Random pictures. - Let's try to have a random picture thread.

[six-point socket II]

I invite everyone to participate, I know a lot of you like to take pictures. Over time I have seen many great ones being posted here and there throughout the FOG and I think it would be great to have a place where these can be collected.

My wish would be not to make this a "picture dump" where just the picture is posted, but to write a line or two about either the reason for taking the picture, the motive or whatever else you want to say about it.

--

Mid December we had a cold weather phase and for the first time in a couple of years it got well below 0 °C for a couple of consecutive days and nights in our area of living. I take a stroll through our backyard everyday and I noticed a nice layer of frost on our hydrangea. What caught my eye where the few drops of violet color left in some of the leaves and those being crowned by the frost - right in the middle of all that brown.

First time (15/12/22) I noticed it looked like this:



and a day later (16/12/22) the crown of frost got even more distinctive.




To those living in areas where they get a "real winter" every year this might seem quite dull or tedious. I for one was really happy to see & enjoy this.


Kind regards,
Oliver

[woodbutcherbower]

My brand-new granddaughter Sunny at 9 minutes old, born on New Year’s Day.

[thudchkr]

One of those spectacular sunsets that we sometimes experience. I just happened to catch it over the new hospital being built here.

[bobtskutter]

@woodbutcherbower  Congratulations. What a wonderful way to start a new year, I hope mother and baby are doing well.
Regards
Bob

[Richard/RMW]

Great idea Oliver.

My wife, while walking around alone on a nearby island, managed to get invited by the director to tour the Smithsonian research station on a tiny cay offshore of Belize. The guy seemed dissapointed when she showed up with her husband and father.



I always thought this would be an enjoyable spot to start your day.

The cay including an old manor house was gifted to the institute by the family heirs. Anyone can submit a marine research grant proposal and, if selected, spend the season in residence conducting the research work.

RMW

[woodbutcherbower]

@woodbutcherbower  Congratulations. What a wonderful way to start a new year, I hope mother and baby are doing well.
Regards
Bob

Thanks for your kind words Bob. Much appreciated.

[rst]

Congrats Woodbutcher...grandparents have the best smiles, sure yours is huge

[4nthony]

Back in the mid-00s when I used to swim in the ocean with a camera.

Action sports photography was a previous hobby and I was regularly published in smaller, regional surf magazines. This was around the time when digital cameras were finally capable of producing print quality images but still a few years before everyone one had a decent camera.

[Michael Kellough]

Nice shot Anthony, with flash?

[Michael Kellough]

I like to take pictures of patterns in nature. This grass drawing was found on Boneyard Beach on Bull island near Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.

The beach there has a very low angle slope and broad sandy areas are left behind at low tide. The sand settles so firmly that you can walk on the washboard ripples with shoes and not disturb the forms.

Higher up the beach where the water doesn’t normally reach the ripples are from the wind. The sand is loose enough that the soft needle like ends of grass can etch patterns when driven by the breeze.

[4nthony]

Nice shot Anthony, with flash?

Yeah, I loved shooting with flash. It was technical and you could be creative by freezing action within a motion blur, etc.

(Attachment Link)

I like to take pictures of patterns in nature. This grass drawing was found on Boneyard Beach on Bull island near Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.

The beach there has a very low angle slope and broad sandy areas are left behind at low tide. The sand settles so firmly that you can walk on the washboard ripples with shoes and not disturb the forms.

Higher up the beach where the water doesn’t normally reach the ripples are from the wind. The sand is loose enough that the soft needle like ends of grass can etch patterns when driven by the breeze.

Love this. Nature's paintbrush creating a great pattern.

[Michael Kellough]

For something completely different…

The largest granite sphere produced to date by Kusser Granitwerke in Lower Bavaria.
They are the original developers of the process to “turn” large stone spheres.
This one was commissioned by the artist Walter De Maria and now resides in Len Riggio’s backyard.

I was sent to the factory to inspect and choose the mounting pin location.

[Michael Kellough]

Nice shot Anthony, with flash?

Yeah, I loved shooting with flash. It was technical and you could be creative by freezing action within a motion blur, etc.

(Attachment Link)

I like to take pictures of patterns in nature. This grass drawing was found on Boneyard Beach on Bull island near Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.

The beach there has a very low angle slope and broad sandy areas are left behind at low tide. The sand settles so firmly that you can walk on the washboard ripples with shoes and not disturb the forms.

Higher up the beach where the water doesn’t normally reach the ripples are from the wind. The sand is loose enough that the soft needle like ends of grass can etch patterns when driven by the breeze.

Love this. Nature's paintbrush creating a great pattern.

I was learning photography way before digital came along and it was too hard to remember what I did with the flash by the time I developed the film so I never got the hang of it.

[tsmi243]

White Sands, NM

[luvmytoolz]

My brand-new granddaughter Sunny at 9 minutes old, born on New Year’s Day.

Congrats! That's great!

[six-point socket II]

Amazing contributions so far, thank you very much everyone!

@woodbutcherbower Congratulations to you and Sunny's parents!

Kind regards,
Oliver

[PaulMarcel]

For something completely different…

The largest granite sphere produced to date by Kusser Granitwerke in Lower Bavaria.
They are the original developers of the process to “turn” large stone spheres.
This one was commissioned by the artist Walter De Maria and now resides in Len Riggio’s backyard.

I was sent to the factory to inspect and choose the mounting pin location.

I assume that is you in the photo saying "put it there"

[rvieceli]

Michael - Great photos. Walter De Maria was an intriguing artist, a lot of large scale works.

The Lightning Field in Catron County, New Mexico is my favorite and on my bucket list.



https://www.diaart.org/exhibition/exhibitions-projects/walter-de-maria-the-lightning-field-site

Ron

[kmalone]

Hermit crab hanging out on Parrot Cay, Turks and Caicos

[Michael Kellough]

Michael - Great photos. Walter De Maria was an intriguing artist, a lot of large scale works.

The Lightning Field in Catron County, New Mexico is my favorite and on my bucket list.

(Attachment Link)

https://www.diaart.org/exhibition/exhibitions-projects/walter-de-maria-the-lightning-field-site

Ron

Ron, I’d say that is his best work. Well worth visiting.

Back in the day I worked for the people who produced the Lightning Field (who went on to become DIA). Work was completed in the summer of ‘78 and my first visit to the field was that December. The temperature at the time I was there never got above -15*f. In the cabin it got up to 50*. They decided to make Winter “out of season” for visits. Kind of a shame because when the ground is covered in snow it adds (or removes?) another dimension.

Back in New York I installed De Maria’s next work The Broken Kilometer in the Spring of ‘79.

[Cheese]

Here's a photo of Jackson and his daughter Kaylee, taken about 4 years ago in the back yard.

I was surprised when I first downloaded the image because it was initially not what I wanted, but then after some further examination I was stunned that this looked more like a watercolor than a photograph. The bokeh and the background just take on a very soft/smooth appearance and I don't remember juggling F-stops or exposure times. I just simply picked up the camera and took a photo, nothing has been photoshopped.

I guess it was that "blind squirrel" moment. 

[Michael Kellough]

Beautiful pups!

[rmhinden]

San Francisco from the water

[Sparktrician]

Last August I caught two really dramatic shelf clouds as the sun was setting at Big Meadows (on the Skyline Drive in Virginia).  The tops of the clouds are illuminated by the setting sun while the clouds' bottoms are already in the shadow of the earth.   

[six-point socket II]

Someone enjoying the nectar from the beautiful & mildly peppery-smelling blossoms of our kitchen usable elephant garlic (Allium ampeloprasum).





Kind regards,
Oliver

[grobkuschelig]

Great thread!

A mouse kindly posing for a portrait on a walk in the woods some years ago…

[Vtshopdog]

I'm going with shots of the four seasons:




XC ski trail in Canadian rockies




Spring time in the desert




Summer storm over Lake Superior




Fall colors in the Wasatch

[Crazyraceguy]

How about this for something completely different?
Many years ago, I worked in a 4 x 4 accessory shop as a mechanic/fabricator. This particular truck belonged to a friend of mine. He bought it brand new, drove it to the shop and it was lifted 15" in one day. I installed 12" of suspension lift and 3" of body lift and those 42" tires before that truck had 50 miles on it.
The rear-steering was done about 3 months later. This was done in 1987, the last year for straight axle trucks, in anticipation of the new model changing radically.
Today this is not even legal in my state, but it was a popular thing back then.

[Ganesha]

Some of the pictures here are quite mesmerizing! Thank you for these!

By the way, where can be found good pictures for an internet shop? I'm thinking about buying from these these guys. Is it a good idea?