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We didn't know it at the time, but, as Dan and I were stopped here, these storms were crippling transportation infrastructure all around us. Both Minnesota Southern and Dakota & Iowa were knocked out of service with washouts, and, I-90 had 3 feet of water rushing over it, which we very well could have driven into (the woman who had to be rescued from her car by a State Trooper called 911 less than 5 minutes of this photo was taken).
In any event, Minnesota Southern resumed service on their east end in July, and is still working on restoring their connection with BNSF to the west - Steve Glischinski has a nice writeup on the Trains News Wire with the details.
The Minnesota Southern operates 41 miles of ex-CNW trackage in extreme southwest Minnesota between connections with Union Pacfiic and BNSF Railway. MSWY 1365 is an EMD GP9, built 7/1959 for the Milwaukee Road.
This is a single 5" exposure; no Photoshop hocus-pocus required.
January 14, 2013, snowfall in Tokyo saw Asakusa in a rather unusual decorated SNOW mode.
Check the other related photographs of the Asakusa snowfall at my Japantourist writeup at the below URL.
experiencetokyo.net/tokyo-in-snow-asakusa-goes-silent-and...
"The Reaper is the one of the most basic ships and oldest ships for the Minmatar. Often called a rookie ship due to enjoyment for lack of complexity makes it amazing simple for thought processes for even the freshest of pod pilots to familiarize themselves with the concept of starship piloting. Its cheap construction, crewless requirement, modest utility, and old technology makes it freely available."
This Reaper, named *"Simple and Sweet"*, remains in use through the means of a regular 3 person crew and houses 4 150mm light autocannons along with its prized 10mm afterburner. It somehow made its way into the Star Wars universe.
Quick statistics:
Length: 160 studs long
Width: around 170 studs
# of Bricks: Little over 7300
Flickr Build Album:
www.flickr.com/photos/tuskano/albums/72157719825612774
Flickr LDD Designing Album:
www.flickr.com/photos/tuskano/albums/72157629647343182
Old Cuusoo writeup
ideas.lego.com/projects/21d08978-4e73-4610-9b61-ed7bc1484145
Dingle Bay, County Kerry, Ireland. Architectural details here: www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/21305...
Historical information: The date given for the tower is 1845, the first of Ireland's devastating famine years. The construction was a make-work project, something devised for the poor and hungry to do in return for wages or food. Similar projects, often involving exhausting physical labor like road-building, were carried out all over Ireland as the country starved. Here's a decent writeup on the "famine roads": www.frrandp.com/2025/01/famine-roads.html.
A nice stroll through the woods, a view across the gorge to the full height of the waterfall, some scrambling around on the banks to get down to this level (a small fraction of the total height down from the top) with friend and dog... A good way to spend an afternoon
The scales of a sunset moth (Chrysiridia rhipheus) that I bought in for this purpose. The first pic I've taken for months and months whilst my PC has been to the computer doctor and back, and whilst I've been preoccupied with other projects. This is a day-flying moth and the iridescent parts of the wings which make it so beautiful apparently do not actually contain any pigment; rather, the colors originate from optical interference. I actually even slightly desaturated this image believe it or not!
Scales are usually pigmented, but some types of scales are metallic, or iridescent, without pigments; because the thickness of the platelets is on the same order as the wavelength of visible light the plates lead to structural coloration and iridescence through the physical phenomenon described as thin-film optics, the same optical process responsible for the pretty colours floating on soap bubbles. The other interesting thing to note is that these scales are curved to an unusual degree so they probably reflect and pick up on light from a wide variety of angles, more so than most. See for example the difference in curvature compared to these scales from a different type moth last year.
I used a single flash at 1/16 for this at 1/180, diffused with a polystyrene cup over a Nikon CFI Plan 10x/0.25NA, with a Raynox DCR-150 as infinite tube lens at c.210mm. The Raynox, as expected, performs wonderfully as a tube, and once I'm back into the swing of things after finishing my website I hope to use it a lot more and have decent writeups on the equipment setups. And a bit better, it's amazing how rusty you get after a little while =). The lighting was rather flat from a bottom right direction and although little reached the other side (for shadow fill) some may have bounced off the polystyrene to fill in the shadows. This was 78 images stacked, step size 10μm, lazy pmax method stack with zerene stacker, no slabbing.
The magnification here is a shade over 10:1, I'm not especially experienced at this ratio but not bad for a first attempt after a long time. It's pretty hard to control an image like this because the bright iridescence actually really overwhelms everything and you get all sorts of posterisation if you're not careful and specks of dust are obviously volcano sized at this scale! I actually found the hardest part to be getting the wing parallel to the lens, so there are lots of lessons to be learned, especially before braving the JML 20x. Pretty though =).
View larger: farm9.staticflickr.com/8230/8505186866_8d1b9084b4_o.jpg
ED: updated 26/2 with EXIF'd retouched version
Explore #90 25/2/2013 - Thank you!
UPDATE 2014 - I have put together an extreme macro photography learning site to explain the techniques and equipment used for all my macro photos here in Flickr which is now ready. To point to a few of the links that people who want to learn this stuff might like to have a browse of:
Focus Stacking, Focus Stack Preparation, Shooting A Stack, Stack Processing, Stack Post Processing, Schneider Kreuznach Componon 28 mm f/4, Schneider Kreuznach Componon 35 mm f/4, Schneider Kreuznach Componon 80 mm f/4, Nikon El-Nikkor 50 mm f/2.8N, Reject Enlarger Lenses, JML Optical 21 mm f/3.5, 20 mm Microfilm f/2.8, Anybrand MP-E 65 Macro Lens, Manual, TTL, Rear Curtain Sync, Extreme Macro Backgrounds, Single Colour Background, The Gradient Background, Adjustable Flash Shoe Mounts, Extension Tubes, Eyepiece, Field Monitor, Flash Bracket, Focusing Helicoid, Holding Tools, Lens Adapters, M42 Iris, Macro Tripod, Making A Macro Beanbag, Insect Photography
a brief writeup on this lens mod:
aarondesigns.org/reversed-element-helios44/
shot with a fujifilm x-s10 and a helios 44m-4 with a reversed rear element, mounted on a 0.71x focal reducer
It comes back every year. It could well be 20 years old or more. Wikipedia has a nice writeup on them.
The writeup for this one is pending... there are thoughts wandering around me, but I have no time to collect them over the board.
Taken: Jalkhad, Kaghan Valley, Pakistan
About vietnam
Oh, great! It's weekend and finally some time to do a little writeup for a triptych i wanted a post a long time ago. As far as you are able to read between the lines photos I had a great time in vietnam. Even though it was really cold during the first week - especially in Hanoi and Sapa (down to 2°).
I am happy that I brought this project to the hill tribes of northern vietnam. I actually didn't plan to go Sapa, but luckily friends in Hanoi managed to persuade me. I am absolutely convinced that I will return with more time to this place and the Mekong Delta.
About this shot
It was my last day in Sapa and I rented a motorbike to visit a village called Taphin. This place is known to be a Red Dzao place but as I learned there are Black Hmong people living there too. It has not always been like that - those two tribe living in one place. But for about a decade these nice people are more tolerant among each other and even cross tribe marriages are possible.
About this stranger
Meet Jaa, she is 56 years old and she is member of an ethnic group known as Red Dzao. If you ever meet a Red Dzao in the streets ;-) you might recognize them from their beautiful red turbans (they come in many forms) and these iconic clothes. Addionally as a Red Doa woman Jaa has her eyebrows and forehead shaved off - she told me that this is traditionally regarded as a sign of beauty.
Her english was remarkable and in general the english of any other hill tribe member around Sapa is actually better than the english of the people in Hanoi.
Jaa has a husband and five kids (four girls and one boy). They make their living from cultivating corn and rice, but since they have seasonal weather in this subtropical area of vietnam they learned to market themselves …. their handcrafting skills to be exact. Means they sell metal or silver bracelets, bags, scarf or any sewed and embroidered type of clothes you can imagine.
What wondered me the most is their persisting style of selling their stuff. As soon as you enter a village of hill tribe they follow you all the way through the village … I knew this from other villages and I know I could have sent them off easily, but I pretty much enjoyed Jaa's company. The way she introduced me to everyone and giving me informations about her view on life in general was mind-blowing. Buying a souvenir in the end was pretty much a win win situation here.
By the way hand made goods are only sold by the woman - her husband always stayed at home and was looking after their children and now helping out with their children's children. I am under the expression that only this is the reason why the woman speak english so well, know how to write while the men can't.
I bet she has been inking cloth a couple of days ago. You must know they use indigo plants to give their clothes this deep dark blue. Without any precautions made you can expect your fingers to be blue for a coupe of days.
Who else can our strangers #30 be than "The Blue Inked Red Dzao"
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sets Vietnam, Triptychs of Strangers or People | follow flickr, google , tumblr or twitter
21 equal brightnesses alternating red 6 darker and green 5 brighter with neutral grey. See writeup on Berlin Hauptbahnhof Green.
Long-tailed tits feeding chicks at Millers wood.
More photos and writeup on my blog at www.johnstantonphotography.co.uk/long-tailed-tits-feeding...
Please take a look, thank you.
see this thread for info:
www.reddit.com/r/astrophotography/comments/1on0hu/process...
full processing writeup here:
brickpics216 ( flickr / Instagram ) is holding a Marvel CMF contest where you make three custom minifig designs of characters you'd like to see in the rumored upcoming CMF series.
Obviously, I didn't stop at three. I made a whole sixteen minifig series. Plus some rejects.
I don't know Marvel super well, so I got most of my character ideas from looking up obscure and weird characters from the comics, so please don't ask me who any of these people are. I mostly just picked them because they looked cool and were doable in LEGO lol.
I'm only going to post the main pic here, so that means unfortunately you won't be able to see the rejects in this pic, but you can check them out in the smaller group photos on imgur or Instagram.
Row 1: Doctor Bong, 3-D Man, Uatu the Watcher, and Shiklah
Row 2: Hercules, Moonstar, Madcap, and Moondragon
_and_Heather_Douglas_(Earth-18897)_from_Guardians_of_the_Galaxy_Vol_6_5_001.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20200813235726){kind=link}
Row 3: Dreadknight, Namorita, The Orb, and American Eagle
.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190728145712){kind=link}
Row 4: Spectrum, Annihilus, Cardiac, and Jack O'Lantern
Reject not pictured here: Master of the World, Baron Blood, The Controller, Blink, and Speed Demon
As another note, since these are supposed to be new CMF designs and those do usually come with new parts, I did do a liberal amount of editing. I edited: Hercules' scarf from lime green, Annihilus' wings from dark tan, Madcap's torso (CMF jester), Spectrum's head and torso slightly (Storm/Spider-Gwen), Dreadknight's legs (Woody's), Jack O'Lantern's legs (LBM Green Arrow), and Blink's hair from dark orange. So there you go.
Looking out from a ship moored near Ísafjörður, Iceland in the Skutulsfjörður. This view looks out into the Ísafjarðardjúp and across to the Snæfjallaströnd. For the record, yes, I did have to copy and paste several of the words in this writeup. :)
My first almost-SHIP! (This is only 60ish studs) First off, sorry Simon, this isn't my SHIPtember build. I built this back in August, and as mentioned before, is only 60ish studs long. Hopefully I'll be able to build something for this coming SHIPtember though..
Anyway, this spaceship was a lot of fun to build! I somehow managed to build this within a week! Ever since seen SHIPtember, I've wanted to build microspace, and the time finally came! Enjoy!
Specs:
Crew: 6,000
Length: 500 M
Cargo: 780,000 KG
Weight: 800,000,000 KG
Primary: 2 dual ion cannons
Secondary: Fusion-propelled missiles
M.A.N.T.I.S Special Forces Communications
Also, shout out to Tim for inspiration for the writeup and layout!
A bombshell published in Nature today: All of the bases in DNA and RNA have now been found in meteorites, providing further support to the hypothesis that life’s precursors arrived on Earth from abiotic origins in space.
This new work used more detailed analysis methods and doubled the DNA bases discovered in the rare CM2 meteorite falls. Seems like a good time to show what those carbonaceous, water-rich space rocks look like, from the most recent pristine CM2 — Aguas Zarcas — a witnessed fall in Costa Rica, 2019. The prior best sample arrived in 1969, the Murchison fall in Australia, and has been the subject of extensive study.
Like Murchison, Aguas Zarcas is loaded with organic compounds. It is rich in water, carboxylic acids, sugar alcohols, aromatic hydrocarbons, and amino acids that are rare in biology with isotopes that confirm their extraterrestrial origin. Oh, and the meteoritic carbon molecules exhibit the same left-handed chirality bias as biology on Earth.
So how did meteorites jump-start life on Earth? I just finished a freshly published meteorite book, Impact, and chapter 5 covered these carbonaceous chondrites. Well, a big banger early on wiped out all possibility of life on Earth; the meteor impact that dislodged what is now our moon also created a magma ocean across the planet that would have been a destructive 1000°C bake of any complex organic molecules that might have existed prior. But then came the water and carbon-rich CM meteorites, adding an estimated 275 metric tons of carbon compounds to Earth every day!
And where did these complex organic molecules come from? The abiotic assumption is that they were basic molecules trapped in ice water beyond the orbit of Jupiter, where it is cold enough for ice to persist, and maintain the proximity or organic clusters. UV radiation energized the formation of more complex molecules from the basic molecules.
“And if it was not incredible enough that the organic building blocks that our deep ancestors turned into life were delivered by meteorites, consider that the ubiquity of the raw materials, energy required, and simplicity of creation means that complex organic molecule-rich bodies are almost certainly commonplace in the Universe. If life formed on Earth due to organic materials that formed abiotically in outer space, then that suggests that any planetary body in the Universe with reasonable conditions for chemical reactions and a little luck has a reasonable opportunity to develop life. This is the idea of molecular panspermia.” — Impact, p.136.
A total of 144 different scientific papers have already been written about Aguas Zarcas; many more are in the pipeline. One article titled “The Aguas Zarcas (CM2) meteorite: New insights into early solar system organic chemistry” summarizes the excitement: “To date, the CM2 class of carbonaceous chondrites has provided the most detailed view of organic synthesis in the early solar system. Organic‐rich chondrites actually observed falling to Earth (“Falls”), for example, the Murchison meteorite in 1969, are even more rare. The April 23, 2019 fall of the Aguas Zarcas meteorite is therefore the most significant CM2 fall since Murchison. Samples collected immediately following the fall provide the rare opportunity to analyze its bulk mineralogy and organic inventory relatively free of terrestrial contamination.”
The MetBull writeup says it “emits a powerful Murchison-like odor, though with a more prominent compost-like scent.”
On the left in the photo above: the fresh, somewhat glassy, fusion crust from the heat of hitting Earth's atmosphere. Is is very thin, and the interior faces little thermal flux. Meteorites are cold to the touch when they land, the thermal mass being quite cold in space.
On the right: So many chondrules, from the early formation of our solar system condensing out of nebular gases. There are also CAI grains (the earliest matter condensed in our solar system, with heating from radioactive Al26). CM2 Murchison also contains some of the the oldest minerals (presolar grains) at 7 bilion years old. That is a half time of our Universe. The two-tone here? From meteorite-hunter Michael Farmer: "The lower part (beige) is an air break that instantly 'frosted' then stopped burning. The top is a fresh break on impact"
• Nature paper on Murchison. “We’ve completed the set of all the bases found in DNA and RNA and life on Earth, and they’re present in meteorites,” says astrochemist Daniel Glavin of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
• From nanoscale infrared analysis of Aguas Zarcas and its Fine-Grained Rims (FGR) around the chrondrules: “they may have contributed prebiotic material to early Earth. Fine-grained rims (FGRs) and organic-rich dark clasts are particularly interesting features. The presence of organics embedded within these FGRs may further indicate that they may have formed in the solar nebula as well.” — ACS Earth Space Chem 2021
162g. An artifact from the Future Ventures’ 🚀 Space Collection.
HFF!
For me, this is the most iconic, and maybe important, building in Tacoma and while I'll try to be brief, I think the writeup is worth your time.
Northern Pacific Railroad was in the process of building a grand Chateau of a hotel in 1893 when the stock market crashed and the building became a storage facility until October 1898 when a "fire" gutted the building. One back scratched the other (I suspect, without evidence) and the Tacoma School District acquired the building in 1904 and two years later opened it as Tacoma High. The name was changed again seven years later to Stadium High School because of the famous field built adjacent to it (see WIKI for that long story)
I can only imagine what it is like attending Hogwarts West with an underground swimming pool and tennis courts on it's roof, but it has produced a long list of famous alumni including world famous glass blower Dale Chihuly, Irv Robbins, (co-founder of Baskin-Robbins) and beloved Governor of our glorious state, Dixy Lee Ray. :-)
Is there anything more InSpiring to the youth of the world than amazing architecture placed in prominent locations with all of the advantages that we dream of giving our children? I think not and I think our painter will agree. I can't stress enough the importance of these fragile years. How different our lives could have been had we attended here......
Optimus Prime: doesn't need to transform, is quite handsome as is. He may do best in an only-cat home. He may also be deaf. His CAT writeup says that he LOVES dogs, but he does not like to see those dogs outside the glass door, though. He found a new home 14 October 2017.
2205 Mission Street, at the corner of 18th, in San Francisco's Mission District. Planning records show this structure, which city officials have designated as historic, was built in 1919. From then until 1960 or so, it was home to an appliance emporium called Gernhardt-Strohmaier. After that, it housed a series of furniture and discount stores. The last of those, 99¢ Discount Outlet No. 5, closed around 2010. Since then, a series of owners have proposed turning the building into an organic grocery, brew pub and restaurant and dialysis clinic. (The news site Mission Local had a good writeup on some of the history in 2017. Google Streetview has been documenting the corner since 2009.)
The most recent plan is to demolish the structure and build an eight-story affordable housing complex whose 63 condo units would be reserved for teachers. Work on that was slated to begin in 2024, but so far the city has been unable to line up all the funding the project needs.
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Check out www.alexDPhotography.com for writeups from my shoots, high-def wallpapers, videos and other content.
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Union Pacific's St. Louis-DeSoto, MO local, the LSE57 is about to roll over Cortois St. in St. Louis' gritty south side neighborhood known as the Patch. This is in the city's extreme southeast corner, bordered by the River, Carondelet, and the suburb of LeMay, MO. On the other side of that corrugated metal fence is J&S Auto Parts. The neighborhood had a ton of cool architecture, and looks to have loads of potential for redevelopment. A great writeup on it can be found here: www.stlouiscitytalk.com/posts/2010/01/patch-neighborhood
While shadows were admittedly all over the place through here, this shot turned out pretty well, and between showing off an urban, industrial neighborhood, and standard-cab EMDs with Baby Wings, I decided to roll with it.
Interestingly, the 1478 began life as a Western Maryland GP40, before going to the SP in the 90's as 40M-2 rebuild fodder. Honestly, I wouldn't have guessed that there were any WM units on the UP roster, let alone many places these days.
Verifying you are human. This may take a few seconds.
It is becoming difficult to distinguish online between Artificial Intelligence and human activity. A biometric framework is needed for individuals to prove their humanity, so they can gain access to services like the internet. Scan your Iris to gain access to Central Bank Digital Currencies and Universal Basic Income. Universal Basic Income will be needed to transition the world into a new sustainable order. Universal Basic Income will be the solution to the unemployment problem caused by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As Artificial Intelligence progresses, human jobs will continue to decrease.
Humanity must be further prodded towards a smart-chip tattoo, which will authenticate Proof of Personhood for the World ID system. Whoever is in the World ID database will obtain global citizenship. However, those who do not participate in this biometric system will be locked out of society. The World ID system will facilitate a society-wide transition to Worldunicoin. Our motto: “Leave no one behind.” World ID will be the global standard—the global Proof of Personhood—to access all goods and services.
A rider on a white horse, a small horn rising to power, proclaiming peace in a chaotic world: peace and safety for all humankind! Is this not the rider, the figure on the Worldunicoin? Take his seal on your right hand or forehead for Proof of Global Citizenhood, and then you can buy and sell in the new global order. “And all who dwell on the earth will worship the Beast—all whose names have not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life belonging to the Lamb who was slain.”
I don't think I can do a better job of a writeup than many of the other attendees, so here's just a quick recap. We began the PhotoWalk by walking down 6th street down towards Momo's, where we met Leo Laporte and Lisa Bettany for a quick hello. After that, we weaved through the streets together, talking about all sorts of things. I also made about five other stops where I talked through my setup and my shots. On my final shot, we were working our way back towards The Driskill when I took set up for the scene below.
It was a standard HDR with five exposures. I was having some trouble grabbing an autofocus spot, so I just went to manual focus just to be sure the lens didn't try to re-focus on the multiple exposures.
Thanks again to everyone that came out! It was great getting to know you during the walk, and after the walk back at The Driskill.
from the blog www.stuckincustoms.com
Image taken back in early August -- it is an image made up of 4 photos. In the photo the barge "Erie Trader" is coming up on the Two Harbors breakwater lighthouse. I think the Trader is being pushed by the tug "Clyde S. Van Enkevort."
Here is a writeup on the Erie Trader written by Roger LeLievre on the Boatnerd website (www.boatnerd.com/)
The self-unloading barge Erie Trader was completed at the Donjon yard in April 2012. She is mated with the articulated tug Clyde S. Van Enkevort, which was completed in February 2011 at Donjon Shipbuilding and Repair LLC in Erie, Pa. Both are owned and operated by Van Enkevort Tug & Barge of Escanaba, Mich.,
Both units, which were owned at the time by Seajon, a joint venture between SEACOR Holdings Inc. and Donjon, were christened at ceremonies in Erie on April 10, 2012. The combined tug/barge unit entered service under charter to American Steamship Company in May 2012 under the names Ken Boothe Sr. (tug) and Lakes Contender (barge).
Lakes Contender was named by the builder to commemorate its entry into the Great Lakes shipbuilding industry. The Ken Boothe Sr. was named in memory of the former shipyard manager for Donjon Shipbuilding and Repair.
The American Steamship Co, charter was not renewed in 2017. Both are now owned and operated by Van Enkevort Tug & Barge of Escanaba, Mich.,
The Erie Trader is equipped with electric power generators for ballast pump operation and hydraulic power units for conveyor system operation. Self-unloading equipment consists of a single tunnel belt and loop belt system which elevates cargo to a hydraulically-actuated unloading boom. The barge is equipped with a 1,000 HP diesel-driven bow thruster.
Clyde S. Van Enkevort, the tug’s namesake, entered the marine industry in the late 1960s. He was a specialist in integrated tug/barge design, with one of his biggest accomplishments being the building of the tug Joyce L. Van Enkevort and the barge Great Lakes Trader. He died Feb. 20, 2016.
Written by Roger LeLievre.
I had one of my wigs trimmed to revitalise it.
More pics, and a writeup, at my blog at hayllamas.wordpress.com/2018/01/20/a-visit-to-the-hairdre...
Montecito Memorial Park, San Bernardino County, CA. 10-21-18.
ebird.org/view/checklist/S49356978
I ran across this interesting "Sage" Sparrow at my local birding patch over the weekend. The distinct back streaking and weak malar stripe favors identification as Sagebrush, rare to this area. The coastal subspecies of Bell's is expected.
Listserve writeup by Tom Benson:
This photo shows a rainbow in visible light (Nikon D800) and 830 nm cutoff infrared with a Lifepixel Nikon D700 at 830 nm. The rainbow extends well into the infrared (how infrared was discovered by Herschel with a prism rainbow). The dark line of the rainbow in infrared is the visible light portion which is the not illuminated at 830 nm cutoff while the bright portion in infrared is the region beyond red not seen in vis photos.
there is a nice writeup on IR rainbows at: www.atoptics.co.uk/fz685.htm
for other views of this rainbow see:
Portraits Of Seattle #2: Animator/Director Sean Pecknold
Click the Link to read my writeup/Andrew Matsons 3 Questions
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Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f1.7 - As Seen on YouTube! - youtu.be/Znar4ifNWgw
Full writeup - mrleica.com/voigtlander-ultron-35mm-f1-7-review/
YouTube | Blog | Pinterest | Instagram | Facebook | Patreon
Leica M240 + Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f1.7 ASPH
Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f1.7 - As Seen on YouTube! - youtu.be/Znar4ifNWgw
Full writeup - mrleica.com/voigtlander-ultron-35mm-f1-7-review/
My grandparents and their family of 13 - about 1930. An old newspaper clipping. My mother holding the toddler. The girl on her father's right is going on for 105yrs and the baby 90yrs. Oldest and youngest still alive.
My grandmother made all their clothes - by hand. Made everything - including bread, soap etc. Washing done in a copper. They had a huge vege and flower garden and a lot of fruit trees. To church with horse and waggon. etc.... as those early settlers did. A lot of the work was landed upon my mother - the eldest girl.
Clothes were handed down and down and ....down!
Grandmother was born in NZ from first settlers (from England) to this country - grandfather, from Scotland.
Please go to Around the Grid for Harper's writeup on these tops, and a little tribute to Sydney, Australia.
You can see our "together" shot, as well as Harper's two solo photos, in her group.
My mom's birthday is on July 1st & we're going to a hotel/water park today so I'll be out for a few days but I wanted to make his post before I go. This post is mainly to showcase Zauriel, I'm really proud of how he turned out, I used Green Lantern (John Stewart)'s head to show the lifelessness in his eyes. Also, this is my 500th photo, I'm officially halfway there, thank you to all of you for all of the support throughout my time on Flickr. But I won't stop there I have a backup account as well, so if you haven't followed already please do (www.flickr.com/photos/193232043@N08/). Anyways let's get to the figs...
New B&P Order (2/2):
From L-R: Swagman, Anarky (DC Rebirth), Dyna-Mind (Earth-1), The Scavenger (Peter Mortimer), The Riddler (The Batman 2022), The Flash (Wallace R. West: The New 52: Futures End), Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn), Bruce Wayne (Batman Beyond), & Codename: Assassin
Top: Zauriel (The New 52)
Design Inspirations Below:
Swagman - (static.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/b/b7/Swagman.j...)
Anarky (DC Rebirth) - (static.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/0/09/Lonnie_Ma...)
Dyna-Mind (Earth-1) - (www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Dyna-Mind-DC-Comics-S...)
The Scavenger (Peter Mortimer) - (comicnewbies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/the-scavenger...)
The Riddler (The Batman 2022) - (www.denofgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/the-batman-r...)
The Flash (Wallace R. West: The New 52: Futures End) - (static.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/f/f5/Wally_Wes...)
.jpg/revision/latest/top-crop/width/360/height/450?cb=20140930195106){kind=link}
Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn) - (imagesvc.meredithcorp.io/v3/mm/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fst...)
Bruce Wayne (Batman Beyond) - (brobible.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/batman-beyond.jpg)
Codename: Assassin - (upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/15/Codeassassin...)
Zauriel - (i.pinimg.com/originals/50/11/82/5011829affd103cfca29ae132...)
Credit to the_brick_legend on Instagram for the inspiration to make The Flash (Wallace R. West: The New 52: Futures End), (www.instagram.com/p/CO52bKypgM3/). Comment & fave to let me know what you all think
San Francisco Bay, Summer 2007. Konica C35 and expired Pro-Max 100ASA film.
The same gang of kids kept having their photo taken over and over again, swapping the cameras around like pass the parcel.
This was actually the last photo I took here, but I figured it would be a good place to start, since it gives a good overview of the place. I had climbed up on top of one of the pieces of sorting machinery for this shot.
Following is a small writeup I lifted from destination4x4.com.
"The Goldome Mill is an abandoned modern mill site in the New York mountains of San Bernardino, California just off of the Ivanpah Road. The site was abandoned in the 1998 following the formation of the Mojave National Preserve by the California Desert Protection Act in 1994 and has slowly fallen into a state of decay. The mill site is currently classified as a Superfund Site by the Environmental Protection Agency which means that the site is known to contain hazardous waste which is improperly contained.
In 2017, political vandals posing as “street artists” decided on their own to deface the site as part of their environmental message and forever changed the face of this site."
Went to Hamarikyu Gardens (Shinbashi) yesterday, and saw these highly motivated mothers with their high end camera gear taking snaps of their kids posing with the yellow (nano-hana) flowers with their second kids over their backs! Cool! —
Writeup : experiencetokyo.net/hamarikyu-gardens-japanese-style-gard...
Youtube timelapse : www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YBEU-B4098
Image taken back in early August -- it is an image made up of 4 photos. In the photo the barge "Erie Trader" is coming up on the Two Harbors breakwater lighthouse. I think the Trader is being pushed by the tug "Clyde S. Van Enkevort."
Here is a writeup on the Erie Trader written by Roger LeLievre on the Boatnerd website (www.boatnerd.com/)
The self-unloading barge Erie Trader was completed at the Donjon yard in April 2012. She is mated with the articulated tug Clyde S. Van Enkevort, which was completed in February 2011 at Donjon Shipbuilding and Repair LLC in Erie, Pa. Both are owned and operated by Van Enkevort Tug & Barge of Escanaba, Mich.,
Both units, which were owned at the time by Seajon, a joint venture between SEACOR Holdings Inc. and Donjon, were christened at ceremonies in Erie on April 10, 2012. The combined tug/barge unit entered service under charter to American Steamship Company in May 2012 under the names Ken Boothe Sr. (tug) and Lakes Contender (barge).
Lakes Contender was named by the builder to commemorate its entry into the Great Lakes shipbuilding industry. The Ken Boothe Sr. was named in memory of the former shipyard manager for Donjon Shipbuilding and Repair.
The American Steamship Co, charter was not renewed in 2017. Both are now owned and operated by Van Enkevort Tug & Barge of Escanaba, Mich.,
The Erie Trader is equipped with electric power generators for ballast pump operation and hydraulic power units for conveyor system operation. Self-unloading equipment consists of a single tunnel belt and loop belt system which elevates cargo to a hydraulically-actuated unloading boom. The barge is equipped with a 1,000 HP diesel-driven bow thruster.
Clyde S. Van Enkevort, the tug’s namesake, entered the marine industry in the late 1960s. He was a specialist in integrated tug/barge design, with one of his biggest accomplishments being the building of the tug Joyce L. Van Enkevort and the barge Great Lakes Trader. He died Feb. 20, 2016.
Written by Roger LeLievre.
A photo I've had in the works for a while...
From L-R: The Fisherman (Classic), Superman (Earth-30: Updated), Citizen Steel (DC's Legends of Tomorrow), Green Lantern (Aldo), Atrocitus (Updated), Darkseid (Zack Snyder's Justice League), The Cheetah (Updated), Green Lantern (Alia), & Clark Kent
Design Inspirations Below:
The Fisherman (Classic) - (www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Fisherman-DC-Comics-A...)
Superman (Earth-30) - (upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bc/Superman_in_...)
Citizen Steel (DC's Legends of Tomorrow) - (comicvine.gamespot.com/a/uploads/scale_super/11121/111216...)
Green Lantern (Aldo) - (static.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/c/c1/Aldo_01.j...)
Atrocitus - (static.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/6/69/Atrocitus...)
Darkseid (Zack Snyder's Justice League) - (bloody-disgusting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/snyder-c...)
The Cheetah - (static.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/b/b2/DC%27s_Ye...)
Green Lantern (Alia) - (i.pinimg.com/originals/e5/16/de/e516de0926156fbf149020d98...)
Clark Kent - (lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/ZlSZiw1Nften2cBwL1Is4Syzw...)
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"Kate" Bolduan, American broadcast journalist for CNN based in New York City... and currently the host of 'At This Hour'.
I went to the comic book store yesterday and picked up some cool comics, Future State: The Flash 2nd & last issue, Future State: Nightwing, & the first 3 issues of Future State: The Next Batman. I'm really excited that my local comic book store has a sale for $1.50 for every new comic on the rack through Feb. 12th-Feb. 14th. I also got LEGO 71718 NINJAGO Wu's Battle Dragon which I'll probably be showcasing my dresser again after adding the dragon, anyways let's get to it,...
From L-R: The Ratcatcher (First Appearance), Prometheus, Firebug (Joseph "Joe" Rigger: Updated), Batman (Thomas Wayne: Flashpoint Timeline), Amazo, Jeremiah Arkham, & Catman
Design Inspirations below:
The Ratcatcher (First Appearance) - (www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Ratcatcher-Batman-Rob...)
Prometheus - (www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Prometheus-DC-Comics-...)
Firebug - (www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Firebug-DC-Comics-Bat...)
Batman (Thomas Wayne: Flashpoint Timeline) - (static.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/b/b5/Batman_Vo...)
Amazo - (comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_medium/3/31666/79...)
Jeremiah Arkham - (static.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/1/18/Jeremiah_...)
Catman - (upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7e/Catman.png)
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Supervillains recruited from prisons and sent on covert suicide missions to shave off jail time. Nanite bombs in their necks to keep them on a short leash. Everyone's disposable. Nobody's accountable. And brutality and death is just another day at the office. From L-R there's The Atom (Ray Palmer), Doomsday (Containment Suit), Manhunter (Mark Shaw), Zizz, T.N.Teen, Doc Magnus, & Evil Star (Future State)
Design Inspirations below:
The Atom (Ray Palmer) - (imgix-media.wbdndc.net/cms/filer_public/69/4b/694b053a-cd...)
Doomsday (Containment Suit) - (static.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/a/ac/Doomsday_...)
Manhunter (Mark Shaw) - (www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Manhunter-DC-Comics-M...)
Zizz - (static.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/c/c5/Zizz_Prim...)
T.N.Teen - (cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2o-mLSuOC_eLKcUBpNhJA85RCV8=/480x...)
Doc Magnus - (cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-spu9tnbb8c/images/stencil/1280x12...)
Evil Star (Future State) - (media.comicbook.com/2021/01/future-state-suicide-squadd-1...)
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... synonymt med mässa.
Troligen min mest långsökta tolkning hittills. Mässa = rabbla upp något om och om igen :)
Mitt bidrag till Fotosöndag och veckans tema "mässa".
Photo for this week's theme "fair/intone" for the group Foto Sunday.
DIY Lens mount conversion, results (see below for "how to")
Here is the completed Minolta 58mm f/1.2 modification mounted on my Sony Alpha DSLR. Originally the lens is for the Minolta MC mount, which can not adapted to the Minolta AF mount "passively", i.e. any adapter would need to have optical elements to maintain infinity focus (at the expense of image quality). I managed to replace the mount on the lens itself by substituting an M42 to Minolta AF adapter for the original mount. After readjusting focus on the lens, it now aligns perfectly with the original distance scale, all the way to infinity.
While I did this for the Sony/Minolta AF system, the guide to the modification (see below) applies to any current DSLR system for which you can get a suitable adapter, e.g. an M42 to Canon EOS or a glassless M42 Nikon adapter can be used.
The lens was chosen because there is no f/1.2 lens available for the Minolta AF mount and most other f/1.2 lenses available tend to be either extremely expensive, hard to find, and/or far inferior (e.g., the Tomioka 50mm f/1.2 for M42 is not very good in my opinion). This lens, on the other hand, cost me about €100 and has bokeh worthy of legends. It is not the sharpest of lenses wide open (still, quite decent), but it has very pleasant image characteristics and is a lot of fun to use.
I recently updated this modification by installing a microchip which identifies itself as a 60mm f/1.1 lens (closest setting available at the moment). The chip was kindly provided by James Lao, who makes custom chips and M42 to Minolta AF adapters. If you use an electric adapter for the mount, the exact same guide can be used, or you can later install the microchip on the adapter (as I did).
With electronics the focus confirmation and in-camera anti-shake both work with this beast. (Focus confirmation doesn't depend on reported focal length, and for anti-shake the slight difference doesn't really matter that much.) The in-camera anti-shake of Sony DSLRs makes this a low-light photography marvel.
See the pictures beginning from here for my complete writeup on doing the modification. This method can also be applied to some other lenses, and certainly for converting to camera mounts other than Minolta AF.
One of the first AFOLs I ever met was Cale Leiphart. I built and showed my first locomotive MOC when I met him, a UP Big Boy and it was a big mess, but Cale was still enthusiastic to meet another person interested in making Lego trains. I've kept at it for about 5 years now and, in a way, this is the culmination of all the work I've done thus far.
Since Joining PennLUG, I've built a lot of things, and I have been so grateful for the encouragement of Cale and everyone else in the club and the community as a whole. One of the things we do is push each other to finish those projects we always talk about, and to always aim for better than we've done before. That is what this post is really about.
For a long time, Cale has talked about building the largest engine owned by one of his home railroads, the Western Maryland Challenger. It might not have gotten done for a long time, as he has so many great projects going at any given time, but I really wanted to see another big engine from him. As it happened, I'd been wanting to make a large, articulated steam locomotive as well. I wanted to prove I could make one that not only looked the part, but was a real, reliable and powerful runner. My large steam engines have varied in running quality over the years, so I felt like I had something to prove. As I looked through photos of different engines, I settled on the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Challenger. That's how the Challenger Challenge got started. I put it to Cale that we should each build our Challenger, with minimal contact between us during the process and, at the end, put them head to head in a series of tests to prove we had made a solid, well-running engine.
As of today, the Challenge is officially over, and I humbled by the fact that I was able to win, albeit by a narrow margin.
We have been working on our engines for over 4 months off and on, and thinking about them for much longer. We first showed them to each other in a nearly finished state at PennLUG's November meeting. Our next show after that would be the Greenberg Toy and Train Show in York, PA in January, so we decided to hold the bulk of the Challenge there. Both engines were put through a series of tests on the PennLUG layout. First, we conducted a speed test, which I won. I built my locomotive for speed, so I was pleased it lived up to that design. Next, we conducted a pulling power test, by piling on as many cars to each engine as they could pull. I could pull more or less as much freight as Cale could, but only for a short time. My locomotive's higher speed wanted to constantly pull the heavy train apart, rather than hold onto the whole consist, so I was beaten there. Next, we did an end-to-end tractor pull, to see if one engine could pull the other. Cale won this easily. After that, we performed a yard maneuverability test, to demonstrate that we could navigate switches, as both engines were designed to do. However, with the spotlights on, neither managed to do it, though I have since seen them both pull it off, so no points there. Finally, we conducted a battery life test. Each engine was given ~6 cars to pull and fresh batteries, to see who could run longer. I won this test by a narrow margin.
The events at York left us tied, but we planned one final test. At the February PennLUG meeting, we had all of the club judge which they felt was the better model of its original, with photographs on hand to compare. By only a couple votes, I was crowned the victor. Our plan was to have the loser build the winner his trophy, which will be done in the next few weeks but, for now, bragging rights will have to do.
In the end, the point wasn't really to have a winner and a loser, but to, from the beginning, design the best engines we could, and prove that they were good runners and accurate models. Also, Cale and I wanted to push each other as we always do. I think both of us may have built our best steam engines yet.
I will leave it to Cale to explain about the WM Challenger, in the back of this photo, and use the rest of this space to talk about the details of my own, seen in the front.
I chose the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Challenger mostly on looks. I like the pumps on the front of the boiler, the length and the tender, especially. It also gave me an opportunity to learn about the engine and the railroad, neither of which I knew anything about.
SP&S was owned by both the Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railroads at the time the challengers were built. As such, most SP&S equipment was gotten secondhand. The 8 Challengers were some of the few locomotives purchased new specifically for SP&S. The first 6, designated type Z-6 and numbered 900-905, were built in 1937, and featured an open cab and originally had the 6 axle tender I used for my model. The last two, numbered 910 and 911, and designated Z-8, were built in 1944. These featured an enclosed cab, larger tenders, and slightly more pulling power. All were built by ALCO.
The challengers were SP&S's most powerful locomotives, and served their mainline freight service for about 20 years before being retired and later scrapped. None survive today. In fact, no challenger types survive besides the two that UP have, although many railroads had challengers in the 1930s and 40s. This is another reason I wanted to build the SP&S Challenger. There have been many UP Challengers in Lego, but, as far as I have seen, no other railroads represented, although I'd be happy to be proven wrong there.
My model was a bit of an experiment in power, drawing on ideas from some other great builders, and everything I've learned about PF over the years. It features four PF L motors in the boiler, two driving each set of drivers. This layout was borrowed mainly from Jay Steinhurst's amazing Big Boy. The one difference was that four Ls is a bit much for one battery and IR receiver, so I have two and two. This was first done, as far as I know, by Scott Wardlaw on a UP, you guessed it, Challenger, but with XL motors. My four L motors are geared up for extra speed. flat out this is about the fastest locomotive I have built, and it can pull a decent train at speed. Additionally, it features standard Lego train drivers with applied boxpok decals that I made myself, and custom siderods by Benn Coifman
So, if you read all that, thanks, and be sure to check out all the photos and videos in the set. And also Cale's excellent writeup here.
Also, the photo is courtesy of Cale, as well.
I watched the Season 3 premiere episode of Final Space, it was awesome. Also thank you for all the support, I've been doing a lot of Marvel, I'll be doing some DC soon. I also made quite a few Quicksilvers for some reason...
From L-R: Quicksilver (Classic: Blue), The Vision (Human Form: WandaVision), Agent X, Super-Skrull, Blonde Phantom, Ralph Bohner (WandaVision), Alexander Pierce, Yondu (Classic), & Pietro Maximoff (WandaVision)
Design Inspirations Below:
Quicksilver (Classic) - (www.classicmarvelforever.com/cms/assets/images/profiles/c...)
The Vision (Human Form: WandaVision) - (i2.wp.com/www.tor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/wandavis...)
Agent X - (www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Agent-X-Marvel-Comics...)
Super-Skrull - (www.comicbasics.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Klrt-the-S...)
Blonde Phantom - (comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_super/3/34310/251...)
Ralph Bohner (WandaVision) - (media.comicbook.com/2021/03/wandavision-evan-peters-ralph...)
Alexander Pierce - (static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/a/a2/Alex... & comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_small/0/5344/1168...)
_from_Secret_Warriors_Vol_1_12.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20200927201324){kind=link}
Yondu (Classic) - (www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Yondu-Marvel-Comics-G...)
Pietro Maximoff (WandaVision) - (hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/wand...)
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