end up shooting that darn tree every time (after you wait in the line que that is). I guess it was my way of knowing I could get one portfolio image in the can without that much effort. You know it delivers.

Now I made myself feel bad. I am going to go process the other neglected images from other caves. Teach this popular cave a lesson. He is so arrogant.

Let me know what you think.

inspiriert von Sigi Sunshine, entstand dieses Bild an gleicher Stelle. Straßburg hat seinen eigenen Flair, den ich sehr mag, es ist immer ein Gefühl von Urlaub in dieser Stadt.....

#part2

If you want to end up with a great image the single most important thing you can do is take an interesting photo and look for the subject and composition, to begin with. Look for an object that catches your eye. So This photo had a tremendous appeal to me.I don't know whether I was successful or not, but it did give me a positive vibe in it while clicking... Thank you for your likes favs, and comments on this photo. I appreciate it very much!!

(Alcedo atthis) This will be my last post for a few weeks now until the end of February. I'm off on a long planned trip to Japan so hope to have some great images when I get back!

with a storm rolling in yesterday, hoping to capture many lightning strikes, I set up my K3 in the morning with a MIOPS lightning trigger and aimed it to the west. A daytime storm required me to put on an 8 stop neutral density filter on my lens. I set the sensitivity on the MIOPs to 90%. My shutter was at a 1/4 of a second at f/8. After work I was hoping for some great images of some really cool bolts. Not a one did I capture as the strikes were landing elsewhere. But I did get some wonderful images of clouds, all lit from extraneous and distant lightning flashes. Have a super day friends and hope that you enjoy this series of images.

Peregrine Falcon, female. Small crop

0840/1612/19

Not such a great image because the bird is facing the wall, so the best I could do was to show the bird preening. The winter light was wonderful. I Traveled from my home in Salford to the west of the county and when I got off the train the heavens opened. I had the option of returning home or taking a 1 1/2 mile walk and getting drenched. I chose to get drenched but when I got to the site the rain clouds cleared to cast a shaft of winter light on the church where both Peregrines were perched. This is the female of a breeding pair and my previous upload was of the male.

I could not help to think about the calm morning thirteen years ago tomorrow when all those innocent lives were lost on 9/11 and how precious life is as I walked around the lake. Do something nice for yourself and family for we never know if it is our last act. Blessings to all those who are suffering. Thanks for all your great images that certainly have gotten me through some low times my friends. All the best! ~Sam

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkZC7sqImaM

An image of a juvenile male Yellow Bellied Sapsucker taken at Kirk-Cousins Management area just south of London.

Thanks for viewing and wishing you all a new year that is happy, healthy and full of great images!! :)

On the way to dropping off the eye-roller this morning for her first VCE exam (English) she was feeling nervous and sick -as to be expected. I asked her what song she'd like to listen to so we could have it blaring in the car to take her mind off things. She chose Eminem "Not Afraid"

"I'm not afraid (I'm not afraid)

To take a stand (to take a stand)

Everybody (everybody)

Come take my hand come (come take my hand)

We'll walk this road together, through the storm

Whatever weather, cold or warm

Just letting you know that, you're not alone

Holla if you feel like you've been down the same road"

It obviously provided her with the comfort and distraction she needed and before long we were singing at the top of our voices and I was embarrassing her with my rap gesticulations.

Not a great image but I wanted to post it anyway. Taken outside her study window and as always, Harpo has to be in on the action. One of the main reasons we got another dog when we did was because she wanted one to get her through VCE. He has delivered in spades, despite being a madman. He couldn't be any more loving.

Did not have the opportunity to capture Mr Rainbow this season. Managed to improve the PPing of these shots to get decent IQ. The shooting condition was very dim and shaded. Shot handheld with 1/8 sec. That's why I am hanging on to my Oly system for dear life - the great image stabilisation and Pro Capture feature.

Thank you my friends for popping by.

I really appreciate your visits, comments & favourites.

Wishing all my Flickr friends a Beautiful Day

Take care and stay safe everyone

Thank you

💓💓💓💓💓

Season's Greetings and wishes for a safe 2021 to FLICKR friends, acquaintances and viewers. I am grateful for interest shown in my pictures and have enjoyed seeing many great images and interesting species posted by other FLICKR members.

Carl Zeiss Ultron 1.8/50

With the sun causing a huge glare, JJFET, John and his three collies are seen making their way up the flank of Ill Bell. In the background Yoke can be seen engulfed in swirling spindrift.

This is technically not a great image but does convey the conditions during our hike last Sunday.

Next weekend I will be in the alps again. We will stay in a mountain lodge, bring our own food and melt snow to get water.

I am also looking forward for hopefully some great images.

The ability to be in an amazing location during sunset and -rise is amazing.

(Blend from two images with gimp)

EXPLORE # 389 - 17.01.09

Not taken a photo of molly for some time , got some great images from this walk however , ever tried getting your dog to pose for 3 exposures and keep them perfectly still - i took so many photos and deleted so many - Good Girl Molly !!!!!

View On Black

Anyone watching me or even listening to me would have thought i was NUTS !!!

Looks like Silver EFEX Pro has added a lot of grain in the sky, but I wanted to extract some hints of what was hiding in the fog and mist. These two beautiful trees are very pleasing specimens in the grounds of Langley Park and make great images anytime of year.

Image info:- Nikon D750 with Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 @ f/6.3, ISO 250, shutter 1/1250th, focal length 24mm, processed in Lightroom Classic and NIK Collection Silver EFEX Pro 2, using full dynamic harsh filter.

Taken shortly before sunset, this is the view across Kimmeridge Bay, including Gad Cliff, Warbarrow Tout and Mupe Bay.

I bumped into Tony Cowburn, who won the Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year 2015, Landscape section, with a great image taken from the same location but in different weather conditions.

"Dancing in the mirror; great image." (Elliot MARGOLIES / www.flickr.com/photos/elliotmar/)

"Des reflets géniaux ! Excellent." (SOPHIE C. / www.flickr.com/photos/sophie-clb/)

While I wait for the spring migratory bird migration to pick up steam, a look back to last year at approximately this time. The Ring-necked Pheasant is a year round resident, some years seen in abundance, other years - not. Last fall my filmmaker friend George and I counted 75 of them in a single field, but it wasn't a photographic situation: we were looking into glaring light, and they were extremely skittish.

Single birds are often easier to photograph. This male was hanging out beside Hwy 18, along my usual access route to Grasslands Park, and when I stopped and exited the car in beautiful morning light, he posed nicely for me. It wasn't a "perfect" situation by any means; we were on a hill, and I was on the high side, looking down, therefore I couldn't do much to minimize the background. I had driven past him to get on the right side of the light, which was the more important consideration.

The background detail doesn't detract too much, despite not being ideal. But I do want to make the point that backgrounds are really important. I've seen a lot of great images ruined by lack of attention to background detail - including some of my own. I remember meeting a Famous Canadian Photographer at the counter of a film lab many years ago, and I was telling him about a recent encounter with some cow elk that got into a dispute right in front of me. They were up on their hind legs, lashing out at each other with front hooves. His first question: "How was the background?" Unfortunately, it wasn't great.

That one comment increased my awareness of backgrounds, so that today I always take them into consideration when assessing a scene or a shot. When I slow my vehicle down to try for a bird-on-post or bird-on-boulder or bird-on-sagebrush shot, I'm watching not only the light on the bird, but how the bird aligns with the background as I roll to a stop. I don't want to find "unlucky overlap" in my images. A foot or two can make a huge difference!

Photographed near Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2021 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Laughing Gulls and Royal Terns share the beach, with the gulls in the grass at the edges and the Royals everywhere but in the grass. Royals make their living fishing and gulls, who I'm sure also fish, make their living at the colony stealing from each other and the terns. I just made a gallery of their behaviors:

mykey.smugmug.com/Galleries/Wildlife-and-Nature/Royal-Ter...

Thanks for your following, comments and the great images that the photographers I follow have been posting. All the best, Mike

My dear Flickr friends, Happy New Year to you and your families !!

I wish you all the best, peace & love, & great images for the New-Year - 2016 !!!

Greetings from Tel-Aviv :)

Lior

Follow me on Instagram:

www.instagram.com/lleib22/

Was lucky to have a helper to water the garden for me this morning. This is my oregano plant, I don't use it much in recipes but it makes great images.

;) Have a good start into the new week,dear flickr friends!

Please don't use this image without my explicit written permission. © All rights reserved

Harsh backlighting. Not so great image, but I don't often get close to these birds.

Needs more depth-of-field.

Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Added a touch of grainy sepia to this covered bridge to give it a Walton's feel.

I'll be away on a business trip to Boston starting Sunday afternoon, returning mid-week. I look forward to catching up with all of your great images and commenting when I get back.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Taken at a western "movie" town in New Mexico. The combination of the slow rising sun, soft light, fog and Alpenglow made for some great images.

Last of us.

I participate in the selections for the MAGNUM PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2017! It's here:

www.facebook.com/grofbd

There is a support system... so if you want to clic on my Facebook page... <3 :)

Frog standing at a Top of wood, very nice pose of a portrait photo...

Olympus have a new Macro Lens,

30mm F3.5 Macro, it also have great image quality

and it is smaller, and cheaper.

As a Cooperation Photographer I use and test this lens for few month already,

I will keep upload the Photos of this lens to here, for your reference.

Hi everyone. Hope you are all ok. What a time to be having computer problems. Mine is running very very slow. Was going to try and get it looked at but never made it before lock down.

I have not been on flickr for a while because of this. Will try and keep up with your posts, as it's nice to see your great images.

Take care and keep safe.

Brian.