Least Grebe, Estero Llano Grande SP, TX

Taking a break from Germany today. Here is a Least Grebe from Estero Llano Grande SP in Weslaco TX. Shot with the Zeiss PhotoScope 85FL. I was actually chasing a Ringed Kingfisher up and down Alligator Lake…he was on the far side so it was not really a chase, but he did seem aware of me…almost as though he was playing with me. If I put my tripod down, he moved. I never did get a picture of him. However, at one of his perches, this little (Least actually) Grebe was swimming in close on occasion, and I did get him. Oh yes. I got him.

The PhotoScope reaches out to 45x, giving it the field of view of an 1800mm lens. This shot was taken at about 1600mm equivalent for a nice portrait without getting my feet wet.

The bird was actively feeding, above water for only 30 seconds at at time. You can see the water beads on his back.

Zeiss PhotoScope 85FL at 40x, field of view of a 1600mm lens on a full frame camera. 1/115th sec. @ ISO 100. Metered exposure at about f5.6.

Very little processing in Lightroom. Much less added Clarity and Vibrance than I would use on a scenic, and just the Sharpen Landscape preset.

From Zeiss PhotoScope 85FL.

And for you viewing pleasure, a second shot.

Least Grebe again

A Florida beautiful target is Orlando city. Packed and juggle visitors to visit in many times. This is in Orange County in United State of Florida. Orlando International Airport and Orlando-Sanford International Airport are aviations to contract this city. And city transport services are so nice in downtown. There are many hotel deals with best conveniences. In city attractions points are Harry P. Leu Gardens with pretty landscape garden, lake are there, Historic Bok Sanctuary with beautiful garden, exotic tree, flowers and duck colony and attractive birds. Tropical rain forest with thousand of blooms, jungle, stream, waterfall, squawking parrots in the World of Orchids are offered. Museums are also spot attractions for visitors. Some well-known museums are Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, Orange County Regional History Center, International Trolley and Train Museum and The Holy Land Experience. Walt Disney World everyone knows about this and many resort and shops are there. And one most orlando fl hotels with great services are there. Beside Sea World venture Park Orlando is full of thrill and exploration rides and extra interesting. Discovery Cove, Holy Land name of fun places. Golf sports are generally similar to and several clubs are offered. Spaces shopping and drinking expanse are too much standard. At the end we can say that due to all services and activity this city become very famous in between the visitors for celebrate their vacation plans.

All the water that will ever be is, right now.
~National Geographic, October 1993

Another sunny day at the lake. I took this photo at the channel (where the ocean meets the ‘lake’) and the water flows quite quickly there with the tides.

About the photo: I started using the Av and Tv modes on the camera. I tried to make the water look softer by using a slow shutter speed. Of course this did wash out the sky. I will have to practice this technique some more.

Here are some pictures of my sister’s recently completed paintings.  Not bad for a beginner, eh?

Click these babies to enlarge.

Lake Gleboczek,

Central Poland.

This is castle park in Colchester, Essex.
I took this one afternoon at about half five. The lakes reflection looks just
like a mirror, it's just so still and calm.
The sun just peeking through the tree
letting out enough light to make this picture perfect.
It all looks so green.
I love this picture because you can just tell it's so peaceful & quiet,
and also very beautiful to look at. The perfect place I would say.

Sitting by the lakeside at Matheran.

Lake Como.

Posted for Watery Wednesday

Photographed by Laurent SJ

Testing the Nikkor PC-E 24mm on the D300 around Lugano Lake, Italy-Switzerland

– License

Inspired by fellow blogger SevenDead, I’ve been playing around with TiltShift Maker, an online application that manipulates images to look like model photos.

Inspired by actually being able to remember my iTunes password, I have added CatPaint to my iPhone’s photo arsenal. Happy Thanksgiving indeed.

My title is in reference to my last post, when I mentioned rain. It is funny how things like that work, not seeing something happen for awhile and then it happening conveniently when you ask for it. It’s almost as if God dropped it solely because I asked, and I can’t complain if that were the case. These last days have been filled quite nicely with productivity.

Online classes began this week and I have maintained a positive outlook on them and made sure to stay ahead in both classes. Along with classes being online, I have my whole day freed up to allow myself to do whatever I please. I make it sound so heavenly, but it isn’t being abused. I spent roughly an hour yesterday at the Winter Park Court House so that I could void one of my two “traffic citations.” Going to something like this is never a convenience for anyone and no one here looked happy. Sometime you just have to pick yourself up and demand that you go and get it out of the way. Now that I have done that, I am glad I can look on and forget.

On a different note, I made my first peanut butter and jelly sandwich with added Whopper candy bites. We had some extra Whoppers lying around and I thought to myself what better way to get them out of the way, but still be used. The sandwich was quite delicious, as expected. What I didn’t expect was how quickly my body tore that sandwich apart, used what it needed, and disposed of it. I found myself driving home and speeding so I could make it to the toilet. Needless to say the sandwich was worth all I went through.

Lastly, I felt compelled to get on my bike and ride today, despite the drizzle. The rain had stopped for the most part, sporadic raindrops here and there, and so I went to rode around the surrounding neighborhood that I lived in. On the ride, I discovered very nicely built houses and several ponds/lakes that were surrounded by these houses. I stopped to sit at a bench and have a talk with the big man upstairs. He has been good to me, all my life, and more specifically these past two months that I’ve lived.

I hope everyone has the opportunity to an incredible Thanksgiving Day that can be spent with friends, family, and loved ones. I made the decision to stay here in Orlando for this holiday and hope that my family back in Oklahoma has a great time . So many babies have come into this world and into the Friend family these past few years, it’s incredible! Be thankful for that which you don’t think of on a daily basis and know that everyone is blessed and that there is more to be thankful for than one can imagine.

Bass Boats have gone through a extensive evolution to get to the point where they are today. The first “bass boat
” was deliberate to be a hulled out canoe made from chippings off of very large trees. The Caddo Indians of east Texas and western Louisiana are credited with this type of boat “invention.”

They used these boats to fish to provide food for their families. Bass during that time were the number one food preference to capacitate family groups to survive. Fortunately for these families, bass were found in very large supplies in the muddy waterways of the southeastern United States, just where these tribes were located. Thus began the evolution of the bass boat as we know it today. Below are present day considerations and tips for purchasing a bass boat. Great selection of boat covers.

Consider your Towing Vehicle:

Bass boats and trailers with a full tank of gas and installed with all the fishing gear simply weighs over 3500 pounds. Before you consider your purchase of a bass boat, make sure your towing vehicle can hoop to the load. Also, remember to take into care towing up plateau and hills.

Bass Boats:

There are key questions that an angler
looking into buying a bass boat needs to ask themselves. Where are you essentially going to be doing your fishing? What is the size of the body of water? Will it be small lakes and rivers? If so, maybe all you will need is a small boat with a small outboard motor. If you are planning on fishing in incomparable bodies of water, a smallest of 19-foot boat is your best choice. Overall, the three main characteristics famous and looked for in the bass boat of today are shoal draft, maneuverability and fortitude of the boat. View cheap boat covers

Bass Boats have gone through a extensive evolution to get to the point where they are today. The first “bass boat
” was deliberate to be a hulled out canoe made from chippings off of very large trees. The Caddo Indians of east Texas and western Louisiana are credited with this type of boat “invention.”

They used these boats to fish to provide food for their families. Bass during that time were the number one food preference to capacitate family groups to survive. Fortunately for these families, bass were found in very large supplies in the muddy waterways of the southeastern United States, just where these tribes were located. Thus began the evolution of the bass boat as we know it today. Below are present day considerations and tips for purchasing a bass boat. Great selection of boat covers.

Consider your Towing Vehicle:

Bass boats and trailers with a full tank of gas and installed with all the fishing gear simply weighs over 3500 pounds. Before you consider your purchase of a bass boat, make sure your towing vehicle can hoop to the load. Also, remember to take into care towing up plateau and hills.

Bass Boats:

There are key questions that an angler
looking into buying a bass boat needs to ask themselves. Where are you essentially going to be doing your fishing? What is the size of the body of water? Will it be small lakes and rivers? If so, maybe all you will need is a small boat with a small outboard motor. If you are planning on fishing in incomparable bodies of water, a smallest of 19-foot boat is your best choice. Overall, the three main characteristics famous and looked for in the bass boat of today are shoal draft, maneuverability and fortitude of the boat. View cheap boat covers

Whether you are a newbie to boating or a seasoned navigator, you will find that choosing a boat to buy can be quite a daunting task. There are so many different types and models of boats for you to choose from, and you have to take certain factors into care when you are looking for the undiluted boat to buy.

On the one hand, you have to know what type of boat best suits your purposes. You should take into care things like what the boat will be used for, who will use the boat, and where the boat will be used. For example, if you are planning to use the boat for longer trips out at sea, then you should get a boat that has cabins, toilets and cooking facilities. Furthermore, enhance you boat with t top boat covers.

On the other hand, if you just need a boat for a day trip, for fishing or other activities, then a small and simple boat will suffice. If you have worry finding out which type of boat is most befitting for your purposes, you can impute to ominous articles in boating websites and boat review magazines to find out the different types of boats that are accessible today. You can also ask your friends for their opinions and find out about their practice with their own boats. Once top way to make your boat look stylish is to get t top cover and boat covers.

You should also consider the size of the boat that you are going to buy. Different sizes of boats are befitting for different purposes, and you do not want something that is too small or too spacious. If you are planning to get a boat to go sailing in the sea with a large group of friends, a bigger boat will be ideal. On the other hand, if you plan to use the boat for fishing trips with one or two family members or friends, or even alone, then you should opt for a not as big boat.

Whether you are a newbie to boating or a seasoned navigator, you will find that choosing a boat to buy can be quite a daunting task. There are so many different types and models of boats for you to choose from, and you have to take certain factors into care when you are looking for the undiluted boat to buy.

On the one hand, you have to know what type of boat best suits your purposes. You should take into care things like what the boat will be used for, who will use the boat, and where the boat will be used. For example, if you are planning to use the boat for longer trips out at sea, then you should get a boat that has cabins, toilets and cooking facilities. Furthermore, enhance you boat with t top boat covers.

On the other hand, if you just need a boat for a day trip, for fishing or other activities, then a small and simple boat will suffice. If you have worry finding out which type of boat is most befitting for your purposes, you can impute to ominous articles in boating websites and boat review magazines to find out the different types of boats that are accessible today. You can also ask your friends for their opinions and find out about their practice with their own boats. Once top way to make your boat look stylish is to get t top cover and boat covers.

You should also consider the size of the boat that you are going to buy. Different sizes of boats are befitting for different purposes, and you do not want something that is too small or too spacious. If you are planning to get a boat to go sailing in the sea with a large group of friends, a bigger boat will be ideal. On the other hand, if you plan to use the boat for fishing trips with one or two family members or friends, or even alone, then you should opt for a not as big boat.

We went for a day skate over into Humphrey’s basin the other day. Beautiful ice and classic, stunning Sierra fall scenery. Check out the video here

Skate America yarışmaları sonrasında otomobil çalmak ve alkollü durumda araba kullanmak suçlamasıyla ABD’de tutuklanan ve daha sonra ülkesine dönmesine izin verilen Rus patencisi Andrei Lutai, bir yıl hak mahrumiyeti cezası aldı. Lutai, bu ceza nedeniyle, 2010 Kış Olimpiyatlarına katılamayacak.

Rusya Buz Pateni Federasyonundan yapılan açıklamada, “Sporcu ahlâkına aykırı davranışları sebebiyle Andrei Lutai’nin bir yıl süreyle, 15 Kasım 2010 tarihine kadar millî takımdan çıkarıldığı” belirtildi.

Bu ceza, Andrei Lutai’nin Kış Olimpiyatlarına katılma umudunu yok etti.

2009 Dünya Şampiyonasında dokuzuncu olan 23 yaşındaki St. Petersburglu patenci, New York’ta çıkarıldığı mahkemede suçsuz olduğunu söylemişti.

Mahkeme yargıcı, hakkındaki suçlamalara rağmen Rus patencinin ülkesine dönmesine izin verildiğini açıklamış ancak durumunun incelenmeye devam edileceğini belirtmişti.

Andrei Lutai, Skate America yarışmaların yapıldığı Lake Placid’de 15 Kasım Pazar gecesi yerel saatle 23.00 sıralarında polis tarafından durdurulmuştu.

Lake Placid Polis teşkilatından bir yetkili, Lutai’nin çalıntı olduğu bildirilen bir arabayı kullandığı sırada durdurulduğunu ve patencinin alkollü olduğunu söylemişti.

Rus patenci, hırsızlık, çalıntı otomobil kullanmak, alkollü haldeyken otomobil kullanmak gibi suçlarla itham edilerek cezaevine konmuştu.

Lutai, Skate America’da 10. olmuştu.

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The wife and I took a hike in Tilden Park last weekend and came across this old car in the middle of nowhere. The closest road was about 1000 vertical feet up a cliff, so its obvious that the passengers didn’t survive the plunge. Relying on the model of the car, this incident happened long before I was even born and it still made me pause and think about the lives that were lost. I could imagine a family trying to escape the summer heat of the Central Valley to enjoy a day on Lake Anza. In the back seat children tightly grip their floaties in anticipation as the smell of a cooler, moist environment replaces the stench of the valley in summer. The next thing they know the whole family, as they say in the medical field, are expired.

I guess the moral of the story is to enjoy every moment of this life. You never know when your demise may come, leaving in your wake a photo op for hikers on a long winding trail in the woods.

As always, shot on the T1i/500d with a 50mm 1.8 lens.

Escape from the noise of city and enjoy the wonderful nature of the Bernheim arboretum and research forest! Only 30 minutes from the center of Louisville in Clermont, KT a beautiful landscape with gardens, forests, a prairie area, 30 miles of hiking trails, three lakes, and more than 250 species of birds waits to be discovered. Opened the spring of 2006, the canopy tree walk has become a popular place to spend some time in the treetops overlooking a peaceful valley. Bernheim Visitor Center offers an introduction to the history and some of the natural features of the arboretum. You can also enjoy a snack or something to drink or buy a plant or something else of interest in the Gift Shop. For more information, visit the Louisville Destination Guide.

 

Dream Fragment, originally uploaded by © Don Iannone Photography.

Simple photo dressed up with Topaz.

Wild geese are back and the numbers are increasing rapidly at the Old Lake of Tata, Hungary. This morning we had a very nice weather and a couple of local birders came together to count them and find something nice.

I feel terrible today so not much time is allowed in front of the computer. Even words don’t come easy so I just highlight a few species of today birding.

Later today I got an SMS about a presence of a Canada Goose at the Ferencmajor fishponds.