Friday Photography Open Thread

Welcome to friday’s photography open thread. I am posting because I’m not sure if Bollox Ref was planning to. Usually he’s here by now, but I don’t see him online. I wish I could stay and interact with you all, but I have to go.

I’ll check back in later when I return. Enjoy, and thank you in advance for your participation.

White Kanuka blossoms laden with rain, looking like snow

Three stages of the birth of Nikau Palm flower clusters

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

for posting the lovely photos.

We've got to run a couple of errands, shortly, but I'll swing back by to view what I expect to be many other lovely photographic contributions.

Hope you're having a wonderful New Year!

Mollie


“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit and therefore– to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)

The SOSD Fantastic Four

Available For Adoption, Save Our Street Dogs, SOSD

Taro
Taro, SOSD

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

janis b's picture

It has been wonderful. I wish you the same : ).

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Bollox Ref's picture

This whole Russian 'hacking' business is driving me up the wall, so I haven't been online much in the last couple of days.

Frankly, I'm to the point that any large, corporate, 'news entity' is just a purveyor of fake news..........

Anyway.... Got a new camera for my birthday and am still trying to work out what the hell the buttons/knobs mean.

A shot from a few years ago (Isle of Wight).
P9120036.JPG

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

magiamma's picture

love the gray green sea

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Bollox Ref's picture

The weather was awful, but the light/clouds/sea made it interesting.

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

janis b's picture

I love the subtlety of the light and the colour.

I definitely can relate to your comment about the Russian hacking and the MSM. I have a friend though, who feels that it is a mistake to minimise the real 'fake news' by lumping them all in together. It's something I'm still thinking about.

Stay sane!

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snoopydawg's picture

What type of camera did you get?
I am quite happy with my Canon 40 D and a 28-300 tamron lenses, but I would like to get a tele extender for it.
I have a 600mm lense for my Pentax film camera and a 3 xtender for it.
I'd love to get back into doing b&w developing and printing.
I have a coal bin room in my basement that would be perfect for it.
Just need to find the funding to set it up.
I still like the look of film prints. The grain makes them more realistic, I think.
I don't like to see pictures that have been altered by photoshop which makes them look unrealistic.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Bollox Ref's picture

My gift was an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II (partially self-financed).

My old Olympus from 2001 was definitely showing its age. Can still take good shots though, if the light is right.

P1010029.jpg

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

riverlover's picture

My dog has picked up, very protective. Son has volunteered to come. I have called that off, but the appearance of a house slave sounds good now. Yet to hr=ear voice from two offspring tonight. bOth working. The sun will come out, tomorrow.

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joe shikspack's picture

so sorry to hear about your loss. i hope that you are able to get unbolloxed soon.

my condolences.

IMG_5734s-s

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magiamma's picture

xmas 2016 Rainbow wbwatermark.jpg

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Knucklehead's picture

For you in your time of sorrow.
From a pond I created for a client.
A Lotus

DSCN7571

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I`m already against the next war

janis b's picture

I 'hr=ear' you ; ).

Feel whatever you need to, for as long as you need to. Sometimes an offer (especially by a child) is enough. I'm glad you have the support of your children.

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

Thankfully, no one can take away 'memories' of our loved ones. And, as trite as it may sound, 'time does heal.'

Yes, dogs can be very attuned to grief (IMO). I was forced to have our 17-1/2 year old Springer (not Mister B) euthanized while all of my Family was out-of-town.

At one point, later that evening, I broke down (again). One of our dogs came over, sat in front of me, whined, and pawed my hands. There was no mistaking (in my mind) that she understood that I was in an unusual and very distressed state.

I wish you much strength and peace.

Mollie


“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit and therefore– to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

riverlover's picture

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Knucklehead's picture

I shall do my best this week to send a donation.
Johnny is an old friend & I know what it takes to run a joint like this.
Here is my capture of the
Last Light of 2016
Last of the Peeking Sun in 2016 DSCN6166

(From my back yard)

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magiamma's picture

love the lighted cloud tops.

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Bollox Ref's picture

Even if we get a decent sunset, very often the hulking bulk of the local hospital just gets in the way.

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

riverlover's picture

I can from my bedroom window see the lights of my city hospital on the hill 5+ miles away, on West Hill. So original with names. I have yet to see the lights in Ithaca college's two high rise dorms that now spell 2017. My son-in-law may hve entered those dorm rooms to make the change from 2016--->2017.

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janis b's picture

for your donation ; ).

Beside the beautiful sunset, I like how the trees are divided into thirds.

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janis b's picture

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riverlover's picture

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riverlover's picture

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janis b's picture

I've never been much of a 'country music' fan, but I'm listening to this, happily. 'One Step Over the Line' just finished. Thanks river.

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magiamma's picture

Here are a few from some old buildings in Vancouver

bicycle
vancouver bycicle_.jpg
stairwell
stairwell triangle.jpg
window and railing
window and rail.jpg

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Knucklehead's picture

Very very cool.
Here, an image of an earthquake sensor side table I made.
If there`s a trembler, the table shakes, the stone ball crashes to the floor & I then yell to my wife to hang onto any valuables, like the cat or something.

Earthquake Sensor Table  DSCN5749

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riverlover's picture

Not in earthquake country, tho I have felt several 3-4's. House is kinda bonded to rock, it just sways. Queasy times.

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magiamma's picture

cat most valuable. So, doesn't the beautiful stone ball just break if it falls?

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I could not stop staring at doorways of old buildings.

I was cursed with a desire to design, but with no ability to draw, or to photograph--unless people with 3/4 of a head is the next big thing in photography. Then, all my pics of the family would be in a gallery. No artistic abilities at all.

So,I just keep falling in love with things I see, from tableware to garments to doorways. The third photo is amazing. Is it from an art deco building?

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magiamma's picture

I will see if I can find the name of it. It's around 3rd east of downtown.

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janis b's picture

Keep falling in love with things that you see ; ).

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riverlover's picture

An expensive embellishment.

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janis b's picture

That's one of the best titles, for an image I've seen.

The image is from ...

http://www.houzz.co.nz/photos/767865/art-deco-railing-eclectic-deck-new-...

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riverlover's picture

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janis b's picture

I love your graphic of the bicycles. Seeing it next to your avatar is a wonderful juxtaposition of similar, yet contrasting images. Thank you.

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magiamma's picture

is cosmic. The texture is so visceral. Really like the photo framing.

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Knucklehead's picture

I have a Royal Palm that`s doing that right now.
I`ll shoot it tomorrow.

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riverlover's picture

ordered an LED lotus lamp.

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janis b's picture

I'm glad you appreciated it.

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boriscleto's picture

I'm hoping to get out to the zoo next week.

I bought a 2x teleconverter for my Tamron Adaptall macro lens. I should have a chance to use it next month.

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

riverlover's picture

Kinda creepy when new snow looks welcome? All white again.

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I've never seen a flower like that. Thanks for starting the thread, too.

Thanks, everyone. Your photos are so interesting and good to look at.

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janis b's picture

I'm happy that you're enjoying the photography.

Have you ever seen a flower or seed cluster of a palm tree (the largest, as far as I know, the coconut)?

The Nikau is a palm, but the size of the fruit/seed is minuscule compared to the coconut; and it's colouring is arresting. They are a favourite of the native birds.

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New England. I've seen them in Florida and California, but I was usually whizzing by in a cab or car.

Fort Myers, Fl. is called the City of Palms and I've been there. The palms there were all imported by Luther Burbank at the best of either Henry Ford or Thomas Edison--I've forgotten which. They both had cottages there. It's amazing how modest their cottages were, The guide said that was considered the cool way to summer--modest, rustic.

Fort Myers is also the Spring training home of the Red Sox, which is why I was there. When I was there, the ballpark was really, really old. I hope they never tear it down.

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orlbucfan's picture

Edison's property/home is nothing short of amazing. It backs up to the water. The home itself is quite small, simply laid out, and practical. It reflects its genius of an owner. Edison was extremely civic minded. He built the first public swimming pool among all his other firsts. I know this cos my beloved MIL swam in it as a kid. Smile The drive to the Edison place is bordered by royal palms. They are huge, and majestic. Love the pictures!!! Rec'd!!

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Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

training games in that area. However, whenever I go somewhere, I research it some beforehand. As a result, we went directly from the airport to Ford and Edison cottages. My son and I both enjoyed the tour. I wanted to return another day to ride in Edison's boat, but the schedule never allowed that. So, it was good we went when we did.

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janis b's picture

and for enjoying the pictures.

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janis b's picture

I don't recall seeing palm trees in NY or CT, where I grew up ; ).

Thanks for the interesting details about Burbank, Ford and Edison.

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in Fort Meyers on at least one occasion. There's a photo of the three of them there.

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janis b's picture

Ford first met his boyhood idol in 1896 when he worked as a chief engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company. At Edison’s request, Ford sketched his experiments with a gasoline-powered automobile, and the prolific inventor encouraged the budding automaker to continue his research. When the pair met again 16 years later, they began a lasting friendship, and beginning with their 1914 Everglades vacation, Ford and Edison embarked on lengthy camping trips nearly every year for the next decade. It was perhaps fitting that a pioneer of automobile travel and the developer of the first patented motion picture camera played the quintessential buddy roles straight out of a road-trip movie.

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What came to my mind when I read the first couple of lines of your post, before I even got to the bit about films, was Brokeback Mountain.

What your post stirred up: Like most or all of our icons., Ford and Edison were a mixed bag. The Dodge brothers, who held stock in Ford's company filed a suit against Ford because Ford had used some of the corporation's money for charitable purposes because Ford was a for profit corporation and should not be giving away money. The court held in favor of Ford. That ruling was the first court case in the U.S. to establish that using a business corporation's money for charitable purposes was legitimate. (IIRC, the court held that it brought goodwill to the corporation, which was a potential business benefit to the corporation.) I'll let you guess what the Dodge brothers did after that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_v._Ford_Motor_Co. (Knowing that the Dodge bros had sued over using money for charitable purposes, I was surprised a couple of years ago when a Dodge commercial featured actors playing them and romanticized about their starting Dodge. )

Anyway, Ford certainly had his good points, On the other hand, Ford was notoriously anti-Semitic. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/interview/henryford-... http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/ford1.html

Edison, like Walt Disney and J.K. Rowling, was unquestionably a genius, but the words "first patented motion picture camera" quoted in your post were probably chosen carefully. Like Walt Disney and J.K. Rowling. Edison knew a good idea when someone else had it first.

Ironically, Disney is very zealous about copyrights. In fact, every time Mickey, who is very old at this point, is about to run out of copyright protection, Disney almost single-handedly gets Congress to increase the number of years that copyright protection is effective. Disney is also very zealous about suing anyone Disney think might be infringing. (Disney and Rowling won their lawsuits, too.)

IIRC, copyright infringement is an act of terrorism now! I am not sure if the Patriot Act did that or another statute, but it may apply only to people who are not Americans stealing from Americans. I don't know if Disney had anything to do with that. I really know nothing about the law, other than reading a brief mention about it in some political article or other, so all I should rightfully say about it is, google if you are interested.

http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Academy-Awards-Crime-Films/Cam... and Scorsese's film, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_(film)

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080822/1750312073.shtml (Mickey Mouse, who started "life" with Disney as Steamboat Willie) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBgghnQF6E4 https://www.google.com/search?q=Disney+sues+often+over+copyright+infring...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_disputes_over_the_Harry_Potter_series

I have no dish on Luther Burbank. On the other hand, I've never researched him.

All this from a photo of a flower! Talk about germinating!

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janis b's picture

and his anti-Semitic views. I didn't know though, how intense and early on (1920) his expression of anti-semitism began. It began in 1920 with his newspaper publishing a series of articles entitled "The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem."

The more I read of this lengthy article, tracing Ford’s anti-Semitic practices, the more stunned I became.

Through a combination of influence, power; and ignorance, he was able to unleash the largest and most damaging campaign against Jews ever waged in the United States.

With regard to the origins of technological advances (like the movie camera), I think it often happens that their discoveries are synchronous with the times, and therefore likely that they evolve at the same time from different sources.

Funny ... "I have no dish on Luther Burbank."

Thanks for casting out the seeds to germinate.

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Daenerys's picture

I got a Nikon Coolpix P900 for Christmas. I wanted something with good zoom for bird photography. I've only been able to try it out once so far as the weather has been crap here too and I've been working a lot. These were taken from inside the house, through the patio door.

If the weather ever decides to warm up and cooperate on my day off I'm hoping to go find some hooded mergansers.

Riverlover, please accept my condolences as well.

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This shit is bananas.

janis b's picture

Those first birds are California Quails, aren't they?

Just this morning I observed a family of ten, 2 parents and eight babies enjoying the early sun in a sandy part of the garden. But they are far from California (New Zealand, in summer). I'll look tomorrow morning. If they're there again I will photograph them for you.

I also see doves, occasionally. Thank you for the photos. I especially like the character of the last dove.

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Daenerys's picture

We have them here year-round in droves. I just love how round they are! Lol The dove was a character. Hubby hates them, but I think they're fascinating. Hope to get some magpies too. There's a lot of birds here that I didn't have in Minnesota.

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This shit is bananas.

riverlover's picture

when there were still woods outside and field, I could hear the bobwhites calling, and got pretty good at whistling back, an ability like singing, gone with the wind.

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janis b's picture

like a halo. Thanks psyched.

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Thank you, Janis.

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Knucklehead's picture

I`m psyched at the cat.
Very beautiful & it seems to have a great disposition...for a cat.

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mimi's picture

and it's mostly due to the very kind interactions of all who come and post their photos here.
Thank you so much. You have a great talent to make comments that soothe one's emotions and bring back the better sides in us. I had in mind to stroll through old neighborhoods of my younger years here in Germany and take photos. Now everything has turned out differently and my camera is still packed and stored in the US with the company, who is supposed to ship it over here, but here is no place to unpack it. Sigh. I am getting there, one day.

Seriously, "Du bist ein Schatz", the way you talk. I-m so happy

Give rose

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janis b's picture

I knew you were spending time in Germany, but I didn't realise that you would be staying there. That's quite a big shift, no? I hope you find your place there, and can unpack and settle in comfortably.

What you said about the interactions here in the POT, and how my comments make you feel, made me feel really good. Thank you mimi, and all the best to you, always.

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riverlover's picture

for winter ice-over. I am considering picking up a used one to use as a single-car garage. Have to check dimensions. And check that it will budge up my driveway.

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riverlover's picture

Music to add to pretty pictures. Written by a Hoosier, also dead, as is the singer.

https://youtu.be/DjU6ZjrQulc

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