Photography
grrlscientist | June 15, 2009tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day
Dahlia.
Photographed on Manhattan's Upper West Side
near the corner of West 81st street and Central Park West.
Image: GrrlScientist, 11 June 2009 [larger view].
bioephemera | June 15, 2009
Dahmen Art Barn, Uniontown, WA
While I was growing up, we used to drive past the Dahmen farm every few months. I would always look up from whatever book I was devouring at the time and intently try to count the iron wheels in the fences (there are over a thousand).
The barn, which lies just outside Uniontown, WA, about 16 miles from the Idaho border, was built in 1935 for Jack Dahmen and was part of a commercial dairy for several decades. Its distinctive wheel fence began accumulating sometime after 1952, when Jack's nephew Steve Dahmen and his wife Junette purchased the barn.
Says…
grrlscientist | June 15, 2009tags: Mountain Plover, Charadrius montanus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Mountain Plover, Charadrius montanus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 25 December 2007 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2007:12:25 10:06:24
Exposure Time: 1/319
F-Number: 10.00
ISO: 400
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
sjurvetson | June 14, 2009Near the ground we call them land sharks:
My rocket buddy Erik and I have developed a knack for spotting a likely train wreck in the sky. There was a certain lack of craftsmanship in this Sonotube build that cued us to be ready with the camera:
I just held the motor drive down for this one... Click...click...click... It does a hop over Black Rock in the first frame, and the O-size motor separates from the body in frame 14/15:
And a couple close ups of this Twisted Firestarter:
Pop goes the motor.
grrlscientist | June 14, 2009Tomorrow is North American Nature Photography Day. The goals of this day are to view the world with your camera and maybe even advance the cause of conservation. NANPA is challenging its members to bring a camera with you as you go for a walk. If you are a member and you upload one of your nature photographs for publication in the July/August issue of Ripples, their bi-monthly newsletter, it will be published at no cost to you. Photos for submission MUST be taken on June 15, 2009, within walking distance of wherever you are on that day. Full details can be found on the Nature Photography Day…
grrlscientist | June 14, 2009tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day
Common Pink, also known as the Dianthus, Dianthus plumarius.
Photographed on Manhattan's Upper West Side
near the corner of West 81st street and Central Park West.
Image: GrrlScientist, 11 June 2009 [larger view].
Can anyone identify this cultivated flower?
Dianthus is a genus of flowering plants with roughly 300 species in the family Caryophyllaceae. These plants are endemic to Europe and Asia, with a few species extending south into northern Africa. One adventuresome species, D. repens, has even managed to…
grrlscientist | June 14, 2009tags: Tree Swallow, Tachycineta bicolor, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Tree Swallow, Tachycineta bicolor, photographed at Lake Thompson in Kingsbury County, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 2 May 2009 [larger view]
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
grrlscientist | June 14, 2009
This is a strange "debate" between Our Lady of Martyrs Catholic Church, and Cumberland Presbyterian, created using an online church sign generator. The images show, from top to bottom, the responses and counter-responses over time.
And the next morning, Our Lady of Martyrs Catholic Church responds;
The following morning, Cumberland Presbyterian Church responds;
And the Catholics reply to that;
Of course, we all know that heaven isn't any more real than Harry Potter, but whatevs. These people clearly are entertained.
grrlscientist | June 13, 2009tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day
Egyptian Star Cluster, also known as the Star Flower, Pentas lanceolata.
Photographed on Manhattan's Upper West Side
near the corner of West 81st street and Central Park West.
Image: GrrlScientist, 11 June 2009 [larger view].
Can anyone identify this cultivated flower?
grrlscientist | June 13, 2009tags: Pectoral Sandpiper, Calidris melanotos, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pectoral Sandpiper, Calidris melanotos, photographed at Anahuac Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 19 May 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200 ,Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/180s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
sjurvetson | June 12, 2009Ka-pow. Bing, Bam, Boom.
For launch shots, I shoot with timing priority at 1/3000 seconds or faster to catch the action. This helps freeze the shrapnel in sharp focus. Typically, I am tracking the rocket by hand with a 400mm zoom.
Rockets bursting in air... In this example, a home-brew motor mixed with 8 pounds of black powder hit a bit of a burp midair:
As the solid propellant motors rapidly rise to full pressure and sufficient heat to melt aluminum, a motor casing rupture can burst a rocket apart from within... leading to a shower of rocket confetti overhead. Or at the pad...…
grrlscientist | June 12, 2009tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day
In the pink.
Miniature Rose, Rosa hybrid.
Photographed on Manhattan's Upper West Side
near the corner of West 81st street and Central Park West.
Image: GrrlScientist, 11 June 2009 [larger view].
awild | June 12, 2009
A Podabrus soldier beetle hides away in the leafy folds of an understory plant in an eastern deciduous forest. Soldier beetles (family Cantharidae) are predators of other arthropods.
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D
ISO 100, 1/250 sec, f13, flash diffused through tracing paper
grrlscientist | June 12, 2009tags: Little Bee-eater, Merops pusillus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Little Bee-eater, Merops pusillus, photographed in Amboseli National Park, Kenya, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Dan Logen, 6 August 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 mm VR lens at 400. ISO 250, 1/160, f/5
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | June 11, 2009tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day
Dahlia, Dahlia hybrid.
Photographed on Manhattan's Upper West Side
near the corner of West 81st street and Central Park West.
Image: GrrlScientist, 11 June 2009 [larger view].
The Dahlia comprise 36 species within a genus of bushy, tuberous, perennial plants native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. Dahlia hybrids are commonly grown as garden plants, including the flower you see here. The Aztecs gathered and cultivated the dahlia for food, ceremony, and for decoration, and the long woody stem of one variety…