If only this colossal cousin of a dove could work a little peace magic, when other sources have dried up.
Great Egret, Ardea alba, Riverstone Wetlands.
24 Feb 2022; 13:00 CST; Velvia +
272;57;13;

Tags:   Ardea Alba Great Egret Bird Wetlands at Riverstone cypress Tree Texas Fujifilm XF70-300mm X-S10 Fujinon XF 2X TC Velvia Film Simulation Square Nature Natural Light Outdoors

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"I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released."
--Bob Dylan, I Shall Be Released

Sunset beyond the Hudson River casts a shaft of light on the Art Students League, 257 W 57th St, Manhattan.

Single exposure with all the sliders tweaked, and curve correction to bring up shadow detail. Happy Sliders Sunday!

2/20/2022; 12:15 CST; Velvia +
319; 51; 12. 4/29/22: the “most interesting” X-S10 photo on Flickr

Tags:   Manhattan Art Students League Song Bob Dylan I Shall Be Released Sunset New York City NYC Urban outdoor Natural Light River Architecture Billionaire's Row Broadway W 57th St One57 reflections Skyscraper Fujifilm X-S10 Fujinon XF16-80mmF4 Velvia Film Simulation HSS Sliders Sunday Light and Shadows

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Male Monarch Butterfly, Danaus plexippus, on Tropical Milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. Single image of the same individual who drifted in the breeze in the earlier artsy abstract, on the same plant that had earlier attracted our mystery wasp, both in the comments.
In Nature, everyone takes a turn. Happy Wing Wednesday!
16 Feb 2022; 10:00 CST; Velvia +
316; 46; 13

Tags:   Male Monarch Butterfly Danaus plexippus Tropical Milkweed Asclepias curassavica Flower Square Sugar Land Texas Fujifilm X-S10 Fujinon XF70-300mm XF 2X TC Velvia Film Simulation Natural Light HWW Orange Yellow Green Leaves CatchyColors

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Cold winter evening—
Setting Sun illuminates
Collapsing Tulip.

Another experiment with the fully manual CF65mmF2.8, this time shooting 10fps while dollying slowly in at f/4, which changes the field of view as well as the focal plane. Magnification about 0.4:1 for whatever is in focus. Tighter, higher magnification frames did not give me the composition I wanted. 2nd attempt at focus stacking (Auto Blend) 48 images in PhotoShop, having dropped several that contributed nothing to the final result the first time, still mixing focused and unfocused regions. Eterna, with ordinary curve corrections in post to lift shadow detail, revealing 2 levels of black in the background.
I call this informative rather than successful. I got the composition, light, shadows, mood, palette, and most of the detail I wanted, while avoiding motion blur, but the patchy focus falls short of aspiration.
15 Feb 2022; 13:20 CST; Eterna +
230; 44; 7

Tags:   Tulip Close up Flower Shadow Eterna Fujifilm X-S10 Laowa CF65mmF2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X Focus Stack raking light Experiment Natural Light Sunset Golden Hour interior

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Detail of surrounding skyscrapers at 6th Ave & 42nd St., taken from Bryant Park, Manhattan.
11 Feb 2022; 10:45 CST; Provia
271; 50; 9

Tags:   Architecture Manhattan NYC New York City Line Rhythm Blue Reflection Provia Film Simulation Fujifilm X-S10 Fujinon XF70-300mm Geometry Urban Abstract Diagonal Natural Light Wall windows building Skyscraper CatchyColors

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