Testing the new iPhone ProRaw feature. It was kind of a pain in the ass to figure out how to get the images off the phone to my Windows laptop. The easiest way ended up being to install MS OneDrive (which I already had access to, but wasn't using) and dropping them there to sync to the laptop. I could also have used DropBox they basically work the same.
Taking the dog for his evening walk under the full moon -
Woke up this morning to our first snow of the season -
My new car (2023 Kia Seltos SX) this morning - I haven't even made a payment on it yet and still waiting on plates.
Monday it was in the mid-70s. I wasn't amused when I looked out the kitchen window this morning while making coffee, but it won't stay. The Lake is still too warm and pushing temps up along the shore.
It's the Seltos. The model between the Soul and the Sportage. I originally wanted to get the Soul, but there was just no inventory. What was coming in was going out as it hit the lot.
Fort Francis was where International Falls is, I think. Port Arthur, Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyr combined to form the city of Thunder Bay in 1970.
There are certain images that are evocative just for how they express some of the indescribable qualities of light. They defy evaluation by words … THEY ARE SIMPLY BEST AS “being felt”.
These, especially the bottom two, are of that quality. Speaking for myself, they are two of the most stirring images I have seen.
Photos that have stories about them - were all taken by me, other than the ones of me, of course. You may already have seen some of them, but probably are not aware of the stories.
1. While I was teaching English at a private high school in Zhengzhou, the parents of two of my students invited me and another of their teachers to be their guests for a weekend in Luoyang, and they took us on a magnificent tour of the wonders that were there such as the Geological Park, the Longmen Grottos, The White Horse Temple, the Yellow River, King Park, all of which I have over the years posted photos of here, and when I was walking out of the hotel where we were staying this couple who had just had their marriage performed and were having photos taken there saw me and asked me to join them for a photo, so a photo was taken for their wedding album of the three of us. It was not unusual back then for the locals, many of whom having never seen a foreigner, to want to take photos with us, and that happened with me many times in the early years that I was there.
.
2. While we were on the mountaintop in Luoyang that weekend to overlook the city, the older sister of one of my students was carrying her little girl and placed her into MY arms, and I guess it scared her and caused her to cry, so she took her back and I took this photo right after she stopped crying. Look at that face - how can you not love a face like that?
.
3. When that same other teacher and I had taken a tour of Beijing and its surroundings such as the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Lama Temple, Ming Tombs, The Great Wall, ate Peking Duck, watched the Peking Opera, and toured the Summer Palace, and when at the Summer Palace and I saw the "Marble Boat" I almost fell over. Many years ago, a client of mine thanked me for what I did for her best friend with a beautiful fine silk embroidery, which we framed and hung in our living room, depicting that very "boat" at that very angle. We had always thought it was just a composition, but when I saw exactly what the embroidery depicted, I was truly knocked over. I sent this photo back to my ex-wife, who had possession of most of our artworks.
.
4. This photo was a lesson in photography. Always carefully check the background of what you want to photograph. I didn't notice that the warrior was planting a pole into my wife's head.
..
5. A number of years ago Dowser, bless her and may she, one of NT's finest members, rest in peace, ran a contest for the best spooky photo (or was it a photo in a cemetery, I can't remember exactly) and I won first prize with this photo.
.
6. I took this photo of dead lotus leaves throwing shadows on a pond, and a year or so later, looking at photos taken by great Chinese photographers, I saw a photo that looked almost exactly the same.
.
7. When I first came to China, and foreigners were much rarer, every Sunday at the park an "English Corner" would be held, when English speaking foreigners like myself would go and find themselves surrounded by local people, from children to octogenarians, who wanted to improve their English skills. Many would ask questions and others would just listen. In China it's not considered rude to ask how much money we make, or ask women how old they are.
.
8. I thought up an idea as a challenge for Creative Arts, any challenge being a relatively useless exercise here, which was to match a photo to the title or lines from a song. To initiate the challenge I chose the lines from Leonard Cohen's song "Suzanne" and posted this photo that I had set up of actual tea and oranges from China:
"And she feeds us tea and oranges That come all the way from China"
This is a message to the three racists LA City Council members. We are still here and were here before you and will be here long after you are in the dustbin of history.
This mural is in Indian Alley, LA. Just a few blocks from where the city council meets.
The top image reminds me of an experience I had a year or so after my wife (now ex-wife) were married, during the winter. I belonged to a businessman's organization in Toronto something like Kiwanis and they had a raffle. We put in $100 each for a chance on a week's vacation for two in Rio de Janeiro, covering airfare and hotel. I WON IT. However, my wife did NOT want to go to Rio, so I had to negotiate with the travel agency for an alternative and all I could get was a week in Miami Beach - airfare and hotel. During that week, what you see in your top image is what it was. We could actually get out to sit on the beach for only 3 of those days provided we wore sweaters. Good thing that divorce was not so common back then.
First-things-First.
Check the article at the link.
Worth viewing to see some unique methods of creative art.
Since we're into fishosophy, this was Confishus, not Confucius...
Miskwaagamiiwi-zaaga'iganing
(Red Lake Indian Reservation)
Beautiful!!!
I just realized that since unbelievably fantastic sunsets happen wherever you go, it has to be YOUR fault.
Guilty as charged.
Honoring the Ancestors, Cambodia
© G. Gam
A superb example of a "still life" image. However, the bars on the window make me think it's a prison. LOL
Thanks. Um, I thought you were a snowbird, not a jailbird!
Yes, for many many years I WAS a snowbird, and spent many winter vacations in Florida.
It made me feel like I was in the room lost in time.
That is very cool.
Testing the new iPhone ProRaw feature. It was kind of a pain in the ass to figure out how to get the images off the phone to my Windows laptop. The easiest way ended up being to install MS OneDrive (which I already had access to, but wasn't using) and dropping them there to sync to the laptop. I could also have used DropBox they basically work the same.
Taking the dog for his evening walk under the full moon -
Woke up this morning to our first snow of the season -
My new car (2023 Kia Seltos SX) this morning - I haven't even made a payment on it yet and still waiting on plates.
Snow, omg it's 80 degrees here.
Monday it was in the mid-70s. I wasn't amused when I looked out the kitchen window this morning while making coffee, but it won't stay. The Lake is still too warm and pushing temps up along the shore.
A new Kia, is it the Sorento?
It's the Seltos. The model between the Soul and the Sportage. I originally wanted to get the Soul, but there was just no inventory. What was coming in was going out as it hit the lot.
I love my little black soul, lol.
The moonlight walk photo is a real winner. Snow in mid-October? Where are you? Alaska?
Thanks Buzz. I'm at the tip of Lake Superior at the border of Minnesota & Wisconsin OR a 4 hour drive south from Thunder Bay Canada.
Home of the Oji Cree and many years ago known as Fort Francis and Port Arthur.
Damn that fell out of my brain must have been there for decades.
Fort Francis was where International Falls is, I think. Port Arthur, Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyr combined to form the city of Thunder Bay in 1970.
You are correct, the reason that Fort Francis popped out of my brain is back in the day we were not allowed into Fort Francis, wrong color...
Congrats on the car.
My sister just bought a new Hyundai. It wasn't cheap.
The photo of the evening walk with your dog under the full moon is spectacular.
International Falls. Is that anywhere near Frostbite Falls?
Editorial comment.
© A. Mac/A.G.
That is a huge reminder that many of our countrymen and women are living a hand to mouth existence at best.
Truer words are rarely seen or heard, if ever. It's the topic for a whole article.
Sunset on Table Rock Lake (Fire Lake) Lampe, MO.
Who wants to go to Fire Lake
Does that bring back some great memories.
Thanks for that link!!
A photo taken from your back deck, where you watched such sunsets night after night.
Actually, it was my front deck and the view was spectacular.
Oh, wrong guess on my part. You've posted those spectacular views from your deck before, and they are spectacular.
Palm Trees - 1,2 and 3
© G. Gam
There are certain images that are evocative just for how they express some of the indescribable qualities of light. They defy evaluation by words … THEY ARE SIMPLY BEST AS “being felt”.
These, especially the bottom two, are of that quality. Speaking for myself, they are two of the most stirring images I have seen.
Bravo!
Wow. Thank you very much. I am really very honored by your comment.
Funny, I like the top one the best. Middle one second.
Me too.
There's something calm about a palm.
Having just read A.Mac's comment, maybe I'm wrong.
Photos that have stories about them - were all taken by me, other than the ones of me, of course. You may already have seen some of them, but probably are not aware of the stories.
1. While I was teaching English at a private high school in Zhengzhou, the parents of two of my students invited me and another of their teachers to be their guests for a weekend in Luoyang, and they took us on a magnificent tour of the wonders that were there such as the Geological Park, the Longmen Grottos, The White Horse Temple, the Yellow River, King Park, all of which I have over the years posted photos of here, and when I was walking out of the hotel where we were staying this couple who had just had their marriage performed and were having photos taken there saw me and asked me to join them for a photo, so a photo was taken for their wedding album of the three of us. It was not unusual back then for the locals, many of whom having never seen a foreigner, to want to take photos with us, and that happened with me many times in the early years that I was there.
.
2. While we were on the mountaintop in Luoyang that weekend to overlook the city, the older sister of one of my students was carrying her little girl and placed her into MY arms, and I guess it scared her and caused her to cry, so she took her back and I took this photo right after she stopped crying. Look at that face - how can you not love a face like that?
.
3. When that same other teacher and I had taken a tour of Beijing and its surroundings such as the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Lama Temple, Ming Tombs, The Great Wall, ate Peking Duck, watched the Peking Opera, and toured the Summer Palace, and when at the Summer Palace and I saw the "Marble Boat" I almost fell over. Many years ago, a client of mine thanked me for what I did for her best friend with a beautiful fine silk embroidery, which we framed and hung in our living room, depicting that very "boat" at that very angle. We had always thought it was just a composition, but when I saw exactly what the embroidery depicted, I was truly knocked over. I sent this photo back to my ex-wife, who had possession of most of our artworks.
.
4. This photo was a lesson in photography. Always carefully check the background of what you want to photograph. I didn't notice that the warrior was planting a pole into my wife's head.
..
5. A number of years ago Dowser, bless her and may she, one of NT's finest members, rest in peace, ran a contest for the best spooky photo (or was it a photo in a cemetery, I can't remember exactly) and I won first prize with this photo.
.
6. I took this photo of dead lotus leaves throwing shadows on a pond, and a year or so later, looking at photos taken by great Chinese photographers, I saw a photo that looked almost exactly the same.
.
7. When I first came to China, and foreigners were much rarer, every Sunday at the park an "English Corner" would be held, when English speaking foreigners like myself would go and find themselves surrounded by local people, from children to octogenarians, who wanted to improve their English skills. Many would ask questions and others would just listen. In China it's not considered rude to ask how much money we make, or ask women how old they are.
.
8. I thought up an idea as a challenge for Creative Arts, any challenge being a relatively useless exercise here, which was to match a photo to the title or lines from a song. To initiate the challenge I chose the lines from Leonard Cohen's song "Suzanne" and posted this photo that I had set up of actual tea and oranges from China:
That's all folks. Hope you enjoyed the show.
very nice
This is a message to the three racists LA City Council members. We are still here and were here before you and will be here long after you are in the dustbin of history.
This mural is in Indian Alley, LA. Just a few blocks from where the city council meets.
That mural is truly great.
Izzz starves to death...and no one cares..🤣
My moggy Mishka..🐾🐾
Mhhhh....have garage will climb...🐨🐨
LOL
Too cute
This is one of my favorite sunsets taken at Long Key on the Gulf of Mexico.
That is an amazing sky, and the silhouettes of the people helps make the photo special.
© A. Mac/A.G.
Nice, but soon it will be Winter and most colour will be covered in white.
The top image reminds me of an experience I had a year or so after my wife (now ex-wife) were married, during the winter. I belonged to a businessman's organization in Toronto something like Kiwanis and they had a raffle. We put in $100 each for a chance on a week's vacation for two in Rio de Janeiro, covering airfare and hotel. I WON IT. However, my wife did NOT want to go to Rio, so I had to negotiate with the travel agency for an alternative and all I could get was a week in Miami Beach - airfare and hotel. During that week, what you see in your top image is what it was. We could actually get out to sit on the beach for only 3 of those days provided we wore sweaters. Good thing that divorce was not so common back then.
We laugh around here in the winter when we some young person walking around in a sweatshirt, shorts and flipflops. We call it the MN Tuxedo.
Thanks everyone; back Thursday night.