View allAll Photos Tagged optimistic
I was having coffee with a good photographer friend (and a good photographer) of mine named Colton the other day. Colton lives down in Ashland, so his trips to Portland are infrequent and our chances to get together few and far between. But I enjoy my conversations with him immensely, in no small part because he puts a lot of time into thinking about photography: the technicals, the philosophy, the how and why of it all. We have some good back-and-forths each time we get together. He complimented me on the fact that every time he meets up for conversation I leave him with some point to think about, but the truth of it goes both ways and I find myself benefiting from my time with him in the same way. It is a good relationship and I value it quite a bit. We can all be so lucky as to have someone who pushes our ideas or encourages us to stretch our minds and notions to new limits, or that inspire or motivate us.
Funny enough, this was meant to be a prelude for the real topic I wanted to write about, but perhaps it is more than the prelude and is an inherent part of that topic... But at some point we got to talking about the "good" and "bad" of photos, which naturally led to a brief discussion of what made photos good and bad. And at some point in this discourse, I brought up the idea that perhaps we fixate too much on the very idea that photos are good or bad and that we must judge them on such a scale. Sometimes it isn't about whether a photo is good or bad, but the experience of that photo, or its context, or the relationship with the photographer behind the photo. I asked him if he would leave our conversation and immediately try to assess whether his time with me had been good or bad and to try to filter it on such a binary scale, or by such limited criteria. It was a rhetorical question, or maybe a pointed question because of course he wouldn't, nor would I. We don't think generally think of time spent with close friends on a good/bad scale. Rather, we value it for other reasons and my point was that perhaps we should be more conscious of looking at photography in such a way as well. I don't think of Colton's work, for example, as good or bad. I just don't think of it in such terms. Rather the value of his photography comes from my personal relationship with him. Knowing him to some degree and being able to know him better by what he shows us through his images. To even try to gauge his photos on such a crude scale would be to needlessly diminish both his photography and him. Yet, the world often encourages us to do just this. Our social media for example is very binary: you either like an image or don't and swipe past. But how often are you encourage to engage with it in a fashion that isn't judging whether it is "good" or "bad" on some level? Value is a tricky thing to measure, and it is highly subjective. So perhaps this is why we are prone to over-simplifying its measurement. But to not requires a depth of understanding and knowledge and personal relationship and who has the time for that? Or how do you achieve that when your photographic friends are flung across the planet and sitting down for the occasional cup of coffee is not an option? There are ways, true, but they require greater effort. E-mails and other correspondence take time... but I am digressing a bit and running the risk of distracting you from my original point(s).
How do you measure the value of a photograph, or its worth to you, or what it means to you? How often do you fall prone to thinking simply, "is this good photography, or bad?" And how often do you make the point to concoct a different scale of value that is not such a linear scale, but one that is more amorphous and nuanced?
As we parted ways after our last conversation, Colton admitted that this may be the last time he visits Portland. I hope it isn't and I hope it isn't our last time sitting down together. Regardless, I want to say thank you Colton. All those hours have been well spent and appreciated and while I wish we had countless more, I know that that just isn't always the reality of it. But I shall remain optimistic that we will get together again and share ideas on this wonderful hobby and pursuit of ours.
Hasselblad Flexbody
Fuji Acros 100
“I don’t know what lies around the bend, but I’m going to believe that the best does.” —Anne of Green Gables
My fun word for March 24th is “Optimistic”.
This Blythe doll is Silent Lucretia, joined by her friend Wanda the Wonder Frog. They are both wearing outfits from ThetaEridani on Etsy (except for their boots and Lucretia’s fascinator).
K132 got it's first wash in my ownership today, but I have to repeat what I said before about photos flattering it. Considering the fact it's sat on a driveway with minimal attention for nine years, I'm feeling optimistic about it. I've now got it booked into my local garage for next Wednesday - we'll see what happens.
The way this weed looks at it, it has all this space in which to spread out....and there's no competition.
Or as John Stewart put it:
"It's time I should be thankful
For all that I have got,
Instead of bitching and complaining
Of all that I have not. . . ."
- - lyrics from "Midnight of the World."
Best viewed LARGE.
Just about everyone I think was this in their more pensive moments last year. Optimistically Pessimistic .....if that is possible? Not over of course, but more bearable...so far.
Part of a mural seen at Cuesta Collage while I was in line for my first vaccine shot.
Thank you for viewing. If you like please fav and leave a nice comment. Hope to see you here again. Have a wonderful day 😊
Royal Pavilion Gardens, Brighton 🇬🇧
5th October, 2018
“Optimism: A cheerful frame of mind that enables
a tea kettle to sing though in hot water up to its nose.”
Headed out optimistic this morning to catch the sunrise as the forecast called for "mostly clear" and the tide was scheduled to be fairly low. Weather forecasts are always such a shot in the dark....as we had heavy cloud cover. Finally the sun broke through a few gaps in the clouds and gave us some pretty amazing scenes. Ended up still being worth the effort.
Yesterday (and today for that matter) I was really happy and optimistic about art and life and wanted to do this photo but didn't have the time so I've done it today instead. It kind of symbolizes the start of an artistic journey. I'm just really looking forward to everything to come right now.
Explored
Also, I've entered this online model search thing. Please please pleeease vote for me here, modelsearch.zuneta.com/2010/ChloeLana/ Thank you, you wonderful people you! xxx
Optimism . .The doctrine or belief that everything is beautiful, including what is ugly.
Ambrose Bierce
Goes For The Person How Reminds Me Of Optimistic Me. Thank You (F)
Explored
Thank you so much for sharing your quality photos which is a great way to see and keep some sort of toDSC06344 Hardy chrysanthemumuch with the world from home. Also for your kind comments and favours which are much valued.
I am not able to take on any more members to follow or to post to groups. I prefer not to receive invites.
L’ottimismo è una calamita della felicità. Se rimani positivo, le cose buone e le persone buone saranno attratte da te.
(Mary Lou Retton)
Tramonto, fra i rami ancora spogli, con un pizzico di maliconia e tanto ottimismo
Buona serata
#sunset #tramonto #rami #branches #sole #sun #sunset #branches #cielo #sky #mood #optimistic #ottimismo
looking for a picture for the smile on saturday group's theme of sunny yellow.... flickr search came up with 433 yellows in my photostream!! i had three that i liked the 'best'. i'll put the other 2 in the first comment box :)
"smile on saturday" and "sunny yellow"
The Dixie Walesbilt Hotel, known as the Grand Hotel in later years, is one of a small number of skyscrapers built in the 1920s that still stand today and is a prime example of how optimistic people were during the Florida land boom. Built in 1926, it found financing through a stock-sale campaign in the local business community, costing $500,000 after it was completed(which equates to about $6 million today.)
The building architecture, masonry vernacular with hints of Mediterranean-Revival, is also a good example of the time is was built. It was designed by two well-known architects at the time, Fred Bishop who designed the Byrd Theatre in Virginia, and D.J. Phipps, whose designed both the Wyoming County Courthouse and Jail and the Colonial Hotel in Virginia.
The hotel was constructed using the “three-part vertical block” method, which became the dominant pattern in tall buildings during the 1920s. Three-part buildings are composed of a base, shaft and a cap, all noticeably visible.
The hotel opened as the “Walesbilt” in January 1927, shortly after the land boom had started to collapse and two years before the Great Depression began. It’s also best to note that the hotel opened around the same time the Floridan Hotel in Tampa opened, another hotel built during the Florida land boom.
In 1972, the hotel was purchased by Anderson Sun State and renamed the “Groveland Motor Inn”. The firm completely renovated the hotel and used it to host visitors to the area who were interested in Green Swamp, land sectioned off for land development. At the time there was heavy speculation in the land because of it’s close proximity to Walt Disney World and were selling for around $5,000 an acre at the time. That ended after a state cabinet designation of the swamp as an area of critical state concern, placing the land off-limits to any large land developments. The firm filed for foreclosure and the hotel was auctioned off in 1974. Despite RCI Electric purchasing the hotel, it remained empty for many years afterwards.
n 1978, the hotel was signed over to the Agape Players, a nationally known religious music and drama group, who would assume the mortgage and would pay the costs to make improvements to meet city fire and safety standards. The hotel was renamed the “Royal Walesbilt” and after extensive improvements were made, it became the headquarters for the Agape Players; using it as a teaching facility and the base from which the group launched their tours. In addition, they operated a restaurant, an ice cream parlor on the lobby floor and a “Christian hotel” on the upper floors, catering mostly to groups. The Agape Players disbanded in 1985 and put the property up for sale
Victor Khubani, a property investor from New York acquired the property and renamed the hotel “Grand”. The hotel closed briefly in December 1988, due to a variety of code violations and causing the owner to later pay $14,000 in fines. On August 31, 1990 it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, possibly for tax exemption reasons. In October 1991, The State Fire Marshall’s Office gave the owner one year to install a new sprinkler system and in May 1993, the code enforcement board gave Khubani until March to complete the work.
In March 1994, the hotel closed due to multiple code violations and was to remain closed until a new fire sprinkler system was installed. To reopen, the fire escapes and elevator, which did not function, would have to be repaired as well. In 1995, the hotel was auctioned off to a redevelopment firm, which dismantled part of the interior for reconstruction, which was never completed.
Since then, the hotel has deteriorated, becoming an eyesore to many of the residents of Lake Wales and nicknamed “The Green Monster” for the greenish color it has acquired from over the years. In 1995, it was even jokingly mentioned to become a sacrifice to “the bomb”, an economic boom that occurred in parts of Florida where movie production companies would pay cities to blow up buildings for their movies. In 2007, the city foreclosed on the structure for more than $700,000 in unpaid code fines, with hopes in finding someone to restore it.
Development firm, Dixie-Walesbilt LLC announced plans to restore the hotel, signing into an agreement with the city of Lake Wales in February 2010. By the agreement, the city would retain ownership of the building until a defined amount of work had been accomplished. The work must be completed within 16 months and the amount of money invested must succeed at least $1.5 million. The building would then be handed off the Dixie Walesbilt LLC, where they may continue with private funding or other methods to for debt funding.
Ray Brown, President of Dixie Walesbilt LLC, planned to invest $6 million into the renovation, with original plans to put retail stores on the ground floor and using the upper floors for as many as 40 condominiums.
On June 2, 2011, the city of Lake Wales agreed to deed the building off to Ray Brown in a 4-1 vote, after meeting the requirements of the redevelopment agreement. Though Brown submitted a list of costs to the city totaling $1.66 million, Mayor Mike Carter wasn’t satisfied with the results so far, pointing out that Brown failed to repair the windows and repaint the building. Previous owners had put tar on the building and then painted over it, so much of Brown’s investment went to stripping the tar off the exterior walls.
To repaint the building, Brown would also have to resurface the hotel with hydrated lime to replicate the original skin as well as the window frames would need to be constructed of Douglas fir, red cedar and gulf cypress. According to Brown, previous owners who renovated the building rarely removed the building original elements. They carpeted over intricate tile flooring, stuck tar paper above skylights and placed modern drinking fountains in front of the originals. He estimated about 98 percent of the building is still in it’s original form.
Restoration of the building’s exterior began in January 2015 and included surface repair, pressure washing, paint removal, chemical treatment, and a comprehensive resurfacing of the exterior.
While the original plans were for turning the building into condominiums, that has since changed and current plans call for operating the building as a boutique hotel. The hotel will feature geothermal cooling as opposed to traditional air conditioning, a permanent art gallery as well as theme gallery showings throughout the year, and the best WiFi/internet in the city. The project is expected to be completed in 18 to 24 months.
Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:
www.cityoflakewales.com/505/Dixie-Walesbilt-Hotel
www.abandonedfl.com/dixie-walesbilt-hotel/
© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.
View large.
An optimistic Canadian from BEAUTIFUL BRITISH COLUMBIA
Environmental Change vs Environmental Action
Thank you so much for sharing how you feel from around the world!
Comments are encouraged sharing how you feel about the environment or stories about positive environmental change you witness. Feel free to post your photos and words on the new group below.
I welcome you to join "Environmental Voices" www.flickr.com/groups/1547965@N22/
Thank you and see you there.
Please visit www.runforoneplanet.com for some environmental inspiration.
PS: I worked on this image while watching Obama's Press conference. I hope the people will continue to support his policies and politics. Anything is better than the previous 8 years.
Change takes time.
... on the new week
with a new round of the UN Climate Conference (COP23) starting today ...
Happy Blue Monday !
Asters (Aster novi-belgii)
in our garden - Frankfurt-Nordend
The Dixie Walesbilt Hotel, known as the Grand Hotel in later years, is one of a small number of skyscrapers built in the 1920s that still stand today and is a prime example of how optimistic people were during the Florida land boom. Built in 1926, it found financing through a stock-sale campaign in the local business community, costing $500,000 after it was completed(which equates to about $6 million today.)
The building architecture, masonry vernacular with hints of Mediterranean-Revival, is also a good example of the time is was built. It was designed by two well-known architects at the time, Fred Bishop who designed the Byrd Theatre in Virginia, and D.J. Phipps, whose designed both the Wyoming County Courthouse and Jail and the Colonial Hotel in Virginia.
The hotel was constructed using the “three-part vertical block” method, which became the dominant pattern in tall buildings during the 1920s. Three-part buildings are composed of a base, shaft and a cap, all noticeably visible.
The hotel opened as the “Walesbilt” in January 1927, shortly after the land boom had started to collapse and two years before the Great Depression began. It’s also best to note that the hotel opened around the same time the Floridan Hotel in Tampa opened, another hotel built during the Florida land boom.
In 1972, the hotel was purchased by Anderson Sun State and renamed the “Groveland Motor Inn”. The firm completely renovated the hotel and used it to host visitors to the area who were interested in Green Swamp, land sectioned off for land development. At the time there was heavy speculation in the land because of it’s close proximity to Walt Disney World and were selling for around $5,000 an acre at the time. That ended after a state cabinet designation of the swamp as an area of critical state concern, placing the land off-limits to any large land developments. The firm filed for foreclosure and the hotel was auctioned off in 1974. Despite RCI Electric purchasing the hotel, it remained empty for many years afterwards.
n 1978, the hotel was signed over to the Agape Players, a nationally known religious music and drama group, who would assume the mortgage and would pay the costs to make improvements to meet city fire and safety standards. The hotel was renamed the “Royal Walesbilt” and after extensive improvements were made, it became the headquarters for the Agape Players; using it as a teaching facility and the base from which the group launched their tours. In addition, they operated a restaurant, an ice cream parlor on the lobby floor and a “Christian hotel” on the upper floors, catering mostly to groups. The Agape Players disbanded in 1985 and put the property up for sale
Victor Khubani, a property investor from New York acquired the property and renamed the hotel “Grand”. The hotel closed briefly in December 1988, due to a variety of code violations and causing the owner to later pay $14,000 in fines. On August 31, 1990 it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, possibly for tax exemption reasons. In October 1991, The State Fire Marshall’s Office gave the owner one year to install a new sprinkler system and in May 1993, the code enforcement board gave Khubani until March to complete the work.
In March 1994, the hotel closed due to multiple code violations and was to remain closed until a new fire sprinkler system was installed. To reopen, the fire escapes and elevator, which did not function, would have to be repaired as well. In 1995, the hotel was auctioned off to a redevelopment firm, which dismantled part of the interior for reconstruction, which was never completed.
Since then, the hotel has deteriorated, becoming an eyesore to many of the residents of Lake Wales and nicknamed “The Green Monster” for the greenish color it has acquired from over the years. In 1995, it was even jokingly mentioned to become a sacrifice to “the bomb”, an economic boom that occurred in parts of Florida where movie production companies would pay cities to blow up buildings for their movies. In 2007, the city foreclosed on the structure for more than $700,000 in unpaid code fines, with hopes in finding someone to restore it.
Development firm, Dixie-Walesbilt LLC announced plans to restore the hotel, signing into an agreement with the city of Lake Wales in February 2010. By the agreement, the city would retain ownership of the building until a defined amount of work had been accomplished. The work must be completed within 16 months and the amount of money invested must succeed at least $1.5 million. The building would then be handed off the Dixie Walesbilt LLC, where they may continue with private funding or other methods to for debt funding.
Ray Brown, President of Dixie Walesbilt LLC, planned to invest $6 million into the renovation, with original plans to put retail stores on the ground floor and using the upper floors for as many as 40 condominiums.
On June 2, 2011, the city of Lake Wales agreed to deed the building off to Ray Brown in a 4-1 vote, after meeting the requirements of the redevelopment agreement. Though Brown submitted a list of costs to the city totaling $1.66 million, Mayor Mike Carter wasn’t satisfied with the results so far, pointing out that Brown failed to repair the windows and repaint the building. Previous owners had put tar on the building and then painted over it, so much of Brown’s investment went to stripping the tar off the exterior walls.
To repaint the building, Brown would also have to resurface the hotel with hydrated lime to replicate the original skin as well as the window frames would need to be constructed of Douglas fir, red cedar and gulf cypress. According to Brown, previous owners who renovated the building rarely removed the building original elements. They carpeted over intricate tile flooring, stuck tar paper above skylights and placed modern drinking fountains in front of the originals. He estimated about 98 percent of the building is still in it’s original form.
Restoration of the building’s exterior began in January 2015 and included surface repair, pressure washing, paint removal, chemical treatment, and a comprehensive resurfacing of the exterior.
While the original plans were for turning the building into condominiums, that has since changed and current plans call for operating the building as a boutique hotel. The hotel will feature geothermal cooling as opposed to traditional air conditioning, a permanent art gallery as well as theme gallery showings throughout the year, and the best WiFi/internet in the city. The project is expected to be completed in 18 to 24 months.
Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:
www.cityoflakewales.com/505/Dixie-Walesbilt-Hotel
www.abandonedfl.com/dixie-walesbilt-hotel/
© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.
In these difficult days, perhaps we should be stressing the importance of looking forward optimistically to a shining future, a bright tomorrow!
Tomorrow
The sun'll come out
Tomorrow,
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow,
Come what may!
Tomorrow, tomorrow!
I love 'ya tomorrow!
You're always
A day
Away!
Annie Broadway musical, 1977
Lyrics by Martin Charnin
Music by Charles Strouse
__________________________
Camera: Olympus Pen E-PL2
Lens: Olympus M.Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II R @ 17mm
Exposure: ISO200, f/4.5, 1/1500 sec.
■ Please don't use my images for any purpose, including on websites or blogs, without my explicit permission.
■ S.V.P ne pas utiliser cette photo sur un site web, blog ou tout autre média sans ma permission explicite.
© Tom Freda / All rights reserved - Tous droits réservés
12.24: 7779 working in tandem with 7782 on Xpedys zinc ore Covhops, passing Berchem towards Antwerpen Haven docks.
This lok was built by Vossloh at Kiel Werke [D] as part of the HLD77 loks ordered by SNCB - Societé Nationale des Chemins de Fer Belges.
It was delivered to SNCB on 22/11/2002 (Works No. 1000996).
In total 170 HLD 77s were delivered between September 1999 and September 2005.
This was probably too many ordered in optimistic times to replace the aging older diesel loks as shunters and freight loks.
Wagonload was going down all around Europe and smaller yards closing including in Belgium.
A few months before the phot on 1 February 2011, SNCB spun off their freight division into SNCB Logistics NV/SA.
In 2015, they changed the name to the snazzy B Logistics NV/SA, as cost accounting removed the blurred lines between passenger and freight services with each division "leasing" loks to each other as needed.
By 2017, the losses on freight were mounting, even as the bean counters juggled the numbers to show they were "profitable".
So SNCB sold 60% of B Logistics to private equity and the division was rebranded as LINEAS.
Since then, LINEAS actually made a profit for one more year (€14 million in 2018), then lost over €400 million over the next 6 years. Capital injections in 2023 and 2024 have helped it keep afloat.
Asset selling has increased, including 7779.
In 2021, it was sold to BRLL - Beacon Rail Leasing Ltd., London and leased back by LINEAS.
If you want a laugh, compare the LINEAS info on the English and French versions of Wikipedia.
Work out which one looks like it was written by their Corporate Affairs and PR Department 😏
First photo the (h)optimist (a useless thing that makes you laugh hoptimist.com), then the orange (same lighting), then both into Photoshop, making a mask to see the nose and eyes... and that's it! HMM everyone! and let us have an optimistic 2018, right? :-)
Call me Snake offers an optimistic provocation – ‘imagine what could be here’ by Judy Millar. On a walk into the city October 3, 2015 Christchurch New Zealand.
The work is comprised of vibrant graphics of Millar’s looped paintings, which are adhered to five intersecting flat planes, and draws inspiration from the forms found in pop-up books. The colourful piece will add a dramatic and rhythmic counterpoint to the city’s current urban landscape — a mix of flattened sites, construction zones and defiant buildings that have stood through the quakes. The work employs theatricality, playfulness and visual trickery, whereby the viewer is unsure about the work’s flatness or three-dimensionality; and it has been designed to offer a different perspective from each angle. The bright colours interrupt the grey of the work’s surrounds, and as buildings pop up around it,
SCAPE 8, New Intimacies curated by Rob Garrett was a contemporary art event which mixed new artworks with existing legacy pieces, an education programme, and a public programme of events. The SCAPE 8 artworks were located around central Christchurch and linked via a public art walkway. All aspects of SCAPE 8 were free-to-view.
The title for the 2015 Biennial – New Intimacies – came from the idea that visually striking and emotionally engaging public art works can create new connections between people and places. Under the main theme of New Intimacies there are three other themes that artists responded to: Sight-Lines, Inner Depths and Shared Strengths.
For more Info: www.scapepublicart.org.nz/scape-8-judy-millar