Photography
laelaps | October 12, 2009
The partial remains of a large animal entombed in a thermal feature in Yellowstone's Mud Volcano Area.
awild | October 11, 200910 points to the first person who can identify this:
Another 10 to the first person who can explain its myrmecological significance.
grrlscientist | October 11, 2009tags: Tractrac Chat, Layard's Chat, Cercomela tractrac, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Tractrac Chat, also known as the Layard's Chat, Cercomela tractrac, photographed in Swakopmund, Namibia, Africa [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dennis Paulson, April 2007 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Those of you who are unfamiliar with African birds should still be able to identify this bird to family.
Dennis Paulson with a Tractrac Chat, also known as the Layard's Chat, Cercomela tractrac,…
laelaps | October 11, 2009
The battered skull of a cougar (Puma concolor), photographed at the Utah Museum of Natural History.
bioephemera | October 11, 2009
Dominik Paquet
Getting on this a little late, but the 35th annual Nikon Small World competition winners are out! See article and gallery from SciAm.
grrlscientist | October 10, 2009tags: Cape Raven, African White-necked Raven, White-naped Raven, Corvus albicollis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] A pair of White-naped Ravens, also known as the Cape Raven or the African White-necked Raven, Corvus albicollis, photographed while playing at just under 15000 feet on Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 24 July 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 70-200 VR lens, at 200. ISO 320, 1/6000, f 3.2.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
The photographer writes;
These…
ejohnson | October 9, 2009
Photo by Ted Kinsman, as seen on Photo Synthesis.
Far from being a world of sterile white labs and colorless data, science offers some of the most spectacular imagery imaginable. Take the microscopic guppy embryo, a finalist in Nikon's 2009 Small World contest, which Frank Swain shares on SciencePunk. Or the punch-colored demonstration of Newton's law of inertia as a paintball collides with an egg yolk, shot by Photo Synthesis blogger Ted Kinsman. Or the Hubble-like photograph of the Milky Way captured by astrophotography hobbyist Rogelio Andreo, using earthbound digital cameras and…
awild | October 9, 2009I admit to a soft spot for beetles in the family Nitidulidae. Maybe it's the cute clubby antennae. Or maybe it's just the shared fondness for beer. In any case, the sap beetles are charming little insects.
I found this Amphicrossus imbibing fermented tree sap from a wounded tree in downtown Champaign, Illinois. Tree wounds and their associated yeasts are fertile hunting grounds for entomologists as they host a surprising array of often unique flies and beetles.
Photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D
ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, flash diffused through tracing…
grrlscientist | October 9, 2009tags: Macleay's Kingfisher, Blue Kingfisher, Bush Kingfisher, Forest Kingfisher, Todiramphus macleayii, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Forest Kingfisher, also known as Macleay's Kingfisher, Blue Kingfisher or Bush Kingfisher, Todiramphus macleayii, photographed at Mossman, Queensland, Australia. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Steve Duncan, 18 August 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200 w/ Nikkor 300mm 1/1600 sec, f/4 iso 200.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
The Forest Kingfisher is classified in the genus…
bioephemera | October 9, 2009One of the arguments I generally make about Web 2.0 is that, if you are an organization who happens to screw up, you should apologize and move on. Don't try to cover your tracks or shut your critics up - you'll just invite mockery and even more attention than you did before.
Unfortunately, Ralph Lauren apparently doesn't agree with that strategy. They've demanded that Photoshop Disasters and Boing Boing take down images of a Ralph Lauren ad that was so badly photoshopped, many thought it was satire.
The ad depicted a model who was so grotesquely emaciated and doll-like (her head was bigger…
laelaps | October 9, 2009
Sunset over the Great Salt Lake, as photographed from Antelope Island, Utah.
grrlscientist | October 8, 2009tags: park, Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day
Park in Helsinki, Finland.
Photographed as I walked through Helsinki, Finland, from Seurasaari.
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
I really like this image, and the bridge, too. It's very Monet-esque, don't you think?
Here's a closer look at that bridge. I am not sure what those pipes house, does anyone else have a guess? There's power lines (above) so clearly, it isn't that;
Park Bridge in Helsinki, Finland.
Photographed as I walked through Helsinki, Finland, from Seurasaari.
Image: GrrlScientist…
grrlscientist | October 8, 2009tags: Western Willet, Tringa semipalmata, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Western Willet, Tringa semipalmata, photographed at Galveston East Beach, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 25 August 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
Okay, I know this mystery bird is only intermediate in difficulty since the two subspecies are not visually…
grrlscientist | October 7, 2009tags: birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Common Nighthawk, also commonly known as the Bullbat, Chordeiles minor, photographed at Smith Point Hawk Watch, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 23 August 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
bioephemera | October 7, 2009
This stunning photo was taken not by the Hubble space telescope, but by some guy (Rogelio Andreo) out in the desert. Sure, he needed several thousand dollars in digital camera equipment to do it, but still - that's well within the reach of many hobbyists. Are we seeing a surge in amateur earthbound astronomy photography?
Read this Wired article to find out all about Andreo's process. If you happened to read my earlier post about data and scientific visualization ("You want raw data? You can't handle raw data") you know that I think filtering and processing data is an inevitable part of both…
laelaps | October 7, 2009
A male pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), photographed at Antelope Island, Utah.
grrlscientist | October 6, 2009tags: dock, Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day
Public dock in downtown Helsinki, Finland.
Photographed as I walked through Helsinki, Finland, from Seurasaari.
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
Here is a lovely public dock located in downtown Helsinki (yes, that's a waterfall in the center). Standing there reminded me -- powerfully -- of the day when I sailed across Lake Washington from Seattle to Bellevue, tied up in a waterpark there that looks remarkably similar to this while I got a cup of coffee before sailing back to Seattle.
Below is the…
grrlscientist | October 6, 2009tags: Greater White-fronted Goose, Anser albifrons, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Greater White-fronted Goose, Anser albifrons, photographed at Tom Bass Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 11 August 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.