What a joy to see the word Tourist come up as the Daily Prompt! It doesn’t get much more wide open than that, as on the best of days, we are all tourists and enjoying the trip that we’re on in our daily lives.
As many of you are aware, I recently had the pleasure of doing a wee bit of touristing during my work trip to Israel, so for this wonderful Wednesday, I’m sharing a moment from that trip…
Golden Hour
Life’s a beach when you get to watch the sun set over the Mediterranean while having a great meal!
In my photography I don’t shy away from trashy subjects, particular when that trash is the detritus of civilization, as we live it.
Sometimes our trash tells an interesting story about us, although we may not want this story told…
Such was the case for this image, which I captured on a frosty morning on the edge of a fallow field. This 5 gallon (18.9 liter) water bottle missed out on its opportunity for a refill, as it had been discarded before its next reincarnation as a water container.
Return for Refill
This image was captured with an iPhone 4S using the standard Camera app.
On this first day after the Summer Solstice, WordPress’ Daily Prompt asks us to ponder the them ‘Companion‘. As a dog owner, or rather a dog-servant, the idea of our dogs being companions in our lives came up right away, but I decided to go a little deeper in today’s response to the prompt and examine other companionship…
Companions
The companionship between life on Earth and the Sun is possibly the most significant one that exists in our existence, as that existence would not have been without our closest star.
Enjoy contemplating this with this sunrise image…
Technical Details
This image was captured with an iPhone 4S using the standard Camera app.
Yes, folks in the Northern Hemisphere! It is the longest amount of daylight for us today, as we’re graced with the Sun’s presence longer than any other day this year. The good news for readers in the Southern Hemisphere is that you’ll get more daylight tomorrow and each day after for the next six months.
On this day last year, I was in Iceland enjoying the days around the longest day without any night to speak of; at that time of the year, the Sun doesn’t go far enough below the horizon to let the night darken. It was a magical time!
Sunny Day!
This shot is from up in the hills in Northern Iceland, where I wanted to capture the houses in the valley against the cloud cover below the mountain top level. The Sun rounded out the tableau rather nicely!
Technical Details
This image was captured with a Canon EOS 5D Mk III and an EF 24-105mm f/4L lens. Exposure settings were at 1/1000 second at f/14 and 200 ISO.
The continuous optimization of design and implementation in order to better survive over competing species in changing habitats ensures that, even though perfection is never truly reached, each expression of Nature gets closer and closer. To my eye, many plants are beautiful examples of this strive for perfection:
Study in Green
It’s Spring!
Leaf Structure
Carriden House garden
Dandelions
Greening in Spring
Form, shadow and light
These are some examples that have caught my camera’s eye. Of course, there are nearly countless examples!
Hope you can find some more examples on this wonderful day!
When I saw the WordPress Daily Prompt of City today, the first thing that popped into my mind was the lost city/island/continent of Atlantis.
Atlantis (Ancient Greek: Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, “island of Atlas”) is a fictional island mentioned within an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato’s works Timaeus and Critias, where it represents the antagonist naval power that besieges “Ancient Athens”, the pseudo-historic embodiment of Plato’s ideal state.
In the story, Athens repels the Atlantean attack, unlike any other nation of the (western) known world, supposedly giving testament to the superiority of Plato’s concept of a state. At the end of the story, Atlantis eventually falls out of favor with the gods and famously submerges into the Atlantic Ocean.
Frosts of Atlantis
Despite its minor importance in Plato’s work, the Atlantis story has had a considerable impact on literature. The allegorical aspect of Atlantis was taken up in utopian works of several Renaissance writers, such as Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis and Thomas More’s Utopia.
On the other hand, 19th-century amateur scholars misinterpreted Plato’s account as historical tradition, most notably in Ignatius L. Donnelly’s Atlantis: The Antediluvian World. Plato’s vague indications of the time of the events — more than 9,000 years before his day — and the alleged location of Atlantis — “beyond the Pillars of Hercules” — has led to much pseudoscientific speculation. As a consequence, Atlantis has become a byword for any and all supposed advanced prehistoric lost civilizations and continues to inspire contemporary fiction, from comic books to films.
While present-day philologists and historians accept the story’s fictional character, there is still debate on what served as its inspiration. The fact that Plato borrowed some of his allegories and metaphors — most notably the story of Gyges — from older traditions has caused a number of scholars to investigate possible inspiration of Atlantis from Egyptian records of the Thera eruption, the Sea Peoples invasion, or the Trojan War. Others have rejected this chain of tradition as implausible and insist that Plato designed the story from scratch, drawing loose inspiration from contemporary events like the failed Athenian invasion of Sicily in 415–413 BC or the destruction of Helike in 373 BC.
This leaves Atlantis as one of the ultimate mystery locations… and my photo does not help to reveal its coordinates!
Technical Details
The image was captured with a Canon EOS 5D Mk II using an EF 24-105mm f/4L lens. Exposure settings were 1/100 second at f/6.3 and 400 ISO.
Today’s Daily Prompt of Open is one of those interesting ones that we can take into multiple directions. We can have Open Minds, Open Hearts, Open Doors, be Open to New Ideas and even work with Open Source.
In today’s image, the Bathroom is Open, and I’d like to suggest that it’s open to all!
The Bathroom is Open!
This image was taken a number of years back at the Chester Fairground in Connecticut; I got a couple of strange looks for setting up a tripod, but the end result was well worth it!
Technical Details
This image was captured with a Canon EOS 1D Mk III with an EF 24-105mm f/4L lens. It was taken as a series of 5 shots with exposure values of -2, -1, 0, +1 and +2 EV, which were processed in Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image.
There’s nothing more natural than the assumption that the Sun will rise again tomorrow… Indeed it does, as long as the Earth continues its rotation, whether we are there to observe the first light of morning or not.
So for this moment, let’s appreciate the simple, serene beauty of a calm morning without a cloud in the sky, as the Sun rises…
Peaceful Morning
Take a deep, cleansing breath and may you enjoy the rest of your day!
Technical Details
This image was captured with an iPhone 5S using the standard Camera app.
When I saw today’s WordPress Daily Prompt of Struggle, the first thought that came to mind is how the Yoga Tree overcomes the elements in her on-going battle to make it from season to season…
Overcoming the Elements
Technical Details
This image was captured with an iPhone 5S using the standard Camera app.
In today’s Daily Prompt we are asked to look for Simplicity. In a world fraught with complex issues and interactions, Simplicity is an important concept to embrace, as we remind ourselves to enjoy those simple moments, such as a smile, a touch, a nod or an embrace. These simple moments are what bring humanity together, as we recognize that we all have the same needs, wants and aspirations, such as peace and harmony and safety for our families and ourselves.
Amber Waves
This image captures the simple beauty of the amber tones within a tree during the beautiful autumn season. It allows us to just absorb the color and motion of the moment and enjoy it.
Technical Details
This image was captured with a Canon EOS 5D Mk II camera using an EF 24-105mm f/4L lens. Exposure settings were at 1/3 second, f/10 and 100 ISO.
