Category: Photography

Picture parade fifty-four.

Delighted to introduce a guest picture parade for this week.

As you are aware, a great aspect of this world of blogging are the connections we make. Thus it was that as a result of Kristin signing up to follow Learning from Dogs I was made aware that she is the author of an Australian blog Fluidicthought and describes herself:

I became interested in Photography whilst creating a business site blog for Point Plaza Apartments.

I simply enjoy capturing a scene that moves me.

Photographs capture that moment in time. Here we have pieces of time that I have captured and can share with others.

Copyright – Please ask permission before
reproducing my photography.
You are most welcome to use
information posted here. I
appreciate the link back or
acknowledgement.
© Kristin Jones

Her photographs were delightful and Kristin readily agreed for me to use them for today’s picture parade. A picture parade with a story.

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My PLACE

WOODY POINT is a suburb on the western side of the Redcliffe Peninsula.

The first recorded English explorer to set foot on the Peninsula was Lt. Matthew Flinders, who landed near Woody Point on the 17th July 1799 while exploring Moreton Bay.

On 14th September 1824 the brig ‘Amity‘ brought a party of officials, soldiers, their wives and children, and 29 convicts. They landed on the beach near the mouth of Humpybong Creek to form a convict settlement.

Much of the peninsula was subdivided into farm lots in the early 1870s. The construction of the peninsula’s first significant jetty at Woody Point (1882) brought about some development. Visitors and holiday-makers came via a weekly ferry.

The post office directory of 1901 recorded the Great Western Hotel (1883), three boarding houses, a school, a butcher and a store at Woody Point. In 1925 there were also the Belvedere and Woody Point Hotels.

The Hornibrook Bridge was opened by Queensland Premier Arthur Edward Moore on 14 October 1935, connecting the Redcliffe district at Clontarf and Brisbane City at Brighton. The bridge had a length of 2.684 kilometres. The toll for cars was one shilling per vehicle.

The Hornibrook Bridge was one of three bridges that crossed Bramble Bay. The second is the Houghton Highway, which was built to accommodate rising traffic levels in the 1970s. The third is the Ted Smout Memorial Bridge, which opened to traffic in July 2010.

The Ted Smout Memorial Bridge and its twin, the Houghton Highway, were Australia’s longest bridges, (as of 27 March 2013.) It is the first bridge in Australia designed to withstand Hurricane Katrina-type storm events. Ted Smout was born in 1898, joining the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps aged 17 (lied about his age to get in). He was awarded France’s highest honour, being made a Chevalier (Knight) of the Legion d’Honneur in 1998 and also received the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the community. He died 106 years old.

Woody Point’s Apex Park & Bicentennial Park were constructed by reclaiming land along the foreshore in the 1970s. A $9.5 million Woody Point Jetty and foreshore upgrade was completed in January 2009.

View of the jetty from Point Plaza. — View of Woody Point Jetty from Point Plaza.

Woody Point’s current renovations include the construction of high-rise apartment buildings overlooking Bramble Bay, Moreton Bay, The Port of Brisbane and the Ted Smout Highway.

(Reference – Redcliffe Historical Society, Wikipedia and Queensland Places website)

Author – Kristin Jones

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Hope you all enjoyed Kristin’s guest Picture Parade as I did.

Another guest post from her in a couple of week’s time.

The clouds above us.

A remarkable endeavour by the BBC.

A team of scientists take to the skies in one of the world's largest airships, for a unique exploration of Earth's most precious and mysterious environment - the atmosphere. — A team of scientists take to the skies in one of the world’s largest airships, for a unique exploration of Earth’s most precious and mysterious environment – the atmosphere.

In an example of what might be called a massive change of topic from yesterday’s post on Integrity and democracy, today’s offering to you, dear reader, is about the magnificent atmosphere upon which we all depend.

Here’s a clue.

Sunrise to our North-East at a little after 7am on Sunday, 13th July, 2014.

Yes, the BBC have embarked on what they are calling Operation Cloud Lab: Secrets of the Skies. Over on that website, one can read this:

Every Breath We Take: Understanding Our Atmosphere

The air around us is not just empty space; it is an integral part of the chemistry of life. Plants are made from carbon dioxide, nitrogen nourishes the soil and oxygen gives us the energy we need to keep our hearts pumping and our brains alive. But how did we come to understand what air is made of? How did we come to know that this invisible stuff around us contains anything at all?

Gabrielle Walker tells the remarkable story of the quest to understand the air. It’s a tale of heroes and underdogs, chance encounters and sheer blind luck that spans the entire history of science. It began as a simple desire to further our knowledge of the natural world, but it ended up uncovering raw materials that have shaped our modern world, unravelling the secrets of our own physiology and revealing why we are here at all.

There is much more to explore on the website, including this trailer to the programme.

Oh, here’s another ‘clue’ from Oregon.

The presenter of the BBC series is Felicity Aston who writes on her BBC Blog:

I joined Operation Cloud Lab: Secrets Of The Skies as the expedition leader and also as a meteorologist.

The plan was to fly from Florida to California, looking at the science of the skies.

But as well as scientists, there were plenty of other people on the team including three pilots, a ground crew of 14 that followed the airship by road and a full production team including two camera crews. Not everyone could be on board at once – the airship would never have got off the ground!

But I was really fortunate to spend a lot of time on board and flew most of the way across the continent.

Exploring in three dimensions rather than being limited to making observations from the ground was a revelation to me.

The clouds in the tropics around the Gulf of Mexico are huge, and being in the sky with them really brought home the vast scale of the forces at work.

Towering cumulus cloud in Florida.

We were able to travel over, under and through these monsters, revealing that clouds are about as far from the popular image of light and fluffy floating puffs of cotton wool as you can get! They are dense and heavy and full of destructive energy.

I remember looking down at the cloud layer from a plane as a child, and daydreaming about exploring this new world of unknown places, so I was very excited the first time we flew straight through a cloud.

I leaned out of the airship as far as I dared into the heart of a cloud and found that it was a dark, damp mass of floating fog (of course!) – no mysterious worlds – my childhood fantasies were crushed!

There’s more to read on her blog as well as some stupendous photographs of clouds.

So if this gives you a thrill then don’t delay in watching the full-length Episode One on YouTube before it gets taken down. (Warning: if you watch the opening first few minutes you will be hooked for the full hour!)

Now to close with, yes you guessed it, my final ‘clue’ from Oregon.

We live on the most beautiful planet!

Picture parade fifty-three

More of Lew Levenson’s gorgeous pictures.

As I said in last week’s picture parade, “A friend from Payson, Arizona, Lew Levenson, recently sent across a set of 38 astounding photographs, all on the theme of perfectly timed shots.” Despite the fact that they had previously appeared in this place, your responses were do delightful that I have no problem in staying with these pictures over the next few Sundays.

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Each picture gives one such a warm and cuddly feeling!

You all take care out there.

Intimately connected to Nature!

Three stunning photographs.

Just a quick reminder that, as heralded in my post of the 10th – Time waits for no man – arriving family in fewer than two weeks is cutting into my blogging time.

So going to make today’s offering three stunning photographs of lightning strikes on the World Trade Center. As seen on EarthSky News.

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Boom! Three perspectives on July 2 lightning strike at One World Trade Center

Beth Alison (@bethalison) got this shot of the July 2, 2014 lightning strike of One World Trade Center from her Manhattan apartment … with her phone!

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Jennifer Khordi caught the lightning hitting One World Trade Center from New Jersey.

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Lightning strikes One World Trade Center July 2, 2014. Gary Hershorn (@garyhershorn), who took this photo, said it turned the sky red.

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Wow!

Picture parade fifty-two

Can’t believe how quickly a year flows by!

Yes, fifty-two Sundays ago, I had the idea of posting a set of photographs. That first set was published on the 30th June, 2013 and just for fun I’m going to repost them.

Plus, I can’t resist adding a photograph that Chris Snuggs sent me.

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Sit back and be amazed!

A friend from Payson, Arizona, Lew Levenson, recently sent across a set of 38 astounding photographs, all on the theme of perfectly timed shots.

They are so fabulous that I have decided that for today and the following four Sundays I will post a selection.

So today, the first set of 8 photographs. Trust me you will love them, so a big thank you to Lew. Do say which are your best ones!

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To close here is that picture courtesy of Chris Snuggs.

By the way, if you would like see again the rest of Lew’s photographs just leave a comment to that effect.

You all have a great week.

Picture parade fifty-one

The concluding set of wonderful pictures sent in by Amanda Smith.

If you missed the first set, they may be seen here.

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What great fun, as I’m sure you will agree.

Big thanks, Amanda.

You all have a great week out there!

Birds, castles and time immemorial.

A wonderful reminder of a very ancient custom.

We recently watched a programme about Britain’s Castles and Palaces. Part of the programme focussed on the long (and I mean ‘long’!) history of the Tower of London and the black ravens who watch over it.

The Tower of London is old! Very old.

As the website Britain Express explains:

Founded nearly a millennium ago, the Tower of London has been expanded upon over the centuries by many a king and queen. The first foundations were laid in 1078 and the castle has been constantly improved and extended.

The Tower of London is the oldest palace, fortress and prison in Europe. History has it that King Edward of England backed down on his promise to give the throne to William, Duke of Normandy and ended up giving the throne to Harold Godwinson, his English brother-in-law.

Foundations laid in 1078! 936 years ago!

Almost beyond imagination is the story, according to this BBC programme, that the ravens were known to be inhabiting this part of London even before those foundations were laid!

I’m delighted to see that a segment of that programme has found its way onto YouTube.

Legend says that the kingdom and the Tower will fall if the six resident ravens ever leave the fortress…

There are nine ravens at the Tower today (the required six plus a few spare!). Their lodgings are to be found next to the Wakefield Tower. These magnificent birds, large members of the genus Corvus, the crow family, respond only to the Ravenmaster and should not be approached too closely by anyone else!

Rather puts all the craziness of present times into perspective!

Where water runs through rock!

A delightful coincidence to last Saturday’s post.

Last Saturday, I published a post under the title of Slotting right in! It was an introduction to ten of the most beautiful slot canyons featured on Mother Nature Network.

Then less than a day later, Rob from Transition Town Payson, sent me a link to the following essay. Regulars will recall that Jean and I lived in Payson for a while before moving to Oregon; indeed were married in Payson.

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The Place Where Water Runs Through Rock

Antelope Canyon located in Northern Arizona is well known around the world!

Antelope Canyon lies just outside of Page, Arizona.

Just outside of Page, Arizona lies Antelope Canyon. Located on the Navajo Indian Reservation. The Dine (The People as the Navajos call themselves), manage the use of the canyon as a Navajo Nation National Park. Antelope Canyon is broken into two sections, Upper Antelope is known as Tse bighanilini which means “The place where water runs through rocks” (aka The Crack), and lower Antelope Canyon is Hasdestwazi or “spiral rock arches” (aka The Corkscrew). Both of these canyons are an awesome display of natural forces at work. Carved by flash floods that are common to the area, this Navajo National Park has been accessible only by Navajo Permits since 1997. The permit system came after 11 tourists from around the world were killed by a flash flood in Lower Antelope Canyon!

For more information on these Canyons go to the following links;

http://navajonationparks.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antelope_Canyon

Navajo is a Descriptive Language

The Navajo language is very descriptive and their words often describe things that they see in the natural world. Hence the name for Upper Antelope Canyon “The Place Where Water Runs Through Rocks”. The language was one that was used by a few heroic Navajo veterans to help win World War II. For example, a Battleship was translated into the Navajo word Lo-Tso which means “Whale”, while a Cruiser was Lo-Tso-Yazzie which meant “Small Whale”.

See the following link for the dictionary they used;

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-4.htm

The use of Code Talkers was kept secret for many years!

The Code Talkers were kept secret for 23 years after the end of WWII. President Ronald Reagan gave them a Certificate of Recognition and made August 14, 1982, National Code Talkers Day. On December 21, 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded the surviving Code Talkers Congressional Gold Medals and Silver Medals to the approximate 329 surviving heroes.

http://www.navajocodetalkers.org/

Where Water Enters Upper Antelope Canyon.

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The Canyon is 140 feet deep at it’s deepest point!

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The Sandstone Walls are Cut into Mysterious Shapes.

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The Canyon is so Narrow in places only two people can walk side by side.

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Just a magnificent set of pictures. If you ever find yourself in Northern Arizona then don’t hesitate to visit the canyon. The address is: Antelope Canyon, 5975 Hwy 98, Page, AZ 86040.

Thanks Rob!

Picture parade fifty.

Some fabulous pictures sent in by Amanda Smith from Australia.

Dogs of Shame

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Aren’t they wonderful!

Another set coming along in a week’s time!

Slotting right in!

(Excuse the pun!)

I saw this on Mother Nature Network not too long ago and made a note to share it with you. “It” being some stunning photographs of slot canyons around the world. The article opens:

Geological wonders

Slot canyons are narrow, naturally formed canyons with towering walls and a width no wider than your arm span, if that. If they weren’t so mesmerizingly beautiful, they would make you feel claustrophobic. Found around the world, these geological formations usually occur in places with low rainfall, and many of the most well-known are in the American Southwest, including Wall Street (pictured here), which lies in a section of The Narrows in Zion National Park. Check out the beauty of the world’s most stunning slot canyons — it will make you want to pack some hiking gear and get traveling. (Text: Jaymi Heimbuch)

Wall Street Canyon Photo: kan_khampanya/Shutterstock

Now I don’t have permission to reproduce this article but hopefully the one above and this one below will entice you to look through them all starting here.

Antelope Canyon Photo: holbox/ Shutterstock

Antelope Canyon, Arizona

Perhaps the most famous of all slot canyons, Antelope Canyon is found near Page, Arizona. There are two separate sections, known as Upper Antelope Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon, or more affectionately, The Crack and The Corkscrew. Formed by the erosion of sandstone from flash flooding and other processes, the slot canyons have curvaceous, strangely angled walls. The beautiful colors, textures, curves and spectacular lighting — particularly during the summer months — are a major draw for photographers and sightseers. They are located within the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation and have become a significant source of tourism for the Navajo tribe.

Fabulous! Don’t miss out – see the full set of twelve pictures here.

My PLACE

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Every Breath We Take: Understanding Our Atmosphere

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Boom! Three perspectives on July 2 lightning strike at One World Trade Center

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The Place Where Water Runs Through Rock

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Dogs of Shame

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Geological wonders

Antelope Canyon, Arizona

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