View allAll Photos Tagged itself
:: " A book can also be where one finds oneself; and when a reader is grasped by and held by a book, reading does not feel like an escape from life so much as it feels like an urgent, crucial dimension of life itself." ::
{Rebecca Mead - My Life in Middlemarch}
Soft, even, overcast light and a Dunlin standing pretty along the shore. The chaos of the 100s of other shorebirds surrounding this one fades away when this beauty isolated itself to my right. It eyed me up for a moment, deciding whether it was safe to continue feeding in my direction. It was and she did.
The building itself was built in 1875, but I’ve no idea when Sibley’s Family Butchers took up residence. I like it when the signage has character like this and has not been replaced in the bland, modern style.
I love the reflections as well!
A Light Brown Forester butterfly warms itself in a beam of sunlight in the otherwise dense and dark Kakum National Park forest in Ghana, West Africa. Bebearia zonara is a butterfly in the Nymphalidae family.
Thanks for your visit… Any comment you make on my photograph is greatly appreciated and encouraging! But please do not use this image without permission.
Landscape Photography Workshops & 1-2-1 Tuition
Taken on a three-day workshop that I ran last week in Dorset.
Arriving on the beach at Durdle Door in the middle of the afternoon during harsh light and pure blue skies have you stand and look around at what you can capture that might be even remotely interesting and unusual.
Then I spotted this lovely small cave-like indentation in the white chalky cliffs known as Bat's Head. What were the challenges in shooting from this viewpoint I hear you ask? lol.
Well, for starters, there's not much room in there and setting up a tripod is almost impossible. You certainly need a small travel tripod to even have a chance of setting it up. I had a huge tripod with me so I decided to shoot this scene handheld and furthermore I only needed to capture the scene once despite harsh contrast and a crazy depth of field issue. Saying that my Canon EOS R coped impeccably with the stabilisation of the image, the great depth of field leaving everything sharp to look at, from the rim of the cave to Durdle Door itself as well as the dynamic range coping with the varying degree of light.
The more I use the Canon EOS R, the more impressed I am with it.
Canon EOS R
Canon 16-35mm f4 @ 16mm
f11
1/400 sec
ISO100
Benro TMA48CXL Mach 3 Tripod
Benro GD3WH Geared Head
3 Legged Thing QR11-LC L Bracket
Mindshift Backlight 26L Bag
.
.
.
.
UK & International Landscape Photography Workshops, 1-2-1 Private Tuition and Camera Club Lectures available
www.facebook.com/melvinnicholsonphotography
www.instagram.com/melvinnicholsonphotography/
www.twitter.com/MelvinNichPhoto
www.flickr.com/photos/melvin_nicholson
www.youtube.com/c/melvinnicholsonphotographycom
Tripadvisor: Search for Melvin Nicholson Photography
SIGN UP TO MY NEWSLETTER
This tiny daisy had managed to plant itself in the middle of the grass in front of our letter box.
So now, it is having a good drink before I find it a better home.
12/100 flowers 2022
Saturday challenge - Geometric, especially nature
Taken near Merritt, British Columbia, Canada.
This is another shot of the same Lazuli Bunting that I took with my new camera. This very cooperative bird was found on the verge of a mountain meadow.
The mountain meadow itself rivaled the beauty of this bird. It's long green grasses we're sprinkled with a kaleidoscope of colorful flowers including pink wild roses, orange tiger lilies, pink sticky geranium, yellow salsify, mauve lupine, colbalt larkspur, purple gentian, blue forget-me-nots, baby's breath and the ever present lace-like white yarrow.
Lazuli Bunting
"Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty."
John Ruskin
Geranium sanguine keeps popping up in our perennial flower garden, but I really don't mind. The beauty of each flower is well worth its ability to spread itself into every nook and cranny of available space.
Alone in the Rain a lone leaf hangs on during a recent rain storm, looking wet and by itself, shot in North Carolina.
FRONT PAGE EXPLORE! & EXPLORE #9
YEP! It's another water droplet shot from Angela! ;0)
For Gorgeous Green Thursday (there is a little green there.....LOL!)
I used Isabelle Lafrance's Soulful Textures
Basic ghesso - soft light 33%
Spring haze - soft light 100%
Hope you all have a wonderful day!!!!! :0)
To the right of the temple is the entrance to the Near Caves. The exit from the Near Caves is in the temple itself.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
2 versions from the same place, across the Volkhov river from the Veliky Novgorod kremlin. The city itself is one of the most livable and walkable cities in Russia, and a delight to visit, though not many people even know about it.
This 7-spot ladybird blundered onto my hand (there were loads in the garden today) and I watched it climb up my finger and launch itself.
Lovely warm day. Heard the first bats of the year in the evening.
Handheld, natural light.
Living in the Eastern Sierra can be an adventure in itself, with periodic wildfires fanned by high winds in dry conditions. In August of 2020 the Slink Fire erupted in the Slinkard Valley, and eventually came over the ridge to appear above the homes in the towns of Walker and Coleville in Little Antelope Valley. I captured this image just a few miles from my house, along the detour of Highway 395. Fortunately this fire was contained before it cause too much damage, but a later one fanned by winds over 50 MPH burned over 70 structures in the neighboring community of Walker. Residents and governmental agencies have been reducing sagebrush in and around neighborhoods to minimize future fire wildfire risk.
This Slink Fire panorama was captured Sunday night, August 31, as it burns over the towns of Coleville and Walker in Little Antelope Valley. By September 1, the fire was significantly reduced by air tankers and helicopters. Highway 395 re-opened.
Slink Fire updates: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7105/
These moslim girls were praying in Istanbul's biggest and well preserved Church- Saint Antoine. I do myself believe in Humanity itself, prior to cultures, religions and national borders . This photo somehow reflects the aproach I desire humanity would chase after.
The classic Chevy Bel Air tail fin.
The black paint on this car lended itself to a darker edit. The chrome still shines.
A large bird around 38-40 cms long sporting a distinctive eye patch and endemic to India and Sri Lanka. The tail itself is maybe around 15-20 cms long. This is the most common of the three Malkoha species found in India. These birds belong to the large cuckoo family, but they are non-parasitic, i.e. they don't demonstrate brood parasitism. It doesn't lay its eggs in other birds nests.
The bird is easily recognizable by the pale bluish eye ring from which it derives its name. We sighted this bird foraging in the trees next to a country road while driving slowly. Luckily it didn't fly away and gave this nice shot.
The birds feed on insects, caterpillars and other small vertebrates. They have a easy to remember loud hollow call. I think the nesting season is just complete - 2 weeks ago, we sighted 3 juveniles in one tree right next to the road - all of them darted off into the tree as soon as we stopped our vehicle.
Thanks in advance for your views and / or feedback. Much appreciated.
Male Small Whiteface presenting itself on a nice green conifer instead of an ugly dead stick as they often do ;-)
Seen in the nature-sanctuary "Tister Bauernmoor" near Sittensen (between Bremen and Hamburg) - Niedersachsen - Germany.
In order to protect this rare species the geotags are falsely set to the parking area of the nature sanctuary. The photo was taken from a legally accessible footpath.
Männliche Kleine Moosjungfer posiert auf einem schön grünen Nadelbaum, wo doch Libellen sonst gerne auf hässlichen toten Zweigen sitzen ;-)
Gesehen im Naturschutzgebiet "Tister Bauernmoor" bei Sittensen (zwischen Bremen und Hamburg) - Niedersachsen.
Zum Schutz dieser seltenen Art sind die Geodaten dieses Fotos verfälscht auf den Parkplatz des Naturschutzgebietes gesetzt. Das Foto wurde an einem legal begehbaren Weg gemacht.
"The moon is a loyal companion. It never leaves. It’s always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human. Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections."
Quote - Tahereh Mafi
Spotted this somewhere in a shelter place;-))
The black text says: The moon always smiles (in Dutch: Het maantje lacht altijd)
Happy Wall Wednesday ;-))
Le pavot de Californie se dévoile. Libre court à mon imagination en voyant une danseuse sortie de l'eau
The California poppy reveals itself. My imagination runs free when I see a dancer coming out of the water.
Goshen Police Booth -1 939 Architecture ArtDeco
During the Dillinger Era towns prepared itself against Bank Robbers and Outsiders with Bullet Proof Booths
Used Until late 1960's
118
What happens when a dolphin meets Photoshop polar coordinates. You can make it jump itself in a curious kind of way. It takes a few steps to make these so I created an action which will let me unleash more on my friends :) Just let me know if you don't like them and I will desist!
This juvenile Common Merganser preens itself, an essential maintenance activity for all birds — and particularly important for duck species that spend much of their time in and on water. Most birds have an oil gland (located near the base of the tail) whose secretions they use for preening. This individual was on an irrigation canal in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
A Libythea celtis seen sunning itself this afternoon in Korea - it looks like it saw out the last decade too!
Mount Kailash itself is known in the Tibetan language as Gang Ti-se and informally as Gang Rinpoche ("Precious Snow Mountain"), to the Bon as Yungdrung Gutsek ("Nine stacked Svastikas"). Though only 6714 m high, it stands quite alone like a great white sentinel guarding the main routes into Tibet from India and Nepal in the south and west.
Traditionally a pilgrim undertakes the 52-km trekking cirquit or circumambulation (khorlam) around Mount Kailash commencing at Darchen (4575 m) and crossing the 5630 m Dolma La pass on the second day of the three-day walk. This is followed by a trek of the same duration around the beautiful turquiose Lake Manasarovar known in the Tibetan language as Mapham Yutso མ་ཕམ་གཡུ་མཚོ།
The fortress itself is not particularly impressive, most of it is ruins, although there are preserved walls. But the views from there are really unique. It's very beautiful. On the one hand you can see the bay with ships, on the other the beaches and the length of the coastline. Climbing by cable car. There are cafes and restaurants.
Life weaves and twists itself, but I'm very grateful for having the loving people around me and for all the wonderful memories.
To 40 more!
Walking in the dark to get there properly at sunrise the path lead me to this overlook of Mount Hood in Oregon. This small area uncovered itself giving me the opportunity to frame the scene.
Somewhat of a unique view presented itself when both trainsets for ATK 314 (from KC) and late running ATK 301 (from CHI) needed to be spun before returning to the depot for later departures. Generally, Amtrak consists leave the St. Louis downtown station and run east over to the Poplar Street wye to spin shortly after all passengers have detrained. 301 was running nearly 2 hours late and 314 was on time. With nothing else around, the TRRA Merchants Dispatcher was guiding them both and set up this meet above 6th Street. ATK 314's consist is in the foreground and holding for the signal at Gratiot on the UP Lesperance connection while 301's consist shoves by on the TRRA High Line.
01-29-2022
This photo opportunity presented itself,which I could not ignore.The flat bottomed boat sedately appeared,hardly moving and seemed to be becalmed on the still waters. The faces of the passengers were a sight to behold,they seemed to be blank,bored and void of expression and showing no interest in their colourful surrounding.
It is worth enlarging to see passengers faces.
Thank You for the views,faves and comments,very much appreciated .
*Die alten Weiden zur Morgendämmerung und die Krähe*
Last week in the morning just before 8:00 a.m. at the 2 old willow trees in the valley. A crow sat on the highest tree top to the right and made itself known loudly, while the morning atmosphere became more and more beautiful, especially in the sky.
Letzte Woche morgens kurz vor 8:00 Uhr an den 2 alten Weiden im Tal. Eine Krähe saß rechts auf der höchsten Baumspitze und machte sich laut bemerkbar, während die Morgenstimmung besonders am Himmel stets schöner wurde.
Europe, Netherlands, Noord Holland, Station Hilversum Media Park, De Kijkbuis Footbridge, People (slightly cut from B&T)
The 'Kijkbuis' footbridge (September 2011) connects Station Hilversum Media Park (former names: Hilversum Noord and Hilversum NOS) with the Media Park itself. It is an aluminium and wooden structure (the weathered bottom part) The perforated cladding signifies radio waves. Design: Meyer en van Schoten Architecten. Realisation: Strukton Infratechniek.
There is some controversy over the name. The municipality of Hilversum still calls it ‘De Kijkbuis’, ProRail (the Dutch rail infrastructure organization), and the architects, prefer ‘Via de Kijkbuis´.
The footbridge replaced an earlier one that was demolished in 2013.
Shot on our way to the ´50 Year Het simplistisch verbond’ - ´Toen werd nu’ pop-up exhibition in ‘Beeld en Geluid’.
This is number 1579 of the Minimalism / Explicit Graphism album,
16 of Tunnel vision and 11 of Stickmen leaving - pics with exit signs.
The Varsity Theater opened in 1906 as the first nickelodeon - a movie theater with an admission fee of one nickel - in the Champaign/Urbana area. The building itself dates to about 1880.
The theater went through several metamorphosis' over the 116 years. In the late 1920s, The Varsity made the industry-wide transition to sound films. In 1943, the Varsity Theater was extensively remodeled (and renamed the Rex Theater), as a 330-seat Art Moderne style theater. It featured new projection equipment, new leather seating, air-conditioning and a cream and blue color scheme in the auditorium. The Rex Theater was advertised as “completely fireproof” when it reopened with the Sonia Henie film “Iceland”.
In 1948, the theater received another new name, the Illini Theater. A decade later, the Illini Theater was, along with the Park Theater (now the recently shuttered New Art), acquired by the Art Theatre Guild, which began a policy of art and foreign fare at both theaters.
For a brief period (1963-66), the Illini Theater became the Encore Theater, operating as a revival house. In 1966, the theater returned to its former name, the Illini Theater, and two years later, began screening adult features, along with the New Art Theater (at the time called simply the Art Theater).
The Illini Theater was shuttered in 1983, after nearly fifteen years as an adult theater. Four years later, the Illini Theater was purchased by a church, and it continued to serve in this capacity until 1997, when the church moved out. Since then the building has been renovated and remodeled and for several years operated as a bar, known as the Highdive Club, featuring live music. The Highdive Club closed its doors in 2015, the same year I took this photograph. Today the old theater is part of The Venue CU, an upscale urban wedding and event space that occupies both the former theater and Vriner's next door - which has its own interesting history.
The Vriner's building was constructed in 1890 as a clothing store, but was repurposed as Veiner's Confectionery in 1898. Of the five or six candy shops operating in Champaign at the turn of the century, Vriner's was the longest-lived. The shop's location next to The Varsity theater and near Champaign's railroad station, made it popular with patrons of both. The store also led to an influx of Greek immigrants to Champaign, as Vriner's promised jobs to many of the new immigrants.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Although the Vriner family still makes candy, the confectionery store closed in 1997 and the brand no longer has a permanent storefront. At the time this photo was taken, a country bar occupied the building.
The former Varsity Theater is a contributing property within the Champaign Downtown Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020, while the former Vriner's Confectionery is separately listed in the National Register of Historic Places. As previously mentioned, both buildings are now part of The Venue CU.
Located in Champaign County in east central Illinois, the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana are the home of the University of Illinois. The population of the City of Champaign at the 2020 census was 88,302, while Champaign County had a population of 205,865.
Sources:
Cinema Treasures, Illini Theater, Champaign, Illinois; National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Vriner's Confectionery, Champaign, Illinois and National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Champaign Downtown Commercial District
The Castle is stunning by itself, but in fall it is embellished by clones of aspen that vary in color and form. West Elks Wilderness, Colorado.
Mill Creek (not visible from this vantage) is beyond the dry shrubs but beneath the aspen. A trail named Mill Castle Creek follows the creek through the valley and then climbs steeply to a bench that commands a view of the entire valley.