Closing in on Thanksgiving, 2021 ~ Creative Arts Group Three-day Weekend
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In the thick of a mountain thicket and Rivulet; Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania
And one from a park in Philly.
© A. Mac/A.G.
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The photo atop the page was taken today (Thursday); my wife and I took a walk in the woods and luckily, there's still some color.
Post away everyone!
How I miss walking the forests in any season. I grew up in a home where the back yard was next to a big forested ravine in which I spent much of my time.
Great photos, Mac. Leaves are already falling here. There aren't any trees with leaves that turn and fall off in the Fall in my immediate area, but, they are all around me. So I get an abundance of leaves that blow into my yard area for me to enjoy. I don't have to do any yard maintenance, so the amount of leaves that pile up around the yard don't bother me. There are 5 different trees that shed their leaves, and it is fun to see the different shapes and colors of the leaves that layer across the yard. The yard crew comes twice a week so there is always a rather fresh layer of leaves to enjoy.
The photo was taken yesterday by my neighbor from his yard.
Stone Creek, Ocala, FL.
Another glorious sunset.
They get more and more beautiful all the time. And the colors seem to differ with the changing of the seasons.
Thank you for sharing these beautiful sunsets with us to enjoy.
Morning Kavika...Anything in the Billabong that eats, stings or bites you???
Not much fun if there isn't...
Nothing really dangerous, the occasional bobcat will show up to drink but if you go to a billabong/lake/river/forest outside of our complex you can run into some dangerous critters, venomous snakes, black bear, Florida panther, and gators to name a few.
....and Burmese Pythons so huge they can eat a deer.
Great photos, Kavika. The expression on that gator's mug gives fair warning not to get too close, or one might wind up missing one or more body parts.
Those photos were taken off the internet, Raven.
I remember walking through the Corkscrew preserve near Ft Meyers. It was full of all types of wildlife, including deer and gators. It was really amazing to see deer and the gators dwelling in the same swampy area, and the deer managing to survive and live peacefully with the gators.
Ahhh that's better..now I feel at home...gotta live dangerously and get the adrenaline flowing...none of this fluffy ducks on water etc...have to have some snappies and bities to liven up the day...would love to see a Bob cat...
You don't want to have to grapple with a bear since they can run at 35 mph, climb trees in lighting speed, and outswim you. In another words if one whats to catch you it will and you really don't have a chance.
more like the people taking fifi for walk, that get too close to the water...
Notwithstanding that people think that Panda bears are cute and cuddly, they're wild animals and their instincts are no different than any other bears. There have been stories here about people who jump the fence and try to hug them, and then end up in the hospital.
While casually walking in the woods with my camera, I came across this boy … I had the presence of mind to take his picture … then get the hell away by backing up slowly … I did say "goodbye" before leaving.
© A. Mac/A.G.
Oh.....Hello......I'll......eh.....just......step over here and.......Oh wait.......picture first.......no need to smile.......Bye......>>>>>>>>>
They are beautiful animals. I presume you got the picture with your zoom lens and not a closeup?
Good thing he wasn't hungry.
That's awesome!
Nikon 200-500mm on a Nikon 500D … 10 frames/second. There were actually three of them. Got one of each and the one posted saw me … as you can see.
Great shot, Mac. He did see you, looked you in the eye. I do not see anger in his eyes. He seemed to be as surprised as you were. I think he felt that you meant him no harm, and respected his space. All of it...as much as he wanted. (grin)
It was a great encounter, and you were able to take away an awesome reminder of it.
Thank you for letting us enjoy that moment with you by sharing the photo.
Beautiful.
Revisiting a park not far from Chengdu where we lived for a year before moving to Chongqing where we will remain - some of the photos I took there.
They did weird things to some of the bushes and trees.
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You can see orange images in the water in front of this teahouse.
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This is what the orange images were.
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More strange trees.
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That person behind the big bowl is reaching for money to throw into the pond for good fortune. You can see many bills floating on the surface.
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Always has to be a souvenir shop.
Great photos, Buzz. The park areas there are so ornate and colorful. And where would be to fun in visiting the parks without a souvenir shop to buy a small reminder of such an enjoyable place.
Morning Buzz...Lovely range of photos...thanks for that..
Well I am off to get some brekkie..egg and bacon sanga and a coffee should go down very well this morning...
Love the Koi.
A couple more photos of that park - keeping it going.
A "waterfall" fountain at the entrance of the teahouse.
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A view of part of the park - a river runs through it, misty mountains in the background.
Lovely photos. Buzz.
What does the writing say on that decayed wood or rock thing behind the flowers in the third to last photo?
LOL. Don't even DREAM that I can read Chinese.
Here is my contribution for Friday.......Hope you enjoy it.
The image has a classic look.
Thanks, Buzz.
Kinda reminds me of an R. C. Gorman painting, you're in very good company.
Thank you very much, Kavika. I am very flattered by your comparison of the artwork.
That is terrific, Raven Wing.
Thank you, G. Very glad you like it.
Central Park - one of the many places my daughter and I enjoyed.
Great photos, Veronica! Lots of Fall colors, and beautiful scenery all around.
Thank you for sharing it with us.
Morning Veronica..Absolutely stunning colours...Central Park sounds like it is an amazing place...Just as well someone had the foresight to create this Park in New York years ago,,,
Your photos tell the tale that New Yorkers are lucky to have such a place within easy reach.
Nice photos.
I will never forget the first time I was in Central Park on my first trip to New York, which was in 1980. I was sitting on a bench on a
Sunday afternoon people watching and having a nice time. Two elderly ladies walking along the path in front of me, stopped, and asked if I knew where the free Shakespeare in the park was. I said that I was just a visitor, and I didn't know. They walked on a couple of feet, when one of them stopped again, turned around and said "You look like you would like free Shakespeare in the park!". Absolutely hilarious. New Yorkers... ya gotta love 'em.
Making Ice...
Beautiful photo, EG. And it does indeed appear to be making ice.
Morning evil...looks a tad chilly...a bit like when I swim here in the sea and it is summer but without the ice.....
Next stop for us here in Victoria is Antarctica..and feels like it at times...
That is a terrific photo - the colours of the sky reflecting on the still waters, and tells a story of ice foming along the shore.
Reminds me of the ''Gales of November''.
Brrr.
Sweet photo, though.
Sunset View, L.A.
I miss the sunsets from when I lived in Canada, they're normally not so colourful here, but thankfully you and others provide me with a view from afar.
Glad to be of service!
Beautiful scenic picture, G.
Thanks, Raven Wing. I took that picture from the platform on the hill in our backyard.
You do have a beautiful view from your backyard.
Yes, we do. I love it a whole lot.
You should see his back yard if you're talking beautiful.
Nice one, G, but it's getting squeezed on my screen for some reason. If I open it up in a new tab the proportions are correct and it looks great. Don't know why that is, though. My browser shouldn't be displaying it incorrectly. Weird.
Thanks, Dig. That is weird.
Hello? Hello? Anyone, anyone?
Morning Mac. How far do you have to travel to go to the mountains from your home?? Certainly have some beautiful places to go to. Hope Mrs Mac is going well and you are looking forward to your Thanksgiving.
Hello, shona,
The Pocono mountains are about 90 miles northeast of Philadelphia; the photo atop the article and the bottom of the two larger ones are places in Philadelphia. Fortunately, the city has preserved a good amount of forests and streams.
Best wishes to you as well, shona.
Morning..I did not take this photo..we have a look out in my town for when the whales come in. So the council designed it in the shape of a whale...This photo was taken yesterday morning by a local photographer...
That's a tail of a whale, and a whale of a tale.
Stunning, Shona.
Anoon Kavika..afraid I am not a morning person but glad some of the locals are...and all due credit to them...
Mmmmhhhh...Koala here, Koala there....We have got Koalas everywhere..I did not take this photo..
Taken at a local surf beach starring one of our local surfies...and Fozzy...
Koalas go into shops, one is a regular..into peoples houses, walk down the main street..are on bridges, up telegraph poles and pretty well anywhere...Not to mention at my house..one here now was grunting away last night while the cat and I were checking out the full moon...
Well that's a first..just had a koala tapping on my window..could hear this funny noise on the glass. He was in my backyard and trying to climb up the fence.
So went out opened the gate for him...he has just walked through and shot up the gumtree out the front...he is safe and now snacking on some leaves...he scared the crap out of the cat...
Here's an oldy to see us into Saturday......
An interesting image, I don't recall seeing it before.
It's a very old one, Buzz. When I first began to experiment with the various frames.
I had to look at that for a while to convince myself it wasn't a photograph RW!
On first glance, I thought it was Al Jolson.
Thanks dev.
Buzz....Al Jolson? >
Really nice one, RW.
What kind of birds are they?
They're Loons …
Loon Symbol and First Nations
A legend says that to see a Loon means a dream will come true or a wish will be answered.
Thanks Mac.
Thank you Dig. Mac is right, Dig. They are Loons.
Ooooooops!!! Should have known. I would have for sure had I heard it as well as seeing it. It wouldn't have sung "Maaaaaaaammmy".
Great image, and it's good to know have the information about the loons.
Thanks, G. They really are magnificent birds. And play an important role in the life of Native Americans.
Another from yesterdays walk in the woods (here in Philly).
© A. Mac/A.G.
That's a beauty, Mac. Looks almost like an oil painting.
That's a beautiful shot. The color is gone here, and the leaves are mostly down after some wind a few days ago.
These collages took me all evening to make (still not very experienced with my editing software), but I'm finally done.
I was hoping to shoot some proper time lapses of the eclipse last night (plural because of expected battery changes), but I soon discovered that I'd need a motorized star tracker to do that. The moon walks away from you pretty quickly when you're zoomed in on it.
Next best thing -- Run out in the freezing night air and take shots manually every ten minutes, which is exactly what I did. I almost fell asleep a few times, but I got it done. I even centered my timing on the expected maximum coverage to make sure I got a shot of it. I had a hard time getting a decent focus when the light was low during the height of the eclipse, but considering it was a first-ever attempt for me, I'm fairly happy with everything.
Half of the shots I took went into these collages, so the intervals for the images in them are 20 minutes apart. I made two versions, and both can be opened full size in another tab.
More work than I expected, but quite a bit of fun, too.
*****
The time lapse I was planning to shoot today of the full moon rising on the horizon at dusk was foiled by clouds.
I woke to dense fog this morning. First time in a loongg time. Quite surprising.
I imagine it was a nice surprise, though. An occasional bank of dense fog can be kind of cool, as long as you don't have to drive in it.
Not used to getting fog in this area. And it was indeed a nice surprise. And yes, glad I didn't have to drive in it. (grin)
We had thick fog two mornings in a row. This morning it was so thick the ground was wet. I love it.
I love the fog as well. When I lived in Pacific Beach down by San Diego, I lived only two blocks away from the beach. The fog used to roll in there in great while billows that looked like giant white puff balls. It was really awesome to watch it roll in at night, and I would sit out on the balcony and enjoy the feel of it. It was just so uplifting and refreshing. I felt like my soul had been cleansed to the core.
I really miss it now that I no longer live near the beach, but, when we do get the occasional fog, I head out to the porch and sit and enjoy it. The neighbors must think I'm crazy. And I do the same when it rains. I just sit there soaking wet and enjoy every minute of it.
seriously? it looks great to me. of course, I have no artistic talent, so ...
Thanks. I just meant that they took a lot longer to make then they should have. I kept having to look up how to do things, and I had to start completely over at least three times. It's all water under the bridge of experience now, though. I actually learned quite a bit about that software last night, layering and such. If I can remember it all, then I should be able to knock out composite images in no time going forward.
from my perspective, I remember when those types of effects were save the magazine stuff...
Now that you have the learning part under your belt, we can hope to see more of this great work by you. Truly amazing, and very professional looking.
Way to go, Dig. No reason to be modest, you did a great job of it. Rainy weather so no possibility for me to see it, although it did happen here.
Thanks, Buzz.
Amazing sequence of events, well done Dig.
Thanks, Kav.
Great work. Cameras mounted on ALTITUDE-AZIMUTH motorized mounts are "motorized star trackers".
Thanks. It figures that the only night below freezing this week just had to be the night of the eclipse.
And they cost several hundred dollars. Everything I want gives me sticker shock. It looks like photography can be an expensive hobby.
Morning.. absolutely brilliant dig..thank you..best photos I have seen of the eclipse...put some of the professional photographers to shame..
Thanks, Shona. I just wish I'd been able to get sharper images during the low-light red phase.
Very nice, thanks for sharing with us
It will get easier as you do more of them my friend... Keep at it...
Nice work!
Thanks, NM. It looks like the next big one will be a total lunar eclipse right after nightfall on May 15th, so no staying up late. It'll also be spring, so it should be fairly comfortable out. I'm already looking forward to it.
Yep I hope it is clear here as well, what I've got my eyeballs on is the annular solar eclipse coming in two years. It will come ashore in Oregon at the same location as the last solar eclipse several years ago which I missed.... (but I got a shot off a friend taken from my wife's doctors building, downtown Tacoma at 92%)
Those are awesome, Dig!
Thanks. They were fun to make, if a little tedious.
I see now that I should have evened out the black background a little better than I did. On close inspection there's a bit of haze around some of the images showing where the photo boundary is. It's not bad, but I'll have to remember to pay closer attention to that in the future.
I have been seeing a lot of vultures lately. This one was on the street keeping an eye on me.
Sorry for the crappy pics. For an expensive phone the quality is not that great.
What does the vulture seem to be watching, besides you.
Isn't there a turkey vulture...Haha
Aha! Thanksgiving is just around the corner. That must be what is drawing them.
If it's really keeping an eye on you, I'd be damned careful now if I were you.
I saw four on the road the other day.
They are going to have a fight if they are waiting for me.
I am going kicking and screaming...Haha
Went into the woods today, hoping to photograph the last of this year's fall colors. Got about a half dozen nice shots. Here's one.
© A.Mac/A.G.
Beautiful, Mac. Can't beat Fall for an abundance of outstanding colors.
That's gorgeous.
A very pretty scene. The path looks a bit like a slippery slope.
And Sunday is just ahead......
Ah, there's my sweetheart again. She resembles a young woman in one of the photos that Kavika and I will be posting in our new Famous Photographers collaboration presently under construction.
Thanks, Buzz. I am really looking forward to the new project you and Kavika are working on. Being as there are some photography buffs here on NT, I am sure it will be a big hit. While I am not that familiar with a good many famous photographers, it will be a wonderful opportunity for me to learn more about them, and their area of photography.
Having been a Photography Model in my teens and early twenties, and modeled for the catalogs for some of the large Dept stores, and in the Tea Rooms of Nieman Marcus in Dallas TX, and the Broadway in San Diego CA, I am somewhat familiar with the many complexities that various types and locations of photography can entail.
So I am really anxious to learn the various techniques of the famous photographers.
We are looking good! Thanks to all and keep it going!
Please check this out!
Sunday it is.....and one more for this week.
White Buffalo Calf Woman
Michelangelo could not have done better.
Thanks, Buzz. Glad you like it.
More from yesterday's walk.
© A. Mac/A.G.
A beautiful walk, Mac. Everything is so fresh and crisp. That is what I really like about Fall. The air is so fresh and clean. It's as if Mother Earth is doing some cleaning in preparations for the winter holidays, and the start of a new year. It really is a magical time of the year.
Seems to be along the same pathway as yesterday's photo - a very pretty walkway.
Closing shop on this one; thanks to everyone.