Random Photos

[DennisN]

An old horse carriage:

 

[nsaspook]

Random road trip photos from Portland OR to Colorado Springs CO.

 

[morrobay]

Girlfriend Neng, 39. Father Chinese, mother Thai.

 

[BillTre]

 

[DennisN]

Some random shots taken yesterday...

Here's a very good juggler I met in the park. Here he juggles with five balls (four are in the air in the photo).
He was going to livestream from the park and I asked him if I could take some photos, and he said yes.

Wall art (1) (this is my personal favorite in the city) :

Wall art (2):

A lush place in the park:

 

[jack action]

Some random shots taken yesterday...

Here's a very good juggler I met in the park. Here he juggles with five balls (four are in the air in the photo).
He was going to livestream from the park and I asked him if I could take some photos, and he said yes.

View attachment 330531

Wall art (1) (this is my personal favorite in the city) :

View attachment 330532

Wall art (2):

View attachment 330533

A lush place in the park:

View attachment 330534

It's the first time I see graffiti on wall art as in your 2nd picture. I always thought putting wall art "repelled" the graffiti artists as in your first picture. Are these in the same sector and is one as old as the other? If so, why put graffiti on one and not the other?

 

[DennisN]

Are these in the same sector and is one as old as the other?

Yes, they are right next to each other. How old they each are, I don't know.

If so, why put graffiti on one and not the other?

I don't know . Maybe it's a place where graffiti is allowed? I know of at least one such place in the city.

 

[jack action]

I don't know . Maybe it's a place where graffiti is allowed? I know of at least one such place in the city.

I'm really talking about the graffiti at the bottom, behind the cars, in the second picture. They really don't look to be part of the wall art and were just added on later by hooligans other people.

 

[DennisN]

I'm really talking about the graffiti at the bottom, behind the cars, in the second picture. They really don't look to be part of the wall art and were just added on later by hooligans other people.

Ok, I understand now. I agree, I don't think they're part of the original art and probably added later by other "freelancers" .

 

[Andy Resnick]

Back from holiday at the beach- a few images worth sharing:

This one is star trails (15mm lens) looking south- the stuff at bottom is lightning, and the horizontal streak at very bottom is a Coast Guard dredging vessel. This was the most cloud-free night I have ever experienced there, great visibility! The bright star entering at lower left is Fomalhaut.

We also saw a Starlink deployment- the whole image (processed to bring out the satellites)- the main body of satellites is the horizontal streak, and in the zoomed image you can see the satellites that are deploying as streaks above the main line:

 

[DennisN]

A set of colorful flowers in August...

Hover fly on yellow Pot Marigold:

Cosmos bipinnatus:

Red Coneflower:

Red Rudbeckia:

Sunflowers:

Yellow Dahlia:

(All shot with Sony A6000 + Sony 55-210mm + Neewer polarizing filter and identified with Google Pictures.
The Sony 55-210mm would normally not be my lens of choice for pictures like these, but it was the only lens I had at the moment .)

 

[jtbell]

What are you pointing at me for?

Actually, the arrow points towards the Spartanburg [SC] Downtown Airport (SPA), about 10 miles away. This was the site of a beacon on the Transcontinental Airway System, built in the 1920s to guide airmail pilots. The square in the middle of the arrow was the base of a tower with a revolving light at the top. See the linked Wikipedia article for a sketch of a typical beacon. This beacon, about halfway between Greenville and Spartanburg SC, was on Contract Air Mail route #19, Atlanta — New York.

In general, the arrows point towards the next beacon.

 

[pinball1970]

Hebden Bridge today (not far from Leeds) so weather permitting I'll try and get some nice pictures.
Great pubs, walks, country.
Central library before I leave, probably my favourite place to relax in Manchester.
If time I will get images here too. The inside used to be like a typical 19th century library, silent, dim light, wooden tables, green leather seats and antique table lamps.
Now its all about the bloody kids .....but I made my peace with it, at least I get to go on the piano at Christmas and Impress the hell out of the little blighters.

 

[jack action]

Now its all about the bloody kids

Yeah, funny how we try to create a "kid's world" instead of just going through our day - just doing what needs to be done - and letting the kids learn what adults do by watching them.

And then, suddenly, adults need to play video games, laser tag, or ride skateboards ... just like they were taught when they were kids.

 

[pinball1970]

Victoria station

 

[pinball1970]

Victoria station piano. There is a piano at Piccadilly station and Huddersfield too. Some elsewhere i bet.
A young girl played Bohemian Rhapsody on this piano before I took this photo as far as the guitar solo, then got stuck.
I told her she played well.
She turned round and smiled and had a tube from her nose to a pack and looked very pale. Damn it.
I just been looking at the bomb memorial so that kicked me in the guts a little bit.

 

[pinball1970]

M.E.N arena memorial

 

[pinball1970]

Last one for Victoria

 

[pinball1970]

Hebden Bridge.

 

[pinball1970]

 

[pinball1970]

 

[pinball1970]

 

[pinball1970]

Industry of Hebdon Bridge was trousers, finished in the 1960s but was rescued as a town by rich hippies. Very beautiful vibe, difficult to feel anything else with these surroundings.

Lots of places like this in the UK, very English, quirky, serene, picturesque, idealistic....I'm gushing a little but no apologies.
Wordsworth gushed too. Good enough for Bill good enough for me.

 

[pinball1970]

The black on the sandstone is from pollution from the industrial age. Some buildings, owners have kept parts, a reminder.

 

[DennisN]

A big old clock:
(I have shot this clock before, and I hope I haven't posted it before .)

 

[jtbell]

Victoria station

View attachment 330751

I thought, "gee, that doesn't look like what I saw 45 years ago." Then I remembered you're in Manchester, not London.

 

[nsaspook]

No AC in the server room.

 

[DennisN]

No AC in the server room.

So the servers are running on DC supplies?

 

[nsaspook]

So the servers are running on DC supplies?

Internally, yes.

 

[Arjan82]

No AC in the server room.
View attachment 330830

Euhm, so your server room is outside?
Or is it just sitting idle all day

 

[DennisN]

I just noticed I had caught a young rabbit on photo with a blade of grass in its mouth .
I didn't notice it when I took the shots.
The image quality is not very good*, but I thought it was cute and fun.

* Crappy light at the scene; late in the afternoon with no direct sunlight.

 

[wrobel]

 

[nsaspook]

Euhm, so your server room is outside?
Or is it just sitting idle all day

It's in the house work shop.

 

[DennisN]

A close-up of an outside light bulb.
The Sun, the sky, the surrounding houses and a pedestrian crossing can be seen in the reflection from the glass.

 

[DaveC426913]

I was looking for the artwork thread in vain. This'll have to do.

My first time in a life drawing workshop in quite some time. I worked with what I had, which is whatever I grabbed on the way out the door. Black conte on white sketch paper, 45 minutes.

I'm really happy with the overall proportions considering the extreme foreshortening. I'm very pleased with the hands, and particularly pleased with the feet, which are pretty much the most difficult parts to render, especially foreshortened. I like the economy of line in the feet - didn't overwork it - but still captured the grace and balance of soft flesh over sharp tendon and bone.

 

[phinds]

Nicely done, Dave.

 

[Borg]

I hope you bring a camera/smartphone!
Alaska can be darn beautiful, from what I understand.
And we want photos posted here later...

Here are some of the pictures from our cruise. Everything went by so quickly.

I couldn't do it justice but Vancouver has a nice skyline with unique buildings.

Had to visit the Seattle Space Needle of course. Second floor with the rotating glass floor.

The Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum next to the Space Needle was well worth the price.

One of the few whales that we spotted during the first day at sea.

In Juneau, we hiked the Gold Creek Flume Trail north of the town. We had to hike up and down several hundred feet of elevation (in intermittent rain) to get there so we only ran into locals.

The salmon were running while we were in Alaska. Every black spot in the water is a fish. Every river that we visited was similarly packed.

Ketchikan (below) and Vancouver harbors were busy with constant seaplane takeoffs and landings.

Deep orange sunset in Victoria due to Canadian wildfires. Just noticed the shadow of the building on the hill being projected into the water.

 

[DaveC426913]

Alaska was one of the best cruises I've ever been on! Ketchikan was my favorite town!

 

[Borg]

Alaska was one of the best cruises I've ever been on! Ketchikan was my favorite town!

Ketchikan was my favorite also.

 

[DaveC426913]

Ketchikan:

http://www.davesbrain.ca/adventures/18alaska/pic.html?pic=67

http://www.davesbrain.ca/adventures/18alaska/pic.html?pic=70

As I wandered about town taking pics, I couldn't help but feel it all looked a little familiar.

It wasn't until I got home and was sorting my father's watercolours that I realized I had seen it before. I'd been walking in my father's footsteps!

http://www.davesbrain.ca/adventures/18alaska/pic.html?pic=79

 

[DennisN]

Here are some of the pictures from our cruise.

Very nice!
And the river photo was cool... so many fishes!

 

[jtbell]

For the past couple of months I've had to do my near-daily walks very early in the morning to avoid the heat and some of the humidity. Here's a sunrise not far from my house.

 

[jtbell]

I couldn't do it justice but Vancouver has a nice skyline with unique buildings.

That reminded me of my brief visit to Vancouver 19 years ago, part of a circular trip Calgary - Edmonton - Vancouver - Calgary by train and bus.

I did not participate in the squid festival...

 

[Flyboy]

Spotted this Thrush 660 doing passes over a cornfield in Iowa yesterday and stopped to grab some photos. Pilot did a cheeky low pass over me as he left... after I had already packed up the camera.

 

[berkeman]

Spotted this Thrush 660 doing passes over a cornfield in Iowa yesterday

Crop dusting, or just practicing?

 

[Flyboy]

Crop dusting, or just practicing?

He's spreading something. Dry spreader, not sprayer, but no clue what.

 

[DennisN]

Spotted this Thrush 660 doing passes over a cornfield in Iowa yesterday and stopped to grab some photos.

It made me remember I also shot an airplane recently...

I was out trying a tele lens when I heard this thing making sounds up in the sky:

(lens used: Pentax-M 200mm f/4)

 

[DennisN]

Some more flowers...

That Dahlia photo got my wife's attention (she is into colored-pencil artwork and wants to try sketching it).

Here's another one of those dahlias. At the same place, but in late afternoon sunlight:

And here are two other different dahlias at another place. They are quite large flowers
(ca 15-20 cm in diameter) and I really like the creamy color of them:

Two buds:

And last, a dandelion (or two):

(lenses used: Sony 55-210mm (first photo) and Yashinon-DS 50mm f/2 (the other photos))

 

[morrobay]

Talk about low passes, small planes buzzed this beach so low that umbrellas were knocked over. Victoria Beach, Laguna Beach, CA. House on beach with green roof was my grandparents.

 

[morrobay]

And that's me on that beach then, and now in Thailand+ Morro Bay. What a difference xx years made.