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Whew it arrived just in time. I didn't think it was going to get here before the end of the year. I thought it would have been bigger. It is suppose to last the whole 365 days but this looks like it'll only last 52 weeks. But looking at the state this year is ending in there's not really much other option.
Now let's see. Instructions...instructions...where are the...oh here they are. "Clean your 2017 thoroughly so as no cross contamination". Well...bugger that. 2017 is so shite covered I'm just going to put down some newspaper and bin bags and we'll pave over it with the new year and pretend it didn't happen.
Next.
"Prepare the area with Hogmanay". Well that appears to be in full swing. The people on the telly are having some BBC sanctioned fun. They look like they're enjoying themselves but it doesn't seem to have reached their faces yet and the other channels are showing....oooh....American Werewolf in London...aww it's already started. Ah maybe next year,
Next year. That'll be in 23 minutes. Maybe less now. Yes, now it's 22 minutes. That was quick. A little too quick. Makes me wonder if the year really has been a standard however many minutes a year has. Is it 14? More? 14 and a half? Fine, we'll say everything ran as normal.
But I'm keeping my eye on you 2018
The long, slow journey has only just begun for the crew of X4108 east. The train is crossing the "Hogback Bridge" over the North Branch of the Raritan River in Far Hills, NJ. A maintenance crew stands in the clear on the far side of the bridge and will resume their work once the train passes.
4108 was shoving a set of Arrow IIIs from Gladstone, NJ to the MMC after one unit of a married pair suffered truck damage in a derailment within Gladstone Yard several days prior. The pair was severed, with the other half able to make a shop move earlier. This move required the use of a dolly on one axle, which required restricted speed for the entire eastward move.
NJTR 4108 GP40PH-2
Sabah Trip 2
Garnet Pitta (Erythropitta granatina) is found in Peninsular Malaysia while Black Crown Pitta (Erythropitta ussheri) is found in Borneo.
Pittas are diurnal, requiring light to find their often cryptic prey. They are nevertheless often found in darker areas and are highly secretive, though they will respond to imitations of their calls.
All Rights Reserved ©
Diet: Earthworms, snails, insects and similar invertebrate prey, as well as small vertebrates.
Habits & migratory pattern: Pittas are monogamous and females lay up to six eggs in a large domed nest in a tree or shrub, or sometimes on the ground. Both parents care for the young.
The movements of pittas are poorly known and notoriously difficult to study. Four species of pittas are fully migratory, and several more are partially so, though their migrations are poorly understood. Fully migratory pitta are the Indian pitta, the African pitta, the fairy pitta and the blue-winged pitta.
It requires a reasonable effort to get up to the Bishop Hill ridge but, clearly, plenty of people have done that and it's easy to see why.
I love the CI from Groningen and the way the people, shops etc fill it with life.
All rights reserved. Permission required for any use. © Kathrin Jebsen-Marwedel
This shot required a lot of patience because of the number of visitors - well, at least because of 2 of them. Some photographer set up against the lighthouse and shot his model who was posing on the picnic table. For about 45 minutes both his tripod and the model did not move. Ultimately this required 5 stacked exposures (one for FG DOF and 4 to "paint out" various people).
A construction worker in downtown Dunedin, Florida.
Day 341 of my 365 project for 2015.
Week 49 of my weekly project for 2015.
****PBR enabled, requires PBR viewer.******
Clovercritters are A line of smaller, interactive companions.
They can be worn, rezzed, renamed, made to wander around, interact with interactable items when wandering (Beds, food bowls etc), and emote (while wandering or on interactable items).
Each critter is exclusive, this means you can only get one kind, they will not be sold elsewhere, which is a unique color, or variation.
Come down to Clover and collect as many as you want!
New variations will be released regularly, as well as interactive items!
When wandering this creature will wander, in a flat specified radius, not avoiding obstacles, It will go up to avatar, interact with interactive items, emote, and walk around.
When worn, this creature can be attached anywhere you want, moved around, and you can click it to set a different animation.
At the mainstore now!
****PBR enabled, requires PBR viewer.******
Clovercritters are A line of smaller, interactive companions.
They can be worn, rezzed, renamed, made to wander around, interact with interactable items when wandering (Beds, food bowls etc), and emote (while wandering or on interactable items).
Each critter is exclusive, this means you can only get one kind, they will not be sold elsewhere, which is a unique color, or variation.
Come down to Clover and collect as many as you want!
New variations will be released regularly, as well as interactive items!
When wandering this creature will wander, in a flat specified radius, not avoiding obstacles, It will go up to avatar, interact with interactive items, emote, and walk around.
When worn, this creature can be attached anywhere you want, moved around, and you can click it to set a different animation.
At the mainstore now!
On Explore.
Wildflowers grow from mere dust to reach their full potential.
Wildflowers grow well, even in adverse soil conditions.
Wildflowers don't require late nights at the office to grow.
Wildflowers grow thick and stick together.
Wildflowers grow strong and tall.
Wildflowers display their brilliant personalities for all to see.
Wildflowers withstand drought and grow all the more beautiful when watered.
Wildflowers withstand frost and hale.
Wildflowers last late in the season, when other flowers have given up.
Are you a wildflower?
Poem by David Leonhardt
© all rights reserved
Please take your time... and enjoy it large on black
Laos is blessed with some of Asia’s nicest rivers, and many of them are mellow. Children spent the day at school, and by the afternoon they were doing the chores required of them…building a fire for the kitchen, sweeping the leaves into a pile, or caring for the young siblings strapped to their back …young boys and girls from the age of seven or eight attentive to the baby’s every need. Amongst this was the laughter of children playing in the river. But sometimes they skip their days at school, going fishing and collecting snails from the river, or using long bamboo poles to knock crickets from the trees. They eat the crickets live or drop them into bottles and take them home for lunch or dinner.
Photo taken nearby the Tad Lo waterfall near the little town Kieng Than Lei - Laos. These ragged little urchins spend most of their days not at school, but fishing and collecting snails from the river. School is important for ethnic minority kids, they should attend and complete primary education in order to overcome rural/urban, ethnic in the area of literacy and education. But it isn't that easy. The reason to skip school are the family economic considerations, involvement in family maintenance and subsistence tasks, the lack of perceived benefits from education. While poverty and lack of access are issues. In addition to these, ethnic minority kids have to face further barriers to education, including the distance from school facilities, their extreme poverty, and additional cultural barriers and the lack of fluency in the national language, Lao. The ethnic kids speak their own language. About 32% of all Laotians are related to Ethnic groups. Totally 160 ethnic groups and speak 82 distinct living languages.
...an old lady washing her clothes in the river gave us a beautiful smile; the Laos people are so friendly. Kids have a great time running on the rampart, swimming in the Sexet river at the Tad Lo waterfall, taking boat rides along the river and playing. A bit futher south men washing their elephants in the river. Lao seems a bit like heaven, the laughter is often & sincere, the rivers are cool and clean and not a speck of modern civilization in sight. In my perspective it is some of the best Laos can offer.
Sue required a photo for her 365 group, so I took this for her with her phone.
The prompt called for her to show a picture of where her feet were at 3pm, so here she is looking at her watch.
The second part of the prompt was that the photo must have something to do with her home town.
Well, this town statue is of Roy Brown, the pilot credited with shooting down the Red Baron in WWI. Roy was born here in Carleton Place.
© AnvilcloudPhotography
A gorgeous sunrise doesn’t necessarily requires one to travel far or seek mountains and beaches. But, it definitely requires a puddle of water may work. Maybe some trees. LOL But, all kidding aside, that’s exactly what I found in a park lot of a super store. Maybe all he/she needs is an eye for it.
© Hand Photography - All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without my explicit permission
We need the tonic of wildness...At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.
― Henry David Thoreau
It is a commonplace of all religious thought, even the most primitive, that the man seeking visions and insight must go apart from his fellows and live for a time in the wilderness.
― Loren Eiseley
___________________________________
[Note: I have mentioned Loren Eiseley's writings to several contacts and would recommend them to all interested in the spiritual and philosophical side of nature. His book "The Star Thrower", a collection of his works, is remarkable in every way. A naturalist who thought well beyond his scientific training, he was referred to as "the heir apparent" to Henry David Thoreau for good reason.]
Arches is a great little National Park to photograph. Unlike Yellowstone, which requires hundred of miles of driving, Arches is a manageable park with most of the classic sites within reach of parking your car.
Photographing Arches is also made very pleasant since nearby is the handy gateway town of Moab, Utah. This also makes it a great base to photograph nearby Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park.
Some photo and travel tips regarding my trip to Arches National Park and vicinity:
Think small: Fly into a smaller regional airport. Rather than flying into a big airport hub like Salt Lake City and driving five hours to get to Moab, I flew into Grand Junction, Colorado and drove an hour and half along a scenic highway to get to my destination. In addition, the much smaller regional airports are a breeze for travelers as opposed to the behemoth airports that require miles of walking and tons of headaches.
Get an alarm clock: Many people have e-mailed me asking how I get such brilliant colors in my photographs. Get up early and stay out late to photograph at sunrise and sunset when nature's light returns the favor of your early rising with deep saturated colors.
Read before you see: Before I even click my shutter button I do extensive research of the places I photograph. I read guidebooks, magazines and photo website forums for advice on the best shot locations. Also, I'll read books that feature my trip destination to give me a better appreciation of the places I'll discover. For example, for my trip to Savannah, GA I read John Berendt's "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." For this trip I read the classic, "Desert Solitaire: A Season In the Wilderness," by Edward Abbey.
Rock Steady: To get those super sharp photos you'll need a tripod. I travel with a very lightweight carbon fiber tripod that is small enough to fit into my carry on luggage. Good landscape photography requires shooting in weak light (sunrise and sunset) and small apertures. Canon "L" lenses will deliver some great shots for you but if your camera isn't steady you will get blurry photos. Invest in a good tripod before you invest in quality lenses.
Seek Inspiration to be Inspired: In downtown Moab, UT you can visit Tom Till's photography gallery. Yes, you can duplicate his classic shots but this will inspire you to search deeper to find your own "classics" while improving your photography skills.
What a Bargain: Invest in a National Park Pass. If you want to meet Europeans there is no need to go to Europe just visit your local National Park. I have met many more Europeans than Americans in the many National Parks I have visited. There's a reason why so many foreign travelers visit our parks because the wondrous beauty of our national treasures are unparalleled. Visit our National Parks before some of our national treasures are gone.
This is a sunrise shot of Turret Arch looking through the North Window. Get here early to catch a spectacular light show. In the Windows section of the park take the trail toward the North Window and hike right under it until you see a trail that you can scramble up on to get to a ledge. From here you can shoot the classic photo that you see above. That little white speck you see on the upper left hand side is the moon.
Be a Traveler not a Tourist!
Equipment used:
Canon EOS 5D ,Tamron SP AF 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di LD IF
Happy Travels!
Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography
This the largest photomosaic ever assembled from NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observations. It is a panoramic view of the neighbouring Andromeda galaxy, located 2.5 million light-years away. It took over 10 years to make this vast and colorful portrait of the galaxy, requiring over 600 Hubble snapshots. The galaxy is so close to us, that in angular size it is six times the apparent diameter of the full Moon, and can be seen with the unaided eye. For Hubble’s pinpoint view, that’s a lot of celestial real estate to cover. This stunning, colorful mosaic captures the glow of 200 million stars. That’s still a fraction of Andromeda’s population. And the stars are spread across about 2.5 billion pixels. The detailed look at the resolved stars will help astronomers piece together the galaxy’s past history that includes mergers with smaller satellite galaxies.
[Image description: The Andromeda galaxy, a spiral galaxy, spreads across the image. It is tilted nearly edge-on to our line of sight so that it appears very oval. The borders of the galaxy are jagged because the image is a mosaic of smaller, square images against a black background. The outer edges of the galaxy are blue, while the inner two-thirds is yellowish with a bright, central core. Dark, dusty filamentary clouds wrap around the outer half of the galaxy’s disk. At 10 o’clock, a smaller dwarf elliptical galaxy forms a fuzzy, yellow blob. Hubble’s sharp vision distinguishes about 200 million stars within the image.]
Credits: NASA, ESA, B. Williams (University of Washington); CC BY 4.0
No water.... no soil required!!!!! The wax process requires that bulbs are jump-started with heat treatments to trigger the bulb to sprout. That readies them to produce blooms in three to six weeks after they reach the consumer. The roots are first removed from the bulb. It is then covered in wax which prevents the bulb from growing new roots.
© All rights reserved — any use, reproduction, or curation requires prior written permission via Flickr mail.
When the deer said ‘Enough’ - As the deer shed its coat, the jackdaw seized a moment of quiet opportunity - On an early Easter Monday bank holiday morning, I set off towards Bradgate Park under a biting wind, with my car showing just 4°C. Despite the cold, the land was clearly awakening with spring, quietly signaling renewal in every detail.
As I stepped into the park under the soft morning light, there was a rare stillness—no people, just nature beginning its day. Instead of the usual robin, I was greeted by a Eurasian chaffinch foraging on the ground. Around me, small birds were busily flying back and forth, carrying nesting materials in their beaks into tree hollows.
Continuing my walk, I noticed a group of fallow deer on my right. Among them, a young deer fixed its curious gaze on me, and I believe I captured that exact moment of connection in a single frame. Between us flowed the River Lin, its subtle elevation difference and fresh greenery adding depth to the scene.
As I observed the group, something remarkable caught my attention in the distance. Eurasian jackdaw were landing on the deer, pulling out loose fur and flying off to line their nests in ancient tree hollows. This interaction seemed less about parasite removal and more about building soft nesting material.
I waited patiently as the light shifted and the sun rose higher, creating a beautiful backlit background. Finally, the moment came—a female deer allowing a jackdaw to pull fur from her back. I captured this frame at ISO 4000 and 1/1250 sec.
It’s also worth noting that the deer are currently shedding their winter coats, which the jackdaws are clearly taking advantage of. Interestingly, not all deer tolerated this behavior—some females resisted, perhaps due to discomfort.
Nature’s balance and these subtle interactions continue to fascinate me, often leading me to reflect more deeply on the connections within the wild.
I hope this story adds another layer to the image and helps convey the moment beyond the frame.
Wishing you all a peaceful and joyful Easter Monday.
Fallow deer and jackdaws often form a quiet, mutually beneficial relationship in spring. As the deer sheds its winter coat, jackdaws gather the soft fur for their nests while also removing ticks and other parasites.
A brief encounter nature’s own balance, where one lets go and the other takes. Often observed in Bradgate Park.
I've captured some unforgettable moments with my camera, and I hope you feel the same joy viewing these images as I did while shooting them.
© All rights belong to R. Ertuğ. Please refrain from using these images without my express written permission.
If you are interested in purchasing or licensing them, feel free to contact me via Flickr mail.
Lens & support:
Nikon AF-S TC-14E III — hand-held or monopod, SPORT VR enabled.
Aperture set to f/8, full focal length.
All images were converted from RAW to JPEG.
During long walks, I use either a Nikon cross-body strap or a monopod.
Monopod setup:
Gitzo GM2542 Series 2 4S Carbon Monopod
Really Right Stuff MH-01 Monopod Head (Standard Lever)
Really Right Stuff LCF-11 Replacement Foot for Nikon AF-S 500mm f/5.6E PF
Your comments and constructive criticism are always appreciated.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to explore! 😊
I originally planned to shoot something completely different for my upload this week. It was going to be a rather complex conceptual image with various elements participating within it. For the creation of it I required a cold, frosty, typical winters day but the weather where I live never bows down to your wishes and so instead of frost and fog, I got sunshine and blue skies. Thus, I had to quickly think of something else to shoot. I debated what to do for a while until I stumbled upon this beautiful collection of ivy. The green of the leaves seemed so inviting and I became transfixed with them. I gathered my pure essentials and I simply laid down in the evergreen with its leaves curling around me, enveloping me in their embrace and I looked to my camera, pressed one button and my image was created. I captured three elements in this image; the ivy, the flowers and me. Three simple elements which created an entire image.
What I realised as I shot this image was that many a times within our lives we over dress things. We take something simple and we make it into something complex, we decorate it until it is hardly even recognizable, even to ourselves. We over think certain things, things which require no thinking at all. We take far too much time stressing about things that may or may not happen and as a result we lose vital time in which we could purely be enjoying the moment. I had an intricate idea which I had thought about for days and yet something out of my control prevented me from creating it. Instead, I adopted a new concept on the spot. I let the idea grow there and then as I was shooting. I guess what I realised during that moment was that sometimes we can’t plan everything. Sometimes we have to let life take us where it wants us to go. Sometimes, the simple things are the most important.
"If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable.” - Rainer Maria Rilke
Copyright © 2014 Amy Morris. All Rights Reserved.
Need a new perspective?Sometimes, seeing clearly requires looking at things with a fresh set of eyes. When you’re able to peer through the dust, that’s when you can reveal even more stars. ✨
Download full-resolution images of the Carina Nebula, as seen by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and by Webb!
👉 Hubble: bit.ly/3OnC7id
👉 Webb: bit.ly/3OrP22G
Want posters and zoomable versions of Webb's first images? Find them here: bit.ly/3v9F2UQ
Image description:
Image of a portion of the Carina Nebula, vertically divided in half between Hubble's view on the left and Webb's view on the right. A "Hubble" label in small white text is to the right edge of the Hubble view, while a "Webb" label in the same font is to the right edge of the Webb view. Both the Hubble and Webb views feature a a blue “sky” dotted with stars and an orange-brown “mountain range” below it. Starting with the Hubble view, the blue portion is a more faded color and mixed with shades of green. Some pink points of starlight, each with 4 diffraction spikes, poke through the blue. The orange-brown portion is dusty, and the few stars that can be seen are only tiny dots of pinkish red. The mountainous area also features a prominent knob sticking out on the left side. In the Webb view, we see that Webb’s blue portion is much more rich, dark and vivid in color. Compared to Hubble, a multitude of stars in shades of light orange and blue are visible, including two giant six-pointed stars on the very right. The orange-brown portion is also dotted with stars galore, each with a set of 6 diffraction spikes. This is because Webb's infrared vision is able to cut through the curtain of dust, revealing many more stars in the landscape.
Photographed in South Africa - From a safari vehicle, no cover
Click on the image or press the L key to view at larger size
On our very last game drive, hours before we had to leave for the airport to fly home at the end of our 2020 trip to Africa, Luke Street, our excellent and much appreciated guide, at our very favorite safari camp,Tanda Tula, took us to see the newly born cubs in a local pride. Since the cubs were so young, Luke kept the vehicle at a distance so as not to disturb them. The cubs coloration was very pale, compared to other lion cubs we’d seen, and Luke told us they were from a gene pool which is responsible for the large number of *white lions which have been seen in the Timbavati region of South Africa. Watching lion cubs play and wrestle with one is always enjoyable as well as seeing the interaction with their mother, keeping a close eye on them as they played nearby. In this image, two of the three cubs are headed to check in with mom while the third cub looks to me like it wants to keep playing.
* en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_lion
=======================
From Wikipedia: The lion (Panthera leo) is a species in the family Felidae; it is a muscular, deep-chested cat with a short, rounded head, a reduced neck and round ears, and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; male lions have a prominent mane, which is the most recognisable feature of the species. With a typical head-to-body length of 184–208 cm (72–82 in) they are larger than females at 160–184 cm (63–72 in). It is a social species, forming groups called prides. A lion pride consists of a few adult males, related females and cubs. Groups of female lions usually hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates. The lion is an apex and keystone predator, although some lions scavenge when opportunities occur, and have been known to hunt humans, although the species typically does not.
Typically, the lion inhabits grasslands and savannas but is absent in dense forests. It is usually more diurnal than other big cats, but when persecuted it adapts to being active at night and at twilight. In the Pleistocene, the lion ranged throughout Eurasia, Africa and North America but today it has been reduced to fragmented populations in Sub-Saharan Africa and one critically endangered population in western India. It has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1996 because populations in African countries have declined by about 43% since the early 1990s. Lion populations are untenable outside designated protected areas. Although the cause of the decline is not fully understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are the greatest causes for concern.
One of the most widely recognised animal symbols in human culture, the lion has been extensively depicted in sculptures and paintings, on national flags, and in contemporary films and literature. Lions have been kept in menageries since the time of the Roman Empire and have been a key species sought for exhibition in zoological gardens across the world since the late 18th century. Cultural depictions of lions were prominent in the Upper Paleolithic period; carvings and paintings from the Lascaux and Chauvet Caves in France have been dated to 17,000 years ago, and depictions have occurred in virtually all ancient and medieval cultures that coincided with the lion's former and current ranges.
The lion is a generalist hypercarnivore and is considered to be both an apex and keystone predator due to its wide prey spectrum. Its prey consists mainly of mammals – particularly ungulates – weighing 190–550 kg (420–1,210 lb) with a preference for blue wildebeest, plains zebra, African buffalo, gemsbok and giraffe. Lions also hunt common warthog depending on availability, although the species is below the preferred weight range. In India, sambar deer and chital are the most commonly recorded wild prey, while domestic livestock may contribute significantly to their diet. They usually avoid fully grown adult elephants, rhinoceroses and hippopotamus, as well as small prey like dik-dik, hyrax, hare and vervet monkey. Unusual prey items include porcupines and small reptiles. Lions kill other predators such as leopard, cheetah and spotted hyena but seldom consume them.
Young lions first display stalking behaviour at around three months of age, although they do not participate in hunting until they are almost a year old and begin to hunt effectively when nearing the age of two. Single lions are capable of bringing down zebra and wildebeest, while larger prey like buffalo and giraffes are riskier. In Chobe National Park, large prides have been observed hunting subadult and even adult African bush elephants. In typical hunts, each lioness has a favoured position in the group, either stalking prey on the "wing", then attacking, or moving a smaller distance in the centre of the group and capturing prey fleeing from other lionesses. Males attached to prides do not usually participate in group hunting. Some evidence suggests, however, that males are just as successful as females; they are typically solo hunters who ambush prey in small bushland.
Lions are not particularly known for their stamina; for instance, a lioness' heart comprises only 0.57% of her body weight and a male's is about 0.45% of his body weight, whereas a hyena's heart comprises almost 1% of its body weight. Thus, lions only run quickly in short bursts and need to be close to their prey before starting the attack. They take advantage of factors that reduce visibility; many kills take place near some form of cover or at night. The lion's attack is short and powerful; they attempt to catch prey with a fast rush and final leap. They usually pull it down by the rump and kill by a strangling bite to the throat. They also kill prey by enclosing its mouth and nostrils in their jaws.
Lions typically consume prey at the location of the hunt but sometimes drag large prey into cover. They tend to squabble over kills, particularly the males. Cubs suffer most when food is scarce but otherwise all pride members eat their fill, including old and crippled lions, which can live on leftovers. Large kills are shared more widely among pride members. An adult lioness requires an average of about 5 kg (11 lb) of meat per day while males require about 7 kg (15 lb). Lions gorge themselves and eat up to 30 kg (66 lb) in one session; if it is unable to consume all of the kill, it rests for a few hours before continuing to eat. On hot days, the pride retreats to shade with one or two males standing guard. Lions defend their kills from scavengers such as vultures and hyenas.
Lions scavenge on carrion when the opportunity arises; they scavenge animals dead from natural causes such as disease or those that were killed by other predators. Scavenging lions keep a constant lookout for circling vultures, which indicate the death or distress of an animal. Most carrion on which both hyenas and lions feed upon are killed by hyenas rather than lions. Carrion is thought to provide a large part of lion diet.
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Not required for Sunday afternoon services, so parked up at Matford P&R. 15260 was later pressed into working on the evening 4 Service to Cranbrook, hopefully the top front window was washed!
The Khajuraho Group of Monuments is a group of Hindu and Jain temples in Madhya Pradesh, India, about 175 kilometres southeast of Jhansi. They are one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India. The temples are famous for their nagara-style architectural symbolism and their erotic sculptures.
Most Khajuraho temples were built between 950 and 1050 by the Chandela dynasty. Historical records note that the Khajuraho temple site had 85 temples by 12th century, spread over 20 square kilometers. Of these, only about 20 temples have survived, spread over 6 square kilometers. Of the various surviving temples, the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple is decorated with a profusion of sculptures with intricate details, symbolism and expressiveness of ancient Indian art.
The Khajuraho group of temples were built together but were dedicated to two religions - namely Hinduism and Jainism - suggesting a tradition of acceptance and respect for diverse religious views among Hindus and Jains.
LOCATION
Khajuraho group of monuments are located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, in Chhatarpur district, about 620 kilometres southeast of New Delhi. The temples are in a small town also known as Khajuraho, with a population of about 20,000 people (2001 Census).
Khajuraho is served by Civil Aerodrome Khajuraho (IATA Code: HJR), with services to Delhi, Agra, Varanasi and Mumbai. The site is also linked by Indian Railways service, with the railway station located approximately six kilometres from the monuments entrance.
The monuments are about 10 kilometres off the east-west National Highway 75, and about 50 kilometres from the city of Chhatarpur, that is connected to Bhopal - the state capital - by the SW-NE running National Highway 86.
HISTORY
The Khajuraho group of monuments was built during the rule of the Rajput Chandela dynasty. The building activity started almost immediately after the rise of their power, throughout their kingdom to be later known as Bundelkhand. Most temples were built during the reigns of the Hindu kings Yashovarman and Dhanga. Yashovarman's legacy is best exhibited by Lakshmana temple. Vishvanatha temple best highlights King Dhanga's reign. The largest and currently most famous surviving temple is Kandariya Mahadeva built in the reign of King Ganda from 1017-1029 CE. The temple inscriptions suggest many of the currently surviving temples were complete between 970 to 1030 CE, with further temples completed during the following decades.
The Khajuraho temples were built about 35 miles from the medieval city of Mahoba, the capital of the Chandela dynasty, in the Kalinjar region. In ancient and medieval literature, their kingdom has been referred to as Jijhoti, Jejahoti, Chih-chi-to and Jejakabhukti.
Khajuraho was mentioned by Abu Rihan-al-Biruni, the Persian historian who accompanied Mahmud of Ghazni in his raid of Kalinjar in 1022 CE; he mentions Khajuraho as the capital of Jajahuti. The raid was unsuccessful, and a peace accord was reached when the Hindu king agreed to pay a ransom to Mahmud of Ghazni to end the attack and leave.
Khajuraho temples were in active use through the end of 12th century. This changed in the 13th century, after the army of Delhi Sultanate, under the command of the Muslim Sultan Qutb-ud-din Aibak, attacked and seized the Chandela kingdom. About a century later, Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan traveller in his memoirs about his stay in India from 1335 to 1342 CE, mentioned visiting Khajuraho temples, calling them “Kajarra” as follows:
...near (Khajuraho) temples, which contain idols that have been mutilated by the Moslems, live a number of yogis whose matted locks have grown as long as their bodies. And on account of extreme asceticism they are all yellow in colour. Many Moslems attend these men in order to take lessons (yoga) from them.
— Ibn Battuta, about 1335 CE, Riḥlat Ibn Baṭūṭah, Translated by Arthur Cotterell
Central Indian region, where Khajuraho temples are, remained in the control of many different Muslim dynasties from 13th century through the 18th century. In this period, some temples were desecrated, followed by a long period when they were left in neglect. In 1495 CE, for example, Sikandar Lodi’s campaign of temple destruction included Khajuraho. The remoteness and isolation of Khajuraho protected the Hindu and Jain temples from continued destruction by Muslims. Over the centuries, vegetation and forests overgrew, took over the temples.
In the 1830s, local Hindus guided a British surveyor, T.S. Burt, to the temples and they were thus rediscovered by the global audience. Alexander Cunningham later reported, few years after the rediscovery, that the temples were secretly in use by yogis and thousands of Hindus would arrive for pilgrimage during Shivaratri celebrated annually in February or March based on a lunar calendar. In 1852, Maisey prepared earliest drawings of the Khajuraho temples.
NOMENCLATURE
The name Khajuraho, or Kharjuravāhaka, is derived from ancient Sanskrit (kharjura, खर्जूर means date palm, and vāhaka, वाहक means "one who carries" or bearer). Local legends state that the temples had two golden date-palm trees as their gate (missing when they were rediscovered). Desai states that Kharjuravāhaka also means scorpion bearer, which is another symbolic name for deity Shiva (who wears snakes and scorpion garlands in his fierce form).
Cunningham’s nomenclature and systematic documentation work in 1850s and 1860s have been widely adopted and continue to be in use. He grouped the temples into the Western group around Lakshmana, Eastern group around Javeri, and Southern group around Duladeva.
Khajuraho is one of the four holy sites linked to deity Shiva (the other three are Kedarnath, Kashi and Gaya). Its origin and design is a subject of scholarly studies. Shobita Punja has proposed that the temple’s origin reflect the Hindu mythology in which Khajuraho is the place where Shiva got married; with Raghuvamsha verse 5.53, Matangeshvara honoring ‘’Matanga’’, or god of love.
DESCRIPTION
The temple site is within Vindhya mountain range in central India. An ancient local legend held that Hindu deity Shiva and other gods enjoyed visiting the dramatic hill formation in Kalinjar area. The center of this region is Khajuraho, set midst local hills and rivers. The temple complex reflects the ancient Hindu tradition of building temples where gods love to play.
The temples are clustered near water, another typical feature of Hindu temples. The current water bodies include Sib Sagar, Khajur Sagar (also called Ninora Tal) and Khudar Nadi (river). The local legends state that the temple complex had 64 water bodies, of which 56 have been physically identified by archeologists so far.
All temples, except one (Chaturbhuja) face sunrise - another symbolic feature that is predominant in Hindu temples. The relative layout of temples integrate masculine and feminine deities and symbols highlight the interdependence. The art work symbolically highlight the four goals of life considered necessary and proper in Hinduism - dharma, kama, artha and moksha.
Of the surviving temples, 6 are dedicated to Shiva and his consorts, 8 to Vishnu and his affinities, 1 to Ganesha, 1 to Sun god, 3 to Jain Tirthanks. For some ruins, there is insufficient evidence to assign the temple to specific deities with confidence.
An overall examination of site suggests that the Hindu symbolic mandala design principle of square and circles is present each temple plan and design. Further, the territory is laid out in three triangles that converge to form a pentagon. Scholars suggest that this reflects the Hindu symbolism for three realms or trilokinatha, and five cosmic substances or panchbhuteshvara. The temple site highlights Shiva, the one who destroys and recycles life, thereby controlling the cosmic dance of time, evolution and dissolution. The temples have a rich display of intricately carved statues. While they are famous for their erotic sculpture, sexual themes cover less than 10% of the temple sculpture. Further, most erotic scene panels are neither prominent nor emphasized at the expense of the rest, rather they are in proportional balance with the non-sexual images. The viewer has to look closely to find them, or be directed by a guide. The arts cover numerous aspects of human life and values considered important in Hindu pantheon. Further, the images are arranged in a configuration to express central ideas of Hinduism. All three ideas from Āgamas are richly expressed in Khajuraho temples - Avyakta, Vyaktavyakta and Vyakta.
The Beejamandal temple is under excavation. It has been identified with the Vaidyanath temple mentioned in the Grahpati Kokalla inscription.
Of all temples, the Matangeshvara temple remains an active site of worship. It is another square grid temple, with a large 2.5 metres high and 1.1 metres diameter lingam, placed on a 7.6 metres diameter platform.
The most visited temple, Kandariya Mahadev, has an area of about 6,500 square feet and a shikhara (spire) that rises 116 feet. Jain templesThe Jain temples are located on east-southeast region of Khajuraho monuments. Chausath jogini temple features 64 jogini, while Ghantai temple features bells sculptured on its pillars.
ARCHITECTURE OF THE TEMPLES
Khajuraho temples, like almost all Hindu temple designs, follow a grid geometrical design called vastu-purusha-mandala. This design plan has three important components - Mandala means circle, Purusha is universal essence at the core of Hindu tradition, while Vastu means the dwelling structure.
The design lays out a Hindu temple in a symmetrical, concentrically layered, self-repeating structure around the core of the temple called garbhagriya, where the abstract principle Purusha and the primary deity of the temple dwell. The shikhara, or spire, of the temple rises above the garbhagriya. This symmetry and structure in design is derived from central beliefs, myths, cardinality and mathematical principles.
The circle of mandala circumscribe the square. The square is considered divine for its perfection and as a symbolic product of knowledge and human thought, while circle is considered earthly, human and observed in everyday life (moon, sun, horizon, water drop, rainbow). Each supports the other. The square is divided into perfect 64 sub-squares called padas.
Most Khajuraho temples deploy the 8x8 padas grid Manduka Vastupurushamandala, with pitha mandala the square grid incorporated in the design of the spires. The primary deity or lingas are located in the grid’s Brahma padas.
The architecture is symbolic and reflects the central Hindu beliefs through its form, structure and arrangement of its parts. The mandapas as well as the arts are arranged in the Khajuraho temples in a symmetric repeating patterns, even though each image or sculpture is distinctive in its own way. The relative placement of the images are not random but together they express ideas, just like connected words form sentences and paragraphs to compose ideas. This fractal pattern that is common in Hindu temples. Various statues and panels have inscriptions. Many of the inscriptions on the temple walls are poems with double meanings, something that the complex structure of Sanskrit allows in creative compositions. All Khajuraho temples, except one, face sunrise, and the entrance for the devotee is this east side.Above the vastu-purusha-mandala of each temple is a superstructure with a dome called Shikhara (or Vimana, Spire). Variations in spire design come from variation in degrees turned for the squares. The temple Shikhara, in some literature, is linked to mount Kailash or Meru, the mythical abode of the gods.In each temple, the central space typically is surrounded by an ambulatory for the pilgrim to walk around and ritually circumambulate the Purusa and the main deity. The pillars, walls and ceilings around the space, as well as outside have highly ornate carvings or images of the four just and necessary pursuits of life - kama, artha, dharma and moksa. This clockwise walk around is called pradakshina. Larger Khajuraho temples also have pillared halls called mandapa. One near the entrance, on the east side, serves as the waiting room for pilgrims and devotees. The mandapas are also arranged by principles of symmetry, grids and mathematical precision. This use of same underlying architectural principle is common in Hindu temples found all over India. Each Khajuraho temple is distinctly carved yet also repeating the central common principles in almost all Hindu temples, one which Susan Lewandowski refers to as “an organism of repeating cells”.
CONSTRUCTION
The temples are grouped into three geographical divisions: western, eastern and southern.
The Khajuraho temples are made of sandstone, with a granite foundation that is almost concealed from view. The builders didn't use mortar: the stones were put together with mortise and tenon joints and they were held in place by gravity. This form of construction requires very precise joints. The columns and architraves were built with megaliths that weighed up to 20 tons. Some repair work in the 19th Century was done with brick and mortar; however these have aged faster than original materials and darkened with time, thereby seeming out of place.
The Khajuraho and Kalinjar region is home to superior quality of sandstone, which can be precision carved. The surviving sculpture reflect fine details such as strands of hair, manicured nails and intricate jewelry.
While recording the television show Lost Worlds (History Channel) at Khajuraho, Alex Evans recreated a stone sculpture under 4 feet that took about 60 days to carve in an attempt to develop a rough idea how much work must have been involved. Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehner also conducted experiments to quarry limestone which took 12 quarrymen 22 days to quarry about 400 tons of stone. They concluded that these temples would have required hundreds of highly trained sculptors.
CHRONOLOGY
The Khajuraho group of temples belong to Vaishnavism school of Hinduism, Saivism school of Hinduism and Jainism - nearly a third each. Archaeological studies suggest all three types of temples were under construction at about the same time in late 10th century, and in use simultaneously. Will Durant states that this aspect of Khajuraho temples illustrates the tolerance and respect for different religious viewpoints in the Hindu and Jain traditions. In each group of Khajuraho temples, there were major temples surrounded by smaller temples - a grid style that is observed to varying degrees in Hindu temples in Angkor Wat, Parambaran and South India.
The largest surviving Saiva temple is Khandarya Mahadeva, while the largest surviving Vaishnava group includes Chaturbhuja and Ramachandra.
Kandariya Mahadeva Temple plan is 109 ft in length by 60 ft, and rises 116 ft above ground and 88 ft above its own floor. The central padas are surrounded by three rows of sculptured figures, with over 870 statues, most being half life size (2.5 to 3 feet). The spire is a self repeating fractal structure.
ARTS AND SCULPTURE
The Khajuraho temples feature a variety of art work, of which 10% is sexual or erotic art outside and inside the temples. Some of the temples that have two layers of walls have small erotic carvings on the outside of the inner wall. Some scholars suggest these to be tantric sexual practices. Other scholars state that the erotic arts are part of Hindu tradition of treating kama as an essential and proper part of human life, and its symbolic or explicit display is common in Hindu temples. James McConnachie, in his history of the Kamasutra, describes the sexual-themed Khajuraho sculptures as "the apogee of erotic art": "Twisting, broad-hipped and high breasted nymphs display their generously contoured and bejewelled bodies on exquisitely worked exterior wall panels. These fleshy apsaras run riot across the surface of the stone, putting on make-up, washing their hair, playing games, dancing, and endlessly knotting and unknotting their girdles....Beside the heavenly nymphs are serried ranks of griffins, guardian deities and, most notoriously, extravagantly interlocked maithunas, or lovemaking couples."
The temples have several thousand statues and art works, with Kandarya Mahadeva Temple alone decorated with over 870. Some 10% of these iconographic carvings contain sexual themes and various sexual poses. A common misconception is that, since the old structures with carvings in Khajuraho are temples, the carvings depict sex between deities; however the kama arts represent diverse sexual expressions of different human beings. The vast majority of arts depict various aspects the everyday life, mythical stories as well as symbolic display of various secular and spiritual values important in Hindu tradition. For example, depictions show women putting on makeup, musicians making music, potters, farmers, and other folks in their daily life during the medieval era. These scenes are in the outer padas as is typical in Hindu temples.
There is iconographic symbolism embedded in the arts displayed in Khajuraho temples. Core Hindu values are expressed in multitude of ways. Even the Kama scenes, when seen in combination of sculptures that precede and follow, depict the spiritual themes such as moksha. In the words of Stella Kramrisch,
This state which is “like a man and woman in close embrace” is a symbol of moksa, final release or reunion of two principles, the essence (Purusha) and the nature (Prakriti).
— Stella Kramrisch, 1976
The Khajuraho temples represent one expression of many forms of arts that flourished in Rajput kingdoms of India from 8th through 10th century CE. For example, contemporary with Khajuraho were the publications of poems and drama such as Prabodhacandrodaya, Karpuramanjari, Viddhasalabhanjika and Kavyamimansa. Some of the themes expressed in these literary works are carved as sculpture in Khajuraho temples. Some sculptures at the Khajuraho monuments dedicated to Vishnu include the Vyalas, which are hybrid imaginary animals with lions body, and are found in other Indian temples. Some of these hybrid mythical art work include Vrik Vyala (hybrid of wolf and lion) and Gaja Vyala (hybrid of elephant and lion). These Vyalas may represent syncretic, creative combination of powers innate in the two.
TEMPLE NAME - DEITY - YEAR COMPLETED
Chausath Yogini - Devi, 64 Yoginis - 885
Brahma - Vishnu - 925
Lalgun Mahadev - Shiva - 900
Matangeshwar - Shiva - 1000
Varaha - Vishnu - 950
Lakshmana - Vaikuntha Vishnu - 939
Parshvanath - Parshvanath - 954
Visvanatha - Shiva - 999
Devi Jagadambi - Devi, Parvati - 1023
Chitragupta - Sun, Chitragupta - 1023
Kandariya Mahadeva - Shiva - 1029
Vamana - Vamana - 1062
Adinath Jain Temple - Rishabha - 1027
Javeri - Vishnu - 1090
Chaturbhuja - Vishnu - 1110
Duladeo (Duladeva) - Shiva - 1125
Ghantai - Jain Tirthankara - 960
Vishnu-Garuda - Vishnu - 1000
Ganesha - Shiva - 1000
Hanuman - Hanuman - 922
Mahishasuramardini - Devi - 995
This prompt definitely required some thought! As I started to think about it, I decided to tell the story of Chet's ROTC uniforms. He was so excited about each new one he earned for various events. This high school group has really shaped his future.
I used the Project Life app for this one and it was super easy!
CM3304 and CM3307 in a push pull formation, cruise away from Murrami towards their loading point at Wumbulgal as 2363.
The pairing are hauling the train in this format due to the nature of the loading point which is situated on the mainline, requiring an engine at either end because it isn't possible to run around the train.
Sunday 16th July 2017
Found this moth sleeping under the car early this morning, so of course I thought it was an easy target for a photo or 2.
And yes, it was sleeping because I gave it a slight poke with my finger and it fluttered around a bit :P
11 image focus stack using Zerene.
To celebrate 3 months on HRT, I haven't done a close up in a while, and the story of this photo is quite basic...the ex-ex girlfriend gave me this jacket. I don't usually wear jackets this short, but I rather like it :) So here you go. xxx
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Ravens are among the most intelligent birds - often exhibiting behaviors requiring more intelligence and problem solving than many mammals. One famous test that most ravens master on the very first try is the meat on a string on a stick test. A piece of meat is hung off a perch via a string, which is a situation never seen in the wild. Ravens pull up the string with their beaks and then hold the collected string with their feet, and repeat this process until the meat is within reach. This demonstrates a high level of cognition and problem solving. Ravens have been known to lead wolves to kills, so that they can break open the hide while feeding, thereby allowing the ravens access to the meat. Ravens in Yellowstone National Park re-established this behavior when wolves were re-introduced to the park, despite these ravens not having shared a habitat with wolves for many generations. They are also among the most playful of birds, and have been seen sliding down snowbanks, seemingly just for fun, and will break sticks off of trees to engage in social play with other ravens, thus making their own "toys". They have among the largest brains amonst birds.
It requires energy to climb the wall's steps because they are very steep. When you get to the top of the Great Wall, you can see the Great Wall lying along the winding mountains like a dragon.
Taken @The Great Wall, Beijing, China
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Wet plate process)
This deteriorated dry plate portrait of Theodore Roosevelt is similar to a wet plate image but has substantial differences.
The collodion process is an early photographic process.
Contents
1 Description
2 History
2.1 21st century
3 Advantages
4 Disadvantages
5 Use
6 Search for a dry collodion process
7 Collodion emulsion
8 Collodion emulsion preparation example
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
Description
Collodion process, mostly synonymous with the "collodion wet plate process", requires the photographic material to be coated, sensitized, exposed and developed within the span of about fifteen minutes, necessitating a portable darkroom for use in the field. Collodion is normally used in its wet form, but can also be used in humid ("preserved") or dry form, at the cost of greatly increased exposure time. The latter made the dry form unsuitable for the usual portraiture work of most professional photographers of the 19th century. The use of the dry form was therefore mostly confined to landscape photography and other special applications where minutes-long exposure times were tolerable.[citation needed]
History
The collodion process is said to have been invented in 1851, almost simultaneously, by Frederick Scott Archer and Gustave Le Gray. During the subsequent decades, many photographers and experimenters refined or varied the process. By the end of the 1850s it had almost entirely replaced the first practical photographic process, the daguerreotype.
During the 1880s the collodion process, was largely replaced by gelatin dry plates—glass plates with a photographic emulsion of silver halides suspended in gelatin. The dry gelatin emulsion was not only more convenient, but it could also be made much more sensitive, greatly reducing exposure times.
One collodion process, the tintype, was in limited use for casual portraiture by some itinerant and amusement park photographers as late as the 1930s, and the wet plate collodion process was still in use in the printing industry in the 1960s for line and tone work (mostly printed material involving black type against a white background) since it was much cheaper than gelatin film in large volumes.[citation needed]
21st century
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The wet plate collodion process has undergone a revival as a historical technique over the past few decades. There are several practising ambrotypists and tintypists who regularly set up and make images at Civil War re-enactments. Fine art photographers use the process and its handcrafted individuality for gallery showings and personal work. There are several makers of reproduction equipment. The process is taught in workshops around the world and several workbooks and manuals are in print. Many artists work with collodion around the globe, including traveling photographer Craig Murphy, Kurt Grüng, Sally Mann, and Ben Cauchi. Other artists to note are Luther Gurlach, James Walker[disambiguation needed], Stephen Burkeman, Sam Davis, Quinn Jacobson and Ken Merfeld. There are many more as well that have contributed to bringing this process forward to a modern age.
Advantages
A portable photography studio in 19th century Ireland. The wet collodion process sometimes gave rise to portable darkrooms, as photographic images needed to be developed while the plate was still wet.
The collodion process produced a negative image on a transparent support (glass). This was an improvement over the calotype process, invented by William Henry Fox Talbot, which relied on paper negatives, and the daguerreotype, which produced a one-of-a-kind positive image and could not be replicated. The collodion process, thus combined desirable qualities of the calotype process (enabling the photographer to make a theoretically unlimited number of prints from a single negative) and the daguerreotype (creating a sharpness and clarity that could not be achieved with paper negatives). Collodion printing was typically done on albumen paper.
The collodion process had other advantages, especially in comparison with the daguerreotype. It was a relatively inexpensive process. The polishing equipment and fuming equipment needed for the daguerreotype could be dispensed with entirely. The support for the images was glass, which was far less expensive than silver-plated copper, and was more durable than paper negatives. It was also fast for the time, requiring only seconds for exposure.
Disadvantages
The wet collodion process had a major disadvantage. The entire process, from coating to developing, had to be done before the plate dried. This gave the photographer no more than 10 minutes to complete everything. This made it inconvenient for field use, as it required a portable darkroom. The plate dripped silver nitrate solution, causing stains and troublesome build-ups in the camera and plate holders.[citation needed]
The silver nitrate bath was also a source of problems. It gradually became saturated with alcohol, ether, iodide and bromide salts, dust, and various organic matter. It would lose effectiveness, causing plates to mysteriously fail to produce an image.[citation needed]
As with all preceding photographic processes, the wet-collodion process was sensitive only to blue light. Warm colours appear dark, cool colours uniformly light. A sky with clouds is impossible to render, as the spectrum of white clouds contains about as much blue as the sky. Lemons and tomatoes appear a shiny black, and a blue and white tablecloth appears plain white. Victorian sitters who in collodion photographs look as if they are in mourning might have been wearing bright yellow or pink.[1]
Use
"A Veteran with his Wife", taken by an anonymous photographer, shows a British veteran of the Napoleonic era Peninsular Wars. It is a hand-tinted ambrotype using the set collodion positive process, made circa 1860.
Despite its disadvantages, wet plate collodion became enormously popular. It was used for portraiture, landscape work, architectural photography and art photography.[citation needed] The world's largest wet process collodion glass plate negatives known to survive, measuring 53 inches (1.35 m) x 37 inches (0.94 m), are held at the State Library of New South Wales.[2][3][4]
The wet plate process is used by a number of artists and experimenters who prefer its aesthetic qualities to those of the more modern gelatin silver process.[citation needed] World Wet Plate Day is staged annually in May for contemporary practitioners.[5]
Search for a dry collodion process
The extreme inconvenience of exposing wet collodion in the field led to many attempts to develop a dry collodion process, which could be exposed and developed some time after coating. A large number of methods were tried, though none was ever found to be truly practical and consistent in operation. Well-known scientists such as Joseph Sidebotham, Richard Kennett, Major Russell and Frederick Charles Luther Wratten attempted, but never met with good results.[citation needed]
Typically, methods involved coating or mixing the collodion with a substance that prevented it from drying quickly. As long as the collodion remained at least partially wet, it retained some of its sensitivity. Common processes involved chemicals such as glycerin, magnesium nitrate, tannic acid and albumen. Others involved more unlikely substances, such as tea, coffee, honey, beer and seemingly unending combinations thereof.[citation needed]
Many methods worked to an extent; they allowed the plate to be exposed hours, or even days, after coating. They all possessed the chief disadvantage, that they rendered the plate extremely slow. An image could require anywhere from three to ten times more exposure on a dry plate than on a wet plate.[citation needed]
Collodion emulsion
In 1864 W. B. Bolton and B. J. Sayce published an idea for a process that would revolutionize photography. They suggested that sensitive silver salts be formed in a liquid collodion, rather than being precipitated, in-situ, on the surface of a plate. A light-sensitive plate could then be prepared by simply flowing this emulsion across the surface of a glass plate; no silver nitrate bath was required.
This idea was soon brought to fruition. First, a printing emulsion was developed using silver chloride. These emulsions were slow, and could not be developed, so they were mostly used for positive printing. Shortly later, silver iodide and silver bromide emulsions were produced. These proved to be significantly faster, and the image could be brought out by development.
The emulsions also had the advantage that they could be washed. In the wet collodion process, silver nitrate reacted with a halide salt; potassium iodide, for example. This resulted in a double replacement reaction. The silver and iodine ions in solution reacted, forming silver iodide on the collodion film. However, at the same time, potassium nitrate also formed, from the potassium ions in the iodide and the nitrate ions in the silver. This salt could not be removed in the wet process. However, with the emulsion process, it could be washed out after creation of the emulsion.
The speed of the emulsion process was unremarkable. It was not as fast as the ordinary wet process, but was not nearly as slow as the dry plate processes. Its chief advantage was that each plate behaved the same way. Inconsistencies in the ordinary process were rare.
Collodion emulsion preparation example
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Below is an example of the preparation of a collodion emulsion, from the late 19th century. The language has been adapted to be more modern, and the units of measure have been converted to metric.
4.9 grams of pyroxylin are dissolved in 81.3 ml of alcohol, 148 ml of ether.
13 grams of zinc bromide are dissolved in 29.6 ml of alcohol. Four or five drops of nitric acid are added. This is added to half the collodion made above.
21.4 grams of silver nitrate are dissolved in 7.4 ml of water. 29.6 ml of alcohol are added. This is then poured into the other half of the collodion; the brominized collodion dropped in, slowly, while stirring.
The result is an emulsion of silver bromide. It is left to ripen for 10 to 20 hours, until it attains a creamy consistency. It may then be used or washed, as outlined below.
To wash, the emulsion is poured into a dish and the solvents are evaporated until the collodion becomes gelatinous. It is then washed with water, followed by a washing in alcohol. After washing, it is redissolved in a mixture of ether and alcohol and is then ready for use.
Emulsions created in this manner could be used wet, but they were often coated on the plate and preserved in similar ways to the dry process.
Collodion emulsion plates were developed in an alkaline developer, not unlike those in common use today. An example formula follows.
Part A: Pyrogallic acid 96 g Alcohol 1 oz.
Part B: Potassium bromide 12 g Distilled Water 30 ml
Part C: Ammonium carbonate 80 g Water 30 ml
When needed for use, mix 0.37 ml of A, 2.72 ml of B and 10.9 ml of C. Flow this over the plate until developed. If a dry plate is used, first wash the preservative off in running water.[citation needed]