View allAll Photos Tagged wingedcreature
This dudes wing span was at least 8 inches.This is a Snake Head Atlas Moth at the Forth Worth Botanical Garden. Let me say I walked right by this not realizing it was in fact REAL! A wonder of nature for sure!
On a recent trip to London I visited Kensal Green Cemetery, one of London's 'Magnificent Seven' suburban Victorian cemteries. It is indeed magnificent, and perhaps my favourtite so far (I've already visited Hampstead and Highgate... I guess I'll just have to visits the other 4 to complete the set now!
All of these photographs were shot on a Fujifilm XE-1 with a variety of classic Olympus Pen F lenses (but mostly the 40mm f/1.4). I particularly like the bokeh on this one... it has an almost Petzval quality to it.
Black and white just seems to suit the atmosphere of a tumble-down Vctorian cemetery like Kensal Green, and I used Silver FX Pro 2 for all but one of these photographs.
Late 2017 December sunset casts it light on the San Francisco Bay. The pink hued cloud toward the top of this photo looks like a winged creature hovering above the scene.
The right-hand dragon terracotta dragon finial above garden entrance to a property down Happy Valley, Malvern.
Alice had always dreamed of seeing Waterworld, the most amazing theatre attraction in London. She had read the advertisements in the newspapers, seen the posters on the walls, and heard the stories from her friends. They said it was like nothing else in the world, a place where you could forget your troubles and marvel at the wonders of nature and imagination.
Alice had saved up enough money to buy a ticket, and she was determined to make the most of her visit. She arrived at the warehouse early, before the crowds, and joined the queue of eager spectators. She felt a surge of excitement as she handed her ticket to the attendant and entered the building.
She gasped as she stepped inside. It was like entering another world. The ceiling was painted with a blue sky and white clouds, and from it hung ropes and wires that supported sailing ships and winged creatures. They moved slowly and gracefully, as if carried by the wind. Alice could hear the sounds of water and birds, and she smelled the fresh air and flowers.
She followed the signs to the river, where she saw people in rowboats gliding on the water. She rented a boat and joined them, feeling the gentle breeze on her face. She looked across the river and saw the pagoda, a tall and elegant structure that seemed to touch the sky. She noticed the stairway that wound around it, and the glass-enclosed viewing platforms near the top. She wondered what the view would be like from there.
She decided to find out. She rowed her boat to the other side of the river and docked it at the pier. She climbed out and walked towards the pagoda. She saw a sign that said "Climb at your own risk". She shrugged and started to ascend the stairs.
She soon realized that it was not an easy climb. The stairs were narrow and steep, and there were no railings or guards. She had to be careful not to slip or fall. She also had to dodge the other climbers, some of whom were faster or slower than her, and some of whom were rude or pushy. She felt her legs and lungs burning, and she wondered if it was worth it.
She kept going, motivated by curiosity and pride. She wanted to see what Waterworld looked like from above, and she wanted to prove to herself that she could do it. She reached the first viewing platform and looked around. She was amazed by the sight. She could see the whole river and the boats, the ships and the creatures in the air, and the people and the buildings on the ground. She felt a sense of awe and wonder, and she smiled.
She decided to go higher. She climbed to the second platform, and then to the third. Each time, the view was more spectacular and the climb was more challenging. She felt a thrill of adventure and achievement, and she smiled.
She reached the fourth and final platform, the highest point in Waterworld. She looked around and felt a surge of emotion. She could see everything, and everything was beautiful. She felt like she was on top of the world, and she smiled.
She stayed there for a while, enjoying the moment. She felt happy and proud, and she thanked Mr. P.J. Palmer for creating such a wonderful place. She wondered if he ever climbed to the top himself, and what he thought of his creation.
She decided to go down. She climbed down the stairs, feeling more confident and relaxed. She returned to her boat and rowed back to the other side of the river. She exited the building and joined the crowd of people on the street. She felt a pang of sadness as she left Waterworld, but she also felt a sense of satisfaction and gratitude. She had seen and done something amazing, and she would never forget it.
She walked home, humming a tune and smiling.
We have not been seeing many butterflies in our garden over the past couple of years. Albeit, last week, when I didn't have my camera in-hand a beautiful Red Admiral was fluttering about.
Today, it's the turn of the Cabbage White to flutter amongst the dying buddleia!
Our Daily Challenge ~ Winged Creatures ....
Thanks to everyone who views this photo, adds a note, leaves a comment and of course BIG thanks to anyone who chooses to favourite my photo .... Thanks to you all.
I recently treated myself to an early Christmas present of some new vintage lenses. Among them was a Canon L39 Leica screw mount 50mm f1.2 rangefinder lens. It is a seriously impressive chunk of glass that weight in at about 350 grams (380 grams with an adapter so I can mount in on a digital camera) and it looks bad ass on my Fujifilm X-E1 ha ha
But what kind of photos does it produce? Well, my first thoughts turned to what kind of photos this lens would produce when used wide open. So one lunchtime I headed to Grey Friars Kirk Yard in Edinburgh's Old Town (not far from where I work) for a very quick first go.
There is no point in expecting a 60 year old lens to compete with modern glass. I use vintage glass to get something different from modern glass, not compete with modern glass. And sure enough wide open this lens is pretty soft, low contrast and hazy and gives that 'glow' you often see with fast vintage lenses. And all this comes with a pretty catastrophic dose of chromatic aberrations.
But once I processed the photos in Silver Efex Pro I really liked the results... they seem to particularly suited to lack and white (when the CA matter less) and certainly give quite a distinctive character. I'm certainly looking forward to more extensive testing at other apertures.
Here are a couple more shots of the Mourning Doves, or otherwise known as Turtle Doves, that decided to roost on my deck rail. This was the first time I had seen this type of bird in my area, so in order not to frighten them, I shot through the double pane glass storm door. Hope you enjoy!
© Cynthia E. Wood
www.cynthiawoodphoto.com | FoundFolios | facebook | Blurb | Instagram @cynthiaewood
Part of a memorial complex on the outskirts of the town of Chernobyl for the victims of the Chernobyl disaster.
One of my favorite feathered friends as shot from the backyard. Have a wonderful day or night, my dear Flickr friends! :0
Western Scrub-Jays, like many other corvids, exploit ephemeral surpluses by storing food in scattered caches within their territories. They rely on highly accurate and complex memories to recover the hidden caches, often after long periods of time.[3] In the process of collecting and storing this food, they have shown an ability to plan ahead in choosing cache sites to provide adequate food volume and variety for the future.[4] Western Scrub-Jays are also able to rely on their accurate observational spatial memories to steal food from caches made by conspecifics. To protect their caches from potential 'pilferers', food storing birds implement a number of strategies to reduce this risk of theft.[5][6] Western Scrub-Jays are also known for hoarding and burying brightly colored objects.[citation needed]. Western Scrub-Jays have a mischievous streak, and they’re not above outright theft. They’ve been caught stealing acorns from Acorn Woodpecker caches and robbing seeds and pine cones from Clark’s Nutcrackers. They even seem aware of their guilt: some scrub-jays steal acorns they’ve watched other jays hide. When these birds go to hide their own acorns, they check first that no other jays are watching. You might see Western Scrub-Jays standing on the back of a mule deer. They’re picking off and eating ticks and other parasites. The deer seem to appreciate the help, often standing still and holding up their ears to give the jays access. The Scrub Jay even will eat peanuts off of a human hand. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Scrub_Jay
I recently bought an adaptor to mount my old Pentax Auto 110 lenses on my M4/3 cameras. If you're not aware of this camera system, the Pentax Auto 110 was a tiny SLR camera launched in 1979 that used 110 film cartridges. It was a full system camera with interchangable lenses, flashguns, auto winders etc.
It just so happens that 110 film produces negatives 17x13mm, which is exactly the same size at a M4/3 sensor, so the lenses are ideal candidates for use on M4/3 as you're using the lenses in their original scope of use.
Well, almost ideal... the problem is that in order to keep the lenses as simple as possible Pentax built a combined aperture/shutter mechanism into the camera and there by eliminated the aperture diaphram from the lenses all together. In practice this means you're always shooting at the maximum aperture (which is f2.8 for all Pentax Auto 110 lenses.) For more information see www.cjo.info/Home/Pentax_Auto_110.html
The quality of these lenses at f2.8 is a bit dire, especially away from the image centre... anyone keen on 100% pixel peeping turn away now! But I never-the-less rather like the way these lenses render a scene. And I've always thought that sharpness is perhaps the least important characteristic of a lens in determining what the photograph will actually look like in real world situations. Anyway... take a look and decide for yourself :-)
This photograph was shot using the 50mm short telephoto lens.
On a recent trip to London I visited Kensal Green Cemetery, one of London's 'Magnificent Seven' suburban Victorian cemteries. It is indeed magnificent, and perhaps my favourtite so far (I've already visited Hampstead and Highgate... I guess I'll just have to visits the other 4 to complete the set now!
All of these photographs were shot on a Fujifilm XE-1 with a variety of classic Olympus Pen F lenses (but mostly the 40mm f/1.4).
Black and white just seems to suit the atmosphere of a tumble-down Vctorian cemetery like Kensal Green, and I used Silver FX Pro 2 for all but one of these photographs.
On a recent trip to London I visited Kensal Green Cemetery, one of London's 'Magnificent Seven' suburban Victorian cemteries. It is indeed magnificent, and perhaps my favourtite so far (I've already visited Hampstead and Highgate... I guess I'll just have to visits the other 4 to complete the set now!
All of these photographs were shot on a Fujifilm XE-1 with a variety of classic Olympus Pen F lenses (but mostly the 40mm f/1.4).
Black and white just seems to suit the atmosphere of a tumble-down Vctorian cemetery like Kensal Green, and I used Silver FX Pro 2 for all but one of these photographs.