Random Photos

[nsaspook]

The river on a hot day in the PNW.

 

[morrobay]

The Sunday seafood situation

 

[nsaspook]

Right down the road from the local, looks like someone tangled with MAYHEM.

 

[pinball1970]

Back stage at Hull, I have that distorted look, like when the victim in the ring watches the video.
Also note the ghostly Omen like projection to my head.

Something a little more upbeat, Strawberry studios in Stockport.

Today is Cleckheaton festival in Yorkshire, very small charity do.

I'm hoping everyone likes some Black Sabbath!

 

[morrobay]

Stairs carved from cliff, Le Fort de Buoux. From brother in Provence

 

[pinball1970]

Stairs carved from cliff, Le Fort de Buoux. From brother in Provence View attachment 364785

I dream about that scenario, not in a good way!

 

[nsaspook]

 

[nsaspook]

Solar panel emulator with power supply, 12VDC LFP battery bank and 2000W sine inverter for load testing

Working on my home energy controller project. Full test-bed testing the 'final' PCB.

 

[jtbell]

Driving through Indiana on my way home from Chicago last week:

A photo postcard of this wreck, from my collection:

 

[BillTre]

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Bow Sonar Sphere of a Seawolf class nuclear submarine.

 

[jtbell]

View attachment 364861

I don't suppose that's an oil slick?

 

[BillTre]

I don't suppose that's an oil slick?

?
Don't know.
Not a bad idea.

The image has something like a double rainbow, but it seems incomplete. The sequence of colors does not make sense as a rainbow due to diffraction. It could be a fake.

Oil slicks, not thee most uncommon thing in Louisiana, cold make unusual color patterns due to the different distances between reflecting surfaces. Its orientation with the direction of the shadows implies a possible light source cause.
The reflected image in the swamp looks like clear weather. Not usually rainbow associated.

 

[jtbell]

While passing through Huntington, Indiana, I visited the Quayle Vice Presidential Learning Center, named for Dan Quayle, vice president 1989-1992 under George H. W. Bush.

When I entered, the first thing I saw was a cut-out photo of Mr. Quayle himself.

Nevertheless, the museum isn't really about Quayle. It's a collection of exhibits about all the US vice presidents, from John Adams through JD Vance. The presentation is purely historical and non-partisan, as far as I could tell.

Quayle does get a bit more space than the others.

Although Quayle was actually born and grew up in or near Indianapolis, he and his wife started their careers as lawyers here in Huntington, before he entered politics.

The guy manning the ticket desk and gift shop told me that their main "business" was hosting school tour groups. They stopped during the pandemic, along with most of the tourists. Traffic started to pick up again, but now they're affected by local streets being torn up for work on sewers or water lines. I had to drive around a bit to find a way there. They can't seem to catch a break! He was happy to see me and show me around.

 

[pinball1970]

View attachment 364818
Solar panel emulator with power supply, 12VDC LFP battery bank and 2000W sine inverter for load testing

View attachment 364819
View attachment 364820
View attachment 364821
Working on my home energy controller project. Full test-bed testing the 'final' PCB.
View attachment 364823

It looks like a geeks scrap yard heaven. Love it!

 

[pinball1970]

While passing through Huntington, Indiana, I visited the Quayle Vice Presidential Learning Center, named for Dan Quayle, vice president 1989-1992 under George H. W. Bush.

View attachment 364897

When I entered, the first thing I saw was Mr. Quayle himself.

View attachment 364892

Nevertheless, the museum isn't really about Quayle. It's a collection of exhibits about all the US vice presidents, from John Adams through JD Vance. The presentation is purely historical and non-partisan, as far as I could tell.

View attachment 364896
View attachment 364895
View attachment 364894
View attachment 364891

Quayle gets a bit more space than the others.

View attachment 364893

Although Quayle was actually born and grew up in or near Indianapolis, he and his wife started their careers as lawyers here in Huntington, before he entered politics.

The guy manning the ticket desk and gift shop told me that their main "business" was hosting school tour groups. They stopped during the pandemic, along with most of the tourists. Traffic started to pick up again, but now they're affected by local streets being torn up for work on sewers or water lines. I had to drive around a bit to find a way there. They can't seem to catch a break! He was happy to see me and show me around.

Very nice for a Brit like me, you give me a glimpse of the US with your images.

 

[collinsmark]

View attachment 364861

I don't suppose that's an oil slick?

Yes, but apparently of an all-natural variety. "The rainbow sheens found as a thin film on top of pooled water in swamps and marshes are the result of natural oils released by decaying vegetation or the biological processes of anaerobic bacteria reducing iron in soil."
https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-46346026

Btw, TIL about "rainbow swamps."

 

[BillTre]

 

[Ibix]

View attachment 364923

When the moon is your eye
Like a big pizza pie, that's... amore?!

 

[phinds]

When the moon is your eye
Like a big pizza pie, that's... amore?!

When the moon HITS your eye, not "is" you eye.

 

[Ibix]

When the moon HITS your eye, not "is" you eye.

In the song, yes, but not the picture.

 

[jtbell]

When the moon is your eye
Like a big pizza pie, that's... amore?!

 

[symbolipoint]

Not a still-image, but because of the prospect of some movement to occur, done as a video. Unplanned little hunt to find something like this since these guys are not too plentiful:

See here in about 15 minutes from now:

 

[jtbell]

Continuing southward down the eastern side of Indiana, I passed through Pennville, and spotted this storefront.

What was it? A restaurant made to look like a railroad-car diner? I looked inside and saw only debris. I couldn't tell whether it was currently under construction or abandoned. No notices on the door, just the name next to it.

A Google search revealed that there was indeed a railroad named the Cincinnati, Bluffton and Chicago. It passed through Pennville, was never completed, and lasted only 1903-1917.

Maybe this is or was an attempt at a museum about it.

I spent the following night in northern Kentucky, near the Cincinnati airport. For supper, I stopped at a Skyline Chili parlor for the area's signature dish: five-way Cincinnati chili (spaghetti, chili sauce, beans, onions and shredded cheese).

 

[Ivan Seeking]

In 2015, wildlife photographer Christophe Courteau took this close up of a 6ft 6, 400lbs silverback gorilla, right before it punched him in the face.

 

[BillTre]

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The good ole days...

 

[morrobay]

Ko Rin island 20 km West of Jomtien.

 

[DennisN]

Some shots from the courtyard showing the remarkable background blur capabilities of
the lens Jupiter-37A 135mm f/3.5:

Leaves:

Plant:

More leaves:

Hydrangea:

Spider web:

(all shot with tripod, except #4 (Hydrangea) which was shot handheld)

 

[Ivan Seeking]

 

[Ivan Seeking]

This is one of my favorite photos.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

My new neighbor getting the mail.

 

[BillTre]

Soccer ball, the car:

 

[morrobay]

These few months have the best over land+water sunsets

 

[DennisN]

Some various shots...

I've always liked dragonflies and damselflies, but I've definitely have got a whole new appreciation for them after I've taken photos of them. I find them amazing, almost magical, because of e.g.

1. They look cool
2. It's not often I see them, and they are quite difficult to shoot
3. They do as they please, very much like butterflies. They decide where to go, what to do, how long to stay and you as a photographer are just at the mercy of their whims . A bit annoying, but also thrilling.
4. They have amazing, truly amazing flying skills (see e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonfly#Flight).

Some time ago I spotted a dragonfly (or a damselfly) flying around over a path in a park. It seemed to be quite large since I could clearly hear it whizzing about.

It flew very fast, backwards and forwards along a ca 10 meters long flying path in a repetitive pattern, and I just stood there with camera in hand waiting for it to land. But it didn't, it just kept flying back and forth along this path, and sometimes doing sudden shifts left/right/up/down in mid-air. I stood and watched it for a couple of minutes, being amazed of the flying capabilities and after a while I grew tired of waiting for it to land, so I left. No luck that time .

I wondered what it was doing, and I think it might have been hunting smaller insects.

Anyway, here's a damselfly I managed to shoot:

Small red-eyed damselfly (Erythromma viridulum)

(Lens: Pentacon 50mm f1.8, not the best one I've got for these things, but it's what I had at the time .)

A hanging branch with leaves

(Lens: Canon FD 135mm f/3.5)


And three shots of western jackdaws taken some years ago:

(Lens: Canon FD 135mm f/3.5)

 

[BillTre]

Once dragon flies land they can stay put for a while.
I have a pond in the back yard. They come from aquatic larvae and seem to like hanging out around it.
Here are couple I was able to walk up to and photograph as I wanted to over several minutes.

 

[DennisN]

Here are couple I was able to walk up to and photograph as I wanted to over several minutes.

Gosh, they look fantastic!

Amazing wing details, and cool colors. I don't think I've ever seen an orange or red one.

 

[BillTre]

Gosh, they look fantastic!

Amazing wing details, and cool colors. I don't think I've ever seen an orange or red one.

I think the red ones are red skimmers.
In the US, state extension services will often have ID guides for their local insects. Among other things, this is an aid to farmers.

There is nothing cooler looking than an invertebrate under high magnification:

 

[DennisN]

I've always liked dragonflies and damselflies

They have amazing, truly amazing flying skills

Once dragon flies land they can stay put for a while.
I have a pond in the back yard. They come from aquatic larvae and seem to like hanging out around it.
Here are couple I was able to walk up to and photograph as I wanted to over several minutes.

Sidenote: Some clips I found on youtube for anyone who wants to be amazed by the flying skills of dragonflies:

Dragonfly in Slow Motion | BBC Earth Explore


Epic Footage of Dragonflies Hunting


And here's a little longer clip with a very passionate guy who goes all in with a lot of gear trying to film dragonflies, and he gets amazing footage. It seems he found a way to attract dragonflies by using some weird mixture of substances (banana peels, warm beer and sugar ):

Dragonflies hunt by predicting the future (AlphaPhoenix)

 

[berkeman]

On a recent MTB ride I was coming back down from a winding dirt road climb, and noticed a shadow in the dirt by my front wheel of what looked like a small plane following me from above. That seemed pretty weird and I kept noticing the shadow for probably a minute or two until I realized that it was a dragonfly flying along with me as I descended the mountain. Pretty cool actually.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Was he drafting you?

 

[berkeman]

Was he drafting you?

LOL, no. Even though it was downhill he was still faster than I was.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

LOL, no. Even though it was downhill he was still faster than I was.

If he was drafting you, it would make sense that he would stay with you. But I guess you have a special kind of appeal to a dragonfly.