Getting Better All the Time
View allAll Photos Tagged rewards
What better time than December to say Thank You to all the bloggers who choose to make their blog photos at Frogmore and have done so for 3 years!! See all the Rewards details here ---> www.flickr.com/groups/frogmore/discuss/72157721915496301?new
Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) on the River Bradford. Second weekend that I’ve see the Kingfisher’s by the River Bradford. Such an exciting treat.
One of the rewards of getting up in the middle of the night shooting a city is being able to scout a perfect location that will have a subject and composition for the sunrise using one of the many available phone tools for determining in which direction and when the sun will rise.
Captured here in the early light is the Castello di Trani or Castello Svevo the defensive fortress built by the Swabian Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II who dotted the Adriatic and Mediterranean coastline with defensive fortresses to protect his Sicilian empire, today it is a small museum and event location as well as the subject of many photo’s.
The castle is a design you would find in the Holy land as a Crusader fortress and itself was based on Roman castrum designs, the courtyard clock tower was added in a 19th century conversion to a prison which remained its function until the 1970’s when it was taken over to be used as a museum.
I took this on Sept 18, 2016 with my D750 and Nikon 24-85 f3.5-4.5 Lens at 52mm 1/25 sec f/9 ISO 200 processed in LR, PS +Lumenzia, Topaz , and DXO
Disclaimer: My style is a study of romantic realism as well as a work in progress
Echeveria flowers take different forms, this type would fit in the shepherd's crook style due to the distinctive shape.
I have 2 with yellow flowers,
This one was from 3 years ago taken with my Nikon D80, Nikkor f/1.4 50mm lens.
www.flickr.com/photos/komotini49/13056425735/in/photolist...
Western Columbine, Wild Sky Wilderness, Washington
Some hikes roll smoothly along to their intended grand destination, and others serve as a gentle reminder that beauty can be still be found when things don't go according to plan. Yesterday's hike was one of the latter :-)
With an intended destination of a lovely waterfall plunging into an even lovelier pool below, I set out on a damp and drizzly morning for the Quartz Creek trail in the Wild Sky Wilderness (a wilderness area I have wanted to hike just because the name!) Progress toward the trailhead came to an abrupt halt however, at a large washout on the forest road that would have required a serious off-roading vehicle to pass. It was early enough in that day that I could convince myself adding five miles of forest road hiking to make an 11 mile roundtrip instead of six, would be perfectly fine (!!), since the extra five miles would probably go pretty quickly.
So I laced up my boots and headed up the road, which turned out to be a wonderful (uphill) walk along the beautiful Skykomish River as it noisily roared and plunged through rocks and off towering cliffs. There were many wildflowers along the way, including my first Columbine sightings of the year, some purple penstemon clinging to a rocky cliff, and several patches of bleeding hearts in a shade of deep purple I had not seen before. It was also wonderfully quiet since there were no vehicles beyond the washout and very few other hikers.
I finally reached the actual trailhead and after a short detour down a different trail to take some photos from a bridge that crosses the river at a dramatic viewpoint, I was on my way to my original destination. Or so I thought! As I made made my way up the first part of the trail I noticed an occasional patch of snow off to the side, which was not too alarming or unusual as those often linger in shaded areas well into summer and recent trail reports from nearby hikes had put the snow level at least 1000-1500 feet above the elevation I was hiking. But then those seemingly innocuous patches started to become more frequent until suddenly the entire trail was covered in knee deep snow!
At that point for the sake of safety I decided to turn around given the snow conditions, steep slope of the hillside, number of fallen trees along the trail that required maneuvering over and around, and being on a trail I was unfamiliar with. So I headed back down the trail and road, and hiking in the reverse direction was treated to intermittent views of the Central Cascade peaks as they emerged from the clouds and fog, only to disappear again minutes later.
Someday I will return to hike to that waterfall, but on a day when little went as planned, it was still a hike filled with beautiful sights and sounds of nature, and for that I am very grateful.
I had been driving all day and was tired so drove past the turn off to the Trestle Bridge because I couldn't be bothered. I metaphorically kicked myself up the butt, turned around and got the camera out.
A nice reward for taking the dogs out for a walk. We arrived just in time at our turn around point for a gorgeous sunset.
At the end of a long climb (but not the end of this walk) I stood upon the Beehive to have this spectacular view on Lake Louise and its surroundings. No need so say (but I still do :) that this was a great reward for the climb, although there are more than enough rewards during the walk (more to come!, see also www.flickr.com/photos/115540984@N02/25706772393).
From 11 June till the 25th of July, I traveled in Canada. Starting in Brighton Ontario, where my sister lives at the border of an amazing part of lake Ontario, I flew to Vancouver, and Vancouver island where I took the boat at Port Hardy to take part 1 of the Inside passage, to Prince Rupert in BC. Two days later I took part 2 to Skagway in Alaska. When coming from Skagway Alaska, you can take the train to Carcross. it is a very scenic train ride that halts at Bennet lake.
And then to Whitehorse and further on by car to Kluane National park in the Yukon district. Whitehorse is situated at the border of the Yukon. From there I flew back to Vancouver, rented a car, and traveled three weeks in the BC- and Alberta Rockies, visiting the famous, and less famous Nature parks like Banff and Jasper. Last few days back to Brighton Ontario to enjoy lake Ontario once more, before going home. A picture of my itinerary can be found on Facebook (www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152940536581759&set...).
4000 pictures later, it is quite a task to show the right stuff, although the stunning scenery guarantees at least a few great shots to share. Objective will be to make a book (for myself mainly), and that might take a while.
Tulips in my garden still waiting for warmth to open. Not my ideal POV but my better half has been busy digging up our back lawn, putting fresh soil from another part of the garden, rolling it out ready to reseed it so I daren’t even kneel on that.....yet...
Blair outfit bought mostly with 400L$ Rewards giveaway at Vision. Picture taken at Angel Manor, The Rose Theater
The rewards that are found with the discovery of a little gem of a waterfall that is Goit Stock. A short walk down a country lane leads to a scene that you would think had come straight from a page of "The secret garden". Every time i go exploring the thought of finding these special places helps drive me on in fulfilling the overwhelming urge to photograph.
"What do we look for as reward?
Some little sounds, and scents, and scenes
A small hand darting strawberry-ward
A woman's aprons full of greens.
The sense that we have brought to birth
Out of the cold and heavy soil,
The blessed fruits and flowers of earth
Is large reward for our toil."
- Ruth Pitter
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to all for 13,000.000+ views and kind comments ... !
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
Here is another photo from the Tops of 2018 folder that I'm just now adding to FB. This is the caption I wrote at the time:
After getting the photos in this post:
facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1996662910633820&id...
After getting those shots the whole gang of Doug Boudrow, John Kittredge, Tyler Varnum, Vincent Colombo, and whoever else I'm missing moved down to the Ludlow area to shoot the foliage train from Chester coming up the hill. We did the same, but then made the risky decision to chase east a bit cause there was one shot I really wanted with the last Green Mountain painted geep on the rear.
We weren't sure if we could get it and then still double back west before the 263/slurry freight started down hill.
Well, as you can see, we did.
This shot posted a while ago if you missed it: flic.kr/p/2i5muQ4
But if we hadn't and missed the shot of 263 round the curve at Okemo in perfect storm light I think Doug would have lost it!
This is the shot I took the risk for. Green Mountain GP9 804 rides the rear of the 10 AM foliage train heading back east downgrade on the former Rutland mainline to Bellows Falls. The old Rutland bridge over the Black River in the village of Proctorsville just east of Depot St is so cool to frame a train in with its build date cut out in the top of the truss frame.
Cavendish, Vermont
Saturday October 20, 2018
At sunset a regal dairy barn sits empty like a king without a kingdom. After retirement, many people look back on years of travel and sacrifice for their career and regard their hard work for a company only as a reminder of family loss.
One from last winter, a rewarding visit to Langley Park.
Processed in Lightroom and NIK Collection Silver EFEX Pro 2.
Image info:- Nikon D750 with Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 @ f/6.3, ISO 400, shutter 1/1250th focal length 24mm. Hoar frost in the trees along with mist made for a chilly December morning.
“Life isn't as magical here, and you're not the only one who feels like you don't belong, or that it's better somewhere else. But there ARE things worth living for. And the best part is you never know what's going to happen next.”
― O.R. Melling
So... if you read what I wrote with my most recent clown photo... I did just that. I put on a long sleeved shirt (in 90 degree heat with 90% humidity... and later (when it was already too late) realized it was one of those COLD Gear shirts.... designed to keep you WARM in cold winter weather... it was thin and lightweight... I didn't know.... can you say "heat stroke"? UGH!!) and went out with a machete and pruning shears to bushwack a trail to the abandoned section of the farm where I took the clown photos... and then proceeded to cut away the weeds and trim a tree that was covering another window there. My reward for my misguided prioritization was uncovering TWO new windows to shoot (and sweating off a few pounds... yey!) I won't bother to list all the things that I SHOULD have been doing, that are ... STILL ... undone. So, I can now cross "yard work" off of my "To Do" list ... afterall, I never did specify that the work had to be done in MY yard.
Works for me!
After 75km of hiking during a 5 days Trek, it could have been easy to miss sunrise. But battling my tiredness was rewarded with this amazing morning glow!
And this morning… I was rewarded for all of my hard work in getting this wreath up. I woke up to a light coating of snow…. the icing on the cake !!! I stopped on my way to work to snap a quick cell phone shot before the snow melts. I wait every year for this! My heart is happy! ❤️❄️❤️
" A Break Between Takes...(see the photo' shoot below)..."
" I Found That This Grey Squirrel Would Climb a Tree ? Situated On A Small Island In' Fairy Glen ', Sefton Park and Would Leap Across The Glen Stream ( Spooking All The Faries In The Process) To a Large Conifer Tree On The Main, Park Land...It Would Then Scurry Down The Trunk Of The Conifer To Collect Some Of The ' Monkey Nuts ' (Peanuts) That I Distribute In That Area For The Surrounding Squirrels (About a Dozen) To Eat / Collect..."
" Sciurus carolinensis, Common Name Eastern Gray Squirrel or Grey Squirrel depending on region, is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus...It is native to Eastern North America, where it is the most prodigious and ecologically essential natural forest regenerator....The eastern grey squirrel in Europe is regarded as an invasive species..."
*
*
*
Copyright ©
All Of My Photographic Images Are Subject To Copyright ! Each Of My Photographs Remain My Intellectual Property ! All Rights Are Reserved And As Such, Do Not Use, Modify, Copy, Edit, Distribute Or Publish Any Of My Photographs ! If You Wish To Use Any Of My Photographs For Any Reproductive Purposes, Or Other Uses, My Written Permission Is Specifically Required, Contact Me Via Flickr Mail !
There is a long story to this photo so I hope you are sitting comfortably with a cup of tea or something a bit stronger :-)
The fields behind our house have been bought by a new farmer who intends to grow just salad stuffs but as he wanted to get them planted quickly he planted wheat in all but a few. The land is transected by a road and the fields on the far side are more picturesque as they are gently undulating. As the wheat ripened this year I hoped to get a good shot of them reaping in these fields with the north downs in the background. I walked Brac over there every day as the time approached but on a day when I walked in the morning, they managed to cut all of that side in the afternoon! They must have had several machines going at once to get it done. Anyway, there were still the fields on my side of the road and as our house backs right onto them I would be sure to hear if any reaping was going on.
The weather turned bad from that point on. Barely a day went by without some amount of rain or if not it was damp. No reaping could take place until the crop dried out or it would rot. As the weeks went by a black mould started to appear on the husks so something had to happen soon. Finally we had a dry day followed by another but it was not until that night that the combines moved in. I laid in bed listening to them working through the night.
The forecast was for more rain in the morning. When I woke up it was raining and had been for some time. I took Brac over the fields and was relieved to see that there were still two fields they had not managed to get done. I was still in with a chance.
Ok, so back to walking Brac over the fields every day with camera in hand only now, as the fields left were the least interesting photographically, I was only taking my little sony P&S camera as I didn't feel it was worth the effort of carrying my very heavy D300. Another week went by and nothing happened. Then, one day I went out with my Sony in my pocket and as I entered the fields I could see the dust rising in the distance. They were reaping. At last I could get some shots. I walked over to the field they were working on and got my camera ready only to discover I had left the memory stick in my PC! AAAAH! That's it, it's just not meant to be. I finished Brac's walk in disgust.
When I got in I thought about it some more. that was likely to be my last best chance of getting such a shot as from now on they will only be growing onions and lettuce over there. I had to go back. I grabbed my D300 and headed out knowing that they were 2/3rds finished when I saw them last.
Brac couldn't believe his luck; two walks straight after each-other!
As I headed out in a hurry now a neighbour who's wife had not been well for some time was in his garden. I knew it would be rude of me to just pass by so I had to stop and ask after her. It was a longer conversation than I really wanted but what could I do?
Finally I head off into the fields. By the time I got to where the combine was there was only a few strips of wheat left to reap. No matter, it would be enough. The tractor was parked at the end of the rows and the combine was going to it to unload the grain into its trailer as the field was quite small so no need for them to work in formation. I positioned myself at the other end of a row and waited for the combine to come towards me. As it approached I started snapping moving around for a different angle. I than saw the combine extend its arm and to my express delight the tractor pulled up along side. They decided to transfer the grain in formation and I'm sure it was for my benefit. To make matters even better the sun decided to poke it face out for those few minutes too. When they got to the end of the row the combine driver gave me a wave as he turned to go back.
If I had remembered to check the memory stick in my Sony I'd never have got these shots. I guess it was meant to be after all.
Who wouldn't be after bagging this shot of 60087 on its way to Chirk.
Just rewards for Dave & I after putting in the frozen miles.
We had had to get to Garsdale from Arcow Quarry via Hawes due to the closure of the section of the A684 between Sedbergh & the M6 but I'd say it was worth it.
two old Chevy trucks
next to a makeshift living space in a small commercial building
Arcata, California
Having spent a whole afternoon @ the lake, the result was rewarding. No filters, or processing. A photo as served by nature!
my bonus for picking up garbage along the highway. it's in french so i'm imagining some canadian exhausted his prayers, then thoughtfully gave us americans the same opportunity by tossing it out the window. must have worked because my kids didn't get hit by an 18 wheeler.