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The David Gareja Monastery complex is remote and isolated in the rugged, semi-desert landscape of eastern Georgia, close to the border with Azerbaijan. The area is characterized by dry hills, barren plains and steep cliffs, far from any town or village. It is precisely this remoteness that contributes to the spiritual atmosphere of the place — an ideal refuge for monks seeking refuge from the world. The silence, the arid landscape and the ancient caves make David Gareja a place of deep peace, contemplation and mysticism. Founded in the 6th century by the Syrian monk David Garejeli, the monastery is partly carved into the sandstone cliffs of a rugged, semi-desert landscape. Inside the monastery there is a sloping rock face with carved cells, chapels and caves that served as living and praying rooms for monks. Some are decorated with ancient frescoes. In this photo we see Kanitha at the entrance to a simple, carved cell in the monastery complex. The small round opening in the sandstone rocks gives access to one of the many caves that were once used by monks as living or prayer rooms. This cave cell is typical of the early architectural style of the monastery, everything here is sober and purposeful — no unnecessary decoration, just rock, silence and devotion. The shapes are rough and natural, as if the space had formed itself out of the mountainside. In addition to its historical and architectural value, the monastery is still a lively religious place today. Georgian Orthodox monks still live in the complex. They lead a secluded and sober life, dedicated to prayer, study and maintenance of the monastery. During our visit to David Gareja we were the only visitors. In silence we walked through the empty monastery, past rough rock walls and ancient cells. Kanitha paused for a moment at a small cave cell — simple, carved out of the rock — and you immediately felt how monks once lived here in solitude. Everything breathed peace and devotion. The view over the silent, empty plain was breathtaking. A place where time seems to stand still — and you stand still for a moment too.
While exploring the remote David Gareja Monastery, we were the only visitors. In complete silence, we wandered through ancient rock-cut cells and chapels. Kanitha paused at the entrance of a simple cave cell — a powerful reminder of the monks’ quiet, devoted lives. Surrounded by vast, empty desert views, it felt like time stood still.
Het David Gareja-kloostercomplex ligt afgelegen en geïsoleerd in het ruige, halfwoestijnachtige landschap van Oost-Georgië, vlak bij de grens met Azerbeidzjan. Deze omgeving wordt gekenmerkt door droge heuvels, kale vlaktes en steile rotspartijen, ver weg van dorpen of steden. Juist die verlaten ligging draagt bij aan de spirituele sfeer van de plek — een ideaal toevluchtsoord voor monniken die zich willen terugtrekken uit de wereld. De stilte, het dorre landschap en de eeuwenoude grotten maken David Gareja tot een plek van diepe rust, contemplatie en mystiek. Het klooster werd in de 6e eeuw gesticht door de Syrische monnik David Garejeli en is deels uitgehouwen in de zandsteenrotsen van een ruig, halfwoestijnachtig landschap. In het klooster is er schuin oplopende rotswand met uitgehouwen cellen, kapellen en grotten die dienden als woon- en gebedsruimten voor monniken. Sommige zijn versierd met eeuwenoude fresco’s. Op deze foto zien we Kanitha bij de ingang van een eenvoudige, uitgehouwen cel in het kloostercomplex. De kleine ronde opening in de zandstenen rotsen geeft toegang tot één van de vele grotten die ooit door monniken werden gebruikt als woon- of gebedsruimte. Deze grotcel is typisch voor de vroege bouwstijl van het klooster, alles is hier sober en doelgericht — geen overbodige versiering, enkel rots, stilte en toewijding. De vormen zijn ruw en natuurlijk, alsof de ruimte zich als vanzelf uit de bergwand heeft gevormd. Naast zijn historische en architectonische waarde is het klooster ook vandaag de dag nog een levendige religieuze plek. Er wonen namelijk nog altijd Georgisch-Orthodoxe monniken in het complex. Ze leiden een teruggetrokken en sober leven, gewijd aan gebed, studie en onderhoud van het klooster. Tijdens ons bezoek aan David Gareja waren we de enige bezoekers. In alle stilte liepen we door het lege klooster, langs ruwe rotswanden en eeuwenoude cellen. Kanitha stond even stil bij een kleine grotcel — eenvoudig, uitgehouwen in de rots — en je voelde direct hoe monniken hier ooit in afzondering leefden. Alles ademde rust en toewijding. Het uitzicht over de stille, lege vlakte was adembenemend. Een plek waar tijd lijkt stil te staan — en je zelf ook even stilstaat.
for 7DoS: there may not be precisely 39 steps here - let's call it poetic license ;)
After a busy couple of days, I'm not planning to engage my brain too early on Tuesday and as Margaret has already beaten me to two ideas this week, I needed to act
Taken at precisely 01:30 on a mild May morning, this is one of my very, very few shots that display the blue carriage lighting used on what at the time was termed "Nightrider" stock. Something I only troubled myself with a couple of times, the idea was that the soothing lighting and comfortable seats would aid in transporting one's self many miles overnight in peace and serenity. What the brochure didn't say was that it was usually full of tired and irritable children, plus a fairly healthy complement of 'happy' (alcohol induced) travellers making their way home/away. Not really the "ambience" the marketing people had in mind!
I like this lovely planetary nebula. It locates near the north celestial pole, and autoguiding did not work precisely.
Here is a frame taken without filter December 2013:
www.flickr.com/photos/hiroc/11990084845
equipment: AstroPhysics 130GTX "Granturismo," Field Flattener at f/6.7 focal length 873mm, 22.1mm Spacer, EOS Adapter, Kipon EOS-EOS R adapter, Optolong L-ultimate Dual 3nm Filter, and Canon EOS R-SP4II, modified by Seo-san on SkyWatcher CQ350 Pro Equatorial Mount without autoguiding
exposure: 15 times x 600 seconds, 6 x 240 sec, and 7 x 60 seconds at ISO 6,400 and f/6.8
site: 1,449m above sea level at lat. 35 24 30 North and long. 138 38 23 East near Mt.Fuji in Asagiri Shizuoka 静岡県朝霧高原. SQML was up to 20.93 after moonset at the night, though moon was in the sky during the session. Atmospheric turbulence was poor, and guiding error RMS was around 1,5". Wind was mild. Ambient temperature was around -1 degree Celsius or 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
Married during the Europride.
A public wedding.
Precisely with the terrorist threat of IS very brave and special.
This is what Director Ruud Spee did with his beloved Victor.
They wanted to show the world that they will never bow to prejudice and violence.
Diligently they knelt before God to receive his blessing.
I was there, it was a fantastic
The Aberlemno Churchyard Cross Slab (aka Aberlemno II) was produced by Pictish carvers in the 800s.
The cross is very precisely decorated with complex interlacing at top and bottom.
The rear side has a rectangle-with-Z-rod symbol and a triple disc.
Below the symbols are four scenes from a battle--it is widely accepted that this is the Battle of Nechtansmere fought in AD685, which took place less that ten miles from Aberlemno. The Northumbrian King Ecgfrid and his warriors invaded northwards, but were defeated by the Pictish leader Brude mac Bili.
The top scene shows two horsemen: a Pictish swordsman chases his helmeted foe who has thrown away his weapon and shield. The long nose-guard on the helmet identifies the fleeing warrior as an Anglian. The undocked tail of the fleeing horse and the large saddle blanket suggest a warrior of some importance--possibly King Ecgfrid himself.
The middle scene shows three Pictish foot-soldiers standing against an Anglian horseman. The right-most Pict protects himself with his shield and has his sword ready to slash; behind him stands a spearsman uses his lance to protect the swordsman. A second spearsman stands at the ready to the rear.
Bottom-left, an Anglian horseman is at the point of throwing his spear at a Pict who directs his own horse with his knees. Bottom-right, a dead Anglian is prey for the symbolic raven.
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Picts
Last year I spent two weeks in Mexico, and more precisely in Akumal, Yucatan..It was a great trip and I enjoyed it so much..I can perfectly remember the brilliant colours of plants and flowers and for the first time I was introduce to Maya's culture..so fascinating..
These earrings have been inspired by this journey..
Meters of copper wire in different gauges enriched with beautiful gemstones:2 labradorite faceted heart shaped briolettes - on the above part of them -, flashy blue fire gemmy AAA labradorite faceted teardrop riolettes - on both sides together with tiny freshwater pearls - , green moss agate A grade faceted long teardrop - in the very middle of them - flat labradorite round beads and finally two green moss agate, AA grade, faceted flat teardrops.
I heavily oxidised them for a more antique look!
They're are 2.36 inches long - earwires excluded.
The "full-moon" here is not precisely full, although our eyes will accept that it is so. The image was captured the night before a full-moon, when the moon rises only a few minutes after the sun has set. I always like to go out on both nights, if the weather and the clouds permit, which increases the possibility for something dramatic to happen.
I made this shot while standing alongside the now normally flowing Bitterroot River, shooting the bank on the other side,
a tiny riffling creek, a close and a distant tree line, and the multi-lavender Sapphire Mountains, behind which the moon had been napping.
The pink sky was unexpected, but a nice treat, which is why you go out both nights if you get the chance. If one of your friends, who is an amazing cook, invites you to dinner, you may just wait to go out on the second night only and capture and experience the fully-full moon. But a pink sky might have passed you by while dining. I know. It's sometimes a hard call. What is it he or she was serving?
Amazing and very bright little family ~
STORY PART is between the rows of asterisks.
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I had some time to kill between medical appointments; so I went to a shopping center that spreads out rather haphazardly. It has lots of pavement and roads, and parking lots, and angles and areas. It is in the northern part of Corvallis, Oregon, which sounds prettier if one says Willamette Valley. As frequently happens though, is that the prettier name doesn't pinpoint the place as precisely as the other. Oh, and for non-local people it is not Willamette with the accent on the last syllable and rhyming with "met." A more colloquial way to remember how to pronounce it correctly is with accent on second syllable and, "It's Willamette, damn it!"
So there I was at this place which I have just described with such superfluous verbosity, and not really needing to purchase anything, I went to the duck pond. It is not a pond with green grass borders like at a park. It has a chain-link fence around it and that is surrounded by asphalt. The water is disgusting looking. I sort of suspect it is some kind of sewage "thing" for the shopping center. I can't imagine how any duck could live in or near it, but they do. Most of my life I thought it was the proper thing to do to feed bread to ducks. The last decade or so, I have heard that is not at all proper, and in fact the bread is not good for the ducks. Anyway, people at the shopping center feed bread to the ducks and all manner of leftover fast food. Much of this just fouls the water.
I wasn't very enthused by what I saw and thought I would go turn around and exit the shopping center to go do something else. I drove down between a restaurant and a grocery store, and caught sight of a mother mallard and many babies following close behind her. I grabbed my camera and tried to get a shot. All I got was a blurry shot of the backside of all of them. I sped up a little bit, like maybe from 5 m.p.h. to 8 m.p.h. I put down the passenger window and tried to get a bit ahead of them, but they were walking at a pretty good clip, and I couldn't do. it. I got one sort of good shot with the babies, but the mom's head was cut off in my photo.
At the time, there was no one driving nor walking from either direction; so my photographic efforts weren't really hurting anyone. I was sending vibes to the mother duck, "Oh Mama, be careful! You are going the wrong way! There is no water down that direction." She was oblivious to my vibes, and resolute in her direction and intentions. The ducklings were adorable. Imagine the mother handling eleven offspring with no hands, and only two orange feet and a beak. Other drivers who probably had no idea what I was doing, were closing in behind me. I pulled as far to the side of the road as I could, and motioned for some to go by. Some did, and few also stopped to see what was going on. Those of us who were raised with the completely marvelous and classic children's story of "Make Way for Ducklings" were enthralled with this scene. We don't see a mother duck and that many ducklings waddling down a city type of sidewalk every day (albeit within a shopping center). I loved that story a long, long time ago, and still do. I read it to my daughter and to her daughter.
Suddenly the mother turned left, not a subtle left, but an abrupt 90 degree angle left. She and her brood had left the moderate safety of the sidewalk and crossed the road which afforded no safety. I could no longer see her. She was under the front of my truck and at what distance I knew not. I was quite anxious. I could risk that they would get run over; or I could risk the ire of other drivers. Being sentimental and a photographer, guess which risk I took? I pointed to my camera and grinned sheepishly at other drivers. I am thrilled to say no one blasted me with their horn. The other drivers went on about their business and I could then see the duck family had successfully crossed the street and ducked (pun most certainly intended) under a fence. The fence was about an exact match for the fence at the aforementioned unpleasant pond. Lo and behold, there was a second pond of which I had never been aware. Mama duck knew exactly what she was doing, and where she was going. The water appeared to be substantially cleaner. I was so happy for her little family. I pulled into a gravel parking lot nearby, and parked this time, not blocking any traffic. I got a few pictures of them in the water.
I noticed the openings in the fence were plenty big enough to allow the babies to pass through, but not the mother. My curiosity got to me. Oh, doesn't it always? I walked over to the other side of the pond, to the point I remembered seeing them going under the fence. I wanted to see how the mother got through. Someone, and I doubt it was a duck, had pulled/pushed part of the fence upward from the ground. It was just big enough of an opening that the mother could lead her family through it. I had the distinct feeling she had been there before. I don't know who made the opening in the fence, but it worked great.
I was amazed at this little family. I will not again underestimate the intelligence of ducks in general nor of mother ducks in particular.
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(DSCN5225-mamaduck&11ducklingsinit) <- ---------- this is just my file name
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FOR ABCs and 123s (pool) this is number 11 - ELEVEN ducklings
Photograph taken at an altitude of Eight metres, in the magic of the Golden hour around sunrise at 05:41am, (sunrise was at precisely 06.15am) on Saturday 6th September 2014 off the Patricia Bay Highway 17, on Lochside Drive close to Frost Avenue and the Lochside Waterfront Park, in beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
Here, I am standing beside the wooden decked viewing platform, looking over towards Mt Baker in Washington State, USA from beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Also known as Koma Kulshan, she is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States, standing 3,286 metres tall and was first ascended in 1868, her last eruption recorded in 1880.
These Canada Geese, along with many other small groups, fly across the lake from East to West every morning and back again every evening at Sunset, and I love to watch the classic Vee formations and listen to the honking as they pass me by. In flight, a group of Geese are called, a Skein.
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Nikon D800 70mm 1/1000s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance. Auto Active D-lighting.
Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.
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LATITUDE: N 48d 38m 15.79s
LONGITUDE: W 123d 24m 12.85s
ALTITUDE: 8.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 9.80MB
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PROCESSING POWER:
Nikon D800 Firmware versions A 1.10 B 1.10 L 2.009 (Lens distortion control version 2)
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB SATA storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX2 Version 2.10.3 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
...I was a little sceptical of whether to upload it as it hasnt turned out to be the way i wanted..but somehow,the first half of my mind convined the second half to upload it....and i might be just right or just wrong!!!...
>>A photograph is usually looked at,seldom looked into :: Ansel adams
This stood second at the Bsb-Transition contest.
This stood first at the PCA-Summer contest.
View this on black:
Cheers!!!
Stating point of view
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, wasting away
— "When I'm Sixty-Four" (1967) by The Beatles
This is portrait of a disreputable and corrosive political hack, Roger Stone, working behind the scenes on November 5, 2020, to install his undeserving golden "horse" into the White House.
Incidentally, Stone was 64 years old on Election Day, November 8, 2016.
Media:
* YouTube: "Trump vet Roger Stone caught in elector plot: Watch Ari Melber’s exclusive report," MSNBC, August 16, 2023
* YouTube: "Indicted Trump on edge as more Roger Stone tapes explode: Admits Trump lost amidst ‘stop the steal’," NSNBC, Aug 21, 2023
* Rolling Stone: "Roger Stone Recorded Details of Fake Electors Plot Days After 2020 Election: Report," by Nikki McCann Ramirez, August 16, 2023
* YouTube: "A Storm Foretold – Trailer," Sydney Film Festival, May 9, 2023
Stable Diffusion
When we last left our heroine, she was on the fence... wanting to talk about just how hard she finds it to make decisions... not just big ones, but any decisions, of any shape or size.
Ironically (or maybe appropriately) she dithered so long about what, exactly, to write that she ended up deleting everything, and leaving you with nothing except a cryptic "this was not Photoshopped" note.
So, yeah... decisions. Honestly. I find them overwhelming. Even the small ones like what to wear, or what to cook for dinner... man, they wear me out. All day long, it's decisions decisions. And it makes me think about this story:
I saw this documentary once about a woman who'd converted to Islam. The film maker, a woman, kept asking if she didn't feel restricted in that culture. "No, not at all," the woman said. In fact, she was very clear about her primary reason for making the switch. She dug Islam because almost every aspect of her life was prescribed... her role as a woman; her role as wife and mother; the foods she cooked and ate; the way she raised her children; the clothes she wore; the times she was allowed out; when she slept and woke... not to mention when, how often and precisely in what way she worshipped. She said it took all the stress out of life... because she never had to make a decision for herself.
On one hand, I can kind of dig what she was feeling. On the other hand, it made me appreciate the fact that - being fucking lucky enough to have been born white and English-speaking in North America - I have huuuuge advantages over so many other people. Not gloating or anything... just appreciating. Which I think many of us don't do enough. We tend to take our freedoms for granted - and I like to remind myself that that can be dangerous... like, use it or lose it.
So... yes, I do make decisions. Of course. They can't be avoided. And this is how I make them - totally impulsively. I can't get too bogged down in thinking or I'll dither forever. I just have to plunge... and I'm quite content to live with the consequences.
So far, it's served me pretty well.
It helps that I always have a soft place to land.
Mona Seif, Alaa's sister, protesting outside the British Foreign Office.
Alaa Abd El-Fattah has endured much of the last twelve years in some of the worst prison conditions anywhere in the world, on account of his brave work in promoting democracy in Egypt.
He was last arrested in September 2019 while attending Cairo's Dokki Police Station and in December last year was sentenced to five years imprisonment for "spreading false news undermining state security." More precisely, he had shared social media posts explaining the hell-hole reality of Egyptian prison conditions.
PROTEST OUTSIDE THE FOREIGN OFFICE
When this photo was taken Alaa's two sisters, Mona and Sana'a Seif, were staging a protest in London's King Charles Street outside the British Foreign Office in the hope that the Egyptian government can be pressured to release him, as media attention began to focus on the upcoming COP27 conference at Sharm El Sheikh on Egypt's Red Sea coast.
UPDATE AS OF WEDNESDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2022
Starting from Sunday 6 November, Alaa escalated his hunger strike, and stopped taking water. His sister Sanaa Seif took a flight the same weekend to attend the COP27 conference at Sharm El Sheikh in a last-minute effort to save Alaa's life.
For the latest on Alaa's situation listen to his sister's Sanaa Seif's speech to journalists attending the conference on Tuesday 8 November - "They are very happy for him to die. The only thing they care about is that it doesn't happen while the world is watching."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqXibJ7PUTY
TORA PRISON - "A DAY HERE, IS LIKE A YEAR IN BELMARSH"
In April, Alaa began his hunger strike in a cell in one of the most secure sections of Cairo's sprawling and notorious Tora Prison - a maze of grim high concrete walls and watch towers, which strike fear into even the thousands of commuters who have to pass daily.
In 2012, one young Londoner confined to one of the least uncomfortable and most survivable wings of Tora prison, contrasted it with his own previous experience at Britain's high security Belmarsh. I can never forget his exact words. "A day here, is like a year at Belmarsh!" A little over 12 months later, he died of TB - the prison authorities had refused to listen to the pleas of his aunt, who fell on her knees during a rare visit, begging that he be admitted to the prison hospital.
ALAA'S HUNGER STRIKE CONTINUES AT WADI EL NATRUN PRISON
More than 200 days have passed since Alaa started his hunger strike. He has now been moved to the Wadi El Natrun prison complex in the desert north of Cairo, dubbed by inmates as the "Valley of Hell."
He may not survive much longer. However, as he holds British-Egyptian nationality, one would hope that the British government would be doing everything they could to secure his immediate release and it would be reasonable to suppose that the Foreign Office could get an immediate pledge in this regard, especially given that the British companies, including the likes of British Petroleum and BP, are the biggest investors in Egypt.
NO CONSULAR ACCESS
However, the British government have failed even to get him any consular access - think about that. That's an outrage. Even a convicted mass murderer, if British, would be entitled to consular access while in prison. That meeting would obviously not take place in his cell - but in a designated room in the prison or the highly supervised prison visiting area.
British men and women convicted of drug smuggling and other crimes in Egypt have received consular visits, so why not Alaa? The answer is because Alaa's crime is that he dared to tell the truth about Egypt, and the injustice both inside and outside its many prison walls. Nobody knows exactly how many political prisoners Egypt now has, but the number is estimated to be at least 60,000.
ALAA WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REVOLT THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN
Alaa Abd El-Fattah was one of the leaders of arguably the most inspirational democratic revolt the world has seen in the last hundred years. Although the first phase of the 2011 uprising in Egypt lasted just 18 days, and although it followed the toppling of the dictator Ben Ali in Tunisia - the streets and bridges around Tahrir Square became a deadly stage watched by the world, where protesters from every walk of life were pitted against Egypt's feared state security forces. Against all the odds, and at the cost of many lives, Egyptians refused to leave the square, sleeping in front of the tanks and fending off attacks from government militia.
The Egyptian people's initial success in toppling the dictator Mubarak led to further revolts not just across the Middle East (most notably in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria) - the highly organised Tahrir-Square sit-in provided the inspiration for strikes and workplace sit-ins against austerity across the United States and Europe and to the Occupy Movement of the same year. The people of Egypt showed that it does not matter how brutal, feared and authoritarian a government is, it can be toppled if people act collectively.
THE MILITARY BACKLASH
It's true that Egypt's flirtation with the path to greater freedom seemed to be only temporary - the Egyptian authorities deployed the usual divide and rule tactics - encouraging the less committed protesters to return home - and then rushed to elections without allowing time for genuinely democratic opposition parties to develop.
Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood won the presidential election in 2012 - the Brotherhood (contrary to the perception many people have here in the West) had genuinely progressive elements within it, but the chance for any transformative radical programme was prevented partly by the corruption and self-interest of some of the main political actors and partly by opposition to its democratic mandate from the deep state (the military, the Interior Ministry, State Security, the police etc.)
The army, seeing its chance, seized power in 2013, superficially in the name of the people, but in reality, to advance the interests of the generals. The new president, Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, moved quickly to crush all opposition, and ordering his security forces to attack Muslim Brotherhood supporters who had gathered in eastern Cairo at Rabaa al-Adaweya Square, killing at least 800 people - the bloodiest massacre of civilians in Egypt's modern history.
DON'T ALLOW EGYPT TO USE COP27 TO GREENWASH ITS REGIME - AND PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE ALAA
Now COP27 is scheduled to take place in Sharm El-Sheikh and Sisi has been given a golden opportunity to greenwash his murderous regime, which has also seen ever increasing levels inequality and corruption. While British representatives at COP27 will be given accommodation in the most luxurious five star hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh and fall asleep listening to the sound of the waves, another British citizen, Alaa Abdel El-Fatah is near death, on a painful hunger strike in the darkest of places - his dimly lit cell. The only thing he might hear at night is the desperate cry from some prisoner in another cell appealing for medical help which most likely never comes.
If we care for freedom, real democracy and justice, we can't allow the British Foreign Office to forget Alaa - especially if it's simply not to upset the highly profitable relationship British multinationals have with one of the world's most authoritarian and corrupt regimes - a relationship which only benefits the wealthiest of Egyptians.
If you live in London, please show your support at the protest at King Charles Street - and wherever you live please sign the petition -
www.change.org/p/help-free-my-brother-before-it-s-too-lat...
Not precisely sure on age of this one, but it was certainly a surprise to see something this ancient still (presumably) in service. The old school looking livery was even better, and they have no website by the looks of things.
I tried to see if I could clock the owner but there was no sign of anyone down this road.
Masons of Tring, or more precisely Long Marston near Cheddington acquired a few Volvo Olympians from Redkite a while back. They have been operating in red kite livery but with the addition of a Masons fleetname. Most are now withdrawn after being replaced by ALX400/ DAFs from London. Some have gone for scrap, although one or two have escaped being sold locally to another operator.
I don't know the year precisely, but by my size I'd say I must have been 5 or 6, so it must be around 1980. Photo taken by my mother with her Lubitel camera.
This morning's sunrise (0811 precisely) at Portland Bill, Dorset, England.
First of the year, not the best I've seen the sky could have been better, but I'm not complaining because "it's not raining" ............... A great start to the year.
Better seen large or in my Flickeflu where the IQ is far better (just click the link below).
NO BANNERS PLEASE.
Thanks for looking.
Poet and essayist Azad Ashim Sharma reading to protesters gathered in solidarity with Alaa, who is over 200 days into his hunger strike in prison in Egypt. This photo was taken on the pavement directly opposite Britain's Foreign Office in King Charles Street. Alaa is one of Egypt's leading democracy activists and holds Egyptian-British citizenship.
Alaa Abd El-Fattah has endured much of the last twelve years in some of the worst prison conditions anywhere in the world, on account of his brave work in promoting democracy in Egypt. He was last arrested in September 2019 while attending Cairo's Dokki Police Station and in December last year was sentenced to five years imprisonment for "spreading false news undermining state security." More precisely, he had shared social media posts explaining the hell-hole reality of Egyptian prison conditions.
PROTEST OUTSIDE THE FOREIGN OFFICE
When this photo was taken Alaa's two sisters, Mona and Sana'a Seif, were staging a protest in London's King Charles Street outside the British Foreign Office in the hope that the Egyptian government can be pressured to release him, as media attention began to focus on the upcoming COP27 conference at Sharm El Sheikh on Egypt's Red Sea coast.
UPDATE AS OF WEDNESDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2022
Starting from Sunday 6 November, Alaa escalated his hunger strike, and stopped taking water. His sister Sanaa Seif took a flight the same weekend to attend the COP27 conference at Sharm El Sheikh in a last-minute effort to save Alaa's life.
For the latest on Alaa's situation listen to his sister's Sanaa Seif's speech to journalists attending the conference on Tuesday 8 November - "They are very happy for him to die. The only thing they care about is that it doesn't happen while the world is watching."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqXibJ7PUTY
TORA PRISON - "A DAY HERE, IS LIKE A YEAR IN BELMARSH"
In April, Alaa began his hunger strike in a cell in one of the most secure sections of Cairo's sprawling and notorious Tora Prison - a maze of grim high concrete walls and watch towers, which strike fear into even the thousands of commuters who have to pass daily.
In 2012, one young Londoner confined to one of the least uncomfortable and most survivable wings of Tora prison, contrasted it with his own previous experience at Britain's high security Belmarsh. I can never forget his exact words. "A day here, is like a year at Belmarsh!" A little over 12 months later, he died of TB - the prison authorities had refused to listen to the pleas of his aunt, who fell on her knees during a rare visit, begging that he be admitted to the prison hospital.
ALAA'S HUNGER STRIKE CONTINUES AT WADI EL NATRUN PRISON
More than 200 days have passed since Alaa started his hunger strike. He has now been moved to the Wadi El Natrun prison complex in the desert north of Cairo, dubbed by inmates as the "Valley of Hell."
He may not survive much longer. However, as he holds British-Egyptian nationality, one would hope that the British government would be doing everything they could to secure his immediate release and it would be reasonable to suppose that the Foreign Office could get an immediate pledge in this regard, especially given that the British companies, including the likes of British Petroleum and BP, are the biggest investors in Egypt.
NO CONSULAR ACCESS
However, the British government have failed even to get him any consular access - think about that. That's an outrage. Even a convicted mass murderer, if British, would be entitled to consular access while in prison. That meeting would obviously not take place in his cell - but in a designated room in the prison or the highly supervised prison visiting area.
British men and women convicted of drug smuggling and other crimes in Egypt have received consular visits, so why not Alaa? The answer is because Alaa's crime is that he dared to tell the truth about Egypt, and the injustice both inside and outside its many prison walls. Nobody knows exactly how many political prisoners Egypt now has, but the number is estimated to be at least 60,000.
ALAA WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REVOLT THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN
Alaa Abd El-Fattah was one of the leaders of arguably the most inspirational democratic revolt the world has seen in the last hundred years. Although the first phase of the 2011 uprising in Egypt lasted just 18 days, and although it followed the toppling of the dictator Ben Ali in Tunisia - the streets and bridges around Tahrir Square became a deadly stage watched by the world, where protesters from every walk of life were pitted against Egypt's feared state security forces. Against all the odds, and at the cost of many lives, Egyptians refused to leave the square, sleeping in front of the tanks and fending off attacks from government militia.
The Egyptian people's initial success in toppling the dictator Mubarak led to further revolts not just across the Middle East (most notably in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria) - the highly organised Tahrir-Square sit-in provided the inspiration for strikes and workplace sit-ins against austerity across the United States and Europe and to the Occupy Movement of the same year. The people of Egypt showed that it does not matter how brutal, feared and authoritarian a government is, it can be toppled if people act collectively.
THE MILITARY BACKLASH
It's true that Egypt's flirtation with the path to greater freedom seemed to be only temporary - the Egyptian authorities deployed the usual divide and rule tactics - encouraging the less committed protesters to return home - and then rushed to elections without allowing time for genuinely democratic opposition parties to develop.
Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood won the presidential election in 2012 - the Brotherhood (contrary to the perception many people have here in the West) had genuinely progressive elements within it, but the chance for any transformative radical programme was prevented partly by the corruption and self-interest of some of the main political actors and partly by opposition to its democratic mandate from the deep state (the military, the Interior Ministry, State Security, the police etc.)
The army, seeing its chance, seized power in 2013, superficially in the name of the people, but in reality, to advance the interests of the generals. The new president, Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, moved quickly to crush all opposition, and ordering his security forces to attack Muslim Brotherhood supporters who had gathered in eastern Cairo at Rabaa al-Adaweya Square, killing at least 800 people - the bloodiest massacre of civilians in Egypt's modern history.
DON'T ALLOW EGYPT TO USE COP27 TO GREENWASH ITS REGIME - AND PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE ALAA
Now COP27 is scheduled to take place in Sharm El-Sheikh and Sisi has been given a golden opportunity to greenwash his murderous regime, which has also seen ever increasing levels inequality and corruption. While British representatives at COP27 will be given accommodation in the most luxurious five star hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh and fall asleep listening to the sound of the waves, another British citizen, Alaa Abdel El-Fatah is near death, on a painful hunger strike in the darkest of places - his dimly lit cell. The only thing he might hear at night is the desperate cry from some prisoner in another cell appealing for medical help which most likely never comes.
If we care for freedom, real democracy and justice, we can't allow the British Foreign Office to forget Alaa - especially if it's simply not to upset the highly profitable relationship British multinationals have with one of the world's most authoritarian and corrupt regimes - a relationship which only benefits the wealthiest of Egyptians.
If you live in London, please show your support at the protest at King Charles Street - and wherever you live please sign the petition -
www.change.org/p/help-free-my-brother-before-it-s-too-lat...
Asoke (pronounced Ashoke) is a Malayalee friend
who warmly hosted us for Thanksgiving-
and travelled with us
up to Vancouver B.C.-to visit relatives there.
Alaa is a British-Egyptian political prisoner in Egypt. This photo was taken during the ongoing encampment protest by Alaa's two sisters - Sanaa (top left) and Mona (second from the right) Seif - outside Britain's Foreign Office.
Alaa Abd El-Fattah has endured much of the last twelve years in some of the worst prison conditions anywhere for his brave work in promoting democracy in Egypt. He was last arrested in September 2019 while attending Cairo's Dokki Police Station and in December last year was sentenced to five years imprisonment for "spreading false news undermining state security." More precisely, he had shared social media posts explaining the hell-hole reality of Egyptian prison conditions.
PROTEST OUTSIDE THE FOREIGN OFFICE
When this photo was taken Alaa's two sisters, Mona and Sana'a Seif, were staging a protest in London's King Charles Street outside the British Foreign Office in the hope that the Egyptian government can be pressured to release him, as media attention began to focus on the upcoming COP27 conference at Sharm El Sheikh on Egypt's Red Sea coast.
UPDATE AS OF WEDNESDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2022
Starting from Sunday 6 November, Alaa escalated his hunger strike, and stopped taking water. His sister Sanaa Seif took a flight the same weekend to attend the COP27 conference at Sharm El Sheikh in a last-minute effort to save Alaa's life.
For the latest on Alaa's situation listen to his sister's Sanaa Seif's speech to journalists attending the conference on Tuesday 8 November - "They are very happy for him to die. The only thing they care about is that it doesn't happen while the world is watching."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqXibJ7PUTY
TORA PRISON - "A DAY HERE, IS LIKE A YEAR IN BELMARSH"
In April, Alaa began his hunger strike in a cell in one of the most secure sections of Cairo's sprawling and notorious Tora Prison - a maze of grim high concrete walls and watch towers, which strike fear into even the thousands of commuters who have to pass daily.
In 2012, one young Londoner confined to one of the least uncomfortable and most survivable wings of Tora prison, contrasted it with his own previous experience at Britain's high security Belmarsh. I can never forget his exact words. "A day here, is like a year at Belmarsh!" A little over 12 months later, he died of TB - the prison authorities had refused to listen to the pleas of his aunt, who fell on her knees during a rare visit, begging that he be admitted to the prison hospital.
ALAA'S HUNGER STRIKE CONTINUES AT WADI EL NATRUN PRISON
More than 200 days have passed since Alaa started his hunger strike. He has now been moved to the Wadi El Natrun prison complex in the desert north of Cairo, dubbed by inmates as the "Valley of Hell."
He may not survive much longer. However, as he holds British-Egyptian nationality, one would hope that the British government would be doing everything they could to secure his immediate release and it would be reasonable to suppose that the Foreign Office could get an immediate pledge in this regard, especially given that the British companies, including the likes of British Petroleum and BP, are the biggest investors in Egypt.
NO CONSULAR ACCESS
However, the British government have failed even to get him any consular access - think about that. That's an outrage. Even a convicted mass murderer, if British, would be entitled to consular access while in prison. That meeting would obviously not take place in his cell - but in a designated room in the prison or the highly supervised prison visiting area.
British men and women convicted of drug smuggling and other crimes in Egypt have received consular visits, so why not Alaa? The answer is because Alaa's crime is that he dared to tell the truth about Egypt, and the injustice both inside and outside its many prison walls. Nobody knows exactly how many political prisoners Egypt now has, but the number is estimated to be at least 60,000.
ALAA WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REVOLT THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN
Alaa Abd El-Fattah was one of the leaders of arguably the most inspirational democratic revolt the world has seen in the last hundred years. Although the first phase of the 2011 uprising in Egypt lasted just 18 days, and although it followed the toppling of the dictator Ben Ali in Tunisia - the streets and bridges around Tahrir Square became a deadly stage watched by the world, where protesters from every walk of life were pitted against Egypt's feared state security forces. Against all the odds, and at the cost of many lives, Egyptians refused to leave the square, sleeping in front of the tanks and fending off attacks from government militia.
The Egyptian people's initial success in toppling the dictator Mubarak led to further revolts not just across the Middle East (most notably in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria) - the highly organised Tahrir-Square sit-in provided the inspiration for strikes and workplace sit-ins against austerity across the United States and Europe and to the Occupy Movement of the same year. The people of Egypt showed that it does not matter how brutal, feared and authoritarian a government is, it can be toppled if people act collectively.
THE MILITARY BACKLASH
It's true that Egypt's flirtation with the path to greater freedom seemed to be only temporary - the Egyptian authorities deployed the usual divide and rule tactics - encouraging the less committed protesters to return home - and then rushed to elections without allowing time for genuinely democratic opposition parties to develop.
Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood won the presidential election in 2012 - the Brotherhood (contrary to the perception many people have here in the West) had genuinely progressive elements within it, but the chance for any transformative radical programme was prevented partly by the corruption and self-interest of some of the main political actors and partly by opposition to its democratic mandate from the deep state (the military, the Interior Ministry, State Security, the police etc.)
The army, seeing its chance, seized power in 2013, superficially in the name of the people, but in reality, to advance the interests of the generals. The new president, Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, moved quickly to crush all opposition, and ordering his security forces to attack Muslim Brotherhood supporters who had gathered in eastern Cairo at Rabaa al-Adaweya Square, killing at least 800 people - the bloodiest massacre of civilians in Egypt's modern history.
DON'T ALLOW EGYPT TO USE COP27 TO GREENWASH ITS REGIME - AND PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE ALAA
Now COP27 is scheduled to take place in Sharm El-Sheikh and Sisi has been given a golden opportunity to greenwash his murderous regime, which has also seen ever increasing levels inequality and corruption. While British representatives at COP27 will be given accommodation in the most luxurious five star hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh and fall asleep listening to the sound of the waves, another British citizen, Alaa Abdel El-Fatah is near death, on a painful hunger strike in the darkest of places - his dimly lit cell. The only thing he might hear at night is the desperate cry from some prisoner in another cell appealing for medical help which most likely never comes.
If we care for freedom, real democracy and justice, we can't allow the British Foreign Office to forget Alaa - especially if it's simply not to upset the highly profitable relationship British multinationals have with one of the world's most authoritarian and corrupt regimes - a relationship which only benefits the wealthiest of Egyptians.
If you live in London, please show your support at the protest at King Charles Street - and wherever you live please sign the petition -
www.change.org/p/help-free-my-brother-before-it-s-too-lat...
Scientific name: Leptobelus sp
Family : Membracidae
Treehoppers more precisely typical treehoppers to distinguish them from the Aetalionidae and thorn bugs are members of the family Membracidae, a group of insects related to the cicadas and the leafhoppers.
About 3,200 species of treehoppers in over 400 genera are known.
Treehoppers are small bugs that are very good at hiding with their sharp, pointed spine on their back, which makes them look like a thorn on a plant. They also called as thorn bugs due to their shape.
Olympus OM-D EM-5 Mark III
M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f2.8
Raynox DCR- 250
Malaysia
Hermann Melville, Moby Dick, 1851
"Call me Ishmael. Some years ago - never mind how long precisely - having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can"
Can't wait to get to the sea again, this year, somewhere, just to get lost in its beautiful vastity and contemplate my beloved clouds playing above it.
Hermann Melville, Moby Dick, 1851
"Chiamatemi Ismaele. Alcuni anni fa – non importa quanti esattamente – avendo pochi o punti denari in tasca e nulla di particolare che m'interessasse a terra, pensai di darmi alla navigazione e vedere la parte acquea del mondo. È un modo che ho io di cacciare la malinconia e di regolare la circolazione. Ogni volta che m'accorgo di atteggiare le labbra al torvo, ogni volta che nell'anima mi scende come un novembre umido e piovigginoso, ogni volta che mi accorgo di fermarmi involontariamente dinanzi alle agenzie di pompe funebri e di andar dietro a tutti i funerali che incontro, e specialmente ogni volta che il malumore si fa tanto forte in me che mi occorre un robusto principio morale per impedirmi di scendere risoluto in istrada e gettare metodicamente per terra il cappello alla gente, allora decido che è tempo di mettermi in mare al più presto."
Non vedo l'ora, quest'anno, di ritornare sul mare a perdermi da qualche parte nella sua affascinante immensità e contemplare le mie nuvole adorate mentre vi giocano sopra.
Nauru island has been destroyed – do you know Nauru? one of the smallest island in the world. And once the richest and wealthiest countries in the world. maybe you are wondering where the country is located, is close to the country australia.
Nauru lay on the land area of 8000 hectares in the western Pacific ocean. The extent of only about one tenth of the oil palm plantation Astra, Eka Cipta Wijaya, Prabowo, Cargill, DL Sitorus, and tycoons Crude Palm Oil (CPO) in Sumatra there. Only about a quarter of its 50 spacious logged forests conglomerates concessionaires in Borneo there. Precisely, the area of the Republic of Nauru is almost equivalent to the Lake Toba.
21km square berarea country for 30 years been listed as one of the richest countries in the world. Income per capita in 1981 reached 17,000 dollars, compared with Indonesia, which is only 530 dollars per capita in the same year. With such a high income and a population of only 13 thousand inhabitants (still more spectators Indonesian league opponents Saudi Arabia the other day, which reached 90,000) Nauru transformed into a very rich country. They build tall buildings. Buy cars and luxury commercial aircraft. There are no poor people in there, let alone bum. State subsidizes the lives of all citizens. More than 80% of the workforce was appointed as civil servants. These employees are not tied to office hours. They may come and go as they pleased. The unemployed also subsidized by the state. In short, was so rich Nauru, without any of the working population can live in luxury. People are not taxed. Education and free health care, subsidized food, who want to study abroad were given scholarships. Even so spoiled, so reluctant to Nauru population of mobile workers. His government was forced to import labor from Australia, China, Kiribati and Tuvalu.
What makes Nauru be all that rich? not because of bird droppings. More than 70% of the land consists of sediment Nauru Guano bird droppings that had accumulated over hundreds and even thousands of years ago. This is because once Nauru is a place for large colonies of birds Guano. This bird droppings into phosphate, which serves as fertilizer for crops.
Phosphate was found in 1899 and began to be explored in 1907. At that Nauru is still a part of the country Australia. Once granted independence on January 31, 1968, phosphate mining areas controlled by men. Estimated that the number of high-quality phosphate across Nauru 41 million tons. This huge amount. Compare with Indonesia, which consists of thousands of islands, the total number of phospatnya estimated at only 2.5 million tonnes. Because it is only natural that the country would fall into the list of the world’s smallest country touted as the country’s phosphate, and targeted by many countries.
After the massive phosphate exploration for decades, Nauru is now reaping the consequences. According to Greenpeace’s investigation, 90% of Nauru was severely damaged and need to be rehabilitated. That means that only about 2 square km area Nauru only habitable. Greenpeace also found spreading poison of its mining activities in three places. Toxic substances that the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos, Polyvinyl chloride plastic (PVC) and metal.
Tremendous damage this requires a very long rehabilitation period and cost prohibitive. Nauru should import fertilizer, humus, and other essential nutrients to rebuild the ecosystem. It costs about 200 million dollars, and the process took 30 years. The most crucial thing to do is reclaiming back the area of agriculture, clean water sources, livestock and plantasi trees. If this step is not performed, then the entire population of Nauru have to migrate to other areas. When kept in Nauru they will suffer from various diseases due to mining, hunger and lack of water. Migration area selection is empty islands in the Pacific Islands region.
Nauru government intends reclaiming back its territory. For the year 1989, they filed a lawsuit against Australia in the International Court. Nauru demanded Australia to pay compensation for the environmental damage done mining company. The company itself is actually a consortium of three countries, namely Australia, England and New Zealand. Australia circumvent these demands and accused Nauru as a party that should be responsible. Because the country gained independence from Australia in 1968. And since then, phosphate mining Nauru managed native son, no longer by the consortium companies.
In 1992, the International Court of Justice in favor of Nauru. According to them Australia and two other countries (the United Kingdom and New Zealand) must take responsibility for environmental damage Nauru, as they participate explore this mine before.
In 1993 the three countries were required to pay compensation. Australia have to pay compensation of 107 million Australian dollars, while the United Kingdom and New Zealand, respectively 12 million dollars.
So how? Are you curious about this country? if you want to visit to see it? it’s up to you. I hope what happened to Nauru could be a lesson to us all that exploit something excessively without any action about the future it will be bad. so do not get used to always live with a tasty and versatile plush yes, learn to appreciate life and learn to start thinking about the future.
by New Hotel Travel in ift.tt/1XHPf3p
Ratu Boko Palace located on the hilltop with a height of about 196 meters or more precisely 195,97 meters above sea level, occupies an area of 250,000 m2. Ratu Boko Palace is located on the Boko plateu, about 19 kilometers east of Yogyakarta city (toward Wonosari), and 2 km south of the Prambanan Temple.
From its location, Ratu Boko complex has a unique and special attraction, because of the complex which are located on hills can enjoy beautiful natural scenery and charming. On a hillside plateau, overlooking Prambanan temple complex and with a view to Mount Merapi behind Prambanan Temple complex. with a village atmosphere with green rice fields around it. In addition, the south, when the weather is sunny, in the distance, faintly visible to the South Coast.
Site Ratu Boko is the single largest classical period settlement site found in Java, especially Java middle section. This feature makes Ratu Boko as a specific site, a lot of mystery as well as a variety of interesting phenomena to be traced and revealed.
HISTORY
Historical background Keraton Ratu Boko can not be known for certain, but to be able to reveal not only used non-textual data (buildings, statues, ceramics, artifacts, etc.) are also used textual data due to findings of the inscriptions.
From inscriptions that can be concluded that the region is a region Ratu Boko heritage character of Hinduism and Buddhism, which was built around VIII - IX sentury. Ratu Boko complex was originally a monastery complex, which is a dormitory for the residence of the monks in the Buddhist religion.
In the year 856 AD, Ratu Boko complex functions turn into the residence of a ruler called the Rakai Wilang Pu Khumbayoni the adoption of Hinduism. It is therefore not surprising that elements of Hinduism and Buddhism looks at this building complex.
Elements of Hinduism can be shown through the yoni, three miniature temples, statues of Ganesh and Durga as well as gold and silver plate that read Hindu religious incantation, while the Buddhist elements visible from the discovery of Buddha statues, ruins of stupas and stupika.
This is precisely one of those moments when Tartuffe wishes he was an only child ;P!
No dog or human was harmed in the making of this shot!! At least, not physically, the mental trauma is another question ;). Hope you won't have any bad dreams...
This wasn't precisely the shot I intended of this train as I had planned to catch it off Old Oak Common Lane overbridge behind me, but to my utter surprise it overtook the Bristol - Felixstowe liner I was waiting at this spot for, at Acton. That means I have to go back to do it again!
Green snake
Macro .(pls take note this shot was taken by Tamron USD 70-300mm VC lens not precisely describe below as i was too afraid of been attack or bitten by such snake species with mere 50mm lens). I immediately terminate my search for insect n flew home instantly with such threatening encounter at Woodlands Admiralty Park not once but twice . The last time was a king cobra that measure at least 1.7m. No joke!
In Macro photography, nothing is too small to escape with an additional extensive magnification even any smallest creatures beside a size of near un-visible tiny droplet like this mini grasshopper shall be spare.
My recent Macromania workfun hands on with a Non Macro combination,a cheap Canon $125 bucks 50mm F1.8II lens +Raynox+Hoya +4 close up filter .
After all, I think the result still quite acceptable but fun.
Here, for ur ultimate viewing pleasure, just click EASY VIEW OF MY SLIDE SHOW or View in Black to enjoy my photostream
Please also consider reading "My Most Interesting Facts" below:-
|[ How I met Photography ] | [ Me & My Prospect Profile ]|
Don't use this image on Websites/Blog or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved . . ..
Due to copyright issue, I cannot afford to offer any free image when request. Pls kindly consult my sole permission to purchase n use any of my images.You can email me at : men4r@yahoo.com.
Technical Details:
Non HDR, single exposure process by CS5 software.
Basic Standard Gears I rely for Landscape
Canon EOS 5D Mark2 (a full frame ideal for interpolating landscape image).
Tokina 16-28mm F2.8 wide angle lens .
Tripod for landscape only (keep possible sharpness n ability to focus for most idealistic desire composition)
Release cable (reduce hand contact n fully manage desire exposure timing)
Please also note that all the contents in this photostream is copyrighted and protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Copyright Act of Singapore. Any illegal usage of my images without sole permission will face legitimate monetary prosecution for infringement liability!
©All photographs on this site are copyright: DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2020 & GETTY IMAGES ®
No license is given nor granted in respect of the use of any copyrighted material on this site other than with the express written agreement of DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) ©
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Photograph taken at 04.08am on Friday 24th April 2020 in the Golden hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 05.48am), at an altitude of nineteen metres off North Cray Road within Foots Cray Meadows in Bexley, Kent.
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Nikon D850 Focal length 50mm Shutter speed: Thirty seconds long exposure. Aperture f/13.0 iso80 Image area FX (36 x 24) NEF RAW L (8256 x 5504). NEF RAW L (14 bit uncompressed) Image size L (8256 x 5504 FX). Focus mode: Manual focus Exposure mode: Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto ISO sensitivity control on (Max iso 800/ Minimum shutter speed 125). White balance on: Auto1. Colour space: RGB. Active D-lighting: Normal. Vignette control: Normal. Nikon Distortion control: Enabled. Picture control: Auto (Sharpening A +1/Clarity A+1)
Nikkor AF-S 24-120mm f/4G ED VR. Lee filters SW150 holder. Lee filters SW150 77mm screw in adapter ring. Lee filters SW150 0.6 (2 stops) ND Grad Soft resin filter. Lee filters Little Stopper (6 stops) Glass filter. Mcoplus professional MB-D850 multi function battery grip 6960.Two Nikon EN-EL15a batteries (Priority to battery in Battery grip). Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup.
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LATITUDE: N 51d 25m 20.78s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 7m 15.40s
ALTITUDE: 31.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 92.9MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 36.90MB
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PROCESSING POWER:
Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.10 (9/05/2019) LD Distortion Data 2.018 (18/02/20) LF 1.00
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit Version 1.4.1 (18/02/2020). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit Version 1.6.2 (18/02/2020). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 2.4.5 (18/02/2020). Nikon Transfer 2 Version 2.13.5. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
No snow here yet ... in this moment when I started precisely to upload this photo it begins to snow. It`s cold enough for snow. I'm curious how much it will be overnight. In the moment it is snowing very little.
During HalloweenTime at Disneyland, Space Mountain undergoes a spooky transformation to become Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy...Featuring state of the art projected images mapped precisely to the exterior, every few minutes the ghost inside tries its best to break out of the Mountain in several different amazing scenes. This particular scene shows a giant hand trying to push its way out from the inside accompanied by loud screeching metal sounds and eerie moaning and screams that can be heard all the way from the Hub...
On this particular evening Ryan Pastorino and I were on the upper loading deck of the queue photographing the Mountain as it went through its transformations. We have decided to post each of our different photos today so that different approaches to the same idea can be compared. For the record, this shot was extremely difficult to finalize in post-processing due to the radically changing lights and a dreary overcast that was horrific in a different way...
My presentation is a HDR image from three exposures, merged in Photomatix using both Enhancer and Fusion, combined in PP with elements of two other additional exposures masked in. Many adjustments were made in Photoshop using various tools including Nik Color Efex 4, and Topaz Adjust.
Check out Ryan's photo here:
The Minor Seminary of Pabré was founded in 2025, precisely 100 years ago. To the north of the current site, some of the original buildings' ruins remain. These have now almost completely disappeared due to erosion, as the buildings were constructed of earth.
Le Petit Séminaire de Pabré a été fondé en 2025, il y a tout juste 100 ans. Au nord du site actuel, il subsiste quelques ruines des premiers établissements. Celles-ci ont actuellement quasiment disparu sous l'effet de l'érosion, étant donné que les bâtiments avaient été construits en terre.
She always knew what i had in mind, and almost always it was the same thing she had in mind.
(1973, exactly)
Mamiya Sekor 500DTL
Plus x
It was our first time in Botswana or more precisely it was even our first time in Africa and we would have been more than happy to see any lion at all. So we did not expect such experience. And it was truly a special experience! It was just superb seeing these wild creatures laying in the tree and enjoying their time. We did too even we sat in an open safari jeep ;-)
Torrents; deluge of rain; darkness; Noah of primeval times comes to mind. But I have a safe, dry albeit rather damp haven open to the sea, and a Palm Roof overhead. And opportunity to read ancient botanical texts when the internet works.
Just before the fierce storms yesterday I shot this brightly orange Beach Cordia, Cordia subcordata, branches hanging over the black volcanic sands come down from the Rinjani and ground by the surging seas. It's named for Valerius Cordus (1515-1544), a worthy German physician and botanist. That name is modern, supplanting a spate of other designations among which Cordia rumphii. The latter was the way of fey Carl Ludwig Blume (1786-1862), one-time director of Bogor's fine Kebun Raya, to honor Georg Eberhard Rumphius (1627-1702), great naturalist of Ambon, Indonesia.
Rumphius had used Novella nigra or ebbenniformis and waxes eloquent and enthusiastic about our Tree in his utterly readable Herbarium amboinense. He precisely describes it and details its various kinds of wood, among which the inner heartwood, which is ebony black; hence, of course, that 'nigra'. He notes its durability in the face of its lightness, and gives examples of its use by local people. It's quite clear from his description that Rumphius is also looking to Cordia as a possible source of timber for his masters of the Dutch East India Trading Company (VOC).
In his descriptions generally and specifically in this one he also makes anthropological-linguistic notes. Thus Rumphius tells his readers that a local who had traveled widely told him that it was believed that a Cordia on one of the Kei Islands had existed from the Beginning of the World. Surely that can't be the case, writes Rumphius ironically. His informant must have meant 'from the time that this place was inhabited', because the Malays often call 'the beginning of habitation of a given place, the beginnning of the world' (Malaienses enim aliquanda initium inhabitationis certi loci initium mundi vocant.).
As I look up from my writing - in the distance my Cordia still gray - Noah leaps to mind again: darkness, deluge, torrents...
Now whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on th' event—
A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom
And ever three parts coward—I do not know
Why yet I live to say this thing's to do,
Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means
To do't.
Seen during the walk in the forest (look at previous photo) :)
Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) is a species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color, more precisely called common bilberry or blue whortleberry. It is found natively in Europe, northern Asia, Greenland, Iceland, Western Canada, and the Western United States. It occurs in the wild on heathlands and acidic soils. Its berry has been long consumed in the Old World. It is related to the widely cultivated North American blueberry. The bilberry fruit is smaller than that of the blueberry and similar in taste. Bilberries are darker in colour, and usually appear near black with a slight shade of blue. While the blueberry's fruit pulp is light green, the bilberry's is red or purple, heavily staining the fingers and lips of consumers eating the raw fruit. Vaccinium myrtillus fruits has been used for nearly 1,000 years in traditional European medicine for treatment of disorders of the gastrointestinal tract and diabetes. In cooking, the bilberry fruit is commonly used for the same purposes as the American blueberry such as pies, cakes, jams, muffins, cookies, sauces, syrups, juices, and candies.
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Jagódki w lesie już kwitną, mam nadzieję, że potem zaowocują :)
Borówka czarna (Vaccinium myrtillus) – gatunek rośliny wieloletniej z rodziny wrzosowatych. Ma wiele nazw zwyczajowych, m.in. jagoda, czarna jagoda, czernica. Roślina jest szeroko rozprzestrzeniona w Azji, Europie i Ameryce Północnej na obszarach o klimacie umiarkowanym i arktycznym. W Polsce jest pospolita zarówno na nizinach, jak i w górach. Jest wykorzystywana szeroko jako roślina jadalna i lecznicza. Znaczenie gospodarcze borówki czarnej pozostaje wysokie mimo silnej konkurencji znacznie bardziej plennych borówek północnoamerykańskich, których owoce mają uboższy skład chemiczny od czernicy. Owoce borówki czarnej były od dawna bardzo istotne dla Słowian i ludów północnej Europy. Używano jej owoców jako lekarstwa przy biegunkach i krwawej dyzenterii. Zastosowanie takie utrzymało się w lecznictwie ludowym, przy czym często zalecano je także w większych dawkach przeciw owsikom. Ponadto owoce borówki czarnej oferowane i spożywane są w postaci świeżej, suszonej, mrożonej oraz jako składnik przetworów takich jak dżemy, ciasta, soki oraz ciekłe lub sproszkowane koncentraty, będące suplementem diety. Przetwory z jagód wyróżniają się długą trwałością.