 06/25/2020 10:22 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 I've been playing with Topaz denoise AI, which sometimes can get rid of serious image noise in low-light situations without making everyone look like botox victims. Photos are posted on Flickr.
 And another from Jan. 12. Both Sebastian Inlet.
 More Topaz, Jan. 12. Good afternoon lighting.
BTW, the camera equipment is all Olympus. The parent company sold its camera business, which is supposedly going ahead as a small independent company that will be video oriented. [update: now OM System, now trying to orient as an "outdoor company". ] More photos here. Flickr album
Edited: 04/12/2024 at 11:51 AM by ww
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07/19/2020 05:42 PM
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Cole
Posts: 68418
Joined Forum: 07/22/2003
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Very crisp. Nice work.
-------------------------
I was right.
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07/21/2020 01:32 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Good photos to start with. Topaz's sharpening has impressed me. It won't help out of focus very much, but if you had a good in-focus shot, it will do smart things.
For something completely different, this is a 1.6 second hand-held exposure in a spectacular conservatory where the specialty is seasonal shows. Most of the plants get replaced several times a year. This was dusk.
The place also has amazing water fountains. Refurbishing this fountain garden cost some $90 million.
Edited: 03/14/2021 at 07:34 AM by ww
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07/29/2020 11:29 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Vero South Beach in the fog, Jan 24 2018
Edited: 03/14/2021 at 03:22 PM by ww
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08/03/2020 08:31 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Bare flat spot on the left side of the river is Camp RM202 in the Grand Canyon. 
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah
Edited: 09/14/2022 at 12:14 AM by ww
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08/03/2020 10:34 PM
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Steve T
Posts: 3477
Joined Forum: 01/10/2004
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love the photos thank you
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08/10/2020 05:50 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 If only the blackball flag had been floating in the breeze. If I'd been scheming to do something emblematic, I would have arranged to have a pair of Viper fins in plain sight. The not-so-visible fins on the ladder are a visual flaw. Over-processed, but I like the semi-artificial look. This fairly dumb photo's been a mini hit at Flickr, 200 or so views.
Edited: 03/18/2023 at 10:45 PM by ww
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08/16/2020 09:18 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Looked at the Flickr account and this got more looks than the lifeguard stand. Newport Beach's Junior Lifeguard program was going on, and it was huge. I did my best to give an idea of how big without identifiable photos of kids. The older kids/high schoolers all had swim fins. I was told Yucca Fins had provided a lot of them. There were certainly plenty of Yuccas.
Next year, the backpacks were gray. Not nearly as photogenic.
Edited: 03/18/2023 at 10:46 PM by ww
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08/16/2020 02:44 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Logan Hayes, South Beach, March 2018. He seems to have been flying at the Texas wave pool lately.
Branden DeFilippo, also March 2018
Edited: 07/25/2021 at 02:37 AM by ww
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08/25/2020 06:20 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 Domke at Wabasso, Oct 2015.
Skimmer removing debris.
My camera at the time (still have it) and lens were minimal to what's available now. The lens, a Panasonic, was maybe better than I thought. I doubt that its fancier replacements can do much better images.
Edited: 01/31/2022 at 07:04 PM by ww
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08/31/2020 11:16 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Heathcote Botanical Gardens in Ft. Pierce went ahead with its Garden of Lights for 2020. No known spread of Covid-19, and attendance was close to the previous year.
There were assorted measures to keep everyone safe. .
Edited: 09/16/2023 at 01:54 AM by ww
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09/01/2020 12:32 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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It's got to be not flat, soon. In the meantime, digitizing some ancient stuff. This is recent, a July flight from Denver to Orange County, Calf. Green River, Utah at Ten Mile Canyon.
More of the same.
Same area, in a Cessna, 1978. Green River.
Edited: 02/21/2022 at 09:37 PM by ww
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09/02/2020 12:03 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Back to Jan. 12 this year, a bit of messaging for suicide prevention week starting Sept 6.
Edited: 03/13/2021 at 04:24 AM by ww
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09/06/2020 12:50 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Sept. 29, 2013. Spanish House. Nice day and there were bigger waves. Much better camera now, but no idea how much longer the manufacturer will be in business.
Surfers, South Beach, windy day with messy surf, Nov 14, 2013 75-300 mm lens at 194 mm. Recent re-edig
Edited: 01/31/2022 at 07:33 PM by ww
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09/13/2020 04:18 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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October 10, 2013, fun day at Vero South Beah 
Edited: 01/31/2022 at 07:47 PM by ww
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09/30/2020 01:42 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Feb. 16 at Sebastian. 
Edited: 03/13/2021 at 04:51 AM by ww
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10/03/2020 06:34 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Back to Jan. 12 at Sebastian Inlet. When are we going to see such a good day? 
Edited: 03/13/2021 at 04:17 AM by ww
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10/09/2020 01:14 PM
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SRPHOTO
Posts: 819
Joined Forum: 07/19/2008
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Hey WW, you know Olympus sold the camera division, right? Got an email from them announcing the new company.. supposedly still going to make and support the Oly line. I hope so, I have thousands invested in Oly pro glass and their micro bodies are pretty badass nowadays.
https://www.olympus-global.com/ir/data/announcement/2020/contents/ir00018.pdf
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10/13/2020 02:51 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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SRPHOTO, I've been all too aware of the sale. My impression is that the new imaging company is going to try to emphasize video, which Olympus neglected, perhaps figuring Panasonic had it tied up. Meanwhile Panasonic has put out a wildly optimistic video proclaiming that they will continue micro four thirds while expanding full frame AND working to get lots of new people into video world. They're claiming it's a booming new field needing great customer service (which Panasonic happens to have neglected, Olympus emphasized). If forced to bail out, I suppose Panasonic may remain in business, Nikon seems to have difficulties, Sony is thriving, but does anyone actually love their products?
Blue Angels 2018 with 300 mm f/4 lens and sharpening help from Topaz Gigapixel
 , on Flickr[/IMG]
Death of a surfboard at Sebastian Inlet, Jan. 24 2020. These images have been re-edited a bit, posted Dec. 25, 2022.
Edited: 12/25/2022 at 04:59 PM by ww
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10/13/2020 03:02 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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10/13/2020 07:58 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 Branden DeFilippo, March 2018.
Edited: 07/25/2021 at 09:01 AM by ww
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12/31/2020 05:38 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 March 2014. I'd just bought a new camera body that could quickly focus an old used lens I already had.
Edited: 03/19/2023 at 05:58 PM by ww
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01/01/2021 01:42 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Logan Hayes, March 4, 2018
Edited: 01/31/2022 at 08:53 PM by ww
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02/12/2021 09:14 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 South Beach Vero, Oct 10 2013, 228 mm with relatively cheap 75-300 zoom lens and my original Olympus E-M5 camera. Recent editing.
Edited: 01/26/2022 at 11:31 AM by ww
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03/05/2021 12:44 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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September 25, 2017. f/7.1, 210 mm, 1/1250 sec, ISO 200
 Also 210 mm. Most popular pic of the day.
Also 2017, April 2017, old Olympus E-M5 camera, 75-300 lens at 228 mm. I couldn't do much better with supposedly improved equipment. 
Edited: 02/21/2022 at 10:05 PM by ww
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04/01/2021 05:29 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Not a surfy morning. Lanai across the channel from West Maui, Napili Bay.
Edited: 09/11/2022 at 09:17 AM by ww
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04/17/2021 04:55 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Digitizing a few more old Kodachromes. Mt. Rainier, July 1980. Nearby Mt. Saint Helens had blown up and dusted it with ash on May 29.
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05/25/2021 03:12 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Best of the sargassum photos. By the 24th, the seaweed all seemed dead and brown. I admit to editing the water and seaweed colors, gently
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07/05/2021 04:19 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 Craig Whetter
 Not all good waves are big ones.
Edited: 09/11/2022 at 09:32 AM by ww
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07/05/2021 04:25 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Looks like coaching a group.
[BULLET 
Edited: 10/18/2023 at 06:21 AM by ww
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07/05/2021 04:43 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Rome, cheap air fare, really cheap hotel.  Pantheon dome from inside
 The Pantheon's a church.
 Washingtonia palm at the Spanish Steps.
It has a lightning rod!
 Caravaggio, the Virgin with her very large Son with pilgrims at the front door. The lighting was awful (construction in the immediate area shut off light) and I could hardly see the painting with my eyes. The camera's viewfinder helped, and the photos turned out great.
I'm sure not good enough to be professional, but a nice souvenir. In the St. Augustine Church.
 Bernini sculpted David about to kill Goliath when he was 25. Around the corner is a much later St. John the Baptist by Houdon, who was about the same age and went on to do great sculptural portraits of people like Ben Franklin and George Washington. At the incredible Villa Borghese.
 Caravaggio. He invented strong contrast.
Also Villa Borghese.
 Colonna palace, splendid but the art's second rate compared to the much smaller Borghese.
 Pantheon's original Roman bronze doors.
They've been repaired but never replaced. They were part of Emperor Hadrian's construction project.
 Piazza Navona, whose outline is an old Roman chariot race track.
Street near Piazza Navona. Great place to eat.
Edited: 09/16/2023 at 02:06 AM by ww
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07/10/2021 02:15 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
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07/25/2021 12:44 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Glass flower ceiling at the Bellagio, Las Vegas. Dale Chihuly.
University of California at Riverside and some of its agricultural fields. This is the old agricultural experiment station where citrus breeding was done. Major connections to Florida. There's two interstates, so the huge roofs are warehouses for the likes of Home Depot, Walmart, Nordstrom.
Corona del Mar, Orange Co., California. This is the opposite side of the Newport Beach harbor entrance from the Wedge . 
El Morro elementary school and Crystal Cove
Edited: 08/23/2022 at 07:31 PM by ww
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07/25/2021 01:32 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Newport Beach lifeguarding is big on interacting with beachgoers. The swim fins are Yucca, which has been eager to get them onto the feet of lifeguards and junior lifeguard participants. The fins have spread like crazy, so the marketing must be pretty smart. 
Edited: 09/20/2021 at 05:20 AM by ww
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08/12/2021 03:17 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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In Australia, Shane Vannalo's company, Podware, has its own rubber swim fin factory, and they've figured out how to make the prettiest fins in existence.
Edited: 03/18/2023 at 11:23 PM by ww
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09/02/2021 09:09 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Haven't been anywhere near a beach. Right now, can't even drive thanks to shoulder surgery. So a few past pics
Corona del Mar, Newport Beach, from a plane window
June 4 at the Newport Wedge. Most-viewed photo of the day, by pretty big margin. He must have friends.
Looked to me like a novice who was willing to try the Wedge
(which had plenty of good waves between sets) rather than the more comfortable, and that day, closed-out 15th St.
Second most popular.Cluster at the end of the jetty rip current, major takeoff zone. I think Craig Whetter (Gyroll wetsuit) was holding a coaching session.
Third. Nice portrait, but there's a certain lack of wave. Craig Whetter.
Edited: 01/10/2022 at 09:16 PM by ww
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09/20/2021 05:14 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Camp's Bay, Cape Town, South Africa. Plush beach community, 60 degree water (August 2019).
Edited: 03/18/2023 at 11:31 PM by ww
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10/02/2021 11:17 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Top left to right: Limited Edition (Malaysia), Churchill, Viper (Malaysia), ERS4 (Taiwan)
2nd row, L to R: POD2 (New South Wales), Tribe (eBodyboarding, Taiwan), Viper (California), Viper (?), Kpaloa (Brazil)
3rd row: second Tribe, Leblon (Malaysia), Viper (California), Pod 3 (N.S.W.)
Front row: Custom X (?), Yucca (Malaysia), DaFin (Malaysia, I think), POD 2.
Edited: 10/02/2021 at 11:19 PM by ww
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10/02/2021 11:32 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Trevi Fountain, Rome. Uncrowded thanks to Covid.
It was restored about six years ago. Magnificent and fun.
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11/19/2021 08:35 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Heathcote Garden bonsai gallery, getting ready for the Thanksgiving to Jan. 2 light show
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11/19/2021 08:42 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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More Rome. Pantheon door. It's the original, installed during the reign of Roman emperor Hadrian. Bronze.
Pantheon ceiling. That's all concrete.
Edited: 11/19/2021 at 08:46 PM by ww
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11/29/2021 09:07 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 Spiny tree in the Bonsai Gallery at Heathcote Botanical Gardens. No one wanted to get poked, so I volunteered to light it. Rain Forest.
Blue tree.
Main lawn, lots of lighted caladiums
Edited: 11/29/2021 at 09:16 AM by ww
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12/13/2021 07:10 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 Heathcote Garden of Lights 2021
Edited: 03/18/2023 at 11:36 PM by ww
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12/29/2021 02:53 PM
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Cole
Posts: 68418
Joined Forum: 07/22/2003
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Some magical images there ww, please keep going.
I love the skull for a bookmark in the Caravaggio and the wonderful lighted banzai tree with the hint of purple in the background.
-------------------------
I was right.
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12/29/2021 07:41 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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The bonsai tree is a Pithecellobium from Brazil. The big P. dulce was a popular street tree in PR when I was a kid, but it fell out of favor for being really vulnerable to wind, or just plain falling down. There's a couple of small ones native to the Keys.
Probably the most beautiful tree in the Gallery is a jaboticaba, the tree famous for having grape-like fruits on its older branches. It took me a long time to appreciate that its crown is shaped a lot like a cloak, with the front open so you can appreciate the tree's body.
The skull is with Saint Jerome, who "revised" the old Latin version of the Bible. His biggest decision was to translate the Jewish Bible from the Hebrew rather than the Greek translation that the New Testament writers used. His project was well financed and he set up a sort of Bible institute in Bethlehem. The Latin Bible gets official revisions, but it's basically Jerome's words that Catholics used for many centuries. Getting to see top Caravaggio paintings was worth the trip. I really enjoyed walking the streets.
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12/30/2021 08:05 AM
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Cole
Posts: 68418
Joined Forum: 07/22/2003
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The lighting technique the masters used sets them apart from all others in my opinion. It gives a haunting, yet appealing touch to the already exquisite craftsmanship.
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I was right.
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12/30/2021 11:25 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Caravaggio almost single handedly invented dramatic lighting. He was a sensation, Rome's best-paid painter until he killed someone and had to flee.
That Madonna of Loreto showing off her huge baby Jesus (above Jerome with the skill) is very highly regarded. After it, he kept getting more theatrical/dramatic, which some like, others not so much. The painting was in a church around the corner from my little hotel room. Some construction work was going on next to it, lighting was awful, and I could see the painting better through my camera's electronic viewfinder than I could with naked eye. My photo probably doesn't have quite enough contrast, but just having it (no flash, no tripod) is something of a miracle.
I saw the Colonna palazzo, which was exquisite with very good art. Then the Borgia villa. They had the Caravaggios and incredible Bernini sculptures. Those works have been in the villa ever since they were made. Here's Bernini's David with someone else's painting of David with Goliath's head.
Caravaggio's David. The head is said to be a self portrait of the artist.
Laocoön and his sons. He was a Trojan priest who offended Apollo (in Virgil's Aeneid, by warning about the Greeks' wooden horse), so he and his sons were done in by Apollo's serpents. The statue group is supposedly ancient, but it was restored by a young Michelangelo. No one knows exactly what Michelangelo did.
Edited: 07/30/2023 at 02:53 PM by ww
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01/01/2022 11:47 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 Fun with caladiums. They shouldn't be up at the end of December, but the weather was warm. This is at night, with small colored floodlights aimed upward from under the leaves.
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01/10/2022 06:25 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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The flamingo started life as a welded metal flower pot holder. It was transformed with white LED lights, carefully painted coral pink or yellow. One remains white, as the flamingo's eye. The caladiums in back have little floodlights shining up through the leaves. Heathcote Botanical Gardens, Fort Pierce, December.
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02/09/2022 04:53 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Another Wedge, June 3 2021. Not a great photo but the ominous color seems apropos.
Video grab. 60º water, about 60º air, this guy was skinning it. Old school: DaFins not Yucca.
This video was taken a few mnutes earlier. The yellow-tipped fins disappearing into the top of the wave are the same bodysurfer. BTW, the wave was not ridable.
The swimmer at bottom (I think a lifeguard on break) ducked under.
Recent re-edit of a fuzzy old photo from Wabasso (currently closed for beach nourishment).
Edited: 02/09/2022 at 07:11 AM by ww
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02/22/2022 02:19 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Southwest at sunset
About the only charming buildings at Big State U, dorms from 1920s and after WWII. The one at the center of the photo was built with generous donations as Big State's Athletic Dorm. Once it was built, the faculty voted to not allow athletic dorms. There's never been an official one since, but I lived across the stair landing from a basketball guy and above a gymnast who made it to the Olympics.
Edited: 04/26/2022 at 11:23 PM by ww
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03/05/2022 11:01 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Lego model of a new rowing and water education center for Norfolk Botanical Garden.
Annapolis, Naval Academy at the far edge of town.
Patuxent River, Maryland. East of Washington DC
Nags Head, First Colony Inn late at night. A certified Historic Building.
Edited: 11/18/2022 at 04:01 PM by ww
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04/06/2022 04:28 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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New toy. Yellow Hand Job with an older Taylor's Mistake. Photo taken on Balboa Island
Desert mountain stream, N side of I-15 near Whitewater in eastern California.
Newport Beach. Not a flat day, but not much for photos.
Edited: 04/06/2022 at 04:36 AM by ww
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04/08/2022 01:38 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
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Edited: 11/18/2022 at 04:12 PM by ww
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04/21/2022 08:13 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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The round windows are Nagakin Capsule Tower. The idea was that the frame of the building would be permanent, but capsules, each with a round window, could be removed and replaced as needed. It was intended to be a sort of elegant crash pad for office workers who were expected to be in central Tokyo, late, but whose homes were way out in the 'burbs. It's now being demolished. .
More Newport Beach. Waterfront promenade going through backyards.
 /BULLET]
Edited: 04/21/2022 at 08:15 PM by ww
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04/26/2022 11:21 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
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Wabasso, May 2021. lots of Sargassum
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05/05/2022 11:33 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Nice to live close to the Air Show. A cat photo was inevitable.
Edited: 05/05/2022 at 11:35 AM by ww
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08/23/2022 07:51 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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A couple of recent edits. First, Villa Borghese in Rome. The god Apollo turning Daphne into a bush. Of course there's also a real group of bushes whose scientific name is Daphne.
Around the corner, a plaster statue of John the Baptist by a young Jean Antoine Houdon, who had won a scholarship to a sculpture training program in Rome. He went on to become a favorite maker of portrait busts and statues, including a trip to the young US to do George Washington. The statue is in the Capitol in Richmond, with bronze copies all over.
Backyard, bromeliad 'Little Harv' flowering. 
Edited: 03/16/2023 at 02:19 AM by ww
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09/11/2022 09:56 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Recent re-edit of a Wedge photo. Not entirely sure I like the shiny look of the wetsuit and the face may be over-processed, too.
Here's the full image, also recently re-edited for better contrast.
This photo was shot in June 2021. Topaz has been updating its editing software ever since. This image was well focused and caught the movement effectively despite a "slow" ISO of 250. But it's fuzzy, with a lot of fine noise. So editing helps.
Here's the head in the original version (transferred from RAW to jpg format):
And an edit that seems overprocessed to me:
An edit that seems as good as I can get, except for the patch of fuzzy hair on the head. Thats a problem with the software's "face recognition." Leaving a bit of noise/grain gives the face a better look. I'm not an expert photo editor. More like an idiot with toys. Still surprised that a camera with a tiny sensor (a quarter the size of an old 35 mm film camera image/Kodachrome slide) can produce images that can readily be enlarged to 13 inch and more prints
Edited: 03/15/2023 at 03:52 PM by ww
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09/11/2022 10:47 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Beach morning glory
Unidentified, Vero South Beach surfer, Jan. 3, 2018
Branden DeFilippo, South Beach, same day.
Edited: 09/11/2022 at 02:48 PM by ww
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09/17/2022 02:13 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
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Edited: 09/17/2022 at 02:17 PM by ww
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09/25/2022 01:44 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Yucca's selling "creamsicle" fins. The in-house padding isn't available in Gator blue. Nor Carolina blue. Aqua or navy. Useful sticker for a two-stringer board. 
As you can tell from the checked boxes, it's pretty basic except for 2 stringers.
Cheap slick on the bottom.
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10/26/2022 11:53 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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A real, cheap Japanese woodcut print from somewhere in the 1800s, not a reprint (note the fold lines). It shows a traditional snow party, but with a revolutionary innovation: thanks to imported Dutch books, Japanese artists had learned European perspective and quickly enjoyed using it. This print is an excuse to play with perspective . Japanese artists got widely familiar with European-style perspective from Dutch books around 1800, well before the revolution that opened the country up and set off a wild period of commerce and creativity. This is a wonderful, and very cheap, case of tradition meeting innovation.
Edited: 04/08/2023 at 04:09 AM by ww
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10/27/2022 12:00 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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A bit of fun. I spotted a ghostly pattern on a sidewalk, obviously made by a pressure washer with something serving as a mask.
Here was the mask, a door mat.
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10/27/2022 12:58 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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At beaches, look for beach stars. They spread by underground stems toward the ocean; they're in the first row of plants onshore. Cyperus pedunculatus, found on tropical beaches worldwide. In Florida, the northern range limit was in Indian River Co., but it's been collected at Patrick in recent years.
Edited: 10/27/2022 at 01:01 AM by ww
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10/30/2022 12:22 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Edited: 10/30/2022 at 12:39 AM by ww
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10/30/2022 12:28 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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The bodyboarding Hubbard brothers' business, Hubboards, has a new color for one of its staples: swim fin pad/tether. The tether snaps locked and free with a little plastic closure on each foot. Insert and press to lock, press both sides of the closure and pull to unlock. Fast and easy.
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11/18/2022 04:28 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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In Fort Pierce, the Heathcote Garden of Lights is materializing. Mostly Friday and Saturday, starting the day after Thanksgiving. The top photo is probably the best I did this season. But the parrot might need more work.
Edited: 04/08/2023 at 01:33 AM by ww
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11/18/2022 04:31 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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What you clean a beach with. Sea grapes weren't bothered by the Nicole salt spray. A few days later, Vero South Beach was immaculate.
It's a specialized Beach Raker company. That machine, with its sand rake, lives at South Beach Park and serves all the town's beaches.
Edited: 03/01/2023 at 01:45 AM by ww
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05/18/2022 05:37 AM
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Cole
Posts: 68418
Joined Forum: 07/22/2003
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Good stuff!
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I was right.
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06/03/2022 08:09 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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This, oddly, is my most popular Flickr picture right now. Yucca fins seem to attract. 
Beach flowers near the Wedge
Late afternoon light in the yard. The shorter palm at left center with spreading leaves is Dypsis plumosa, which received its scientific name a few years after it was planted. Red fruits behind the Dypsis are on Archontophoenix tuckeri from northern Queensland. Lots of seedlings.
Edited: 06/03/2022 at 08:14 AM by ww
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06/04/2022 02:32 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 Matt Buchanan of Wrightsville Beach skimming at Newport Beach. Brad Domke was there, too.
moon with planets, April 27 2022 
Edited: 01/31/2023 at 08:38 PM by ww
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07/16/2022 09:23 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Big silver bromeliad in the yard, flowering now.
Edited: 07/16/2022 at 09:30 AM by ww
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08/07/2022 07:41 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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VOW handboard, Paulownia wood body with cork veneer.
Bottom side. 
Top side, cork. Excellent leash.
Since I posted, these guys have been advertising on social media. Very much in business
Edited: 07/30/2023 at 02:37 PM by ww
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11/22/2022 07:26 PM
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KP
Posts: 3884
Joined Forum: 07/28/2006
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What a variety great photos!
I am guessing you do not often drink beer..but when you do it is Dos Equis ;-)
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Time and tide wait for no one.....
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11/23/2022 09:53 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Thanks. I can walk over to a good microbrewery from my house. There was really good luck with pretty cheap travel over the last few years. Been busy lately, so not many chances for beach photos.
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11/23/2022 11:32 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 Surf mat maker in Paso Robles. T-shirt from Yucca Swim Fins, which of course go with surf mats (which in turn are having a bit of revival). A coral rock bench and whatnot (the corals are plastic foam) turned into a reef at Heathcote Botanical Gardens
 One of Yucca's many nutty t-shirt images. The little NO BBQ sticker on the boat is presumably a reference to Tim Burnham, film maker (Dirty Old Wedge and Part of Water, a tribute to Ben Carlson, the Newport Beach lifeguard who drowned in the line of duty).
Edited: 11/28/2022 at 09:17 PM by ww
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11/28/2022 09:16 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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The final version was pretty easy to manufacture, but it took endless fussing to figure out how to colorize stuff painted in fluorescent paint and glowing under the (unintentionally) ultraviolet light from cheap LED spotlights that are supposed to be "blue".
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12/03/2022 04:53 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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More Heathcote. I've had very limited time for photos. The red fan palm is a Bismarckia whose silver leaves were perfect for colored lights. It had languished for years, then got healthy. Go figure. This photo's gotten a lot of looks at Flickr. Thanks.
Edited: 04/08/2023 at 01:35 AM by ww
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12/25/2022 12:19 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Heathcote Gardens again. Open Thursday and Friday before New Year. The big alligator looked out of place y last year's "stream" on the main lawn. Right at home in the Forest, next to a tiny artificial creek.
Gator's head. Really happy with getting the string lights in the correct exposure and color.
Edited: 04/08/2023 at 01:36 AM by ww
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12/25/2022 05:08 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Re-edits of a wave that ended with a broken board at Sebastian Inlet, Jan. 24, 2020. A bit sharper, noise removed. Editing software keeps getting better.
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12/25/2022 05:50 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Another from Jan 24, 2020. Good afternoon light.
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12/29/2022 01:53 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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inexplicably popular at Flickr. A palm-lined walk at Heathcote Botancial Gardens, leading to the little Rain Forest, behind a lighted gateway. T here were endless problems with getting programmed floodlights to work in this area. As if there were an electronics curse.
This night was looking pretty good.
Edited: 04/08/2023 at 01:38 AM by ww
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01/04/2023 06:56 AM
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Cole
Posts: 68418
Joined Forum: 07/22/2003
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That's quite the tombstone for a Florida wave!
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I was right.
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01/10/2023 05:37 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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New, longer model. Only one size, 10, is available, and then only by invitation--Yucca is checking to see how users like them before going ahead with full scale production. The "beige" color, really a soft yellow, looks sort of yucky under artificial light, beautiful in clear water on a sunny day.
Update: Yucca will be selling the longblades when the summer container of fins arrives. They passed the user test.
Edited: 04/08/2023 at 01:39 AM by ww
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01/10/2023 05:42 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Fin comparisons. Leblon (no longer available) is at top, yellow with red. Viper Vector V-7 yellow. It's an especially long fin, long popular with California bodysurfers and lifeguards, now almost disappeared. Yucca longblade, looking kind of brown under the light. Viper regular model.
 f
View from above, same order.
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01/10/2023 06:03 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Re-edited from Jan 24, 2022. Serious surf housing.
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01/10/2023 06:11 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Messy but kind of interesting. Also a Jan 24 2020 update
Edited: 01/10/2023 at 06:16 AM by ww
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01/10/2023 11:38 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Back to last month, a flowering Bougainvillea bonsai decked with lights at Heathcote Botanical Garden in Fort Pierce.
This big concrete gorilla showed up in a Fort Pierce warehouse. It was ugly when donated to Heathcote Garden, then a local artist clothed it in fragments of old coffee cups, tiles, and some glass. It was given color-changing lights.
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01/14/2023 05:08 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Update of an interesting but poor-light photo from Feb 25, 2017 at Cape Hatteras. Gulf Stream was working wonders on water temperature, but only two guys were skinning it, rest full wetsuits. 
Edited: 01/14/2023 at 05:09 AM by ww
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01/14/2023 05:19 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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More cats at Heathcote Botanical Garden. Both showed up recently, both were only slowly tolerated by the resident cat. Now the resident cat is interacting with them, a bit, and the black and white one (dubbed "Buddy") is seeking out people for petting. Not easy to take a photo of a cat that's rubbing your pants. Creamsicle colored one will put up with being looked at with a camera. She answers to Sugar. It seems she's an older cat, perhaps stray, perhaps dumped at the garden.
Edited: 03/01/2023 at 01:21 AM by ww
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01/17/2023 05:44 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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This photo of a gumbo-limbo branch weighed down with lots of fruits, taken this fall at Vero South Beach, got a fair amount of attention, so here it is. 
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01/23/2023 10:41 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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A casual Newport Wedge photo (June 3 2021). Kid, dog, beach. What's not to like, other than the cloud layer. I didn't notice the checkered socks until doing editing. This has been a popular item at Flickr. I think it's the pup.
Edited: 04/08/2023 at 04:05 AM by ww
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03/01/2023 01:24 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 Old Havana, calle Neptuno at calle Escobar panorama. Tour group's taxi.
The crowd is at a PanaderÃa. Feb. 2023.
 The Panaderia crowd, earlier .
 Second and third floor of a building on Calle Neptuno.
Edited: 03/01/2023 at 01:37 AM by ww
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03/01/2023 01:43 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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An accidental video from The Wedge. I was eyeing the rip current along the long jetty through my camera viewfinder when a kid showed up, so video turned on and a little story played out. The kid, and a friend (who you see at the end) had been out for a swim/bodysurf and were obviously competent. But it's easy to make a beginner's mistake with a rip, like not exactly realizing what's going on. Lifeguard's handling was great.
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03/01/2023 02:26 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 Moon with Jupiter Feb. 22 2023
Edited: 03/14/2023 at 08:36 PM by ww
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03/02/2023 07:17 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 Colpothrinax wrightii, palma barrigona in western Cuba on a farm, next to a tomato patch.
Edited: 04/08/2023 at 01:42 AM by ww
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03/14/2023 08:32 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Wabasso beach park, May 2021. He was getting frustrated by both the non-breaking waves and Sargassum, which was coating the beach.
Edited: 03/14/2023 at 08:33 PM by ww
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03/16/2023 02:40 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Baby Coccothrinax and mature ones in a serpentine barren, western Cuba (Pinar del RÃo). We have a native Coccothrinax from Palm Beach County southward, likes beach areas, worth growing in places like Satellite Beach. Cuba has a whole bunch of species, some with tiny distributions.
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03/17/2023 07:45 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Quemado de Güines, Villa Clara Province, north coast east of Havana. Founded 1667. St Augustine's a lot older.
Edited: 03/17/2023 at 07:47 PM by ww
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03/23/2023 08:27 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Edited: 03/23/2023 at 08:55 PM by ww
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04/03/2023 04:26 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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A fresh re-edit of a 2017 photo, Notre-Dame de Paris on a snowy winter day (the snow was fun). The big circular feature on the ceiling is where the main nave intersects the transepts that give the cathedral its cross shape. A recent video showed a big, heavy, newly cut and carved block of stone being lifted into place to replace one destroyed or damaged by the big fire. That whole vault, including the stone circle, fell to the ground in the fire.
Only 15 of the 70 stones in the four ribs were in good enough condition to be used in reconstruction. That big hole, now refilled, was rebuilt once before, in the late 1700s shortly before the French Revolution, when the French government seized the church buildings and persecuted priests and nuns, beheading some of them. The government still owns the church buildings. A new wood-frame steeple to rise above it, and its huge wooden truss to connect it to the cathedral's stonework, is nearing completion in a big warehouse. It'll be shipped in pieces and assembled late this year. The new stones are from exactly the same quarry as the 1700s stones--historic records confirmed by examination of stone samples found a perfect match.
Photo editing software from Topaz has gotten noticeably better in the past year.
This is getting a bit ridiculous with a small-sensor camera and a hand-held 1.6 second exposure.
Edited: 12/05/2023 at 06:03 PM by ww
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04/22/2023 10:54 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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My main editing tool, Lightroom, introduced a new AI "denoise" setup to rival what's available from Topaz. So I played with a couple of known grainy photos. My small-sensor camera doesn't take in as much light as larger-sensor cameras, which results in grain under low light conditions. Images from Newport Wedge, I think already posted, but fiddled with today. These images are before and after de-noise. They are small bits of the original photo, expanded 4X for easier viewing.
First, the best I can do to show off a grainy image. This piece of a much larger image was expanded by 4X for better viewing.
 The second was denoised and sharpened with Topaz software.  The third was denoised by Lightroom (Adobe) software. I don't like the lips.
Here's a fresh Dec 2023 edit with the latest Topaz Photo AI, including color edit. I suppose a bit better.
Here's the whole image, Lightroom editing to remove noise.
Edited: 12/11/2023 at 02:40 PM by ww
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04/23/2023 12:31 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Another somewhat grainy edit. The grain reduction and sharpening wasn't quite magic, but given that software can mutilate faces, I like the natural result.
Edited with Lightroom denoise.
Here's the original noise. It's not bad and gives the scene a bit of character (sometimes noise is good). But still, I was impressed at how well the editing with up-to-date software worked. I have a couple of non-grainy photos of him, so have a good idea of how he "should" look.
Edited: 04/24/2023 at 01:22 PM by ww
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04/28/2023 11:48 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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McKee Botanical Garden in Vero Beach. Temporary exhibition of glass and steel flowers by Jason Gamrath.
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05/10/2023 08:27 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Pitcairnia flammea, a "basal" bromeliad with normal monocot-type leaves. It's from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, a region that includes Rio de Janeiro. The plant has really bulked up over the past year (bigger pot). It had one infloresence last year, four right now (May 2023)
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05/11/2023 03:30 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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This turns out to be one of my most popular photos at Flickr, no idea why. A Junior Lifeguard (that's the official backpack for 2021) with what looks like an electric bike going home in the afternoon. The pale swimfins are Yucca. This guy looks old enough to likely be a real lifeguard for 2022. I think the best Juniors can get summer jobs at age 16.
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05/15/2023 07:17 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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More McKee Garden in Vero. A local guy does amazing water lily photos here.
The enormous table, a single slab of wood from a 1904 world's fair, from the recently-conquered Philippines, made its way to Waldo Sexton's Vero Beach tourist attraction. It lived for a number of years at Dodgertown, returning to its open-air shed when the remains of Sexton's place were refurbished as a botanical garden. I think the wood is what's marketed as Luan. I doubt that such trees exist any more. Big mahogany trees (native to places like Cuba and Honduras) were pretty much all cut in the 1700s and early 1800s. The legacy fancy furniture was made from high quality wood that's no longer available. 
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05/19/2023 11:32 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Got confirmation, from Bob Okvist Sr. that this is Bob Okvist Jr. at The Wedge, June 2021. Unfortunately, no repeat of this week's spectacular surf seems in the offing. This and other photos from that ride need re-editing. 
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05/28/2023 02:42 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 Lichens on a black mailbox at the IFAS extension office in Oviedo, Florida. The patterns were interesting enough to make a whole bunch of images. This is one of the better.
Edited: 06/03/2023 at 03:22 AM by ww
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06/05/2023 05:24 PM
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Cole
Posts: 68418
Joined Forum: 07/22/2003
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Funny, I took some shots of the pink Lichens on the trees in the Cypress heads.
-------------------------
I was right.
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06/15/2023 05:19 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Those lichens must have grown fairly fast. Tonight, I checked the Lancetilla mango tree after a violent thunderstorm. Still hanging. I made more tries with the mangos, but this photo, though imperfect, has the magic.
Edited: 10/21/2023 at 12:17 PM by ww
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07/25/2023 04:16 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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This Encyclia tampensis (Florida butterfly orchid) was grown commercially by Odom's Orchids and planted in the tree. Thriving. Roots have spread all over the branch. It flowered earlier. Now growing seed pods.
Same tree, same branch, a big Tillandsia.
Edited: 07/30/2023 at 05:46 PM by ww
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07/30/2023 03:04 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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I don't think I posted Boulder Dam.
This one is summer 1978 from a Cessna. Note the high water.
July 7 2020, flying into Las Vegas.
Edited: 07/30/2023 at 03:10 PM by ww
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08/22/2023 07:35 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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A little break in the wave drought. Aug 21, Vero Beach.
Recent photo of a Vriesea bromeliad while it was in temporary quarters to be out of the way of tree trimming. Babies of plants like this are even at Lowe's.
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09/08/2023 07:05 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Wedge guy. Not a big wave (it was a pretty big day) but the sun had come out and he was having fun.
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09/08/2023 07:06 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Craig Whetter at the Wedge Sunday ahead of Labor Day
Edited: 09/08/2023 at 07:09 PM by ww
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09/12/2023 11:17 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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 Not a great photo, but it does show the clear water. For whatever reason, it's gotten a bunch of views on Flickr, so maybe I should do a re-edit.
Gotta love the West wetsuit. That brand got bought out, then failed in 2012. A sort-of successor, Volte, came along, then also quit. Now, West is back. I think this back-zip suit must be an old one--they aren't offering backs now. Oddly, this is popular on Flickr.
Edited: 02/10/2024 at 11:31 PM by ww
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09/13/2023 09:53 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Kneeboarder. He got started in the crowd.
Edited: 09/13/2023 at 09:54 PM by ww
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10/14/2023 12:27 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Cool tattoo.
Same rides, different editing.
Dawn
Edited: 10/17/2023 at 06:18 PM by ww
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10/16/2023 05:49 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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A big spread of native flowers, shrubs, and trees from West Melbourne's Native Butterfly Flowers, which was selling more than 200 species at Heathcote Gardens' fall garden festival this weekend.
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10/16/2023 05:54 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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10/17/2023 04:39 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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A bit more at Heathcote. Smoke rising from the hamburger/hot dog cooker.
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10/17/2023 06:04 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Back to Labor Day at The Wedge.
Edited: 10/17/2023 at 06:15 PM by ww
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10/18/2023 06:14 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Back to Feb. 2018, cheap ticket to Paris. Once there, I decided to see Chartres, home of a famous medieval Gothic cathedral with a new interior paint job, allegedly faithful to how it had looked when new. This isn't a perfect photo, but the focus, exposure, and image quality were outstanding.
The subject is "Carolus", Latin for the emperor we call Charlemagne, ruler of much of present-day France, Italy, and Germany. The empire split up at his death.
Here's how the interior looks with its new paint. 
And a not quite so great look at a big rose window. The five windows below show the four writers of Gospels held up on the shoulders of prophets. Luke on Jeremiah, Matthew on Isaiah, Virgin Mary with baby Jesus, John on Ezekiel, Mark on Daniel (?). 
During the Allied advance across France, a US Army unit nearly blew up the Cathedral, thinking the towers were being used for the view. A colonel took it upon himself to lead a recon, found nothing, and persuaded the higher-ups to leave the building alone. The colonel was killed in action the next day. A book's available.
Edited: 10/18/2023 at 06:15 PM by ww
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10/21/2023 12:24 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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I forgot to post these from Sept 5 at The Wedge.
For starters, this water photographer was having some fun simply using his housing to protect the camera from splashing. Better than having to stand at a tripod upstairs.
So here he is upstairs with a White Lens nearby.
 This smiling shot is my most popular Flickr image of the season
And this is the really popular photo.
Edited: 02/10/2024 at 11:33 PM by ww
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10/22/2023 10:40 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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I barely noticed these bubbles, which were a momentary phenomenon at the Wedge shore. Above, cropped bubbles from the image below. This guy was having a fine time, as shown above. Didn't get the name, but I bet he's as serious as anyone in the water there. 
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11/13/2023 01:10 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Central Tokyo. The oldest remaining garden from the Edo period, when the Tokogawa shoguns ruled Japan from their castle. About a quarter of the garden was saved after the Meiji revolt in the 1860s established modern Japan and moved the emperor to Edo, which was renamed Tokyo. This gate separating the inner and outer parts of the garden was destroyed in World War II and a replica finally built in 2020.
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11/21/2023 02:31 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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This is from a while back. Pretty sure it's not posted here, or if it is, without location. I was pretty happy to spot it with some help from image searches. Arches National Park, Baby Steps Trail at edge of upper red. Taken from a Cessna flying from NW Wyoming to Santa Monica, California.
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11/25/2023 09:41 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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An oddball from Labor Day weekend at The Wedge. The shutter speed was too slow, but I was following the bodyboarder, who came in pretty sharp, with everything else a blurry motion.
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12/02/2023 12:22 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Lots of lights at Heathcote Botanical Gardens in Ft Pierce, Friday and Saturday evenings, weather permitting. Until New Year.
Since I had an image of surf bubbles, here's the bubbles in an old bathtub at Heathcote .
This one was a mess to edit, with very bright string-light flamingo and peacock, then much softer floodlight illumination. It's the result of using a set of images at different exposures to assemble a "high dynamic range" image, then manipulating the living daylights out of it to lessen the distance between the extremely bright string-light items and the floodlighted palms.
Edited: 12/03/2023 at 01:48 PM by ww
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12/05/2023 05:06 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Another Newport Beach Labor Day weekend photo that became popular on Flickr. You work to get decent action photos, good lighting, etc., and it turns out some of the simple snapshots get the attention. BTW, the long Viper swim fins are still in production (moved from California to Mexico) and remain popular with lifeguards and some bodysurfers. Yucca Fins is taking orders for its "longblade" competitor, in a choice of four flexibilities, stiff to really flexy.
Edited: 02/16/2024 at 02:02 AM by ww
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12/11/2023 03:55 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Another Wedge shot that I'd passed over. Turned out pretty good. Labor Day weekend, 2023.
Edited: 02/10/2024 at 11:34 PM by ww
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12/17/2023 08:08 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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12/22/2023 12:09 PM
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Cole
Posts: 68418
Joined Forum: 07/22/2003
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Food!
That's a wonderful picture.
-------------------------
I was right.
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12/22/2023 10:39 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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The popularity of food trucks is making for more and better ones. That photo was a very easy one to take and edit. Past years, Joe the hot dog guy and the glazed nut lady were great subjects . My camera has a small sensor and great weatherproofing, making it popular with bird photographers, but for night stuff, you're supposed to use a bigger, fatter, heavier camera and lens combo with a sensor the size of old 35 mm film.
I'm kinda proud of this one. The camera didn't want to distinguish blue and purple string lights, so I selected the ones I knew were purple and made them purple. Lying in the name of truth. The peacock has something like a thousand lights and was a major project for the volunteer who built it. Now that I've figured it out, I can maybe do some other edits....
Santa was not as well lighted as he should have been, but was happy to be photoed. I need to make a print in the morning.
Edited: 12/22/2023 at 10:52 PM by ww
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12/22/2023 11:02 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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This was a "flower park" north of Tokyo with an incredibly elaborate light show. That sort of curtain in the rear is a huge vine arbor (wisteria) with programmed lights.
They also had a huge rainbow with images. 
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01/21/2024 10:06 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Knife (and scissor and nail clipper and garden tool) shop in Tokyo's Kitchen Town street, west of the popular Asakusa restaurant-shopping area.
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01/21/2024 10:15 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Tokyo's most important Buddhist temple (rebuilt from scratch after being firebombed in 1945) with Sky Tree.
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01/22/2024 08:06 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Big trees (Japanese cypress, Cryptomeria) and Drum Tower at Nikko Shrine, the burial site and monument to the first Tokugawa shogun. The elaborate shrine was built by his grandson.
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02/02/2024 09:05 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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This is further uphill and closer to Tokugawa Ieyasu's relatively modest tomb. Chinese Gate (Karemon)
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02/09/2024 08:07 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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A car built by Sebring in England or perhaps in Sebring, living in a residential carport in Nagoya, Japan. Toyota City is a suburb.
In the Nagoya train station, Studio Ghibli (across from a larger Disney) has a Cat Bus where you can sit and be photographed.
Also in the station, a whole basement full of food. This patisserie is a big deal in Paris. I've run into its branch in New York.
Also in the station, Krispy Kreme
Edited: 02/11/2024 at 09:20 PM by ww
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02/14/2024 02:13 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Topaz editing software keeps getting better, so I check high quality older edits against ones done with the latest from Topaz (and Adobe Lightroom). This photo isn't the best from June 4, 2021 at the Newport Wedge, but it has the advantage of being very sharp and relatively free of noise. So the original, first edit, and latest.
This is getting fussy, but it's taken a while to easily upgrade faces while getting them to look natural, not molded from plastic.
This one has the overly sharpened face and hands
This "final" one could use slightly darker, greener water. I like the face and body. Face and hands look more natural.
Edited: 02/14/2024 at 02:48 AM by ww
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02/26/2024 11:34 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Beach sunflowers are happening. Feb. 6, 2024. Almost certainly truly wild plants, not planted, on the edge of the dune vegetation. 
The clump was all but buried in sand a bit later.
Edited: 04/01/2024 at 07:36 PM by ww
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02/28/2024 07:58 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Brown thrasher atop the live oak planted 10 years ago in the front yard. I thought I heard a mockingbird. Got something more interesting.
Edited: 02/29/2024 at 12:54 PM by ww
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02/29/2024 12:54 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Possibly my sharpest moon yet. Full image and cropped portion.
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03/18/2024 03:45 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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New Yucca long blade swim fins, fresh out of the box, with an older try at making a long blade fin that didn't quite work. Foot pocket was too narrow.
White/rust Esteban (ultra soft flex), regular-length yellow w red patch Mobley (ultra soft), and an orange/blue Helios (soft flex).
Edited: 03/28/2024 at 03:48 AM by ww
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04/07/2024 10:16 AM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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Bunny, photo from my front door, and a coral honeysuckle at Heathcote Gardens. The evergreen vine ranges from central Florida to Texas and southern Ontario.
New sea grape leaves on a huge bush that's been pruned low at South Beach Park. They're already bright green.
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04/13/2024 06:29 PM
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ww
Posts: 16097
Joined Forum: 08/17/2007
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A very formal photo, early morning before opening, at Heathcote Garden in Fort Pierce. The giant red leaves are a caladium variety, white flowered bush to its right is Lantana involucrata, a Florida coastal species that makes a fine yard bush. The arbor has young coral honeysuckles.
On the lantana bush, a little Atala butterfly.
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