taken in Taijiang National Park, Tainan, Taiwan

Hello my amazing Flickr friends !

Today is a blue day at Color my World Daily and the theme at Looking Close on Friday is Clothing Labels.

We all know by now the importance of « stretching » in our lives. After spending the last few months (years ??) working from home, and having daily panoramic walks between my kitchen and living room: I’m definitely in need of stretch clothes ! No wonder that this tiny « stretch » label is one of my favorite right now. But in my case, during the pandemic, « stretch » label applies not only for clothes but for many, many other things… I need to stretch my patience very, very often. I have to stetech our budget...I have to stretch my body after sitting on my not so ergonomic chair for long hours… I have to somehow stretch the time between my working hours and my house chores hours… So I’m pretty much sure that this tiny « stretch » label will be very useful for the next year…

Who else has to stretch something ?

Have a beautiful day ! Mucho, mucho amor for you all !!

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments / favs/ general support / happy thoughts!! Stay safe and well!!

Lu, the neighbour showing us how good a full stretch is but she also was ensuring that I would be won over and wouldn’t shush her out of the garden and it worked. I just laughed out loud.

IC 1396A is the Elephant's Trunk nebula, located in the constellation Cepheus. The Elephant's Trunk Nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within the much larger ionized gas region IC 1396, at an estimated distance of about 2,500 light years.

At the heart of the nebula lies the open star cluster Trumpler 37, where several hot, young stars (less than 100,000 years) are thought to be forming. These stars emit copious amounts of hot plasma winds and energetic particles that ionize the gas in the nebula and causing it to glow with the characteristic red light of hydrogen atoms. The winds are also sculpting the nebula creating the central cavity, but also compressing the gas in dense regions and triggering a new generation of protostars, hidden inside the dust.

At the estimated distance of the nebula, the Elephant's Trunk is about 20 light-years long.

Thanks to all for your continuous support and kind comments. I wish to all my Flickr friends a happy and relaxing summer and looking forward for your beautiful photos and stories!

Technical Info:

Telescope: Orion EON 80ED refractor, F = 500 mm, f/6.25

Camera: Canon EOS 20Da

Mount: Vixen Sphinx

Filter: Astronomik CLS

Guiding: 80/400 Skywatcher refractor - SkyWatcher SynGuider

Light frames: 24 x 5 mins (total: 2 hours), ISO 3200, Custom WB, calibrated with darks

Date: 17-18 October 2020

Location: Chalkidiki, Greece

Software: SiriL (calibration, background extraction, registration, stacking, color calibration, stretch), StarNet++, Adobe Photoshop CC 2022 with Astronomy Tools Actions.

Galapagos Giant Tortoise

Tortuga gigante de las Galápagos

Zoo de Barcelona

yellow-billed spoonbill (Platalea flavipes)

♥ DPSP ( Sponsor) - Stretching !

♥ RAWR! ( Sponsor) - Aurora Toe Rings

♥ Virtual Diva Couture ( Sponsor ) - Candy Set

♥ full credits here ♥

A close up of a little, geometric metal ornament with stretched diamonds on a blue painted door.

iPhone 12 Pro

This Marbled Godwit comes up with a sand worm between incoming waves.

White-breasted Nuthatch

The Damrak houses first introduced me to the Dutch word gezellig (meaning cozy or homely) I was always wandering in from the train station after dark and I would constantly stop and stare at these houses thinking it felt like an incandescent oasis in a city of fluorescents, warming the night and the Damrak with its soft glow.

When you walk by during the day usually things are shut tight against the throngs of tourists walking back and forth from the central station but at night when the crowds have dissipated the curtains open and the world seems to be welcome to become a witness to the nocturnal activities of the residents.

The Damrak historically was originally part of the Amstel river below the Dam that gave Amsterdam its name, Rak means a straight stretch or place to gain speed, so the Damrak was actually the straight piece of river below the Dam across the Amstel where sailors would pick up some speed on their home stretch to the port of Amsterdam.

I took this on Sept 10th, 2017 with my D750 and Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens at 44mm 25 sec f/11 ISO100 processed in LR, PS +Lumenzia, Topaz , Luminar and DXO

Disclaimer: My style is a study of romantic realism as well as a work in progress

Great Horned Owl stretches its wing and leg. Sky Replacement added to get rid of a mostly white background.

Eine juvenile Bachstelze streckt sich.

A juvenile wagtail stretches.

Carolina Wren doing it's morning exercise routine at Peace Valley Park, New Britain PA.

RKO_2639. An African elephant crossing the road at Amboseli, Kenya!

Copyright: Robert Kok. All rights reserved! Watermark protected (sorry for that).

More of my work and activities can be seen on:

linktr.ee/robertkok

Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my explicit permission.

Thanks for visiting, commenting and faving my photos. Its very much appreciated!

This lesser yellowlegs does some wing stretching/flapping while in a small area pond that is part of the estuary at Anchor Point.

Taken 12 July 2021 at Anchor Point, Alaska.

Red-rumped Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus) male

One of the Red-rumps that have been in our area.

Happy Wing Wednesday!

Giving the tele-lens a bit of a work out, Colas 'Shed' 66847 hauls the 2.40pm Ribblehead - Chirk Kronospan logs (6V37) through a sunny Frodsham, one early summer's evening in 2014.

The line seemingly disappears beyond the end of the train, but in fact it tops out for the viaduct (which the train is crossing) over the River Weaver. The heat-haze from the exhaust is pretty evident.

Rework of an upload that falls well below current QC specs, and now deleted. Comments off for this one, thanks.

7.19pm, 6th June 2014

To start the week!

Hyacinth Visorbearer (Augastes scutatus) at Serra do Cipó - MG.

Thanks a lot for your visits, comments, faves, invites, etc. Very much appreciated!

© All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission. All rights reserved. Please contact me at thelma.gatuzzo@gmail.com if you intend to buy or use any of my images.

At the Palace Park Het Loo

The Palace Park is part of the Crown Lands of Het Loo together with the extensive stretches of forest and heath land belonging to the Crown Estate. The total area covers more than 10,000 hectares and has a rich cultural history, great biological diversity and beautiful landscapes. More information: www.kroondomeinhetloo.nl.

((

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Het_Loo_Palace

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_Het_Loo

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Het_Loo

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palacio_Het_Loo

))

This image was captured as the beautiful white throated male mountain gem was in the process of stretching . This is a species that is often seen in the gardens near Savegre in Costa Rica . They are vibrant and feisty little hummingbirds and always a thrill to see.

Wishing you all a wonderful and blessed July 4th !!

LIMG_5863_lr

Giraffes photographed in the Kruger National Park, South Africa.

This snowy owl is starting the new year off right by doing its stretches. My first photo of 2021 :-)!

Great Egret stretching its wings on the nest. Rookery at O'Fallon Park in St Louis, Missouri

Red-vented bulbul - our neighbors

Always find it remarkable how tall they can become when properly motivated. Honestly it looks like a bowling pin with eyes and a beak to me :))

White-crowned Sparrow

Brown Acres - Jackson County - Southern Oregon

A Roseate spoonbill stretching its wings in the early morning light.

Black seal pup photographed at a Donna nook, Lincolnshire

An immature/non-breeding starling stretching it out.