View allAll Photos Tagged its_dramatic
Isolated on a rocky eminence, Bryn Cader Faner is one of the wonders of prehistoric Wales, as stated by Professor Aubrey Burl, and it is certainly one of the most beautiful Bronze Age sites in Britain. It is a small cairn 8,5m (28ft) wide and less than 1m (3ft) high, with fifteen thin slabs leaning out of the mass of the monument like a crown of thorns.
A combination of stone circle and burial mound, Bryn Cader Faner bears some resemblance with Carn Llechart, in Glamorgan (Wales), and it is probably the result of a fusion of traditions. The site was disturbed by 19th century treasure-seekers, who left a hole in the center indicating the position of a cist or a grave. Originally there may have been about 30 pillars, each some 2m (6ft) long. Unfortunately the Army, before the Second World War, removed some stones on the east side.
Carefully placed in its dramatic setting so as to achieve maximum impact on travellers approaching from the south, this visually superb monument is well worth the long and demanding walk: a detailed map and a compass are essential.
In the same area there is a complex of several cairns and settlements.
Iceland, a Nordic island nation, is defined by its dramatic landscape with volcanoes, geysers, hot springs and lava fields. Massive glaciers are protected in Vatnajökull and Snæfellsjökull national parks. Most of the population lives in the capital, Reykjavik, which runs on geothermal power and is home to the National and Saga museums, tracing Iceland’s Viking history. Iceland is it the most sparsely populated country in Europe.
Dramatic Seascape of Straddie 1
Dramatic Seascape of Straddie 2
Dramatic Seascape of Straddie 4
Dramatic Seascape of Straddie 5
A close view of huge Pacific waves gushing into North Gorge as viewed from North Headland. Standing on the North Headland, sometimes when a huge wave strikes on the headland, one could feel the entire headland shaking, followed by gentle spray of seawater.
Note: Can you see the small human figure across to the Point Lookout headland?
North Stradbroke Island (Straddie) is the second largest sand island in the world. Located off the coast of Queensland near to Brisbane, Australia, Straddie is known for its dramatic seascape and shoreline, the bounty sea produce from Moreton Bay, and wildlife both on land and sea.
Queensland also has the largest and third largest sand islands in the world, namely Fraser Island and Moreton Island respectively.
I have been to underground caverns where calcium and other mineral deposits form stalactites and stalagmites. Do you know the difference between the two? Stalactites hang “tight” from the ceiling and Stalagmites “might” reach the ceiling. Now lets get back to the image.
The first thing that came to mind when I arrived at Mono Lake is that someone had opened up some caverns. The most unusual feature of Mono Lake are its dramatic and alien looking tufa towers emerging from the surface.These rock towers form when underwater springs rich in calcium mix with the waters of the lake, which are rich in carbonates. The resulting reaction forms limestone.
I had not quite researched what these were before I went. Once there, the signs showing the water levels at various times in the past sounded very similar to the Aral Sea. The inland sea that was basically destroyed by some poor choices made by the Soviets who diverted the rivers that fed it to grow cotton in the desert. Aral sea is now all but gone and the area is a toxic wasteland. It is a depressing sight.
Pretty as Mono lake looked, its fate could have been not very different. Once again the cause was human greed. It was a matter of going after short term solutions and gains while ignoring the potential damage to the environment and future generations. At one point of time these tufas were underwater and they were basically killed off when the lake levels fell because the water was diverted to Los Angeles.
About the image:
It is a single exposure. The last one of the evening before heading to another location to shoot the night sky.
White Sands National Monument is in the northern Chihuahuan Desert in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It's known for its dramatic landscape of rare white gypsum sand dunes. Trails through the dunes include the raised Interdune Boardwalk and the Dune Life Nature Trail, dotted with interpretive exhibits on wildlife and other features. Dunes Drive is a looped road from the White Sands Visitor Center to the dune field.
History.
The first exploration was led by a party of US Army officers in 1849. The Mescalero Apache were already living in the area at the time. Hispanic families started farming communities in the area at Tularosa in 1861 and at La Luz in 1863.
Preparation for a National Park.
Creating a national park in the white sands formation goes back as far as 1898. A group in El Paso had proposed the creation of "Mescalero" National Park. Their idea was for a game hunting preserve, which conflicted with the idea of preservation held by the Department of the Interior, and their plan was not successful. In 1921-1922 Albert Bacon Fall, United States Secretary of the Interior and owner of a large ranch in Three Rivers near White Sands, promoted the idea of a national park there, an "All-Year National Park" that, unlike more northerly parks, would be usable year round. This idea ran into a number of difficulties and did not succeed. Tom Charles, an Alamogordo insurance agent and civic booster, was influenced by Fall's ideas. By emphasizing the economic benefits, Charles was able to mobilize enough support to have the park created.
On January 18, 1933, President Herbert Hoover created the White Sands National Monument, acting under the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906. The dedication and grand opening was on April 29, 1934
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rachelrmk: @aidancoughlan thanks Aidan! A very good morning to you
dettie_daisie: Wonderful shot. Good morning ☀
rachelrmk: @dettie_daisie thanks! A very good morning to you ☀
sueq10: @rachelrmk Love it! Dramatic!
rachelrmk: @sueq10 thanks Sue!
rachelrmk: @clairefeist thanks Claire!
iamamro: Brilliant b
blumonster88: Breathtaking shot! Wow!
Monument Basin viewed from the Grand View Point Overlook at Island in the Sky in the Canyonlands National Park, Utah. Island in the Sky is a huge, flat-topped mesa with panoramic overlooks. Some of these monoliths are 300' tall. Canyonlands located in southeastern Utah is known for its dramatic desert landscape of canyons, mesas, and buttes carved by the Colorado River and its tributaries. Print Size 13x19 inches.
A soulful mood in a perfect place...
SUNSET in SABANG
In my journey around pagsanjan and its neighboring towns, never ive seen a sunset more dramatic than sabang. Located in magdalena, sabang is also known as a quarry site. Rich in rivers rock filled...I tried capturing its dramatic sunset at a location i just discovered.
I would like to share...the drama in the sunset of Sabang.
What you see here is a beautiful sunset amidst peaceful, blue skies. What you don't see is the rest of the Colorado Plateau enshrouded in dark clouds and storm light. The sky was covered in clouds less than an hour before this shot, but as the sun began to set the storm also dispersed. This was the result at Horshoe Bend facing almost due west. I chose an abstract view of the Colorado River to best present the sky and its dramatic colors.
Canon 5DMk2
16-35
.6 GND
Single File, Double Processed
Roxborough State Park is a state park in Colorado
known for its dramatic red sandstone formations. Located just outside of Denver, Colorado, USA. View from South Rim Trail.
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White Sands National Monument is in the northern Chihuahuan Desert in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It's known for its dramatic landscape of rare white gypsum sand dunes. Trails through the dunes include the raised Interdune Boardwalk and the Dune Life Nature Trail, dotted with interpretive exhibits on wildlife and other features. Dunes Drive is a looped road from the White Sands Visitor Center to the dune field.
"Gypsum" is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer, and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard chalk and wallboard. A massive fine-grained white or lightly tinted variety of gypsum, called alabaster, has been used for sculpture by many cultures including Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Ancient Rome, Byzantine empire and the Nottingham alabasters of Medieval England. Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratch Hardness comparison, defines hardness value 2 as gypsum. It forms as an evaporite mineral and as a hydration product of anhydrite.
Lots of beautiful sceneries like that one in the countryside near REFORD GARDENS | LES JARDINS DE METIS
Photo taken a few kilometers away from Reford Gardens | Les Jardins de Metis located at Grand Metis.
Visit : www.refordgardens.com/
From Wikipedia:
Elsie Stephen Meighen - born January 22, 1872, Perth, Ontario - and Robert Wilson Reford - born in 1867, Montreal - got married on June 12, 1894.
Elsie Reford was a pioneer of Canadian horticulture, creating one of the largest private gardens in Canada on her estate, Estevan Lodge in eastern Québec. Located in Grand-Métis on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, her gardens have been open to the public since 1962 and operate under the name Les Jardins de Métis and Reford Gardens.
Born January 22, 1872 at Perth, Ontario, Elsie Reford was the eldest of three children born to Robert Meighen and Elsie Stephen. Coming from modest backgrounds themselves, Elsie’s parents ensured that their children received a good education. After being educated in Montreal, she was sent to finishing school in Dresden and Paris, returning to Montreal fluent in both German and French, and ready to take her place in society.
She married Robert Wilson Reford on June 12, 1894. She gave birth to two sons, Bruce in 1895 and Eric in 1900. Robert and Elsie Reford were, by many accounts, an ideal couple. In 1902, they built a house on Drummond Street in Montreal. They both loved the outdoors and they spend several weeks a year in a log cabin they built at Lac Caribou, south of Rimouski. In the autumn they hunted for caribou, deer, and ducks. They returned in winter to ski and snowshoe. Elsie Reford also liked to ride. She had learned as a girl and spent many hours riding on the slopes of Mount Royal. And of course, there was salmon-fishing – a sport at which she excelled.
In her day, she was known for her civic, social, and political activism. She was engaged in philanthropic activities, particularly for the Montreal Maternity Hospital and she was also the moving force behind the creation of the Women’s Canadian Club of Montreal, the first women club in Canada. She believed it important that the women become involved in debates over the great issues of the day, « something beyond the local gossip of the hour ». Her acquaintance with Lord Grey, the Governor-General of Canada from 1904 to 1911, led to her involvement in organizing, in 1908, Québec City’s tercentennial celebrations. The event was one of many to which she devoted herself in building bridges with French-Canadian community.
During the First World War, she joined her two sons in England and did volunteer work at the War Office, translating documents from German into English. After the war, she was active in the Victorian Order of Nurses, the Montreal Council of Social Agencies, and the National Association of Conservative Women.
In 1925 at the age of 53 years, Elsie Reford was operated for appendicitis and during her convalescence, her doctor counselled against fishing, fearing that she did not have the strength to return to the river.”Why not take up gardening?” he said, thinking this a more suitable pastime for a convalescent woman of a certain age. That is why she began laying out the gardens and supervising their construction. The gardens would take ten years to build, and would extend over more than twenty acres.
Elsie Reford had to overcome many difficulties in bringing her garden to life. First among them were the allergies that sometimes left her bedridden for days on end. The second obstacle was the property itself. Estevan was first and foremost a fishing lodge. The site was chosen because of its proximity to a salmon river and its dramatic views – not for the quality of the soil.
To counter-act nature’s deficiencies, she created soil for each of the plants she had selected, bringing peat and sand from nearby farms. This exchange was fortuitous to the local farmers, suffering through the Great Depression. Then, as now, the gardens provided much-needed work to an area with high unemployment. Elsie Reford’s genius as a gardener was born of the knowledge she developed of the needs of plants. Over the course of her long life, she became an expert plantsman. By the end of her life, Elsie Reford was able to counsel other gardeners, writing in the journals of the Royal Horticultural Society and the North American Lily Society. Elsie Reford was not a landscape architect and had no training of any kind as a garden designer. While she collected and appreciated art, she claimed no talents as an artist.
Elsie Stephen Reford died at her Drummond Street home on November 8, 1967 in her ninety-sixth year.
In 1995, the Reford Gardens ("Jardins de Métis") in Grand-Métis were designated a National Historic Site of Canada, as being an excellent Canadian example of the English-inspired garden.(Wikipedia)
Visit : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsie_Reford
LES JARDINS DE MÉTIS
Créés par Elsie Reford de 1926 à 1958, ces jardins témoignent de façon remarquable de l’art paysager à l’anglaise. Disposés dans un cadre naturel, un ensemble de jardins exhibent fleurs vivaces, arbres et arbustes. Le jardin des pommetiers, les rocailles et l’Allée royale évoquent l’œuvre de cette dame passionnée d’horticulture. Agrémenté d’un ruisseau et de sentiers sinueux, ce site jouit d’un microclimat favorable à la croissance d’espèces uniques au Canada. Les pavots bleus et les lis, privilégiés par Mme Reford, y fleurissent toujours et contribuent , avec d’autres plantes exotiques et indigènes, à l’harmonie de ces lieux.
Created by Elsie Reford between 1926 and 1958, these gardens are an inspired example of the English art of the garden. Woven into a natural setting, a series of gardens display perennials, trees and shrubs. A crab-apple orchard, a rock garden, and the Long Walk are also the legacy of this dedicated horticulturist. A microclimate favours the growth of species found nowhere else in Canada, while the stream and winding paths add to the charm. Elsie Reford’s beloved blue poppies and lilies still bloom and contribute, with other exotic and indigenous plants, to the harmony of the site.
Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada
Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.
Gouvernement du Canada – Government of Canada
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Iceland, a Nordic island nation, is defined by its dramatic landscape with volcanoes, geysers, hot springs and lava fields. Massive glaciers are protected in Vatnajökull and Snæfellsjökull national parks. Most of the population lives in the capital, Reykjavik, which runs on geothermal power and is home to the National and Saga museums, tracing Iceland’s Viking history. Iceland is it the most sparsely populated country in Europe.
Irlanda es una costa que se ajusta muy bien al blanco y negro. Sus ruinas centenarias y sus cielos dramáticos son una mezcla infalible.
Este paisaje en concreto es sencillamente arrebatador. Un castillo construido practicamente al borde del alcantilado. Imaginaros. Espero que con nuestras fotos seamos capaces de transmitir lo que vimos y sentimos alli.
Ireland is a coastline which fits very well to black and white. The ruins of centuries, and its dramatic skies are a mixture infallible.
This particular landscape is simply ravishing. A castle built practically on the edge of cliffs. Imagine. I hope that with our photos we are able to convey what we saw and felt there.
Canon 5D MarkII
Canon 17-40L @ 17
45-second exposure @F13
Singh-Ray reverse ND grad 0.9
HOYA ND400
LEE filter holder
ISO 50
Visita mi web www.cidreph.com/
What a lovely Sunday..
Here's an overview of the Marina Bay Sands complex in Singapore with its dramatic architecture. Many Singaporean (including taxi drivers) told me that the building's shape is derived from the surf board due to its waterfront location.
Actually, the building's iconic shape is inspired by card decks as envisioned by the architect, Moshe Safdie, an Israeli-born Pritzker Prize winner.
The building has been receiving mix reviews, much like the Oriental Pearl Tower. People either love it or loathe it. I personally like it alot, because it is so stunning and visionary. It looks like a building from a future; and not just a typical rectangular building that has spread across most metropolis around the region..
Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah is known for its dramatic desert landscape carved by the Colorado River. Island in the Sky is a huge, flat-topped mesa with panoramic overlooks. Other notable areas include the towering rock pinnacles known as the Needles, the remote canyons of the Maze and the Native American rock paintings in Horseshoe Canyon. Whitewater rapids flow through Cataract Canyon.
Facts about Expedition Everest:
Expedition EVEREST Disney officially Opened April 7, 2006
This attraction is 200 feet high making it the highest "mountain" in Florida
FASTPASS available (and highly recommended)
44" Height Restriction
Overview: Walt Disney World guests will discover for themselves the fearsome legend of the Yeti when experiencing Expedition EVEREST. This high-speed train adventure combines coaster-like thrills with the excitement of a close encounter with the Abominable Snowman.
The Expedition EVEREST adventure begins when guests board an old mountain railway destined for Mount Everest. As the train heads for the snowy mountain peak, it passes through bamboo forests, waterfalls and fields of glaciers.
The excitement begins when it's discovered that the train tracks end in a twisted wreck of metal. From here, the train careens backwards and forwards through darkness, frigid canyons and treacherous caverns. A face to face encounter with the legendary Yeti (guardian of the Himalayas) brings this tumultuous train ride to its dramatic conclusion.
Animal Kingdom in Orlando Florida 3-20-09
A view from Taurinya, Pyrénées Orientales, France,
Panorama
7305-18B
The Canigou (el. 2,784 m./9137 ft.) is a mountain located in the Catalan Pyrenees of southern France. Due to its sharp flanks and its dramatic location close to the coast, until the 18th century the Canigó was believed to be the highest mountain in the Pyrenees.
It has symbolical significance for Catalan people. On its summit there is a cross that is often decorated with the Catalan flag. Every year on 23 June, the night before St. John's day, there is a ceremony, where a fire is lit at the mountaintop. People keep a vigil during the night and take torches lit on that fire in a spectacular torch relay to light bonfires somewhere else. Some estimates conclude that about 30,000 bonfires are lit in this way all over Catalonia on that night. (wikipedia)
Facts about Expedition Everest:
Expedition EVEREST Disney officially Opened April 7, 2006
This attraction is 200 feet high making it the highest "mountain" in Florida
FASTPASS available (and highly recommended)
44" Height Restriction
Overview: Walt Disney World guests will discover for themselves the fearsome legend of the Yeti when experiencing Expedition EVEREST. This high-speed train adventure combines coaster-like thrills with the excitement of a close encounter with the Abominable Snowman.
The Expedition EVEREST adventure begins when guests board an old mountain railway destined for Mount Everest. As the train heads for the snowy mountain peak, it passes through bamboo forests, waterfalls and fields of glaciers.
The excitement begins when it's discovered that the train tracks end in a twisted wreck of metal. From here, the train careens backwards and forwards through darkness, frigid canyons and treacherous caverns. A face to face encounter with the legendary Yeti (guardian of the Himalayas) brings this tumultuous train ride to its dramatic conclusion.
Animal Kingdom in Orlando Florida 3-20-09
The High Desert of Southern California can, on rare occasions, reveal its dramatic winter colors.
Shot with an old lens, the Sigma Zoom 28-70mm f/2.8
This scene struck me by its dramatic intensity with this incredible confrontation between the Mayan priest and the Fransciscan monk who stops the human sacrifice that was about to be accomplished!
A culture shock remarkably painted!
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Face à face dramatique
Cette scène m'a frappée par son intensité dramatique avec ce face à face incroyable entre le prêtre Maya et le moine fransciscain qui arrête le sacrifice humain qui allait s'accomplir !
Un choc de cultures remarquablement peint !
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Valladolid - Yucatán - Mexique / Mexico
Dramatic Seascape of Straddie 1
Dramatic Seascape of Straddie 3
Dramatic Seascape of Straddie 4
Dramatic Seascape of Straddie 5
Point Lookout headland is an excellent place to witness huge ocean waves crashing onto the North Headland, producing giant wave splashes. These are very dangerous as they can easily wash a tiny human off the cliff out into the ocean in no time at all. Casualties had occurred.
Nevertheless, Point Lookout is one of the best place to view dramatic seascape of the Pacific Ocean in Queensland, with continuous waves crashing onto headlands and into gorges here. Point Lookout is found at the northeastern tip of the island.
North Stradbroke Island (Straddie) is the second largest sand island in the world. Located off the coast of Queensland near to Brisbane, Australia, Straddie is known for its dramatic seascape and shoreline, the bounty sea produce from Moreton Bay, and wildlife both on land and sea.
Queensland also has the largest and third largest sand islands in the world, namely Fraser Island and Moreton Island respectively.
The extension, which took four years to complete, is a sparkling addition to the city’s skyline. With its dramatic, glass-walled spiral staircase, the new wing stands in sharp contrast to its neighbors, the neoclassical Altes Museum and Neue Wache, built by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Pei called on specialists from across Europe to help construct his design: an Irish team built a special supporting framework; parts of the complex staircase were shaped in the Netherlands; he combined French limestone with North American granite and Finnish glass.
Textured
White Sands National Monument is in the northern Chihuahuan Desert in the state of New Mexico. It's known for its dramatic landscape of rare white gypsum sand dunes. Trails through the dunes include the raised Interdune Boardwalk and the Dune Life Nature Trail, dotted with interpretive exhibits on wildlife and other features. Dunes Drive is a looped road from the White Sands Visitor Center to the dune field.
The Ijen National Park situated in East Java near the city of Banyuwangi, is the easternmost volcanic centre in the island of Java, Indonesia. The large caldera complex hosts a large number of volcanic edifices of which Ijen and Raung are the most active. The Ijen crater (Kawah Ijen) contains the world?s largest lakes of highly acid (pH<0.5) and mineralised volcanic water.
Besides its dramatic volcano scenery, Ijen National Park also offers collections of animals such as Javanese porcupine (hystrix brachyuran javanica), and other species of rare trees and flowers commonly grow in tropical rain forest.
In August to September, beautiful edelweiss blooms everywhere in the mountain. Green coffee plantations are variously scattered on the floor of the caldera.
Another photo from Paltuding meeting point: Mt. Papak panorama
Canon EOS 50D + EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
EXIF: 0.008 sec sec • f/14• 10 mm • ISO 160
Exposure Mode + White Balance: Manual
Filters: Lee Soft 3stops
Software: Digital Photo Pro + Adobe Photoshop CS3
Thanks everyone for your visit, comments, critiques, fave,invite..etc. I really appreciate it.
Have a nice weekend :)
The sun is hovering just below the mountain peak slowly making its dramatic ascension over Machu Picchu, Peru.
In the foreground is the temple complex with houses for the nobility. Below on the left is the Popular District, or Residential District, where the lower class people lived. It includes storage buildings and simple houses. The terraces on the right serve as agricultural land, part of a drainage system that deters erosion, an engineering support for a site in earthquake territory.
The half round structure in the middle is a Temple dedicate to Inti, the Inca sun god and greatest deity. On the morning of the summer solstice, light pours into a window of the Temple of the Sun to illuminate a sacred rock that dominates the temple interior.
Pick your favorite to judge!
Anna loved this shoot! this is exactly the type of modeling Anna loves and she really captured the brief. Its dramatic, Dark and still Couture!! i loved it and hope u all feel the same way :)
Dramatic Seascape of Straddie 1
Dramatic Seascape of Straddie 2
Dramatic Seascape of Straddie 3
Dramatic Seascape of Straddie 5
Part of the Whale Rock Blowhole (extending from the right), for when strong wave crash beneath it, it would generate a sound similar to whale blowhole.
North Stradbroke Island (Straddie) is the second largest sand island in the world. Located off the coast of Queensland near to Brisbane, Australia, Straddie is known for its dramatic seascape and shoreline, the bounty sea produce from Moreton Bay, and wildlife both on land and sea.
Queensland also has the largest and third largest sand islands in the world, namely Fraser Island and Moreton Island respectively.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Simon Vouet (French)
1590-1649
Woman Playing a Guitar
ca.1618
Oil on canvas
This alluring depiction of a woman playing a guitar was painted during Voeut's years in Rome and reveals his interest in the work of Caravaggio with its dramatic lighting and psychological engagement with the beholder.Women playing guitars have a long history in European paintings.Seventeenth-century French engravings of modes and manners often shows them,as here,lost in reverie.One dated in 1630 has the caption,"Love Conquers All but Music Does Not Conquer Love."In 1627,Simon Vouet,already famous,returned to Paris to become painter to the king and the dominant force in French painting.
Badlands National Park is in South Dakota. Its dramatic landscapes span layered rock formations, steep canyons and towering spires. Bison, bighorn sheep and prairie dogs inhabit its sprawling grasslands. The Badlands Loop Road (Highway 240) winds past scenic lookouts.
sun setting over the Amalfi Coast
The main town close to the Amalfi Coast is Salerno, the municipalities belonging to its coast are Vietri sul Mare, Cetara, Maiori, Tramonti, Minori, Ravello, Scala, Atrani, Amalfi, Conca dei Marini, Furore, Praiano and Positano. Very close to the territory of the coast (near Furore and Conca dei Marini) is it situated Agerola, located in the Sorrentine Peninsula and belonging to the Province of Naples.
The Amalfi coast is an area of great physical beauty and natural diversity.
Costiera Amalfitana is an outstanding example of a Mediterranean landscape, with exceptional cultural and natural scenic values resulting from its dramatic topography and historical evolution.
Renowned for its rugged terrain, scenic beauty, picturesque towns and diversity, the Amalfi Coast was featured in Positano (1953) by American writer John Steinbeck.
There is a fabulous mountain range in Baja-California, Mexico, on the Sea of Cortez. It rises abruptly directly from sea level and presents a spectacular sight from the shore like a gigantic wall, filled with pillars, towers, and deep narrow canyons. When you live on one of those beaches below this range, it’s impossible not to be spellbound by the Sierra de la Giganta’s magnificence. It glows in the morning and looms in the afternoon; vultures soar in the air all the time and play in the thermals. You can climb into some of its dramatic canyons, but you never get very far.
One never really knows where dreams come from. Maybe birds sowed the seed of inspiration some lifetime ago to fly up there in the blue haze and see, really see what it’s like. One day I strap into my new “Powered Paraglider” and do it.
My takeoff is pretty exciting. There is not much room on the beach, and the wind is too strong for a well-controlled inflation; so I take off like a rocket without even completing one step. But, as always, once I’m in the air the world seems to stay behind. I slip into my little seat, do a downwind turn, and fly away. I turn directly toward the mountains, this dark blue gigantic wall looming in front of me. It is late in the afternoon and I’m flying due west, almost directly into the sun. The mountain range is in deep shadow and all I can see is a massive, unfathomable, featureless wall of intangible dimension and distance. I have to trust my experience to understand that it will actually take a while before I’m really close, and by then I’ll hopefully have gained enough altitude. Looking down, I see my forward motion, but ahead I’m blinded by the sun. I’m flying over the immense shadow the mountain range casts over the desert. My body and my wing are bathed in glaring light and everything ahead and below is in blue, dark shadow. I know it’s still a long way up to the summit, but somehow it feels as if I would crash any moment into this mysterious, featureless wall getting bigger and darker all the time.
When I’m past the first lower peaks at the foot of the range, I begin to see the structure below: furrowed, gnawed rock, vertical towers, bottomless canyons, all in warm pastel colors. Occasionally one of those pillars peeks out of the shadow-zone like a monstrous finger emerging from the dark. There is a mini-plateau, just catching the very last light, a small round area on top of a tower, maybe 30 feet across, totally flat, one cactus on it and two bushes, vertical cliff all around – an island in the sky. I glide by 100 feet away, the wall threatening above.
Suddenly the air gets wild, turbulence boiling up from the shadow below, and I’m busy all over controlling and keeping my attitude and course. I see gigantic canyons below, and the gusts come funneling along them, throwing me around. I would feel better if I could see more. The blue wall looms, threatening, so close now that it’s really hard not to pull away. A cool eerie radiation comes from the darkness, a mysterious presence.
Sometimes I feel violent updrafts. When the wing catches more lift on one side than the other my whole harness distorts, my body bends. I feel the air with my whole body. Then again I’m terribly convinced that I’m falling with increasing speed into the dark abyss underneath. I keep my eyes on the rim above to gauge my climbing progress. It’s scary at times, but then I really feel the air, I fly with it, it’s wonderful. I’m a leaf blown up by a gust, played by the wind.
I must still be climbing, even though it’s hard to believe. It gets so wild that I finally ease away and go more parallel to the range for a while. I see less rugged terrain under me and the air gets a bit calmer. What I thought to be the summit ridge turns out to be just a huge flake, leaning away from the real ridge, still about 500 feet higher. I fly between it and the final crest, the air is clean now, the tension ceases, I’m there. A few more minutes and the horizon in the west becomes visible; I’m over it.
I fly circle after circle. There is the other coast, the Pacific Ocean, the surf glistening in the distance, some 50 miles away. And the ridge is not a ridge but a large plateau, a mesa, several hundred feet across. (Wouldn’t that be something to land up there one day?) I finally throttle back and glide over the crest. Mountains everywhere, like sand dunes, golden in the sun, shadows carving into the valleys. The sea looks like velvet.
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The Colorado River is the principal river of the Southwestern United States and northwest Mexico. The 1,450-mile (2,330 km) river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. and two Mexican states. Rising in the central Rocky Mountains in the U.S., the river flows generally southwest across the Colorado Plateau and through the Grand Canyon before reaching Lake Mead on the Arizona–Nevada line, where it turns south toward the international border. After entering Mexico, the Colorado approaches the large Colorado River Delta where it naturally emptied into the Gulf of California between Baja California and Sonora, though it no longer reaches its delta or the sea.
Known for its dramatic canyons and whitewater rapids, the Colorado is a vital source of water for agricultural and urban areas in the southwestern desert lands of North America. The river and its tributaries are controlled by an extensive system of dams, reservoirs, and aqueducts, which divert 90% of its water in the U.S. alone to furnish irrigation and municipal water supply for almost 40 million people both inside and outside the watershed. The Colorado's large flow and steep gradient are used for generating hydroelectric power, and its major dams regulate peaking power demands in much of the Intermountain West. Since the mid-20th century, intensive water consumption has dried the lower 100 miles (160 km) of the river such that it has not consistently reached the sea since the 1960s.
Beginning with small bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers, Native Americans have inhabited the Colorado River basin for at least 8,000 years. Between 2,000 and 1,000 years ago, the river and its tributaries fostered large agricultural civilizations, which may have been some of the most sophisticated indigenous cultures in North America. These societies are believed to have collapsed because of a combination of severe drought and poor land use practices. Most native peoples that inhabit the basin today are descended from other groups that settled in the region beginning about 1,000 years ago. Europeans first entered the Colorado Basin in the 16th century, when explorers from Spain began mapping and claiming the area, which later became part of Mexico upon its independence in 1821. Early contact between foreigners and natives was generally limited to the fur trade in the headwaters and sporadic trade interactions along the lower river.
After the greater Colorado River basin became part of the U.S. in 1846, the bulk of the river's course was still largely the subject of myths and speculation. Several expeditions charted the Colorado in the mid-19th century, one of which, led by John Wesley Powell in 1869, was the first to run the rapids of the Grand Canyon. American explorers collected valuable information that would later be used to develop the river for navigation and water supply. Large-scale settlement of the lower basin began in the mid- to late-19th century, with steamboats providing transportation from the Gulf of California to landings along the Colorado River that linked to wagon roads into the interior of New Mexico Territory. Lesser numbers settled in the upper basin, which was the scene of major gold strikes in Arizona and Nevada in the 1860s and 1870s.
Major engineering of the river basin began around the start of the 20th century, with many guidelines established in a series of domestic and international treaties known as the "Law of the River". The U.S. federal government was the main driving force behind the construction of hydraulic engineering projects in the river system, although many state and local water agencies were also involved. Most of the major dams in the river basin were built between 1910 and 1970, and the system keystone, Hoover Dam, was completed in 1935. The Colorado is now considered among the most controlled and litigated rivers in the world, with every drop of its water fully allocated.
The damming and diversion of the Colorado River system have been flashpoint issues for the environmental movement in the American Southwest because of their impacts on the ecology and natural beauty of the river and its tributaries. During the construction of Glen Canyon Dam, environmental organizations vowed to block any further development of the river, and a number of later dam and aqueduct proposals were defeated by citizen opposition. As demands for Colorado River water continue to rise, the level of human development and control of the river continues to generate controversy.
The Colorado begins at La Poudre Pass in the Southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado, at more than 2 miles (3 km) above sea level. After a short run south, the river turns west below Grand Lake, the largest natural lake in the state. For the first 250 miles (400 km) of its course, the Colorado carves its way through the mountainous Western Slope, a sparsely populated region defined by the portion of the state west of the Continental Divide. As it flows southwest, it gains strength from many small tributaries, as well as larger ones including the Blue, Eagle and Roaring Fork rivers. After passing through De Beque Canyon, the Colorado emerges from the Rockies into the Grand Valley, a major farming and ranching region where it meets one of its largest tributaries, the Gunnison River, at Grand Junction. Most of the upper river is a swift whitewater stream ranging from 200 to 500 feet (60 to 150 m) wide, the depth ranging from 6 to 30 feet (2 to 9 m), with a few notable exceptions, such as the Blackrocks reach where the river is nearly 100 feet (30 m) deep. In a few areas, such as the marshy Kawuneeche Valley near the headwaters and the Grand Valley, it exhibits braided characteristics.
Arcing northwest, the Colorado begins to cut across the eponymous Colorado Plateau, a vast area of high desert centered at the Four Corners of the southwestern United States. Here, the climate becomes significantly drier than that in the Rocky Mountains, and the river becomes entrenched in progressively deeper gorges of bare rock, beginning with Ruby Canyon and then Westwater Canyon as it enters Utah, now once again heading southwest. Farther downstream it receives the Dolores River and defines the southern border of Arches National Park, before passing Moab and flowing through "The Portal", where it exits the Moab Valley between a pair of 1,000-foot (300 m) sandstone cliffs.
In Utah the Colorado flows primarily through the "slickrock" country; characterized by its narrow canyons and unique "folds" created by the tilting of sedimentary rock layers along faults, this is one of the most inaccessible regions of the continental United States. Below the confluence with the Green River, its largest tributary, in Canyonlands National Park, the Colorado enters Cataract Canyon, named for its dangerous rapids, and then Glen Canyon, known for its arches and erosion-sculpted Navajo sandstone formations. Here, the San Juan River, carrying runoff from the southern slope of Colorado's San Juan Mountains, joins the Colorado from the east. The Colorado then enters northern Arizona, where since the 1960s Glen Canyon Dam near Page has flooded the Glen Canyon reach of the river, forming Lake Powell for water supply and hydroelectricity generation.
A narrow river flows through a narrow gorge flanked by high rocky bluffs
In Arizona, the river passes Lee's Ferry, an important crossing for early explorers and settlers and since the early 20th century the principal point where Colorado River flows are measured for apportionment to the seven U.S. and two Mexican states in the basin. Downstream, the river enters Marble Canyon, the beginning of the Grand Canyon, passing under the Navajo Bridges on a now southward course. Below the confluence with the Little Colorado River, the river swings west into Granite Gorge, the most dramatic portion of the Grand Canyon, where the river cuts up to one mile (1.6 km) into the Colorado Plateau, exposing some of the oldest visible rocks on Earth, dating as long ago as 2 billion years. The 277 miles (446 km) of the river that flow through the Grand Canyon are largely encompassed by Grand Canyon National Park and are known for their difficult whitewater, separated by pools that reach up to 110 feet (34 m) in depth.
At the lower end of Grand Canyon, the Colorado widens into Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the continental United States, formed by Hoover Dam on the border of Arizona and Nevada. Situated southeast of metropolitan Las Vegas, the dam is an integral component for management of the Colorado River, controlling floods and storing water for farms and cities in the lower Colorado River basin. Below the dam the river passes under the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge – which at nearly 900 feet (270 m) above the water is the highest concrete arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere – and then turns due south towards Mexico, defining the Arizona–Nevada and Arizona–California borders.
After leaving the confines of the Black Canyon, the river emerges from the Colorado Plateau into the Lower Colorado River Valley (LCRV), a desert region dependent on irrigation agriculture and tourism and also home to several major Indian reservations. The river widens here to a broad, moderately deep waterway averaging 500 to 1,000 feet (150 to 300 m) wide and reaching up to 1⁄4 mile (400 m) across, with depths ranging from 8 to 60 feet (2 to 20 m). Before channelization of the Colorado in the 20th century, the lower river was subject to frequent course changes caused by seasonal flow variations. Joseph C. Ives, who surveyed the lower river in 1861, wrote that "the shifting of the channel, the banks, the islands, the bars is so continual and rapid that a detailed description, derived from the experiences of one trip, would be found incorrect, not only during the subsequent year, but perhaps in the course of a week, or even a day."
The LCRV is one of the most densely populated areas along the river, and there are numerous towns including Bullhead City, Arizona, Needles, California, and Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Here, many diversions draw from the river, providing water for both local uses and distant regions including the Salt River Valley of Arizona and metropolitan Southern California. The last major U.S. diversion is at Imperial Dam, where over 90 percent of the river's remaining flow is moved into the All-American Canal to irrigate California's Imperial Valley, the most productive winter agricultural region in the United States.
Below Imperial Dam, only a small portion of the Colorado River makes it beyond Yuma, Arizona, and the confluence with the intermittent Gila River – which carries runoff from western New Mexico and most of Arizona – before defining about 24 miles (39 km) of the Mexico–United States border. At Morelos Dam, the entire remaining flow of the Colorado is diverted to irrigate the Mexicali Valley, among Mexico's most fertile agricultural lands. Below San Luis Río Colorado, the Colorado passes entirely into Mexico, defining the Baja California–Sonora border; in most years, the stretch of the Colorado between here and the Gulf of California is dry or a trickle formed by irrigation return flows. The Hardy River provides most of the flow into the Colorado River Delta, a vast alluvial floodplain covering about 3,000 square miles (7,800 km2) of northwestern Mexico. A large estuary is formed here before the Colorado empties into the Gulf about 75 miles (120 km) south of Yuma. Before 20th-century development dewatered the lower Colorado, a major tidal bore was present in the delta and estuary; the first historical record was made by the Croatian missionary in Spanish service Father Ferdinand Konščak on July 18, 1746. During spring tide conditions, the tidal bore – locally called El Burro – formed in the estuary about Montague Island in Baja California and propagated upstream.
The Colorado is joined by over 25 significant tributaries, of which the Green River is the largest by both length and discharge. The Green takes drainage from the Wind River Range of west-central Wyoming, from Utah's Uinta Mountains, and from the Rockies of northwestern Colorado. The Gila River is the second longest and drains a greater area than the Green, but has a significantly lower flow because of a more arid climate and larger diversions for irrigation and cities. Both the Gunnison and San Juan rivers, which derive most of their water from Rocky Mountains snowmelt, contribute more water than the Gila did naturally.
In its natural state, the Colorado River poured about 16.3 million acre feet (20.1 km3) into the Gulf of California each year, amounting to an average flow rate of 22,500 cubic feet per second (640 m3/s). Its flow regime was not at all steady – indeed, "prior to the construction of federal dams and reservoirs, the Colorado was a river of extremes like no other in the United States." Once, the river reached peaks of more than 100,000 cubic feet per second (2,800 m3/s) in the summer and low flows of less than 2,500 cubic feet per second (71 m3/s) in the winter annually. At Topock, Arizona, about 300 miles (480 km) upstream from the Gulf, a maximum historical discharge of 384,000 cubic feet per second (10,900 m3/s) was recorded in 1884 and a minimum of 422 cubic feet per second (11.9 m3/s) was recorded in 1935. In contrast, the regulated discharge rates on the lower Colorado below Hoover Dam rarely exceed 35,000 cubic feet per second (990 m3/s) or drop below 4,000 cubic feet per second (110 m3/s). Annual runoff volume has ranged from a high of 22.2 million acre feet (27.4 km3) in 1984 to a low of 3.8 million acre feet (4.7 km3) in 2002, although in most years only a small portion of this flow, if any, reaches the Gulf.
The average annual discharge of the Colorado River has shown a slight but noticeable decreasing trend between 1895 and 2004.
Annual Colorado River discharge volumes at Lee's Ferry between 1895 and 2004
Between 85 and 90 percent of the Colorado River's discharge originates in snowmelt, mostly from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming. The three major upper tributaries of the Colorado – the Gunnison, Green, and San Juan – alone deliver almost 9 million acre feet (11 km3) per year to the main stem, mostly from snowmelt. The remaining 10 to 15 percent comes from a variety of sources, principally groundwater base flow and summer monsoon storms. The latter often produces heavy, highly localized floods on lower tributaries of the river, but does not often contribute significant volumes of runoff. Most of the annual runoff in the basin occurs with the melting of Rocky Mountains snowpack, which begins in April and peaks during May and June before exhausting in late July or early August.
Flows at the mouth have steadily declined since the beginning of the 20th century, and in most years after 1960 the Colorado River has run dry before reaching the sea. Irrigation, industrial, and municipal diversions, evaporation from reservoirs, natural runoff, and likely climate change have all contributed to this substantial reduction in flow, threatening the future water supply. For example, the Gila River – formerly one of the Colorado's largest tributaries – contributes little more than a trickle in most years due to use of its water by cities and farms in central Arizona. The average flow rate of the Colorado at the northernmost point of the Mexico–United States border (NIB, or Northerly International Boundary) is about 2,060 cubic feet per second (58 m3/s), 1.49 million acre feet (1.84 km3) per year – less than a 10th of the natural flow – due to upstream water use. Below here, all of the remaining flow is diverted to irrigate the Mexicali Valley, leaving a dry riverbed from Morelos Dam to the sea that is supplemented by intermittent flows of irrigation drainage water. There have been exceptions, however, namely in the early to mid-1980s, when the Colorado once again reached the sea during several consecutive years of record-breaking precipitation and snowmelt. In 1984, so much excess runoff occurred that some 16.5 million acre feet (20.4 km3), or 22,860 cubic feet per second (647 m3/s), poured into the sea.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) operates or has operated 46 stream gauges to measure the discharge of the Colorado River, ranging from the headwaters near Grand Lake to the Mexico–U.S. border. The tables at right list data associated with eight of these gauges. River flows as gauged at Lee's Ferry, Arizona, about halfway along the length of the Colorado and 16 miles (26 km) below Glen Canyon Dam, are used to determine water allocations in the Colorado River basin. The average discharge recorded there was approximately 14,800 cubic feet per second (420 m3/s), 10.72 million acre feet (13.22 km3) per year, from 1921 to 2010. This figure has been heavily affected by upstream diversions and reservoir evaporation, especially after the completion of the Colorado River Storage Project in the 1970s. Prior to the completion of Glen Canyon Dam in 1964, the average discharge recorded between 1912 and 1962 was 17,850 cubic feet per second (505 m3/s), 12.93 million acre feet (15.95 km3) per year.
from Wikipedia
This intricate grave attracted my attention while shooting at a church in Alsager and its dramatic appearance under these lighting conditions meant I had to do something with it. Shot with a 20 second exposure and lighting from my phone from the lower left of frame. No editing, SOOC.
Iceland, a Nordic island nation, is defined by its dramatic landscape with volcanoes, geysers, hot springs and lava fields. Massive glaciers are protected in Vatnajökull and Snæfellsjökull national parks. Most of the population lives in the capital, Reykjavik, which runs on geothermal power and is home to the National and Saga museums, tracing Iceland’s Viking history. Iceland is it the most sparsely populated country in Europe.
Culzean Castle (/kʌˈleɪn/ kul-LAYN, see yogh; Scots: Cullain is a castle near Maybole, Carrick, on the Ayrshire coast of Scotland. It is the former home of the Marquess of Ailsa, the chief of Clan Kennedy, but is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The clifftop castle lies within the Culzean Castle Country Park and is opened to the public. Since 1987, an illustration of the castle has featured on the reverse side of five pound notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland.
With its dramatic clifftop setting, Robert Adam architecture, fascinating history and beautiful surroundings, it's easy to see why Culzean Castle is one of Scotland’s most popular visitor attractions.
Surrounded by Culzean Country Park, a 242 hectare estate encompassing lush woodland, landscaped gardens and rugged coastline, this 18th-century Scottish castle couldn’t be better placed for a family day out.
You could easily spend an entire day exploring the country park alone, but with so many treasure-filled rooms to see inside the castle, it’s well worth making time to enjoy both elements of this magnificent historic attraction.
"Masada" 2008 acrylic, accretians, ceramic & glass shards, a pottery shard from Beit Guvrin, and seashells on canvas on board. 16.5 x 26.5"
According to Josephus Flavius, Herod the Great built the fortress of Masada between 37 and 31 BCE. Herod, an Idumean, had been made King of Judea by his Roman overlords and was hated by his Jewish subjects. Herod, the master builder, “furnished this fortress as a refuge for himself.” It included a casemate wall around the plateau, storehouses, large cisterns ingeniously filled with rainwater, barracks, palaces and an armory.
Some 75 years after Herod’s death, at the beginning of the Revolt of the Jews against the Romans in 66 CE, a group of Jewish rebels overcame the Roman garrison of Masada. After the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple (70 CE) they were joined by zealots and their families who had fled from Jerusalem. With Masada as their base, they raided and harassed the Romans for two years. Then, in 73 CE, the Roman governor Flavius Silva marched against Masada with the Tenth Legion, auxiliary units and thousands of Jewish prisoners-of-war. The Romans established camps at the base of Masada, laid siege to it and built a circumvallation wall. They then constructed a rampart of thousands of tons of stones and beaten earth against the western approaches of the fortress and, in the spring of the year 74 CE, moved a battering ram up the ramp and breached the wall of the fortress.
Josephus Flavius dramatically recounts the story told him by two surviving women. The defenders – almost one thousand men, women and children – led by Eleazar ben Ya’ir, decided to burn the fortress and end their own lives, rather than be taken alive. “And so met (the Romans) with the multitude of the slain, but could take no pleasure in the fact, though it were done to their enemies. Nor could they do other than wonder at the courage of their resolution, and at the immovable contempt of death which so great a number of them had shown, when they went through with such an action as that was.”
The Zealots cast lots to choose 10 men to kill the remainder. They then chose among themselves the one man who would kill the survivors. That last Jew then killed himself.
The heroic story of Masada and its dramatic end attracted many explorers to the Judean desert in attempts to locate the remains of the fortress. The site was identified in 1842, but intensive excavations took place only in 1963-65, with the help of hundreds of enthusiastic volunteers from Israel and from many foreign countries, eager to participate in this exciting archeological venture. To them and to Israelis, Masada symbolizes the determination of the Jewish people to be free in its own land.
Best viewed Large on Black
From inside the tower, the arch was too dark to be recorded properly so I used the flash to illuminate it. The Mutianyu section of The Great Wall is situated 56 miles (90km) north of Beijing and is known for its dramatic mountainous setting, fewer visitors and its less intrusive tourist industry. With a series of watchtowers along its recently restored length, the wall you can see here dates from 1368 and was built upon the foundations of a wall built during the Northern Qi Dynasty (AD 550-577).
Featured in Worldwide Photography #19: Beijing
A view on the neighbourhood of Eminönü, of the Tuskish metropole Istanbul and the uphill situated Süleymaniye Mosque, located on the Third Hill.
The Golden Horn (Turkish: Haliç or Altın Boynuz) is an inlet of the Bosphorus dividing the city of Istanbul and forming the natural harbor that has sheltered Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and other ships for thousands of years. It is a scimitar-shaped estuary that joins the Bosphorus just at the point where that strait enters the Sea of Marmara, thus forming a peninsula the tip of which is "Old Istanbul" (ancient Byzantion and Constantinople). The designation "golden" is obscure, while its Turkish name Haliç simply means "estuary". It has witnessed many tumultuous historical incidents, and its dramatic vistas have been the subject of countless works of art.
The Golden Horn is a flooded prehistoric estuary. It is 7.5 kilometers long and is 750 meters across at its widest. Its maximum depth, where it flows into the Bosphorus, is about 35 meters. It is today spanned by four bridges. Moving downstream, the first is the Haliç Bridge, literally Estuary Bridge. The former Galata Bridge was damaged by a fire in 1992; it was moved to the second position in pieces, re-assembled, and restored as the Eski Galata Bridge, literally Old Galata Bridge. The third one is the Atatürk (Unkapanı) Bridge. The current Galata Bridge was completed in 1994. A fifth bridge is currently under construction to connect the subway lines of the Istanbul Metro to the north and south of the Golden Horn.
This picture is taken from the fourth bridge, the current Galata Bridge. There is space under the bridge where all kind of restaurants, bars and cafes are situated, and a lovely boardwalk, from where this picture is taken.
InterContinental, Hong Kong
Recognised as one of the world's top hotels, InterContinental Hong Kong is renowned for its dramatic location on the Kowloon waterfront, with spectacular views of Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong Island. Located on the edge of Victoria Harbour in the Tsim Sha Tsui area, the hotel is convenient to Kowloon’s business, entertainment and shopping districts and all forms of transportation.
香港洲際酒店
香港洲際酒店認可為世界頂級酒店之一，位於香港九龍尖沙咀東海旁，盡覽維多利亞港和香港島的壯麗景色。娛樂, 購物和交通都很方便。
Please view in large size^^
With its dramatic skyline of tall chimneystacks and fanciful octagonal turrets, Melford Hall is one of the finest and most satisfying Elizabethan houses in the East of England.
It stands beside the River Chad, at the northern end of Long Melford, a village noted for its wide village green leading up to the great perpendicular church.
Melford Hall is a mellow red brick house largely of the 16th century. It incorporates part of a medieval building held by the Abbots of Bury St Edmunds. They had used it as a seat for pleasure and relaxation from before 1065 until 1539.
Melford Hall's subsequent owner, Sir William Cordell, was a 'new man' of his time, and one of the most hospitable country gentlemen in Suffolk. He entertained Queen Elizabeth I at Melford Hall in 1578.
The 1580 map of Melford appears to show a rectangular house of four ranges laid out around a central courtyard. After an unsettled period, which included its looting during the Civil War, Melford Hall changed shape under the supervision of Sir Cordell Firebrace.
Firebrace, a descendant of the Cordells, removed the gatehouse wing, which formed the fourth side of the house, in about 1740. Left standing was the U-shaped building we see today.
A naval dynasty
Since 1786, Melford Hall has been the home of the Hyde Parkers, one of Britain’s most distinguished naval families.
In the early 19th century, Sir William Parker, 7th Baronet, and Sir Hyde Parker, 8th Baronet, commissioned the architect Thomas Hopper to remodel a number of Melford Hall's interiors in an austere Grecian style.
In 1813, Sir William Parker focussed his attentions on the Hall, Staircase and Library. And, in the 1840s Sir Hyde Parker invited Hopper back to complete the Drawing Room and double-height Saloon in the North Wing.
In the 1860s Sir William Parker, 9th Baronet, decided to re-cast Melford Hall in antiquarian guise. He carried out a number of alterations intended to evoke its medieval atmosphere.
The fire
During the Second World War, Melford Hall was requisitioned by the army. In 1942, a disastrous fire broke out in the North Wing, gutting it and destroying the roofs of the central wing.
In a far sighted act of preservation, unusual for the time, Sir William Hyde Parker, 11th Baronet, restored the house with the help of the architect Professor Sir Albert Richardson.
The interiors of the North Wing, including the Hyde Parker (Dining) Room, were re-built in a pared-down classical style. This new departure in design owed much to the Scandinavian inspired taste of Lady Ulla Hyde Parker, wife of the 11th Baronet.
Melford Hall, along with its 130 acres of parkland, was transferred to the National Trust in 1960.
For further information, please visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/...
The fabulous Palo Duro Canyon is second in size only to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The Palo Duro Canyon, located in the Texas panhandle, holds much beauty and interesting terrain. I really like the way the earth in the canyon turns red as the sun sets.
I attempted to capture the vast open area in this panoramic image. Notice the highway that traverses the canyon in this image.
From Wikipedia:
Palo Duro Canyon is a canyon system of the Caprock Escarpment located in the Texas Panhandle near the city of Amarillo, Texas, United States. As the second largest canyon in the United States, it is roughly 60 mi (97 km) long and has an average width of 6 mi (9.7 km), but reaches a width of 20 mi (32 km) at places. Its depth is around 820 ft (250 m), but in some locations it can increase up to 997 ft (304 m). Palo Duro Canyon (from the Spanish meaning "hard wood") has been named "The Grand Canyon of Texas" both for its size and for its dramatic geological features, including the multicolored layers of rock and steep mesa walls similar to those in the Grand Canyon.
The canyon was formed by the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River, which initially winds along the level surface of the Llano Estacado of West Texas, then suddenly and dramatically runs off the Caprock Escarpment. Water erosion over the millennia has shaped the canyon's geological formations.
Dramatic Skies Frame the US Air Force Memorial
Arlington County, Northern Virginia
Accessed via VA-244 Columbia Pike
Date Taken: January 28, 2012
Situated atop a promontory--a mass of land overlooking lower areas and/or bodies of water, in this case across the Potomac River and out towards the cityscape of Washington DC--the United States Air Force Memorial is located in Arlington County, Northern Virginia adjacent to the Pentagon (right of this shot) and the Arlington National Cemetery (left of this shot). The vertical elements at around two-hundred and seventy feet in height were meant to evoke feelings of soaring and flight, while the number three was symbolic of the Air Force's three core values: integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do. Each spire was designed by architect, James Ingo Freed, to be constructed of stainless steel with minimal joining techniques, arcing towards the sky with different heights respectively, allowing the monument to subtely change in appearance with corresponding changes in the viewers location and perception.
I often trick myself into thinking that because I shoot landscape photography I have the luxury of time: time to compose my shot, time to tinker with my settings, time to snap a few takes and ensure that I get the proper exposure, composition and effect. However, no different than the quick changes of a person's expression in portrait photography or the movement in a sports action shot, the landscape is dynamic and changes both subtely and dramatically during the course of a single exposure. This is amplified when shooting at dawn or dusk where a single exposure can be several minutes plus write time from the sensor to the memory card. I had one shot (literally and metaphorically) at this scene and I didn't quite capture it the way I wanted. The spires have a lean from lens distortion and compositional placement; the third spire is blocked by the one in front; the exposure was not on the money and so forth and so on. By the time I exposed and reviewed this picture the clouds were largely gone and the sky lost its dramatic tone. Landscape photography, especially at the extremes of morning and night, can be very dynamic and the windows of opportunity for capturing that 'one' great image can be very slim. It is these very situations that make photography exciting for me, and which incite appreciation and respect from me when I see it all come together in others' photographs.