Random Photos

[pinball1970]

Fantastic photos of the insides of instruments:

Probe lenses and focus stacking: the secrets to incredible photos taken inside instruments
(DPReview)

Example:

View attachment 361892
The inside of a double bass. Photo: Charles Brooks

It's like the inside of an old ship! Amazing.

 

[pinball1970]

Hyde town Square yesterday. Some brass bands. The drummers all used match grip. Sacrilege.

Audley.

Leyland.

And Ashton.

From Hyde to Gee Cross and the Chapel graveyard. I tried to image a wren but he was too quick for me. The light and trees gave some nice effects.

This fellow was wealthy to have a family monument like this. Sad reading the inscriptions though. He out lived his wife, son and two daughters. The children all died young, typical for the 1800s.

This caught my eye when I was walking back.

 

[DennisN]

Hyde town Square yesterday.

You actually got sunstars (diffraction spikes) in photo 2 (tubas) and 3 (drum).
I am surprised you got that effect from photographing with a tablet (if you did use a tablet).
I don't think I've ever seen it in a photo from such a device.

 

[pinball1970]

You actually got sunstars (diffraction spikes) in photo 2 (tubas) and 3 (drum).
I am surprised you got that effect from photographing with a tablet (if you did use a tablet).
I don't think I've ever seen it in a photo from such a device.

The sun was behind me in photos two and three. You can see the sun in the first tuba, I think it's above the dark part which is the town hall.

The bass drum polished lugs catch it as well.

So the sun behind you with a very shiny surface in the image.

 

[axiom]

Captured on my way home 07:00

 

[DennisN]

Captured on my way home 07:00

Incredible atmosphere! Lovely!

 

[jtbell]

I've been on the road again the past few days, this time to Ohio for my 50-year college reunion. Today in Warren, Ohio I passed a little park honoring Neil Armstrong.

 

[DennisN]

Some more plants...

Pink tulips (quite heavily edited to get a black background)

A linden branch (also with a black background)

Summer snowflake

A red tulip and white daffodils

...and a colorful pink tulip:

(all shot with the lens Jupiter-37AM 135mm f3.5 MC + CPL filter)

 

[berkeman]

Some more plants...

Beautiful photography! Thanks.

 

[morrobay]

There is something for everyone here

 

[DennisN]

This barren tree top is close to where I live, so I'll go there today with my zoom lens
and see if I can get closer to this group of crows .

I didn't find any crows at that time, but I found two blackbirds, one male and one female, and a seagull juvenile...


Blackbird (male)

The female blackbird was running around with food in her mouth, and I had a thought that if I sit down and act calmly maybe she'll get curious and come a bit closer. Luckily, she did :

And last, a seagull juvenile (the parents were close by and keeping a watch):

(all shot with Sony 55-210mm)

 

[pinball1970]

I didn't find any crows at that time, but I found two blackbirds, one male and one female, and a seagull juvenile...


Blackbird (male)
View attachment 362291

The female blackbird was running around with food in her mouth, and I had a thought that if I sit down and act calmly maybe she'll get curious and come a bit closer. Luckily, she did :

View attachment 362292

View attachment 362293

And last, a seagull juvenile (the parents were close by and keeping a watch):

View attachment 362294

(all shot with Sony 55-210mm)

We have lots of swifts nesting in my area, one under the gutter!
I would need something a little better than my tablet to get an image however!
The little blighters dive bomb me in the morning and when I am coming home sometimes.
Astonishing manoeuvres, in pairs or single they come in low then swerve off at crazy angles at speed. One was so close I could have jumped up and touched it.
Every time I get my tablet to video them they hit the sky.
One day I'll get something.

 

[Borg]

Midnight last night.

 

[collinsmark]

"Outside the pub" (ambient, artificial light)

Taken with my cellphone (Google Pixel 6). This photo was taken back in February. I had nearly forgotten that I even took the photo because, well, the pub I guess.

[Edit: As I recall (as best I can) there was a lovely going away party going on inside for a good friend. Maybe I should have titled the photo "Going away" or something like that.]

 

[jtbell]

Midnight last night.View attachment 362346

What was the temperature outside?

 

[Borg]

What was the temperature outside?

Not tropical.

 

[jtbell]

In a yard down the street this morning:

 

[morrobay]

Midnight last night.View attachment 362346

Is this location close

 

[Borg]

First one.

More travels today. I'm home!

 

[DennisN]

These guys made my day, truly... it was very fun to watch them.

Regretfully I had not the best gear for the occasion, I was just walking around in a park with a 35mm lens, so these are heavily cropped...

Edible frogs (Pelophylax kl. esculentus)

Hello...

In the right habitat... it's amazing how well their camouflage works; they were very, very
hard to spot in this environment!

Here is an uncropped photo as an example; go ahead, try to spot the frog!

Spoiler

The frog is right in the center of the photo.

Frog party!

And last, a beautiful old tram in operation (which @jtbell probably will appreciate ).

 

[jtbell]

I wasn't acquainted with that museum tram, so I did some Googling and turned up the Malmö museum tram. It started in 1987, hence about ten years after my brief visit to Malmö.

 

[jtbell]

Meet the Atomic Mouse of Georgia, which overlooks highway I-75 near Ringgold, about ten miles south of the Tennessee border.

 

[morrobay]

Only go to the T21 mall for the Foodland supermarket. But give them credit for design

see

 

[DennisN]

My cat lying strategically in front of the tablet, again.
She wants max attention.

(shot with smartphone)

 

[collinsmark]

Mr. Mittens, my neighbor's kitty, snuck in and up to the guest bedroom on trash day (See Fig. 1). He looked so cute I couldn't resist getting the camera out.

Figure 1. "Late morning trash day."

I have yet to determine if trash day is Mr. Mittens' favorite day of the week, or his most stressful. Though I am certain it is one of the most exciting for him, as an outdoor kitty.

New smells, new piles of stuff, lots of activity, as the humans drag their sacrifices out for the upcoming procession of the great trash beast. I venture to guess he may very well enjoy the early morning part of the day.

But then, invariably like clockwork, the trash beast arrives. It slowly perambulates though his familiar turf, roaring, grunting, beeping and squawking to no end, enormous in size and sound. All the while it grabs, lifts and undulates the recently placed sacrificial containers high in the air, devouring their contents and punishing them for being close to its path. I can imagine that Mr. Mittens finds the climax of the weekly ritual unnerving.

After all is said and done, It's understandable that Mr. Mittens seeks repose in the warmth and safety of a bed comforter to reflect on the recent excitement.

 

[jtbell]

On the way home from Huntsville, Alabama earlier this month, I stopped in Blue Ridge, Georgia to ride the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway.

The other end of the line is in the conjoined towns of McCaysville, Georgia and Copperhill, Tennessee. The boundary crosses the station platform and the main street.

This steel bridge originally spanned a different river in a different town.

Better not mess with the folks here!

I arrived back in Blue Ridge in time to watch the departure of a rail-bike tour.

 

[morrobay]

What a Beauty

 

[jtbell]

There's something about that blue...

 

[morrobay]

Good day to get out of Dodge

Jomtien Beach

 

[jrmichler]

Just came back from the hardware store, getting ready to turn down my driveway, and look what's in the way. I need a dash cam with a better camera.

 

[jrmichler]

Four little guys running around the back yard this morning. No mom in sight. We regularly have does drop their fawns on our property, generally near the upper left in this photo. Adult deer walk through our yard, while the fawns bound around and act like a bunch of very active three year children. Saw four fawns with a doe a half hour ago, but did not get a good photo. Taken through the living room window with a cell phone camera, not cropped.

 

[gmax137]

I know it's not a photo but I thought it belonged in this thread

 

[jtbell]

 

[davenn]

Aurora in Iceland from my 2023 visit

 

[Algr]

Lions are growing like yellow roses on the wind.

 

[Algr]

 

[DennisN]

Some shots taken today, shots I usually don't do (black and white and street photography)...

A very cool place called "Arsenik" (eng. "Arsenic"), inspired by gothic fiction

The Central Station

(Gear: Sony A7R + Helios 44 58mm f/2 + Hoya orange filter, which increases contrast when shooting black and white)

 

[collinsmark]

I know it's not a photo but I thought it belonged in this thread

View attachment 362640

Figure 1. Comic

Just in case anybody is scratching their head as to why this strip is funny (and it is funny. See Fig.1). The customer is holding a twin-lens reflex (TLR) camera.

TLRs were very popular and pretty common during the middle (maybe early middle) 20th century.

Here's a picture of my Yashicaflex, a TLR camera (see Fig. 2):

Figure 2. My Yashicaflex, a twin-lens reflex (TLR) camera.

Unfortunately for me, the aperture dial is frozen. I haven't attempted to repair it (yet). At least the shutter mechanism still works, although I haven't tested the timing.

You can still find used/second hand TLRs for pretty cheap. They're a great and relatively inexpensive way to get into medium format film photography, if you wanted to introduce yourself to the art while film still exists. (You just need to find one that still works).

Here's a wikipedia article on TLRs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin-lens_reflex_camera

 

[jrmichler]

This little robin was the last one to leave the nest. An hour after this photo was taken this morning, it was gone. I put up the nesting platform to stop robins from building nests in that gutter. I take the nest down after the new birds leave. Sometimes another bird will come along and build a second nest immediately after the first nest is removed. I have another nesting platform on the other side of the house that stops birds from building nests on a light fixture. Cell phone camera with minimal cropping.

 

[Borg]

In a museum in Scotland.

 

[DennisN]

TLRs were very popular and pretty common during the middle (maybe early middle) 20th century.

In a museum in Scotland.

View attachment 362674

On the topic of old cameras I saw a fun video recently where many old cameras were shown...
...it has also become a bit fashionable among some people to shoot film again, which is mentioned in the clip.


What it’s like to inherit 2000 CAMERAS (Mathieu Stern)

 

[pinball1970]

Armed forces day outside Manchester central library. Fairly low key, a few stalls, bikes, kit, ball castle for kids and a stage where a young lady sang some show tunes.

View attachment 362708
The Midland hotel behind is quite famous.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Lions are growing like yellow roses on the wind.

OMG that takes me back. I still listen to my copy of this on "The Digital Domain- a Demonstration"

 

[pinball1970]

Just finishing off Sat.

@berkeman you ever ride one of these?

This looks fun

 

[pinball1970]

The biker guys just looked like, bikers! They just lacked long hair. The original biker clubs were from WW2 troops after the war?

Anyway, more my thing. She had no spots, no back drops just a mike and monitor. Big voice though and the crowd and army guys appreciated her.

This looks very 1980s, Tama did a finish like this.

 

[pinball1970]

Everyone wanted to speak to this fella. I kept the gas mask in.

 

[berkeman]

@berkeman you ever ride one of these?

That's more the style that @Mark44 rides.

 

[Rive]

Just back from a marvelous trip to Tatra mountains

We went back, of course (and packed the charger for the cam, this time...)

- take mountains seriously. ...the rescue helicopters made trips up the mountains a few times a day

Mountains are not just somewhat bigger hills. We've witnessed this right on our first hiking day: as far as we know, he just overestimated himself - fortunately nothing worse. And there was another similar case for the chopper that day... And we could hear them working every day while we were there...

More will follow, just takes some time to process everything properly

 

[DennisN]

We went back, of course

Darn, you got really, really nice scenery there!
Really nice colors, contrast, details and water; did you use your CPL filter there, I wonder? (I guess you did)

 

[DennisN]

A short mallard story...


"Human put corn on a small ledge, should I try it?"

"Yes, I'll try it."

"Human seems friendly so I'll jump out of the water and get myself a real meal..."
(The mallard actually frightened me when she got up; she did it quite noisily when my back was turned against her .)

I think I found a new friend here.

"Meet my kids too, they're pretty cute."

How is it possible that a creature can be this cute?

(Gear: Sony A7R + Helios 44 + CPL filter)