Another detail shot of the 44-floor (589-foot (180 m)) Erastus Corning Tower in Albany, New York State. Completed in 1973.

The spines of this facade are faced in Vermont Pearl Marble.

Architect: Wallace K. Harrison

Photo taken: May 2024

"The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong." - Laura Ingalls Wilder

These past few days have felt like summer with warm temperatures, sunny skies and trees turning that wonderful lime green with new leaves. So I have been distracted from Flickr by doing the things I love to do in the summer. My garden is looking so great. I worked on an art project for my garden as well as tidied up the weeds. I have enjoyed watching all the beautiful birds visit my backyard and a few of them build nests. We have meals on our back deck which feels like camping. We hike long urban hikes which includes our local park. Then last night we camped out all night in our backyard.

The Trilliums are out and I said I wouldn't take any more Trillium pictures because I have so many good ones in my files. However, there was the odd one posed so nicely that it caught my attention. This one had such a gentle Purple/red color compared to the others in its group that I honored it with a portrait. It also made me stop to realize that I normally would take this pictures on the Bruce Trail. With that trail being closed right now I was glad to see the blooms in our own park nearby.

I also realized that it was the simple pleasures of outdoor experiences I love so much and it didn't really matter where these things happened. It can be in our own backyard. The things we see every year can be beautiful each time you see them again if you use fresh eyes.

Zenza Bronica ETRs : 150mm Zenzanon MC f/3.5 : Kentmere 400 : Spur Acurol-N

One Blackfriars, a new development of buildings currently under construction. It includes a 52 storey tower that is very distinctive on the London skyline.

Architects: Simpson Haugh and Partners

"I felt once more how simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else."

- Nikos Kazantzakis

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to all for 15,000.000+ views, visits and kind comments..!!

Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission.

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This week has been one filled with clichés. First the beach, then the grass...so today I'm doing cherries. I was obsessed with cherries last year. I had big people and little people holding bowls of cherries, I used long lenses, I used prime lenses. I had people stand in different light with the bowl, in the garden, in front of a white sheet. All sorts.

Last night, I snapped these before we ate them. It was so much simpler!

Detail image showing a section of the sculptural steel ventilation pipes at the Halifax Building in West Yorkshire. It was built from 1968 to 1974 as the headquarters of the Halifax Building Society. Architects: Building Design Partnership.

Detail of the concrete style facade, but possibly fibreglass, at Elim Pentecostal Church, Halifax, West Yorkshire. Erected 1972. Designed by CS Oldfield with RW Wands of Rainham Timber.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A lovely, and nearly perfect, Chrysanthemum left over from a Valentine's bouquet! Such a joy to see....flower power!

Chobham Academy, a school in Stratford, London E20. Opened 2013. Architects: Alford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM).

For more of my architectural photos, see here: www.flickr.com/photos/robinmauricebarr/albums/72157645391...

A building in Mile End Park, East London.

A very simple image of this colorful house that I found, I don't know the reason, but I always feel a strong attraction towards this type of photographs....I find them very beautiful, simple but beautiful!

digital art

Another photo of this car park in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, affectionately known as the ‘Cheesegrater’. It was designed by architects Allies and Morrison.

In 2009 it won a RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Regional Award. These awards are given to UK buildings for their regional architectural importance. In 2013 it gained third place in the 'World’s Coolest Car Park' awards.

Interior detail of Temppeliaukion Church, a Lutheran church in the Töölö neighbourhood of Helsinki, Finland. It is known as Rock Church, or Church of the Rock, in Helsinki, Finland.

Architects: Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen.

It opened in 1969.

I was lucky to visit it on a sunny day in June 2022.

HFF

(A colour version of Simple Abstract 169 flic.kr/p/2n5bTVU)

The MAXXI, (Italian: Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo), , National Museum of the 21st Century Arts, is a national museum of contemporary art and architecture in Rome - Architect: Zaha Hadid - Opened in 2010. This photo taken in 2014.

Here is my album of other photos showing buildings by the same architect: flic.kr/s/aHsk76j8Rw

Finding beauty alongside the creek near my backyard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Feliz aniversário, meu caro irmão! :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somewhere along the way

I got caught up in the race

I kept spinning and turning

Lost myself my hope my faith

~ Joe Cocker ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

large view

A simple jetty. Stand here on a calm morning or still evening and wonder, "Is there a more calming place in all the world?"

Loch Shiel, Acharacle, Ardnamurchan, Highlands, Scotland

Taken for this weeks Smile on Saturday theme: "EGG-CELLENT"!

I have never used the little egg cup that comes with my Royal Doulton Bunnykins china set. I dunno why not, maybe because when I was a little kid the thought of hard boiled eggs grossed me out (the same with over easy and undercooked eggs lol) and so I kept it simple and stuck with eating scrambled eggs only. So, in honour of Easter I decided to take it out and photograph it as part of today's SoS theme shot. :)

I have three sets of the Bunnykins china. I kept both of my brother's and my sets from when we were little kids (we were 1970's kids) and when my daughter was born (in 2000) her Godmother bought her a set of her own.

I have always been fond of them and right now I am thinking back to how excited I got while eating my breakfast cereal and the little bunny picture in the bowl would start appearing as the milk and cereal were disappearing. Haha....It is the little things like this that bring us joy! :)

Happy Smile on Saturday everyone! :-) xo

Shinedown - Simple Man ♫

This is a follow up image to a similar posting of a Loch Leven sunset a few weeks ago. I was trying to create some very simply composed images with difficult light scenarios to test my new Canon 16-35 f4 L.

The Canon is much sharper than the Sigma which is great for catching detail but it is less forgiving of movement and diffraction and whilst the Canon is not terrible for flaring I am comparing it to one of the best lenses out there for resisting internal reflections and so it just doesn’t match up. I had to work very hard to reduce the flare in the foreground of this image to make it reasonable and even now I’m not that happy.

The aim of this shot is to get full strength sunlight into the centre of the lens (I know it is off-centre but that was artistic license) with a strong reflection from the water. My previous test was a low light trial whereas this is a too much light trial. I must admit I like the play of the light on the water and way it slightly curves around the foreground rock just helps to break the shape a little. The rock is a little soft at the edges but I think that was me (or possibly the water) causing movement and affecting the exposure.

I’ve now reached the consensus that the comparison between my new lens and my old Sigma is just not really like for like. They have very different strengths and weaknesses and I suppose what I should focus on is getting the best out of the one currently fitted to my camera. That and start saving up for the Canon 11-24 L. :-)

Flickr Friday theme Harmony

Steps leading up to a doorway.

This is a Cubist villa designed by the French architect, Paul Sinoir in the 1930s. Yves St Laurent lived at the house from the early 1980s until his death.

The house was built in the Majorelle Garden, a two and half acre botanical garden and artist's landscape garden in Marrakech, Morocco. It was created by the French Orientalist artist, Jacques Majorelle.

The simple beauty of an amazing Alaskan autumn sunrise. Potter's Marsh, Anchorage, Alaska

... just torch ... on a piece of paper in a dark room ...

Life is so busy... it seems to go by in a quick blur! Sometimes you just have to "stop and smell the... flowers."

Sometimes you just have to stop and appreciate the small things in life!

On a vacation last year, somewhere on the road between North Carolina and Tennessee these flowers were everywhere and I just had to get some pictures of them.

Moment captured August 10, 2022 at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (USA)

I was out one evening looking for something to photograph. It was analogous to "writers block" in that I could not find anything that caught my eye. My compositions were too complex and my subjects were too abstract. Eventually, I sit down in the shade of a tree, giving up on my shots for the day and I see this little guy. It was a simple little tree budding up from the ground. Such a simple thing is so pleasing to my eye...

I hope you enjoy! :)

A photo from my 'Sight Lines' solo architectural photography exhibition, held in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire from 12th October to 19th November 2021.

This is an image of the much photographed, greatly loved, but now demolished, 1971 Welbeck Street Car Park in London. The structure is an example exoskeleton construction. It closed in August 2018. Architect: Michael R Blampied & Partners. Photo taken in January 2017.

Coyote Hills RP, Fremont, CA

...at Curuçá...

Pará, Brasil.

John Muir was right when he said Wilderness is a necessity. Its food for the soul.