View allAll Photos Tagged methodical
Black Knights on Patrol
The men and women of Task Force 3-66 are actively patrolling western Paktika province, taking the fight to the insurgents. Since assuming responsibility for the area, the Black Knights have been methodically clearing district after district to allow the provincial government to provide security and development. Western Paktika is essentially a rest stop for insurgents linked to Sirajuddin Haqqani traveling from Pakistan and continuing west. The heat, elevated terrain, and harsh landscape of Paktika province are unforgiving allies of these enemies of Afghanistan. With limited road networks the primary mode of travel here is walking. The relentless training planned and executed by the leaders of Task Force 3-66 back in Germany is now paying off.
Combine harvesters were at work bringing in the late corn along Caughey Road on Big Island, Prince Edward County. Through the telephoto lens the jagged yellow stubble dissolved into a uniform canvas, providing a pleasing backdrop for this portrait of a Common Redpoll.
Since late summer a succession of northern birds have been streaming through the County heading south, triggered by the failure of the wild food crop in the boreal forest. It started with Red-breasted Nuthatches and Purple Finches in late August, followed by a wave of Pine Siskin in September. Evening Grosbeaks arrived and left in October, and now in November Common Redpolls are moving through.
Most of my time here is spent along the exposed shore of Lake Ontario - Prince Edward Point, Charwell Point, and Point Petre. When birds on the move arrive at the waters' edge, they struggle to reconcile two contradictory signals. One is the overwhelming urge to leave the north. The other is a deep reluctance to cross open water. First thing in the morning they swirl in flocks above the shoreline, repeatedly venturing out over the vast lake and then back to the safety of land. Somehow they are able to continue on, evidenced by myriad reports from US birdwatchers joyfully announcing the arrival of northern visitors.
Big Island, where this photo was taken, is well inland from Lake Ontario. The big flock of redpoll to which this individual belonged was relaxed, feeding calmly and methodically in the dry goldenrod along the road - a far cry from their near-frenzied behaviour as they confront the lake. Soon, maybe even tomorrow morning, the birds will arrive at the shore and face the crossing. This one looks ready for the challenge.
In the rugged Cross Timbers of Oklahoma, the Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia), the sole member of its genus, forages uniquely. This bark-gleaning specialist creeps methodically along trunks and limbs like a nuthatch, aided by an elongated hind claw and slightly decurved bill to probe crevices for arthropods, often before full leaf-out in spring.
Its diagnostic high-pitched song—a repetitive, thin weesy-weesy-weesy-weesy (or see-wee series)—echoes through the understory. One of the few warblers breeding in central Oklahoma, it constructs a cup nest on the ground, concealed amid leaf litter or grass tussocks at tree bases. A striking monochrome resident of these ancient ecotonal forests
Check out Oklahoma's newest group, Sooner Shutters.
As we concluded my final excursion into the Costa Rican rain forest, we boarded the van for the 1.5-hour drive back from the Tenorio Volcano National Park to our hotel. Without warning, I felt a bit of sadness slipping into my heart. I had been blessed in so many ways on this particular adventure that its origin confused me.
Maybe it was the lack of good quality monkey time…maybe it was the fact that I nearly died climbing up the side of Tenorio Volcano! Maybe it was the realization that my time in this special place was nearly over and that chances are that I will not return. Then God decided to grant one more prayer.
When our tour guide Steven jumped out of his seat, twisted his entire body towards the passenger window and started excitingly telling the driver in Spanish to pull over quickly. I knew he had spotted something special. Our driver did a fantastic job of whipping us the out of heavy highway traffic, placing the van in the grass at a pretty steep angle…then backing the van back down the highway several hundred yards, much more quickly than any of his passengers were comfortable with!
Our guide, with his face glued to his window signaled the driver to stop with his left hand while opening his door while still moving with his right. He jumped out of the van, slid the side door open quickly while looking right into my eyes saying “Come…come quickly my friend!”
I’m pretty sure that I just lifted my feet from the floor, did a one cheek butt twist (Only those of us who actually disco danced in the 1970’s can do this, so don’t try this at home!) and slid out of the van into the grassy highway berm below. Steven then started jogging down the highway all the while pointing to the trees just behind a house now in front of us. To my amazement, Steven had spotted a large male Thee-toed sloth moving about as if on a mission. The sadness that had crept into my heart was gone faster than if it was in a jet fighters ejection seat!
As the sloth methodically moved from one side of the tree to the next, I captured dozens and dozens of shots. I was so focused on the sloth in the trees above that I didn’t even see the home’s owner until he was about fifteen feet away from us shouting something in Spanish and waiving his arms. Steven started shouting back. I assumed his concern was with the van parked in the grass…but Steven quickly informed us that he was claiming to be a sloth sanctuary, and was demanding payment. I’m not sure exactly what was said, but it looked as if Steven called his bluff, and he eventually just went back inside.
What a show this fellow put on, hanging upside-down twice for no apparent reason, as if he wanted his picture taken, eating from some type of elongated fruit and just hanging and looking at us…as pictured here.
When it was time to go, Steven asked if I got some good photos…my response was to snatch him up and give him a *hug …a reaction that caught us both off guard.
A little over an hour later we arrived at our hotel, ten and a half hours later in the day than our departure…exhausted, sunburnt and blessed! My 10-15 minutes capturing the coveted Three-toed sloth (considered by most to be prettier that its cousin the Two-toed) was the perfect ending to my last excursion. After dinner with the Mrs. and friends, I slept like the dead.
*It was a masculine bro-hug!!
Adventure before dementia!
Black Knights on Patrol
The men and women of Task Force 3-66 are actively patrolling western Paktika province, taking the fight to the insurgents. Since assuming responsibility for the area, the Black Knights have been methodically clearing district after district to allow the provincial government to provide security and development. Western Paktika is essentially a rest stop for insurgents linked to Sirajuddin Haqqani traveling from Pakistan and continuing west. The heat, elevated terrain, and harsh landscape of Paktika province are unforgiving allies of these enemies of Afghanistan. With limited road networks the primary mode of travel here is walking. The relentless training planned and executed by the leaders of Task Force 3-66 back in Germany is now paying off.
Black Knights on Patrol
The men and women of Task Force 3-66 are actively patrolling western Paktika province, taking the fight to the insurgents. Since assuming responsibility for the area, the Black Knights have been methodically clearing district after district to allow the provincial government to provide security and development. Western Paktika is essentially a rest stop for insurgents linked to Sirajuddin Haqqani traveling from Pakistan and continuing west. The heat, elevated terrain, and harsh landscape of Paktika province are unforgiving allies of these enemies of Afghanistan. With limited road networks the primary mode of travel here is walking. The relentless training planned and executed by the leaders of Task Force 3-66 back in Germany is now paying off.
American Crows are familiar over much of the continent: large, intelligent, all-black birds with hoarse, cawing voices. They are common sights in treetops, fields, and roadsides, and in habitats ranging from open woods and empty beaches to town centers. They usually feed on the ground and eat almost anything—typically earthworms, insects and other small animals, seeds, and fruit; also garbage, carrion, and chicks they rob from nests. Their flight style is unique, a patient, methodical flapping that is rarely broken up with glides.
Black Knights on Patrol
The men and women of Task Force 3-66 are actively patrolling western Paktika province, taking the fight to the insurgents. Since assuming responsibility for the area, the Black Knights have been methodically clearing district after district to allow the provincial government to provide security and development. Western Paktika is essentially a rest stop for insurgents linked to Sirajuddin Haqqani traveling from Pakistan and continuing west. The heat, elevated terrain, and harsh landscape of Paktika province are unforgiving allies of these enemies of Afghanistan. With limited road networks the primary mode of travel here is walking. The relentless training planned and executed by the leaders of Task Force 3-66 back in Germany is now paying off.
When the birds decide to lift off they all begin the accent with a methodical and talkative fashion.
Legate Mark slowly leads his legion deeper and deeper into enemy territory.
One of Mark's tribunes Titus Labienus seemed anxious as to their speed.
"Legate Mark, are we not moving at to sluggish a pace to reach the city by nightfall?"
Mark smiled in his usual way.
"Surely you are not impatient, Labienus? You know as well as I that Lampsacus has no walls, Tylis fears its colonies may rebel and prevents them from building fortifications."
Labienus' forehead creased in perplexity.
"What has that to do with our pace of speed?"
Mark turned his head round to face his trusted lieutenant.
"Let me explain my reasoning. I doubt very much we will be given the opportunity to besiege the city itself. The citizens will obviously want to fight us in the most advantageous way possible. That cannot be done while sitting in a defenceless city while waiting for us to surround them. No, they will be coming out to intercept us. Ambushes and surprise attacks are not out of the question, therefore we should proceed with the greatest caution lest we be utterly destroyed."
Labienus raised his eyebrows.
"I now see the logic of a methodical march. Let us hope that the Tylisians are honorable in warfare and do not pounce from the shadows like the barbarians."
Mark felt a rush of exhilaration at the thought of impending battle.
"I have a feeling that they will be warriors of a different mettle my friend."
To Be Continued!
Yes, those are purist leaves.
Yes, those are lavender leaves.
Yes, it's supposed to look like spring! ;)
TFVAHAGD!
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Dog Day Monday: The English Setter is a medium-size breed of dog. It is part of the setter group, which includes the red Irish Setters, Irish Red and White Setters, and black-and-tan Gordon Setters.
A gentle but at times strong-willed, mischievous gun dog, bred for a mix of endurance and athleticism, it is used to hunt for game such as quail, pheasant and grouse. When working, the dog will hunt methodically seeking the airborne scent of its prey. It is sometimes referred to as the Laverack or Llewellin Setter as these were famous strains of the breed during the major development period in the 19th century.
On this day, Minny (with a "y") was showing her stromng-willed side, and had other things on her mind other than having me get a nice portrait for her "dad" who had told me that Minny was brighter than him, knew what her purpose(s) in life were (hunting for toys, staying on step ahead of "mom," and herding the three kids in the family. She was devoted to the three kids, and would meet the school bus every day and make sure the kids got home for which she was paid (or stole) one dog biscuit. For Minny, life was a no lose situation. Btw, she was one of the most beautiful of setters I'd ever seen, white with black spots and tan streaks and I swear she always had a smile. Or maybe that was me.
I use the title “money shot” tongue-in-cheek here since you would have thought that most of the photogs out there with me were going to loose money if they didn’t get the shot. See below to find out what its like for a dillatante like myself trying to get the elusive iconic shot.
OPTIONAL READING:
I am a walk-around photographer. I do not carry a tripod. And photogs that do carry a tripod make me nervous because they are probably better photogs then me. I do OWN a tripod, and I brought it with me to Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park last week to take the above photo. This was the second time (in 10 years of photography) that I have had the courage to try an iconic shot. (The other time was the must-have wide angle shot from “that place” on the Merced River in Yosemite Valley.) Iconic shots scare me for the same reason that tripods scare me. How am I going to add any value to the great global corpus of imagery with my photo? And if I just want a snapshot…….Well, there are plenty available. I know that is a defeatist attitude, but I always feel that my photography has more value when I am taking a unique approach, and there aren’t many unique approaches left at Tunnel View, or Mesa Arch, or “the barn” at Grand Tetons.
So, here we go. Up at 4:30am for the 45 mnt drive from Moab to the Arch. That means that we will get there more than two hours before sunrise. First on site! Right? Wrong. The tripod crowd was already there. (BTW, tri-podders, I like you. Really. “Some of my best friends are tri-podders”.)
So what’s the big deal about getting there early? Glad you asked. Its not just about being there before sunrise. It’s about being there FIRST! You see, the first photog on the ground choses the near-point for everyone else that shows up. Its like planting a flag. You plant your tri-pod. If you have a 24mm lens, you will plant it at a distance that allows you to get at 24mm shot. If you have a 14mm lens, you will probably plant it a bit closer to the subject. So if you are an ultra-wide angle dude/dudette and you show up AFTER the 24mm guy has planted his tripod....you are NOT going to get the shot you came for. (BTW, the tri-pod crowd always comes for a SPECIFIC shot. Its the money shot. Its the one that they have in their heads before they arrive. They have visualized everything. So you can imagine their disappointment if that first flag (tripod) is going to stand between them and their artistic vision.)
So, anyway, back to our story. We showed up 2 hrs 15 mnts before sunrise, and not surprisingly, we were not first. The most bad-assed of the tri-podders had slept (or sat) in their cars all night at the trailhead, 10 munutes away. And in this case, the flag-planter was a 24mm guy. Now really, I did NOT care. Us non-tri-podders have no real “artistic expectations”. We’re just there to see what happens and to see if we can find anything interesting/unique. So, I sunk in my $49 tripod (more about that later) and started getting down to business. (Business for me, in this case, was figuring out how the damn thing worked.)
So there are 4 of us now, and to be honest, its a pleasant group. Nice folks. My buddy (a tri-podder) told me that there would be another 100 or so photogs on the ground before sunrise. I blew him off. No way. There is only room for about 15 tripods infront of the arch, even at the 24mm line. I was wrong.
Photogs 5 and 6 were actually pros….the only pros I was aware of that morning. (I think a pro is someone that does photography for money, but I’m not sure. Most people that make money on photography are stuck in studios, since iconic landscapes cannot write checks. Sometimes, people call other people pros because of their gear, or because they have a following..... in this case these two guys shot for a company that did media for the Utah Tourism Board....so I’ll call them pros.) Anyway, they were clearly frustrated by the situation they found. Lots of whispering among the “original four”..... “Well if they wanted a specific shot, they should have gotten here earlier.” I kind of agreed, but I felt bad for them too. They HAD to get the shot. I shouldn’t have felt bad though. They were pro’s and they knew what to do next. Here began a long process of negotiating that I will refer to as “bending the line”. They slowly moved forward with their wide angle glass on the left end of the line. We were all supposed to give them feedback of when/if they started getting into our shots. This was a 10 mnt process during which time the original geometry was mutilated and more than one of us, ended up changing our approach in deference to “the pros”. (Really nice guys though, and the rest of the tri-pod crowd seemed to accept the process as a completely natural phenomenon.). The original tri-pod did remain in place for the 24mm shot. I had to move up a bit...no big deal really. That being said, I was not having fun. Really!? I have to stand here for another TWO hours to take one photo. (Its a walk-around thing. You tri-podders wouldn’t understand.)
By the time that the pros are finished adjusting the line, there are more than 15 photogs there and I found out just how many tri-pods fit in a single line. A lot. So many that if you so much as jiggle your tripod, there will be gnashing of teeth as the seismic vibrations travel down the long line. Now we have so many photogs on site that they are starting to stack up behind us, and that makes me REALLY nervous. What are they doing behind us? Are they waiting for us to give up? Pass out? Do they have some plan on how they are going to take our places? Creepy. And I’m still not having fun.
So, now its time to introduce the concept of the “Alpha Photographer”. The alpha photog may not have been the first on the scene, but he/she takes charge of the line....kind of a battle captain, so to speak. Really, it seemed kind of a logical progression to be honest. By this time, things were getting kind of chaotic and the alpha restored some degree of order. “OK, no white lights for 20 seconds. We are going to light the arch with a red flashlight.” “OK, you are free to use your headlamps for the next two minutes”. “OK, milky way shooters, this one is for you. Single light on arch, all others dark.”. Even the non-English speakers in the line seemed to get it. I think maybe the instructions were interspersed with some kind of universal tri-podder code....
With order somewhat restored by the alpha, the zombie photogs behind us, seemed to accept their fates and began moving towards what I will refer to as “non-traditional” vantage points. Lots of sighing. Lots of comments about how they never dreamed that there would be so many people out here on a Saturday morning in October. (I tended to agree.)
So fast-forward a bit. We are about thirty minutes from sunrise, and a new crowd is arriving. Its the hard-core nature crowd. They’re here to watch the sunrise at Mesa Arch. I get it, completely. What a beautiful place, and quite frankly, if I thought I could step away from the tripod line without having my spot stolen, I would be doing the same thing they were doing.....just finding a comfortable place to sit and enjoy the grandeur of nature unfolding in one earth’s most beautiful places. Not so fast though. Tri-podders do NOT LIKE these people. Well, maybe “do not like” is a little exagerated. Lets just say that they do not understand them, and as humans we tend to be suspicious about things that we do not understand. The nature crowd is there to absorb beauty, while the tri-podder is there to capture it. These two very respectable approaches do not always exist symbiotically. I can still remember the “smell of fear” as a nature dude and dudette climbed onto the bridge of the Arch for a look-see into the canyon. “Would they stay?” “Did they understand the tri-podders’ aesthetic requirements....do they understand that humans CANNOT be in the shot?” “If they do try to stay, what will we do? Will the Alpha go talk to them, and gently explain?” “If this gets ugly, then CERTAINLY we can call a ranger. The ranger will make them get off of the arch, right? The ranger understands the tri-podders needs, right?” Thankfully, these questions in our case did not need to be answered. The nature lovers (not really sure if they were really lovers) looked around and descended on their own. Sigh of relief down the line. Another obstacle to that perfect shot averted.
Its now 15 minutes before sunrise. There are indeed well over 100 poeple on the ground now, at least 50 of whom are tri-podders. Lots of anxiety building along the line, as the sky starts to glow a bit. “Is this really the composition I want?” (Of course the only option available to change a composition at this point is to adjust focal length.) While there has been some night-time photography going on, under the supervision of the Alpha, the money shot is the approaching sun-burst as it reveals itself between the bridge and base of the arch. The time window is short, and each photog in the line is going to want to take multiple exposures during the event. So you really do have to have a plan. I don’t. I’m pretty much just set to Aperture Priority: F16 on my Sony A7R. BTW, I don’t think the tri-podders are into Sony. Mostly a Canikon crowd. That being said, I can tell you what tri-podders ARE into. Tripods. Boy, are they into tri-pods. How did they GET those tri-pods to the Utah desert from Sweden, Japan, Spain and Seattle? These things are not “travel tri-pods”. They are massive wonders of engineering, some of which remind me of the robot invaders in Tom Cruise’s rendition of “War of the Worlds”. I saw tripod heads that would have made an astronaut dizzy.
OK, enough equipment talk. Time to introduce a new character. I will refer to him as as the “Photographer Taxpayer”. Photographer Taxpayer pays his taxes and has a right to be wherever he wants to be. By gosh, is this a NOT a public place? Apparently, the profile of the taxpayer photographer is pretty consistent: white, male….. late 40’s to early 60’s. (Hmmm….like me.) Usually American, but occasionally French. (I am told that a French taxpayer showed up a in a slot canyon nearby last year and eventually had to be engaged in fist-to-cuffs. And I am told that what I am experiencing here at Mesa Arch is a picnic compared to the stress and interpersonal friction that occurs among tri-podders in certain slot canyons at the precise time that the light fliters in.)
Anyway, its never good if taxpayer photographer shows up. Ours showed up at about 10 mnts before sunrise. I will say this…… He was not a tri-podder. At least not that day. He had a pretty nice rig, but it was built for mobility. He stepped right in front of everyone...right into the window of the arch. Tension. Yes. There was tension. Thank God for the alpha. “Sir, I believe that you are blocking the shots of many of the photographers who have been here for several hours.” That, apparently, is a very important step in dealing with the taxpayer. You have to politely raise the issue of their unfortunate positioning. This gives the taxpayer the opportunity to explain himself. “I don’t believe anyone here owns this property. I have just as much right to be here as anyone. I’ll move when I’m done with my photos”. Anxiety ratchets up across the line. What will the alpha do now? We certainly can’t just allow this to continue. We are tri-podders by gosh, and we are here to get the shot. No need to worry though. The main reason that the taxpayer stepped into the arch was the opportunity to share his libertarian (“small l”) views. He has done so, with grace and passion, so he is now free to move on. “He will move on, right?” There is one more requisite step for the taxpayer. He must take several photos of the slowly illuminating canyon below, and then move a couple of steps to take a few more. He does this to ensure that we know that the previous exchange had no impact on him. He is his own man. He keeps his own counsel. He finally exits, stage-right. Would he be back? Or had we survived our requisite encounter with the taxpayer this morning without any real altercation… It turns out that we had indeed survived. And I am thankful. Another photog told me that things had gotten physical with a taxpayer at another arch just three weeks prior. I feel relieved. I really am not a confrontational person and it was all making me kind of anxious....as if I wasn’t anxious enough after almost two and a half hours of quasi-methodical tri-pod madness.
The sun rose. I stuck with one exposure setting and played around a bit with my focal length. Well, that’s not really true. I took a couple of shots on auto HDR. I did not do well with that. A bit slow....got some artifacting in camera. Tri-Podders just shoot the bracketed frames and then do the blending later in Photomatix. Much nicer.
I can’t say I am disappointed in my shot.....after some gross manipulation of dynamic range in post-processing. I guess I would have been happier if I could have gotten a bit wider....but since I had no particular expectations, I think things turned out fine.
Looking back, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I got to spend over two hours with some of the most knowledgeable and generous photographers I have ever met. I gained a lot of respect for their craft, whether hobbyist or professional. Tri-pod photographers deal with technical and interpersonal issues that I could never master, and for which I do not have the patience. I will stick to walking around and snapping photos of butterflies, or my cat.......or the Goodyear Blimp (I live near Akron.) That’s the stuff that makes me happy.
Also, I don’t like waking up early.
First You Have to Shoot One… So I Did ;-)
This may actually be a Raven.
American Crows are familiar over much of the continent: large, intelligent, all-black birds with hoarse, cawing voices. They are common sights in treetops, fields, and roadsides, and in habitats ranging from open woods and empty beaches to town centers. They usually feed on the ground and eat almost anything – typically earthworms, insects and other small animals, seeds, and fruit but also garbage, carrion, and chicks they rob from nests. Their flight style is unique, a patient, methodical flapping that is rarely broken up with glides.
American Crows are very social, sometimes forming flocks in the millions. Inquisitive and sometimes mischievous, crows are good learners and problem-solvers, often raiding garbage cans and picking over discarded food containers. They’re also aggressive and often chase away larger birds including hawks, owls and herons.
American Crows are common birds of fields, open woodlands, and forests. They thrive around people, and you’ll often find them in agricultural fields, lawns, parking lots, athletic fields, roadsides, towns, and city garbage dumps.
Moments after photographing the Purple Martins (previous image), I noticed this large, cool-water jellyfish just off the wharf. Most descriptions suggest this species attains a maximum diameter of about two feet, which fits the one in the above photo, although earlier in 2019 a far more massive specimen was seen and photographed in BC waters (and created quite a social media stir). Unlike other jellyfish, they are relatively harmless to humans, their sting comparatively mild. I would not recommend touching one, though. It feeds primarily on smaller jellies.
As a photographer, I seem to vacillate between artist and scientist. I've was never careful or methodical enough to become a scientist, though; I just want to know how things work, interact, change, fit together. Here, I was in "artist mode", looking at texture, shape, and colour. As I leaned out over the water for this shot, I thought it was incredibly beautiful: the rich, creamy-yellow of the bell; the long threadlike tentacles stretching out a good 15 feet. The water itself reflected clouds and parts of the wharf. The soft light produced an almost dreamlike rendition, like a watercolour. Which, in a way, it was.
Photographed at the Oak Bay Marina in Victoria, British Columbia (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2019 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Dear Cherries,
The unforeseen circumstances have caused us to drift apart. You were my only solace from a world that have only made me giddy and confused.
The change of my voice is the one thing that I try hard to hide from you, hoping not to sound so wistful.. and the pensive look in my eyes, that we both decide to ignore
When the gaps start to fill again, when the shreds of hope appear, when the ominous signs and happenings stop, the glimmer of sadness in my eyes starts to slowly fade away, only to return after the end of our reunion. This routine seems to many methodical, systematic, orderly, on and off .. but only those who expect the worse accept that.
Dear Cherries,
I expect you to feel the same way, to return the blaming. But I want you to know that it's nothing but natural, what's happening. For none of us can judge on those circumstances. But if an intruder did, and titles me as the sinner, I would like to sincerely apologize for that.
- Julia Child.
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As a child during my early teenage years, I was a bit of a handful for my parents to manage. And then when my dad had to take a work assignment that only kept him about half a year with us, my mother had enough and demanded my Dad do something to set me right. Her solution was to send me to military school, but my dad decided to give me one of his old Pentax cameras and couple of rolls of film. I am pretty sure she was very suspicious of this practice, but the methodical aspect of film photography made me calm and helped a lot in adjusting my hyperactivity. Plus the extreme high cost of developing film contributed to my thriftiness as well.
One of the special things about that old Pentax was a certain look, it managed to nail when the light was just right. Recently when we had family visit us, we took them to San Diego Zoo and walked by the pink flamingo exhibit. I took a couple of shot with my D500 and 70-200 f4 combo. While processing, certain images caught my eye as they looked exactly like the outputs of my old Pentax. Needless to say bought back a lot of old memories.
Small bird by the sea, seen in The Mewia Łacha Reserve :)
The dunlin (Calidris alpina) is a small wader in the genus Erolia. It is a circumpolar breeder in Arctic or subarctic regions. Birds that breed in northern Europe and Asia are long-distance migrants, wintering south to Africa, southeast Asia and the Middle East. Birds that breed in Alaska and the Canadian Arctic migrate short distances to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America. Body length approx. 16–22 cm. The food of the dunlins are small invertebrates, incl. worms, snails, clams, mosquito and crustacean larvae, and green plant parts. They moves along the coastal mudflat beaches it prefers, methodically picking small food items. The dunlin has an extremely large range and although the population appears to be decreasing, the population is still very large. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has judged that the threat to the species is of "Least concern".
Mewia Łacha (Seagull Shoal) Reserve is located on both sides of the Vistula, on The Gdańsk Bay, which since the 19th Century has been led through an artificial canal called Przekop Wisły (literally, “the Vistula Dug-through”). Part of the reserve lies on its western side, Sobieszewska Island, while the larger, eastern part is located in the Stegna Commune, near Mikoszewo. The reserve was established mainly for the purpose of protecting the sites where thousands of migratory and sea birds gather in order to build nests and brood their eggs. This place is very attractive for birds mainly due to the limited availability of uninhabited land in the Baltic area, especially the sandy islands on which birds feel safe both from people and their natural enemies, of which the foxes living nearby are the worst. Among the birds benefiting from the reserve are various species of seagulls and terns. However, there are other animals protected in this area. As a curiosity, groups of seals varying in number can be encountered there. In addition, lakes and ponds in the area of the reserve are inhabited by beavers. The protection level enforced here does not prohibit visiting the reserve, as there is a special path from which one can admire the beauty of nature. The "Mewia Łacha" reserve was established in 1991. Its aim is to preserve the breeding sites of water and marsh birds, the resting places of migratory birds and the landscape of the Vistula river mouth. Here they nest grebes, swans, ducks, coots, oysters, plovers, gulls and four species of terns. Its area is 131.55 ha.
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Biegus pstryknięty w rezerwacie Mewia Łacha :)
Biegus zmienny - (Calidris alpina) – gatunek ptaka z rodziny bekasowatych (Scolopacidae), najpospolitszy wśród biegusów. Zamieszkuje głównie tereny północnej Europy i Azji oraz Kanady, gdzie się rozmnaża. Zimą migrują na duże odległości, do południowej Afryki, południowo-wschodniej Azji i na Bliski Wschód. W Polsce spotyka się te ptaki na przelotach w marcu-maju oraz lipcu-listopadzie. Długość ciała ok. 16–22 cm. Pożywieniem biegusów są drobne bezkręgowce, m.in. robaki, ślimaki, małże, skąposzczety, larwy komarów i skorupiaków, oraz zielone części roślin. Szukają go w miękkim mulistym podłożu. Międzynarodowa Unia Ochrony Przyrody (IUCN) uznaje biegusa zmiennego za gatunek najmniejszej troski. W Polsce podlega ścisłej ochronie gatunkowej. Zagrożeniami dla tego gatunku są osuszanie podmokłych łąk lub szybkie ich zarastanie trzciną i niszczenie terenów lęgowych, a dla ptaków wędrujących – ubywanie naturalnych plaż i ich nadmierna penetracja przez ludzi.
Rezerwat Mewia Łacha położony jest po obu stronach ujścia Wisły, nad Zatoką Gdańską, od końca XIX wieku poprowadzonej sztucznie wykopanym kanałem zwanym "Przekopem Wisły". Część rezerwatu leży po jego zachodniej stronie, na Wyspie Sobieszewskiej, większa zaś, wschodnia w gminie Stegna, w pobliżu Mikoszewa. Rezerwat założono głównie w celu ochrony miejsc, w których gromadzą się tysiące ptaków by zakładać gniazda i wysiadywać jaja. Jest to miejsce bardzo atrakcyjne dla ptaków ze względu na bardzo trudną dostępność niektórych terenów, zwłaszcza zaś piaszczystych wysepek, na których ptaki czują się bezpiecznie zarówno przed ludźmi, jak i naturalnymi wrogami, z żyjącymi w pobliżu lisami na czele. Wśród korzystających z dobrodziejstw rezerwatu ptaków dominują rozmaite gatunki mew i rybitw. Nie są to jednak jedyne chronione na tym obszarze zwierzęta. Prawdziwą osobliwością są widywane tam regularnie mniejsze lub większe gromadki fok. Jeziorka i sadzawki na terenie rezerwatu zamieszkiwane są przez bobry. Ścisłość ochrony nie wyklucza możliwości odwiedzenia rezerwatu, funkcjonuje w nim bowiem specjalnie wytyczona ścieżka, z której podziwiać można naturalne piękno przyrody. Rezerwat „Mewia Łacha” został utworzony w 1991 r. Jego celem jest zachowanie miejsc lęgowych ptaków wodno – błotnych, miejsc odpoczynku ptaków wędrownych i krajobrazu stożka usypowego ujścia Wisły. Gniazduj ą tutaj m.in. perkozy, łabędzie, kaczki, łyski, ostrygojady, sieweczki, mewy i cztery gatunki rybitw. Jest to największe skupisko lęgowisk rybitw w Polsce. Jego powierzchnia wynosi 131,55 ha.
Varied Sittella (Orange-winged) (Daphoenositta chrysoptera chrysoptera), Nurragingy Reserve, Blacktown, NSW, Australia
Ebird checklist:
ebird.org/australia/checklist/S129401738
Tiny, short-tailed bird with a thin, slightly upturned bill. Yellow eyering in all plumages, but different subspecies vary tremendously in plumage, ranging from black-headed to white-headed, streaked and unstreaked; in flight all, show prominent pale wingstripe. Inhabits woodlands, where usually seen in small flocks that methodically clamber along tree trunks, probing for insects in bark. Birds give frequent “chip-chip” call as they forage.
Source: Ebird
The Playing of His Game
Combining the subtle techniques of distraction and sleight of hand that would be the envy of magicians and pickpockets alike, Arsene methodically worked the room.
Lifting jewels after precious jewels form the very well dressed, lovely and wealthy ladies’ present.
If you like this tale and Capture, please feel free to tag yourself...
Just after dawn, as Volcan Arenal belched huge clouds of gases (greatly worrying me about my safety, while the locals went on about their business — ‘Don’t you know that thing is about to blow!?!), I methodically addressed a field of lobster claws searching for photogenic subjects. Sometimes I just get lucky and find a striking image that I couldn’t imagine — this was one of those times.
Photo Copyright 2005, Steve Hopson.
An empty (pilfered?) Little Free Contentious Library.
Decatur (Decatur Square), Georgia, USA.
4 May 2025.
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▶ "In the space of a year, June 2021-June 2022, over 1,600 titles were banned from school systems across the U.S. These book bans occurred in 138 school districts in 32 states, representing 5,049 schools with a combined enrollment of nearly 4 million students.
The majority of book bans underway are not organic expressions of citizen concern. They are the methodical work of a growing number of oppressive, advocacy organizations that have made demanding censorship of certain books and ideas in schools part of their mission - books by authors of color, by LGBTQ+ authors, by women. Books about racism, sexuality, gender, history."
— Little Free Contentious Library
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▶ Photo by: YFGF.
▶ For a larger image, type 'L' (without the quotation marks).
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▶ Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 II.
— Lens: Olympus M.40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R.
— Edit: Photoshop Elements 15, Nik Collection (2016).
▶ Commercial use requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.
Shooting and post-processing mobile landscape photography is a lot of fun. There is so much that you can do with editing apps when you really learn how to use them. Processed in Snapseed. If you look at this image, and you're very familiar with photography, you'll realize that the contrast range of this scene exceeded the camera's abilities. No HDR. Just good old fashioned slow, methodical, and meaningful edits using masks.
The Tit Hylia (Pholidornis rushiae) is one of West Africa’s smallest forest birds, It is also the smallest bird native to Africa! a delicate and easily overlooked presence high in the canopy. Cloaked in soft green tones that mirror surrounding leaves, it moves quietly through fine branches, often betraying its presence only with a thin, high-pitched call. Tiny yet energetic, it forages methodically for insects along twigs and foliage, rewarding patient observation rather than quick glances.
Strongly associated with mature forest, the Tit Hylia favours dense woodland where its subtle plumage provides near-perfect camouflage. Its unobtrusive behaviour and preference for shaded, leafy habitats make sightings brief but memorable, especially for those willing to pause and watch carefully.
This photograph was taken from the canopy walkway in Kakum National Park, Ghana — one of the highest and most exhilarating canopy walks in Africa. Suspended high above the forest floor, the walkway offers a rare perspective into the upper levels of the rainforest, where birds like the Tit Hylia spend much of their lives. Photographing such a small, active species from such a high canopy added an extra layer of challenge, making the encounter all the more rewarding.
An Idea from Instagram. I came across from this National Park Service Instagram posting earlier in 2019 (www.instagram.com/p/BzMOBsanD52/?igshid=1anq99ejfc8ql) and loved the view across the wildflowers and rolling hillsides. I normally visit national parks on my travels, but this one does look like a place to perhaps visit to take in a morning or late afternoon with sunset!
To the painting, I once again practiced using Adobe Fresco and painted with the Live brushes that app has on my iPad Pro. My thinking was to methodically paint across setting, first starting with the nearby wildflowers. I painted a little bit of the backdrop and then the petals and stems of the wildflowers. I figured having the background colors, would make it easier to then have a contrast of colors that stood out for the wildflowers. I then worked on the next challenge with the hillsides and having a broad paint stroke for a more distant view. That thinking also went into painting the grove of trees. Make it distinct but not a lot into details. The skies were the last part. I didn’t want a bland sky that I saw in the image on Instagram. A sunset with bold, vibrant colors would be needed. I decided that a blend of yellows, red, and even darker earth tones would work. The thing I love about Adobe Fresco is how Live brushes allow a blending of colors like one might do with actual painting. So much to practice learn, and love with this app!
In the bottom, center foreground of the digital painting, you'll find that stick figure image of me "hiking" with my Cubbies hat, imagining a time spent exploring this area!
Philadelphia, PA. T4 (left) caught a pigeon and as he methodically de-feathered the carcass, F2 (right) made it clear that she wanted some. Eventually she flew in to attempt to snatch it up but he moved away. He did eventually let her take it from him on another nearby perch.
Macro Mondays, theme: Knolling
Seeds (top to bottom): 6 x cornflower, 4 x buckwheat, 10 x chives, 9 x calendula, 2 x sunflower, 23 x dill, 3 x lupin & 6 x mallow, from a pack of mixed seeds for attracting pollinating insects.
I'm not usually very organised or methodical, so had not tried knolling before & was surprised to find that I enjoyed it (& I now know exactly what remains in my packet of mixed seeds!)
Thanks for comments, HMM!
The Family is out of town. I mentioned this to a guy at work and he said, so what are you doin' with your time? I said photos of course. He laughed a little and said, "hobbies, cool".
It struck me as odd. I don't see photography as a hobby. Its so much more than that to me. I don't want to be chessy and say its how I define my reality, but I will say that it lets others see the world as I do. I sure like that.
Anyway, this is Spirit Falls in the Columbia River Gorge. I still have yet to see all the falls in the Gorge, but they are all on my bucket list. I did lots of research on how to get there. Many have described the trip correctly, and many have not. Its not true that there is no trail. The trail is there, and not all that hard to find. A lot of it is slide areas where you simply slide down the hill. But it is true that climbing out is not at all fun. I had a friend who had a silly theory, he said you are born with a specific number of heartbeats. If you work out, you burn them all off and die sooner. That's why skinny old ladys who stay home all day, smoke, and eat piazza live to 130. Silly I know, but if true, I lost about 2 years of my life climbing out because my heart was going like crazy.
When you park the car the trail is a bit hard to find. You have to walk to the side of essentially a cliff and look down. The trail is down the cliff. Once to get past that its not that hard to go down. Coming up is the harder task.
Once down there it took me a good 1/2 hour to figure out how everyone got the pictures they did. Many have shot from up high, near a large, and fantastic, tree. Its the obvious location of choice. I expected to shot from there too. However, the trees have grown over and now blocked the view. I was not going to be jerk who busted the branches to get an image. I just had to find another way.
Others seemed to shoot from another spot, down lower, but there was no way to get down there. See, when you arive, you are up high on a smaller sort of cliff, about 20 feet up, looking down at the falls. The main falls was only one set of falls that were actually down there, but there were creeks falling in the vicinity too. After I looked long and hard, I saw that you had to walk down the creek, along the edge of the 20 foot cliff. After that, you need to actually scramble down the creek waterfall itself, rock by rock and under trees. You could see that others have done this, the good hand holds had a patina to them. So down I went. You do get a little wet, but its the only way down. Once down there, the shots were limitless. This one is a panorama, stacked three across and three down. Even the fish eye could not get the whole scene, so I used a panorama to get it all in. I tried several times to use Photoshop's panorama feature, but it was confused, and could not pull it off, so I had to do it manually. I have to say, it was time consuming, but methodical and I actually enjoyed it. It took about 2 hours on the stitching alone. Slow and steady I guess.
Oh one more thing, the water. Like the others have said, I did not over saturate the water, or change the color. That's the actual color of the water. I have NO idea why the water has that deep turquoise color. But its magical to see.
This location has become my second favorite so far here in Oregon (technically its in the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge). I want to go down there again and shoot a full 360 panorama to try to capture the whole scene. The creek falls are picture worthy in their own right.
A conductor trainee (he's wearing an orange vest) on CSX rides the front of a locomotive making a switch move in Cayce, South Carolina. The conductor, who is out of sight in this photograph, was very methodical with this young man. He let him throw the switches in the yard and made sure he know to look at the rails and make sure the tracks were lined up the right way before he allowed the train to pass over them.
Press L for a larger view.
Preparing for take-off is a bit more methodical for an owl new to flying.
Thanks for stopping by
Great Horned Owl_2892
Mount Rainer, July 2010.
canon 85mm 1.2 L
a blend of several exposures. snow details are lost so easily.
that tall guy was very charismatic. the way he moved around, chosing his position and angle before getting his shot. very methodic. no chimping for him i'd say, but it's a wild guess. i actually don't remember.
for those wondering what that center line is, it's a pole, probably put there to show the road limits when everything is covered with snow.
I photograph on the prairies as many weekends as possible year round, with my window of opportunity I have one or two days to capitalize on conditions the weather person tosses my direction. I'm very fortunate to have the time to enjoy these amazing adventures.
On route South towards the small community of Etzikom in Southern Alberta you'll drive past St. Anthony's Parish country church/cemetary built in 1912-1916 by local voluntary parishioners. The windows are boarded, the door pad locked, and paint chipped and weathered. It makes a great subject for a short 45 km drive from Medicine Hat, AB.
With Autumn in full decor, I walked to the South side where the wind was removing leaves methodically "one by one", and turned my attention to a small school house turned social center in the background just beside the church. Any events held in the prairie church could spill over to this small building and I imagined the social conversations, laughter, celebrations, friendships..... AND importantly food served.
In any event the light was glowing mid day, and the winds were playing the all familiar prairie song. It's an amazing melody in Autumn.
"In 1947 the Bar Voo school house was purchased and moved into the church yard. It served as a social center and catechism classroom....J. Schile"
*Texture courtesy of Skeletal Mess
*Please view LARGE for best rural detail.
In methodical fashion, a crew from the Nevada Northern Railway prepares their big Alco Consolidation #93 for service on the ore line. Having completed a full round of lubrication in the engine house, the crew takes the engine light through the East Ely Yard to the coal tipple and water plug for fuel and water.
This image was captured during a February 2012 winter photo shoot at the Nevada Northern Railway Museum in Ely, NV. The massive coal tipple pictured here is pretty well preserved but is no longer functional. The museum's locomotives are typically coaled today using a front-end loader at a platform just out of view on the right. The large water tank pictured here supplies water for multiple functions within the yard, among them, a couple of standpipes used for watering steam locomotives. One of these is also just out of view on the right.
A small, dark heron arrayed in moody blues and purples, the Little Blue Heron is a common but inconspicuous resident of marshes and estuaries in the Southeast. They stalk shallow waters for small fish and amphibians, adopting a quiet, methodical approach that can make these gorgeous herons surprisingly easy to overlook at first glance.
Bonnet Lake Florida
Canon EOS 90D camera
150-600mm F5-6.3 Sigma DG OS HSM | Contemporary
1/1000 f5.6 ISO2500 400mm
"Dead But Not Forgotten"
// ...new work from the middle of a dust storm at Deadvlei, Namibia
Slowly getting through the Namibia edits; not that I'm in any particular rush. 'Tis the season to be slow, methodical, and edit with a wine in hand!
It had to start raining.
Well, I had another thought, that maybe I could reduce the Shutter Speed and use a Flash discharge, which is milliseconds, to stop the motion of a bee's flapping wings, but that did not work, either.
But, I got this interesting photo. I have not seen this bee before.
Also, I have changed the Menu Settings to use all 51 Focus Points, with 3D tracking, Continuous Servo, and Continuous High Speed Shutter Release . . . All it did was allow me to use the camera like a machinegun, not my usual style of methodical, carefully planned photography.
A gentle reminder about copyright and intellectual property-
Ⓒ Cassidy Photography (All images in this Flickr portfolio)
Click twice on image to enlarge it.
This morning I was checking out a new location in the southern pond and I was able to get down the steep embankment and position myself almost right at the water's edge. As I sat and waited for the birds to return which I had disturbed when I first settled in, this little Wilson's Snipe poked its head out from among the bull rushes about 20 feet away. It started methodically foraging and working its way toward where I was.
I kept perfectly still and used my quiet shutter release mode and it never noticed me over the course of about 10 minutes. It eventually got so close to me that I was not able to focus my zoom lens even at the shortest focal length. At one point it looked like it was going to hop right into my open camera bag! What a wonderful gift this was to start my day!
An "Old School" Acela was southbound at Harmans on the Northeast Corridor. The long-awaited Next Generation of "high speed rail" has slowly but methodically been pushing out the original Acelas.
Someday I will have taken my last shot of one of these things. Perhaps this image is that final one.
Disclosure. I used AI through Lightroom to delete a distracting solar panel in the foreground.
I sit there as she talks to me
Wondering who she might be
She seems familiar like a face I've seen
Her voice speaks methodically
I don't quite grasp the words she says She keeps talking over my head
Her eyes meet mine asking for clarity
I can't help her for my mind as gone back to bed
She stares at me waiting for my reply
My words are tumbling out in a form I don't recognize
I stop mid-sentence wondering why
The words don't come again
She says another line
I stare at her through glazed eyes
She's a stranger to me I am positive
She seems so nice and so kind
I must know her from some time
Alas, I mumble incoherently and turn away
She's only a stranger I say
She's my daughter my child
Asking if I know her and her name.
I wrote that today because my grandma is slowly getting worse. At times, she says she doesn't know who my sister is if my mom is talking about her. She is my mom's mother and she hasn't forgotten her and I hope she never will so she is not as bad as my poem sounds, but it's sad to think that her mind is failing. Tonight she didn't know the difference between a knife, a napkin, and a spoon.
Yesterday, I took stock of the location where the crows landed to potentially* roost for the night and went back this evening well ahead of their expected arrival with a match plan to capture them flying in with some local landmarks in the frame. I waited until darkness fell and well pass the time they normally descend into the city but unfortunately for the crows had a different plan in mind, perhaps their way to humble my pretentions of knowledge. They flew in and settled out of my sight a few city blocks away in a residential single homes area.
It took me awhile to locate them after I spotted and followed some stragglers gliding in. By this time, it was dark and snow was falling heavily in the relatively still air with the crows being for the most part already resting at the top of tall backyard trees. Nonetheless, I was able to get some footage which I will post in some form at a later date. In spite of their well-lit appearance, two images from this evening have been added to the live photo albums. Those were taken with at best only residual natural light availability and relatively long camera shutter speed but including the falling show in the composition.
Although I occasionally offer empirical details and data about the behavior of the crows, I am not pretending to be actively and methodically studying the murders of crows that have been sort of blessing the Kingston sky every evening since mid-November or thereabout. Instead, my preference is to strive to document the phenomenon with a creative eye rather than an investigative one.
That being said, while erroneously waiting for the crows to descend in the area of my expectations, I pondered on what might be triggering them, at pretty well the same time every evening, to lift together in large numbers from their staging sites and commute to the city. Sunset is a possible trigger, although not always visible, indeed rarely seen these days. Has anyone looked at or established any correlation with the time street lights come on and/or light from city houses and buildings offer substantial visibility against the falling darkness?
(*) I often use the term potentially in relation with the crows’ roosting location because they may or may not necessarily spend the night in exactly the same city area they first descend on at sunset.
A Great Egret female patiently waits in the nest for her
babies to be born, with her windswept plumage and
breeding facial color still evident ~ Florida Wetlands U.S.A.
(two more photos in the comments)
A Bumblebee heads towards a pollen rich Yellow Poppy.
Bumblebees are among the most endearing and familiar of our insects. The sight and sound of bees droning methodically from flower to flower is a quintessential part of a summer’s day. Sadly, changes to the farmed countryside have not been kind to bumblebees. The number of species found in most of lowland Britain has halved since 1950. Within the last 70 years two bumblebee species have become nationally extinct and others have experienced major declines and further extinctions may follow in the near future. The reason that bumblebees have declined in the countryside is simple. Bees feed exclusively on pollen and nectar, and there are far fewer flowers in the countryside than there once were. Hedges have been grubbed up and marshes drained. In particular, unimproved grasslands which are rich in wildflowers have been almost entirely swept away, replaced by silage and cereal fields.
Gardens now provide a valuable flower-rich refuge and as a result have become a stronghold for some bumblebee species. Depending on location, and what flowers are grown, there maybe up to a dozen bumblebee species in a garden.
View all of Sean's artworks on his Website, Instagram, Facebook Page, or see them full size in his Gallery
With a place in mythology and folklore, rainbows are both mystical and beautiful. Their existence, always fleeting, results from a union of light – a perfect harmonic amalgamation producing a symbol of supernatural beauty, promise and enlightenment. If you’ve never taken the time to count, you’ll notice now, there’s seven colours in the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.
On the morning I photographed ‘Island Dreaming’, I’d spent countless hours scouting shots, planning angles, waiting for the right weather, re-shooting over and over again to get the perfect image. I never planned to photograph a rainbow. And, with all the planning in the world, likely couldn’t have chased an image so breathtaking even if I’d tried. With elements always out of my control, be it things like weather and lighting, for better or for worse, I’m ecstatic in the moments when nature exerts control and it works in my favour.
The main element in this image, water, has many implications. Offering a sense of renewal, of cleansing and purification, of transformation. And, in some cases, even as a source of life and helping with metamorphosis, water also has the ability to exert complete destruction. More often than not though, the methodical crashing of waves provides a sense of hope and inspiration.
On this day, I woke up a little late, almost convinced myself to stay in bed and sleep in. I ended up making a mad dash for the car, drove north with no particular location in mind just trying to beat the first bit of light. I arrived at this unfamiliar beach and found this little outcrop of rocks along the shore where the waves seemed to be crashing over them just perfectly.
As I set up my camera equipment to watch the sunrise, I noticed that I was racing against time with a receding tide that would be fully out within the next hour. I hurriedly shot a series of images of this amazing time and place. Satisfied with the images I took, I admired the subtle pinks in the sky, with the water appearing silky and delicate as it rolled across the rocks in the foreground. I knew this wouldn’t last forever as the tide rolled out - only a few more minutes and the water would cease to move across the rocks.
Out of nowhere, as if Mother Nature said “But wait… there’s more!”, this rainbow appeared, taking an incredible image to yet another level. With my initial focus solely on the waves, I was thrilled to incorporate this rainbow into the image. Now though, with the tide further and further away from me, I moved from a consistent expectation of waves to waiting patiently for more powerful surges great enough to force the now distant water across the surface of the rocks.
Then it happened, like a grand finale in a fireworks show, the perfect rogue wave showed up. I was ready and waiting for it, I fired off the shutter and the following 0.8 seconds felt like an eternity as I slowly watched the waves crash over the rocks and softly land on the sandy shore in front of me. Within minutes the rainbow disappeared and the tide continued to recede. An important reminder to me, that I don’t always need to source opportunities as they’ll often find me when I’m ready for them.
Sighting a rainbow has long been believed to be a promise of good things to come. If that’s the case, then let’s just say it’s a good thing I didn’t miss this one!
I met this very talented fisherman on an early Fall evening at Burke Lake. His patient, methodical approach to fishing paid dividends in that there were almost a dozen other people fishing on this pier and no one was catching anything....except for this ace. He had a bucket full. It seems that slow and steady truly does win races. :)
“If we bear all this suffering and if there are still Jews left, when it is over, then Jews, instead of being doomed, will be held up as an example.” ― Anne Frank
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This is the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. It is dedicated to the approximately eleven million people who were killed by the German military, under the command of Adolf Hitler. Between 1941 and 1945, Jews, Gypsies, Poles, communists, homosexuals, the mentally and physically disabled, and other ethnic and political minorities were targeted and methodically murdered in the largest genocide of the 20th century.
This memorial was designed by the architect Peter Eisenman and the engineer Buro Happold. It consists of a 19,000 m2 (4.7-acre) site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs or "stelae" and therefore is a constantly reminder for us, the german poeple, to never forget our past.
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The methodical disassembly of the historic Philippine Mars flying boat continues at Lake Pleasant, Arizona. As each piece is removed, it is trucked down to the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson. This unique aircraft will be re-assembled and restored, before being put on permanent display at the museum. I find this entire process amazing and fascinating!
I got this a few years ago with a Coolpix 5700. This guy was fascinating to meet. He would come to the beach every morning and stack rocks in 3 to 4 foot piles. Very methodical. Each night, kids would come to the beach to party and knock them all down. The next morning, without fail, this guy would show up and start all over again. He is kind of like the Sisyphus of Venice Beach.
Heute ereilte uns im Taunus (wie sicher auch in anderen Gegenden) etwas Ekelschnee....nass, nasser, heute! Nach viel Büroarbeit musste ich trotzdem etwas wandern und durfte dabei einem hungrigen Fuchs zusehen, der das Feld ziemlich methodisch ablief und Maus nach Maus fing und verspeiste. Bermerkt hat er mich dank Schneeregen nicht, da hatte der also auch etwas für sich :)
Today we had quite some snowy rain in the Taunus, I just don't like this wet snow. But I'll take it cold and crispy any day!
After I was sitting in the office the last few days, I just had to hike anyway and was able to get a glimpse of a fox, strutting methodically around the fields and catch mouse after mouse!
One of the largest North American birds, the American White Pelican is majestic in the air. The birds soar with incredible steadiness on broad, white-and-black wings. Their large heads and huge, heavy bills give them a prehistoric look.
On the water they dip their pouched bills to scoop up fish, or tip-up like an over-sized dabbling duck. Sometimes, groups of pelicans work together to herd fish into the shallows for easy feeding.
American White Pelicans feed from the water’s surface, dipping their beaks into the water to catch fish and other aquatic organisms. They often upend, like a very large dabbling duck, in this process. They do not plunge-dive the way Brown Pelicans do. They are superb soarers (they are among the heaviest flying birds in the world) and often travel long distances in large flocks by soaring. When flapping, their wing-beats are slow and methodical.
(Nikon, 300mm/2.8 + TC 1.4, 1/1000 @ f5.6, ISO 1600)
I chatted with Cory about his watch, which uses an unusually complex system of mathematical reduction to tell you the time. The idea of a watch requiring much cognitive activity on the user's end appealed to both of us, as it eliminates this methodical obsession with the "false precision" of digital time.
I proposed an Extremely Abstract Timepiece, which would display its indications as generally as possible. Cory said he'd have to take off, to meet someone, between "half past the industrial revolution, and quarter-to the apocalypse."
Just east of the Eaton Centre, Toronto, July 2005.
Chat: Adam Clare, Visuals: Trevor Haldenby