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mamanars02 · 3 years ago

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I AM PROFESSIONALLY CONNED BY MY HUSBAND A SELF PROCLAIMED GOOD GUY Oo day, ang Ganda ko pero naloko ng pangit. Pano ba nangyare? Ganito bhie, Mahaba ang kwento pero di kasinghaba ng titi ng asawa ko. Year 2011, I met my husband in KSA. I am still young back then, and still madly inlove with my year LDR boyfriend. My husband courted me, even though he is aware I was in a relationship, he tried. He befriended me and since he proclaimed himself as a very good guy with some flaws in life, being a father of a teenage girl, so, I thought back then, OMG he was such an honest GUY. OO, naniwala ako, uto uto ang peg. Then, my 7 year relationship ended. Chance nya na.. Grab the opportunity ginawa ng Lolo nyo. Brokenhearted, I gave my husband a chance. Brokenhearted, I made a choice to give in to him, sexually, in KSA (di ako malibog, nagtry Lang ang gaga, bilis nga, di ako nasiyahan.) He proposed to me then on, not in a very romantic way as I would like to imagine. He just handed me the ring and just said the word, Marry Me. (Walang ka sweet sweet, kahit I sang langgam di malasahan and proposal kasi Walang tamis) But I am so young back then,fresh pa ako bhie, and he is 11 years older than me, gurang na sya in short. Kinilig pa rin ako (or pinaniwala ko sarili ko siguro that time) , even though my heart sank hoping he would have proposed formally. We planned our wedding, but he is not that participative. Parang, o sya, planuhin MO lahat aatend Lang ako. It is like I am marrying myself alone, but when it comes to meeting me, to have sex with me, I can feel the excitement he is showing me (wagas ang libog ng Lolo nyo) . His family never did the traditional pamamanhikan nor meeting my parents to pay respect for taking my hand in marriage. How ignorant of me in those times. I guess I am really blinded by the old guy. He just called my parents through phone and say, “Hello Nay, Tay, I would like to marry your daughter.” and conversation ended. I felt the pain and hesitancy of my parents back then. Their anxiety and fear for me, their one and only princess, being taken by this middle age guy, a total stranger who never came to meet them. I am a fucking asshole. My family ignored those facts and questions in their mind. They love me, and they saw the excitement and happiness that I am getting married. (I am so lucky with my parents) As months has passed, I started doubting myself to get married to him, I noticed some flaws. I started to feel being used as a trophy girlfriend, a sexual object. Parausan Lang feel gurl??? I was ready to end our relationship, and the unfortunate event happened. Our affair has been reported by our fellow Filipino colleagues. I was so scared and helpless, afraid of getting jailed and deported. I am not ready to become a young jobless woman. My siblings need me, financially to support their studies. I can’t afford seeing my siblings’ future taken away because of my stupidity. Gaga kasi, gurl. Yan ang napala ng pag explore. So, I got married in an instant, in the Philippine Embassy of Riyadh. The place where Filipino couples getting married in a conservative, strict country like KSA. I got married in a rush, without the presence of my family. Me… Alone… And that’s how my husband had the chance to con me. Pano ba? Sexually,.. Hmmmm… He drained all the youth in me, wow.. Maka drain Lang eh no? Having me in bed almost every day and night, Kung pwede nya ako chukchakin ng 5 beses, ay gagawin nya.. Nakuha nya kasi ambata eh. I am not sexually accomplished, but I pretended to be. He is harsh at times, he wanted to see how I react. His foreplays are rough. And I want it to end, so I did my role of being sexually in to it. I dreamed to be a good wife. A wife that will fulfill my husband’s needs, physically, sexually, emotionally, even financially. I wanted to become a mother as well, so we got pregnant in one try. I thought he will become a caring husband, an excited father to be thought it is not his first time. But, in the first check up I had, he

chose to spend his time with his so called friends rather than assisting me and be with me in my first ultrasound. I was hurt. I never expected that. Mabait sya, my mind says. Months has passed, my pregnancy is very much stable. Still working tough even on my 38th week. Malakas to, bhie.. In those months together, he was insisting on taking bank loans. I am hesistant. I am not the type of person who likes to have UTANG because I want my salary complete. However, he had me say Yes. I took a loan and it was approved because my salary is high enough to meet their required scale. Just like that, when I received the loan, he took charge of it. Sent the money to his parents, telling me they will starts to build a house for us in their place. Since I believed their words, I just went on with the flow, not knowing his father is taking a Chunk of money as well to gamble. I was able to deliver my first child normally. I was such a happy proud mother. He is as well but since having a child in KSA is difficult without having someone to take care of my son. We have to sacrifice and send our son home to the Philippines. It was my first, greatest heartache and it will always be until now. I tried to be strong for my child’s future and my husband is giving 500 riyals share for my son monthly out of the 4000 riyals he is receiving from his salary, while I share 2000 riyals, Mas Madatung ako eh.. I did not bother to ask for more not unless it is my son’s birthday or it is Christmas time. Di ako demanding, Promise. Because I tried to understand his situation that he has another child to feed and my salary is higher. The loan I took, I am paying 2/3 of it monthly, while he shares 1/3 of it. Trying hard ako maging perpekto ng asawa. Every vacation we will divide our weeks from my place to his place. Nevertheless, another ill fated event occurred. We had a fight in his place. And his father suddenly involved himself in our argument and threw us out from their place, in the house I spent my money with which his father gambled as well. Lakas ng loob Kaya sigawan kami, PUTANG INa LUMAYAS KAYO DITO! Ako naman, e di layas. Masunuring Bata. He let his father throw us out in the middle of the night. Yet, I am strong (though sa utak ko, tang Ina pigilan MO naman ako asawa ko, and my situation be like, ASA KA GURL). So, I took my siblings with me and went to our relatives house. I could not fathom the fact that he let me wander in the middle of the night with my siblings. Parang, bahala ka kahit mamatay ka situation. Ganon. Nonetheless, ignorant me. We patched things up, I could not let my child grow up with a broken family. And the same goes by. My life revolved with same routine. Giving money, covering my child’s expenses and I let it all happen. My mistake,maganda pero gaga naman.. I believed in him. Really. Sabi nya kasi mabait sya. With the pangako also to fix the ownership of our house. (Asa PA more, ne.) And there it goes. Years passed, I got employed by a better employer in Saudi, higher salary. And again, he convinced me with another loan. And I gave in, tanga Lang pero maganda. Yan nalang pakonswelo sa sarili, pagbigyan na. So, I gave half of my loan to my husband. Then, I don’t know how cursed I am or him? His contract ended. Though there is a new employer willing to take him in. He refused. He said, he wanted to be with our son.. Ayyyy… natouch ako dun, gurl. So, I let him go back to Philippines, with investment plans, business plans and all even having a baby. Dami naming drawing, ay. Hanggang drawing Lang pala. Even, going home and taking care of our son, drawing din ay. Umasa ang Bata sa wala.. I did not oblige him to give monetary assistance to our son since July 2020 for the fact that, I wanted him to save the money he received from his severance pay in order to add up to our planned investments (planned talaga Yun, planado.. Planado nyang isugal at waldasin. ) Moreover, with cash assistance from me until he left to Philippines. Sugar mommy Lang.. Kagwapo ba? Hindi,

pangit po talaga asawa ko. Nabudol Lang talaga ako. When he arrived in taguig, first 2 months he is okay. That even when, he even asked for 100k, nag pauto uli ang gaga, PAK! MONEY TRANSFER, automatic ako bhie.. He said everything is going according to plan. (according to plan pala Para magwaldas) until, the mid of December 2020, he started having mood shifts, parang lalaking nireregla, inaaway ako tapos aamu-in kasi gusto ng cybersex. I tried to be more understanding, ang bait ko Kaya, because maybe because of LDR situation and the stress of pandemic. In spite of the mood swings, the indirect accusations and his possessive behaviors shows. From 2011 to 2020, of course, medyo kilala mo naman asawa mo e no.. From the eve of my birthday December 23, to the day of my birthday December 24, Pati pasko hang gang New Year. He was so fucking possessive that all I could do was to have a video call on him almost 24hours a day. If he wants cybersex, I have to give in, I have to show my body and play with it. Pokpok na pakiramdam ko.. Medyo first class naman siguro. Because if not, he will accuse me of having an affair. Speaking, he even says I have a man beside me and he hears the voices of the man. And me like, WHAAAAT??? My momo ba sa kwarto ko? And take note, he records our video calls. Then early January 2021, I was surprised by a post of a stranger to my FB account on my son’s picture, accusing my husband, a theft, a con man, stating ‘that your husband namely BLAH BLAH Blah owes me a 100k and promised to pay me back but he did not, you’re a family of thieves and so on. ‘ Nawindang ako, bhie. Agad Agad, delete post, teng ene.. Sa picture pa ng gwapo Kong anak. I confronted my husband, sya pa galit bhie and gradually, he admitted that he owes money to some people, and he cashed out all the money to his friends, and alcohols and gambling. BABAE? Meron ba?? Malay ko.. So, Nothing left. That’s when I thought, Kaya pala Kung ano ano akusasyon kasi sya mismo may kalokohang ginagawa. DEFENSE MECHANISM USED – PROJECTION Again, supportive wife here (tanga Lang, day, wishing ba) I said, it’s okay, it’s only money and so on. And I gave almost 40k just to have an end and have him start again to apply for jobs. I gave him links and ads and places to apply back abroad. Pero, ASA PA MORE. Waley.. Despite of what happened, the endless fight, accusations pa more, and demanding for money did not end. The messages of people I don’t know kept coming-in in my messenger. And my vacation day is here! I was very excited to be with him and make a baby. But fuck him, kahit sa eroplano iharap ko daw cp ko sa bawat taong katabi ko, gago sya. Para akong tangang inikot ang cp. And he was not satisfied at all, tagalan ko daw iharap ang cam.. E di wow, wag na.. Awayin nalang nya ako kesa ireklamo ako ng passengers. And hello Philippines during pandemic, quarantined in a high standard hotel. And of course, my great husband wants to barge-in in my hotel, because sabi nya I have a a lalake in my room.. May nakikita daw at naririnig, and me be like, Saan banda sa kwarto yang nakikita MO? Like, I really wants to see and hear it as well. Kaya, e di wow uli.. Ang lakas ko naman sa OWWA at coast guard Para bumali ng quarantine protocol.. I really tried.. I tried… and I tried… and I tried to fix our marriage… message after message of people I never knew and people I knew hoping I would be the one to pay the debts of my VERY GOOD HUSBAND, still surprises me. To the point that, Even looking at my messenger or FB gave me a phobia. I am so helpless.. Like, sheeeet… anong nangyare gurl? Saan ako kakapit. And my husband even wants to take charge of my son’s bank.. But no way..! LIKE TAMA NA, ULOL.! LALABAN ANG INA! BUT I REALLY Tried… nag effort ako… nagpakatanga ako.. Who wants a broken family for their child, right? Wala di ba? I tried to hide the flaws of our marriage from our son. I cried secretly, I hid the phone away when his father starts to shout at me. But you see, my son is smarter than me. He saw my tears, my

sadness. He caught his father shouting at me at times via videocall. Huli sa akto ni bulilit. Pero di ko Alam. My vacation ended with a failure to have a complete family bonding but accomplished mother and son bonding. I tried to fulfill my son’s needs with my existence alone. And hello me ngayon… nganga… Still lost… basag na basag… I tried to fix myself up… I have to, for my son’s future, I may not be accomplished with my marriage life, but thankfully God blessed my career as a Frontliner. My son’s has no one now but me. My husband still asks for money. I changed my FB name to Korean characters. I unfriended my husband to avoid those people he owes some money and people sending me, KAWAWA AKO KASI NILOKO AKO. Tama na uy. Masakit. Sobrang sakit.. Tao po ako… animal ang ugali pero Hindi bato.. But I am hiding all my tears and wounds from the people surrounding me even though they knew, ginago ako ng asawa ko. They did not bother to ask, they respect my silence and I thanked them for that. But in reality, I don’t know what to do. I felt stuck in a quicksand, slowly drowning in sorrows, sadness and frustrations. I was left behind, drowning. Tortured with this unexplained pain and agony. I am conned by my husband. I spent money on a house which will never be mine. I spent money which will never come back to me.. I was left, zero…. And I don’t know what to do… How can I help myself… When I don’t even know if our law can protect me and my child.. It is me and my child… Against a MAN who is supposed to be our protection but rather, the Man who thinks nothing but himself, he himself is a danger to me and my son. His delusions and hallucinations still continues. Baka may third eye asawa ko???? I don’t know. His unending hurtful messages kept pouring in. Even a recorded sound of the bed na yumuyogyog, he will send it to me. His unending demands of money. Like wow, bat di sya magtrabaho…. Sugar mommy ako??? Ako??? Gandang sugar mommy mo naman, bhie… I just wished…. I just hoped… The government will someday established a law for the wives who has been conned financially by their own husbands. May VAWC, PAO, PCW, et cetera but how come it is near yet so far…. I just don’t know the proper law to fight against him… I can’t annul him, it’s too expensive.. Hanggang sa patayin nya nalang siguro ako.. Legal separation? OMG, how about the house.. In short, sya nag enjoy sa bahay na dugo at pawis Kong pinundar. Our son? How can I demand monetary assistance when he is jobless… I asked legally, and nothing happened.. It only benefits him, not me and my son… Kaya wow.. Hanggang sa mamatay o mapatay nya ako ay.. Our Family Court aspires to fix marriages as much as possible, and it is good.. But does it means, wag maghiwalay, magpaabuso ka Hanggang sa mamatay. (sighed) So, here I am… What I am now? You can say, I am a wife, sexually and physically used by my husband according to his own time of desires and needs. I am a wife, who is financially and emotionally, mentally abused by my husband. I am a wife PROFESSIONALLY CONNED BY MY HUSBAND BEFORE HE CONNED OTHER PEOPLE.. I am his long term conned victim.

#VAWC #violence against women #stop the pain #women power #you are good enough #you are beautiful #women rights #you are loved #loveyourself #tumblog #tumblr

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blue-jump · 7 years ago

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Magics! Ever wanted to know about the Platformian magic system? Now you can! Featuring Cornelius, a Sehen magic, and Nobles’ disembodied hand.

Magics are a strange species that live in a symbiotic relationship with their host, providing often powerful or useful benefits in return for a safe place to live (specifically, in the lungs. They mostly dissolve within the lungs, and spread out throughout the blood stream as they do in order to have access to the rest of the body, as well as oxygen, which magics need to live). Even the most powerful of magics can only live for a couple hours at most without a host, leaving them to feverishly search for a new one if the previous one dies (though they rarely succeed, most magics die before they even escape the body). They can dissolve in aerated blood outside of a host and remain in a sort of stasis if necessary. Magic can be removed by someone with suitable abilities, though it is an incredibly painful and life-threatening process for both parties involved, being that it involves both learning to live without something that has aided you your entire life and regurgitating something the size of your hand that really does not want to leave. Many magicers that have their magic removed, especially when it is very strong, don’t survive either because of the damage the magic does on the way out or the “withdrawal” symptoms that ensue after removal. The majority of magic is weakened, and can be even killed, by salt (and by "majority" I mean about 99.9% of it, salt-resistant magics are very, very rare). This makes eating large amounts of salt uncomfortable for magicers and inhaling salt dust or getting it in cuts extremely painful. Large amounts of salt being inhaled can actually kill the magic within the host, causing symptoms similar to those produced as a result of magic removal (being that it's the same thing, really, just not as forced).

Magics come in all kinds, allowing for hundreds of different abilities, some being very helpful and others being useless. In fact, there are really only two restrictions when it come to magic abilities: magic must always have access to oxygen, so magicers always need to air (which is why magic is rarer in species like strelks), and magics cannot create new living creatures or bring someone back to life without taking someone elses'. Yes, magics can create new matter and energy. The laws of conservation of energy and conservation of mass are moot on the Platform. Magics can be made stronger with use (and using them also feels quite good in addition to often being useful), though the magic’s innate potential often affects how quickly the magic strengthens, and to what point it can strengthen to. Some of the most common types of magic are simple healing, and simple pyro/hydro/electrokinesis.

While it's technically possible for two different magics to inhabit a host, there aren’t any ill effects for the host except lower tolerance to salt, it is rarely heard of. Magics don’t like sharing and will attempt to kill each other, so dual magics usually don’t last long unless they inhabit separate lungs.

If magics are powerful enough, they can change their host’s physical appearance to better suit their own needs. This is called ��warping”. The host often has no control over this. The first thing to warp is usually eye color -- a fairly benign change. A common type of warping in more severely-warped magicers is a pitch black, heavily opaque substance growing over the skin (a substance dubbed “magicer’s charcoal”). This substance helps the magic be less obvious in theory, as the opaqueness prevents the glowing magic in the blood being visible, but the substance has grown to be pretty recognizable as a sign of dangerous magic in its own right. However, warps don’t always seem to serve a purpose. Some warps just seem to be based on the magic’s preferences, which is something that interests many scholars and prompts questions about how intelligent magics really are. Here’s an example of warping as it progresses, which includes magicer’s charcoal in this case:

As warping progresses, its alters the host’s body in ways that prevent the host from being able to live without the aid of the magic (such as weakening the immune system, weakening organs, or even completely atrophying organs and body parts in the most severe cases. In these, there’s no way the magic can be removed without killing the host.) Strong magic can also cause degradation of the mental state after a while. This slipping sanity usually coincides with warping. Even after magics ate removed, the warping effect is permanent. Of course, not everybody’s magic can warp dangerously, or even warp at all.

Magics are named using a prefix to describe what type of thing the magic affects, and a suffix to describe how it affects said thing. As some magics can affect things in multiple ways, and some affect multiple things, prefixes can be combined in order to make a longer, more specific magic name. These names can occasionally get decently large and complicated, in which case they'll often be shortened or described as another type of magic with similar properties in day-to-day life for the sake of convenience. Warping isn't taken into consideration when naming magics, as even two people with the exact same magic may warp in different ways, so it's a bit hard to nail down in the name and would simply be a hassle. Nonmagicers, when needed, can be called eus.

Common Suffixes:

-kinesis: ability to manipulate or move certain objects.-genesis: ability to spontaneously generate objects.

-autosis: ability to affect oneself in a certain way.

-demosis: ability to affect other people in a certain way

-autodemosis (AD): abilities of both autosis and demosis.

-kinegenesis (KG): abilities of both kinesis and genesis magics.

-anesis: abilities that don't conform to any of the previous categories.

Common Prefixes:

Botano-: relating to plants.

Hemo-: relating to blood.

Geo-: relating to earth/crystals

Hydro-: relating to water.

Electro-: relating to electricity.

Pyro-: relating to fire.

Photo-: relating to light

Blasto-: relating to cells/cell growth (usually healing magic will have this prefix).

Aero-: relating to air or, more generally, gaseous substances.

Chromo-: relating to color.

Morpho-: relating to changing physical form.

Dynamo-: relating to strength (type of strength it provides can be specified by adding the root name for the body part before this prefix).

Thermo-: relating to temperature.

Metallo-: relating to metals. A more specific subset of geo magics.

Magi-: relating to magics.

Phono-: relating to sound.

Tele-: relatng to motion or movement in general.

Pano-: relating to everything (mostly just used with kinesis magics -- this would be the ability to move everything).

Meteo-: relating to the weather.

Ome-: relating to determining possible future events (whether they are certain to occur varies by individual magic).

An-: relating to multiple topics at once to the point where listing them all would be too troublesome. Many more common magics that relate to multiple things have specific prefixes, like Sehen magic (Sehenautosis).

Other suffixes can be created just by using the Greek root of a word!

#Magic #Platformian Species #The Platform #Fantasy Species #veins #Body horror #Parasite

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maddox26 · 7 years ago

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The King of Graces and Surprises

It wasn't my first ICON, but it was an ICON of many firsts for me. First ICON where I was able to complete the entire event plus an additional post sidetrip as well. First ICON with my new household, both the upper (GanDANAs) and my very own baby ladies (#TeamFAMME). However the highlight of course of this particular experience is that it was my first ICON with "Service Team" ID dangling like a bling bling on my neck for the span of three days.

A little background story though. The first time ate Jen talked to me about the service invitation, I immediately remembered one of the things kuya John said during his talk for the Household Training. Non verbatim but he said something like, "Whenever you are being called to serve, you are not saying yes to your household, unit, chapter heads and the other leaders of the community. You are saying yes to the Lord. These people are instruments that God has purposely sent but it's with Him ultimately whom you are creating a pact with." I guess God really knows His sons & daughters well. He knows my stubborn nature. Just when I am about to say, "Gusto ko sana mag serve pero pano po kung hindi ko kaya yung ipapagawa?" As if on cue, I then remembered a quote from Rick Yancey which ate Jen shared before. "God doesn't call the equipped, He equips those He called.“ Left with no more excuses, I gave my yes. Yes, I will be serving.

During the service team meeting, I was informed that I'm one of the Production Assistant or PA. I told myself, "Ah keribels naman pala. Most likely all I have to do is to listen to whatever directions the Program Team will be giving. Look for this, look for that, please get this,please get that." Simple lang. As easy as ordering extra rice. 😁😁

I did not know however that God had other plans for me. Whatever briefing I got during our service team meeting during that Friday morning got completely altered. From being told that I was the PA of Technical booth to being transferred as PA for the Stage Manager assigned at the right corner, I was eventually assigned at the backstage. We waited for the SM I will be assisting but for some unknown reason, she was not able to show up.😲

I got stood up. Charot! Left with no other choice, they told me to put on the comm set and manage the backstage. In the midst of all the activities that night several thoughts were running through my head. “Lord kala ko po ba runner ako? Bakit hindi po nakarating si ate partner? Hindi ko po maintindihan yung talk at hindi ko rin maintindihan ang mga ganap. Bakit po ako sa backstage napunta? “😣. I remembered how I was constantly texting in between breaks a dear sister who in return was just giving her all out support to me.

Saturday came and my prayer for a backstage partner was answered beautifully. God sent an SFC sister all the way from Australia who is not only kind and friendly but also sweet and thoughtful. (So team backstage was like, "The Aussie and The Noisy. 😂)

The rest of the Saturday run better I would say. Every time I would get rattled because of some last minute needs, Djeb would always immediately ask if she could be of any assistance. My household constantly reminded me as well that everything is fine and they even went backstage to check. By the time kuya Shok started the candle lighting ceremony, I knew I had to temporarily leave my post and take a look at the crowd. I couldn't see the entire crowd from where I was standing yet it was enough for me to be at awe. Before I knew it, I was down on my knees and praying.

One by one, the questions I had the previous night were answered. God placed me at the back simply because He wants me to be there. Perhaps the reason why He allowed me to be alone during the first night is because He wants me to be strong, to be courageous and to disregard all the feelings of self doubt and unworthiness to serve. He stationed me there because He wanted to remind me that I have a very supportive chapter where everyones' lovetank is overflowing. It would almost be impossible not to feel loved and cared for. Manhid ka nalang talaga kung di mo pa maramdaman yun.

Another thought that popped inside my head while I was sitting in silence at the back was, for the span of 25 years God has continously proved to me that He has my back. So right there at that moment, I told myself, "Okay lang pala na dito Niyo ako nilagay Lord. Since time immemorial You always had my back. Now at this event created for You Panginoon, finally ako naman po. I can say that this time Lord, I got Your back."

Just when I thought that His surprises has ended already, I again felt His moving hand when I got transferred from the back to the right side of the stage during the last day of the event. Another answered prayer because not only was I able to see already the program, I was also placed very near to where my chaptermates where.😀😀😀

Overall it was a very worthwhile experience for me. Masaya mag serve kasi meron kang nakikilalang mga bagong tao sa labas ng chapter niyo. Your circle of friends stretches out again. You meet and see people burning with passion doing what they do for the Lord.

All of us have our individual plans. A map on how we want our life to be. Let's not forget however that though we have the capacity and ability to write our plans, we must still willingly surrender the eraser to God.

Romans 12:2 reminds us "Do not conform yourself to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that you may discern what is the will of God, what is pleasing, what is perfect. “

For that, may God be praised. 😊

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twobigears · 8 years ago

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crippledhockwalker replied to your photo: -chiro adjustment -acupuncture -laser therapy...

Lyme test? Only other thing I could think of other than a pulled muscle.

Not yet. We’re currently working on the theory that it’s an injury or pano. Either is possible, though I think it’s some kind of injury. She actually first showed symptoms about a week and a half ago. She was in the bathroom with me and she turned to leave the room, and suddenly she was crying and couldn’t put her leg down. I sat with her for a few minutes and rubbed her shoulder until she put her leg back down again, and she seemed completely fine after that. No signs of a limp for several days, or it was so subtle I didn’t notice it.

Then a week ago we went to agility class, and she seemed fine. I didn’t notice anything wrong and I know my trainer would have said if she saw anything. A couple hours after class I had the dogs running around our yard, and probably a few minutes into it was when I noticed her limping. It got progressively worse over the next few days, despite strict rest. Saturday was the worst and she’s been better since then, though still limping.

So yeah, given the bathroom incident, seems most likely to be an injury of some sort. But hopefully we’ll figure it out! Orders to rest more, and light walking only, much to Chandra’s extremely bored disappointment.

#replies #crippledhockwalker #Chandra

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lefilmdujour · 5 years ago

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Another 500th movie celebration

My Tumblr just reached the 1000 movies mark, so I figured it’s time I write something about my last 2 and a half years of movie viewings and recommend 50 more movies out of the ones I’ve seen since the last 500th movie celebration.

Times have been strange in the last couple of years, and my movie habits have reflected it. There have been times when watching films was all I would do, but there have also been moments of complete disconnection from the medium. I went from watching several movies every day to spending months avoiding anything to do with sitting through a movie.

Part of it had to do with the space I share with my demons, but mostly there has been a change of pace. My laptop died, it took me months to get another one only to also die on me. On the other hand, an enormous chunk of my viewings have been in cinemas or squats, which is a very positive change but led me to watch more recent films in detriment of classics or ancient underappreciated gems. I also got my first TV in over a decade this month, and my very first Netflix account last week, so I may be exploring streaming a bit more, although so far I am not finding the experience at all satisfying. All pointless excuses since I went through 500+ movies in a little over two years, which is not bad at all.

It was hard to pick only 50 movies this time, and the list would have probably looked a little different if I did it tomorrow. Regardless, here are 50 movies I recommend, and why. Random order, all deserving of love and attention.

Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff) - This movie is unfairly ignored in the best comic book adaptation lists out there on the internet. The opening scene is memorable, the soundtrack is a lesson in early Blues, and the characters are quirky and well written.

Hate (Mathieu Kassovitz) - An absolute classic about the class system in France and its tendency to end up in riots. Beautiful shot and highly quotable. Saw it a few times, the last of them with a live score from Asian Dub Foundation. One of the greats.

Audition (Takashi Miike) - Whenever I’m asked about my favorite horror movie, I tend to fall back on this one. Audition is very slow, starting out soft but with an underlying tension that builds until the absolutely gut-wrenching finale that makes us question our own sanity. Brilliant subversion of the “hear, don’t see” rule, just the though of some of the sounds used in the most graphic scenes still send shivers down my spine.

Kedi (Ceyda Torun) - A Turkish documentary about street cats, what’s there not to like?

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (Park Chan-wook) - The third in the loosely-connected Vengeance trilogy by Park Chan-wook, and my favorite of the bunch, especially the Fade to Black and White edition, in which the movie very gradually loses color as the violence grows. A visual masterpiece.

Paterson (Jim Jarmusch) - The poetry of routine. Adam Driver is one hell of an actor.

Love Me If You Dare (Yann Samuell) - Two people that obviously love each other but are not mature enough to follow it through. Frustrating. Beautiful. Made me sob.

The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel) - I am realizing that a good part of this list deals with frustration. A group of people finds themselves unable to leave a party for no apparent reason. Buñuel is a genious in surrealism, I have yet to watch most of his Mexican period.

The Mutants (Teresa Villaverde) - Kids on the run from themselves. Strong visuals, very moving interactions at times. A hard but very rewarding watch. Teresa Villaverde’s entire filmography also gets a seal of approval.

Bad Education (Pedro Almodóvar) - A movie about sexuality and problematic relationships, taken to unbelievable extremes.

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Cristi Puiu) - The adventures of Mr. Lazarescu as he struggles to find help for the sudden pain he feels and ends up being passed on from hospital to hospital. Felt very real. Sold as a comedy, but I found it terrifying.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Yorgos Lanthimos) - A classic greek tragedy brought to the modern age. My favorite Lanthimos film, ranking slightly below Dogtooth. The deadpan acting and the unnerving sound serves as wonderful misdirection.

It’s Such a Beautiful Day (Don Hertzfeldt) - Three shorts stitched together to create a confusing, philosophical, absurd, funny and deep masterpiece. The animation skills of Don Hertzfeldt needs more recognition.

Amores Perros (Alejandro González Iñárritu) - A movie so good it didn’t even had an English name. Three tales of love, violence and loss, all linked by a dog.

Endless Poetry (Alejandro Jodorowsky) - Jodorowsky’s romanticized auto-biography, played by his own sons.Bohemian and poetic.

The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer) - Show this movie to someone who refuses to watch silent movies. The acting is so impactful and emotional, and the use of close ups was highly unusual for the time. A 90-plus years old masterpiece.

Everything is Illuminated (Liev Schreiber) - Sunflowers.

Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan) - I have a soft spot for war movies, as to remind myself how brutal people can be to their fellow man and how meaningless the concept of nations truly is. This movie in particular achieves greatness due to its usage of sound, the best I’ve heard in recent memory.

Vagabond (Agnès Varda) - Be careful of what you wish for yourself, you may end up frozen and miserable in a ditch (spoilers for literally the first few seconds of the film).

Stroszek (Werner Herzog) - I know Herzog mostly through his documentaries. His voice brings me the feeling of a deranged grandpa sharing stories of a reality tainted by dementia. I have yet to explore his fiction work in-depth, and this has been my starting point. Stroszek is bleak and desperate but humor still shines through it at times. Ian Curtis allegedly hung himself after watching it. Not sure if this story is real, but it once more feeds into the Herzog myth.

HyperNormalization (Adam Curtis) - Put together through found footage and newscasts, HyperNormalization is an unforgiving study on how we got to where we currently are. Fake becomes real. Trust is an abandoned concept. “They've undermined our confidence in the news that we are reading/And they make us fight each other with our faces buried deep inside our phones”, as AJJ sings in Normalization Blues. Which you should also check out.

Chicken with Plums (Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud) - A man decides to die, so he goes to bed and waits. An apparent simple plot that uncovers a world of beauty and poetry, as life passes slowly through the man’s eyes.

The Florida Project (Sam Baker) - William Dafoe was born to play the role of a motel manager. He is so natural in his role that I think he would actually be great in that job. The rest of the movie is great too, but his performance is the highlight for me.

Lucky (John Carroll Lynch) - Speaking of great performances, Lucky is Harry Dean Stanton’s final movie and a great send off. IMDB describes it best: “The spiritual journey of a ninety-year-old atheist.“

Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders) - More Harry Dean Stanton. The desert plays a more than decorative role in this wonderful movie, representing the emptiness that comes from estrangement. A story about reunion and all that can come from it.

On Chesil Beach (Dominic Cooke) - I sometimes cry in movies, but this one shook me to the core. A play on expectations and reactions and their devastating impact on relationships. We all fuck up sometimes. Try not to fuck up like these characters did, not on that level, you will never be able to make up for it.

The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson) - An absolute classic. A movie about the concept of family.

No Country for Old Men (Coen Brothers) - Murder mysteries and bad haircuts.

Dawson City: Frozen Time (Bill Morrison) - I highly recommend this documentary for anyone who professes their love for cinema. The story of how hundreds of lost silent movies were preserved though sheer luck and human stupidity. Seeing these damaged frames coming back to life is truly magical.

Mandy (Panos Cosmatos) - Some films turn into cult experiences through the years, some selected few are already born that way. Mandy is a psychedelic freak-out and Nicholas Cage fits like a glove in its weirdness. If you didn’t catch it while in cinemas, you’re already missing out on the full experience. Mandy is filled with film grain, which adds to the hallucinogenic experience with its continuous movement, a feature that does not translate when transferred to a digital medium.

City of God (Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund) - A masterpiece of Brazilian cinema, very meaningful and relatable if you grew up in a similar environment. One of the most quotable films in my memory, something that gets lost in translation if you don’t speak Portuguese. My Tumblr is mostly pictures because I “só sei lê só as figura”.

Loro (Paolo Sorrentino) - On the topic of languages, I watched this Italian movie with Dutch subtitles, by mistake. It is actually an interesting exercise, watching something without fully grasping every word and letting your mind patch the pieces together to make a coherent narrative. Impressive cinematography, amazing script. I learned a lot about corruption, not everyone has a price. I also learned I can speak Italian now.

Roma (Alfonso Cuarón) - Beautiful shot, every frame of it can be turned into a picture. Roma is about the meaning of family, seen from the eyes of someone who will never be part of it. A lot of people considered this movie boring and pointless. These people probably have maids at home.

Bad Times at the El Royale (Drew Goddard) - Engaging heist movie, well developed characters, amazing soundtrack.

Melancholia (Lars von Trier) - The World is coming to an end and the date and time has been announced. How would you react to these news? Would it matter?

Climax (Gaspar Noé) - A very scary experience, equal parts trippy and evil like all Gaspar Noé’s movies. A dark ballet that that shocks and confuses the senses. Dante’s Inferno.

Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold) - A strong story about ambitions, neglect and survival. Katie Jarvis is very realistic in her performance, a little too much judging by her history after the movie.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour) - An Iranian feminist movie about vampirism and records. Watched it with live score from The Black Heart Rebellion for extra cool points.

Another Day of Life (Raul de la Fuente & Damian Nenow) - Based on Ryszard Kapuściński‘s autobiography, Another Day of Life consists of rotoscopic animation sprinkled with interviews. A look at the Cold War in the African continent, and an important watch for everyone, especially Portuguese and Angolan nationals.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino) - Rich in dialogues and paced very slowly until the insane climax, this is probably the best Tarantino film after Pulp Fiction. Filled to the brim with cinematic references, it’s a delight to all film nerds. Looking forward for an Bud Spencer/Terrence Hill film adaption with Leonardo Dicaprio and Brad Pitt after this.

The Beach Bum (Harmony Korine) - Google’s top voted tags: Boring. Mindless. Cringe-Worthy. Forgettable. Slow. Illogical. Looks like this movie didn’t resonate well with the audiences, but then again Harmony Korine’s stuff is not for the masses. I personally think this is one of his best movies, a true exercise on nihilism. The main character is lovable and detestable in equal parts, and every action is pointless. Such is life, the only meaning it has is attributed by yourself.

The Mirror (Andrei Tarkovsky) - A man reflects on his life. Memories tend to get fuzzy, conflicting and confusing. More like a poem than a narrative. A dreamy masterpiece.

The Spirit of the Beehive (Víctor Erice) - The most charming child of this list, she couldn’t memorize the names of the characters she interacted with so they were changed to the names of the actual actors. The innocence of childhood in dark times.

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (Roy Andersson) - A series of absurd vignettes connected by a pair of novelty items salesmen and their struggle to bring a smile to a grey World. Slow, but humorous and delightful. An unconventional and memorable ride.

Man Bites Dog (Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel & Benoît Poelvoorde) - Fake documentary about a serial killer. Heavy, gruesome and hard to watch, despite the false sense of humor in some scenes.A glimpse at the darkness of human nature.

Tangerine (Sean Baker) - Shot with cell phones. A story about love, gender and friendship. Funny, sad, touching.

The Guilty (Gustav Möller) - Focused on a shift of an emergency dispatcher, the camera focuses only on his face and phone interactions with the callers.A very effective thriller, its setting leads us to create our own narratives just to subvert them at the most unexpected times.

Cold War (Paweł Pawlikowski) - Loosely inspired in Pawlikowski’s parents, Cold War is a beautiful love story set against impossible odds. Powerful and heartbreaking.

Parasite (Bong Joon-ho) - Poor family scams rich family. Rich family takes advantage of poor family. Everybody feeds off of everyone. Drama/Comedy/Thriller/Horror/Romance about control, delivered in a masterclass on cinematic rhythm. Best film of its year for me.

The Straight Story (David Lynch) - More than the fact that this movie is radically different than the remaining Lynch work, The Straight Story is a wonderful exercise in pacing and storytelling. Mr. Straight’s stories allow us to fill in the blanks with our imagination, and their impact in him is also felt in us. An underappreciated gem in its apparent simplicity.

Thank you very much for reading.

#yay me #Movie Recommendation

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sailorrrvenus · 6 years ago

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The Medium Format Experience

To shoot medium format had been a longtime dream of mine, but I have to admit I didn’t know it would be such a mindblowing experience. The 51.4-megapixel Pentax 645Z arrived on the market in 2014 and was the first camera to ever exceed 100 points in the DxOMark sensor test. For some unknown reason, the score and review weren’t published until 2017.

There is plenty of info to be found on the Internet concerning the camera specs so I won’t cover that in much detail. What is of greater interest to me and hopefully the reader is the medium format experience.

Pentax 645z with the 25mm, 28–45mm and 55mm.

The 645Z body is larger than a regular DSLR, but it doesn’t feel heavy (3.4lbs/1.5kg). It actually feels surprisingly light in my hands, and with the 25mm or 28–45mm mounted it balances very well, and that includes mounted on my Sirui w-2204 with a K-20 ball-head.

As a landscape photographer, my chief concerns in regards to a camera are dynamic range, details, sharpness, colors, noise, and ease of use.

To make a long story short, when I the first time began pushing the 645Z files I almost couldn’t believe my own eyes. The dynamic range is nothing short of breathtaking. Truth be told this absolutely doesn’t feel like a four-year-old camera — on the contrary.

Romsdalen, Norway, July 2018. Pentax 645Z, Pentax 28–45mm

Romsdalen, Norway, offers breathtaking scenery with mountains, steep mountainsides, valleys and waterfalls in almost every direction. The perfect location to test the capabilities of the camera. The following is a very high contrast scene with strong light radiating from behind and over the mountain ridge. I shot a panorama consisting of three verticals exposed for the highlights. This is after stitching in Lightroom and the shadows are more or less pitch black since I do the stitching before any adjustments. For panoramas, I use the Sirui LE-60 leveling base.

After a few minutes of adjusting sliders in Lightroom the scene has completely changed character (the image is not finished and will be further edited in Photoshop when time permits):

Pentax 28–45mm, Nisi polarizer to add contrast to the sky

The Pentax 645Z is absolutely outstanding when it comes to picking up shadows with almost zero noise added and no weird magenta color casts in the deepest shadows. It also does a very good job at recovering highlights which at first sight may look blown out.

One thing I noticed immediately I began scrutinizing my first batch of raws was the stunning amount of detail the camera captured. It must have been challenging for the Pentax developers and engineers to produce lenses which match the camera’s capabilities. However, Pentax has a long history of producing very good glass. Both the 25mm and the 28–45mm are super sharp. I have of yet not tested the 55mm. The 25mm is unfortunately discontinued, but new and used copies are still in circulation. Weighing in at 3.24lbs (1.47kg), the 28–45mm is quite a heavy lens, whereas the 25mm and 55mm are considerably lighter.

My first evening with the 645Z— Pentax 25mm

To have a zoom lens in addition to the two primes is something I consider a great advantage in terms of added flexibility when being out in the field. I am not very fond of long treks which probably has something to do with my impatient and restless nature. In other words, carrying that extra weight of the 28–45mm isn’t a big issue for me.

It is also noteworthy that the 28–45mm is 82mm and thus takes regular filters. The 25mm has this clever in-lense polarizer solution, and the Nisi 150mm filter holder for the Tokina 16–28mm fits the lens. The camera sensor has a crop factor of 0.79x so that for instance 25mm equals 19.5mm full frame.

This is upstream Isterdalen in Romsdalen. The famous Trollstigen is ahead of us. There is no need for an L-bracket on the 645Z. I have mounted two Sirui plates on either side of the camera something which makes shooting verticals a breeze. Clever of Ricoh/Pentax to implement two mounting holes — one for each orientation.

Pentax 28–45mm. A thinking mountain? ;)

Who needs more detail than this:

Very close crop from image above

The Pentax K-1 and Pentax K-1 Mark ii have spoiled me with great, pleasing and vibrant colors. Not surprisingly perhaps does the Pentax Medium format flagship excel also in this field. It doesn’t take much in for instance Lightroom to bring out colors and color contrast.

‘Bispen’ is one of several characteristic peaks in Isterdalen:

Pentax 28–45mm

Sunsets in the southern parts of Norway can be very intense and beautiful during summer. This is from my home turf around 60 km north of Oslo, and I am very pleased with how the 645Z renders the warm tones.

Pentax 28–45mm. Panorama from three horizontals.

Both lenses produce very pleasing sunstars. I may be wrong but I believe this image is a once in a lifetime experience. The sun rose in such a way that it sailed between two mountain peaks before it was obscured by the mountain to the right. The sighting only lasted a couple minutes, and the sun took on an intense and beautiful color which cast a warm glow across the scene.

Pentax 28–45mm

For my second outing with the 645Z, I headed to Rjukandefossen, Hemsedal, Norway. I was a tad unhappy that I had to move over to this side of the waterfall in order to capture the setting sun because that meant walking across a suspiciously looking suspension bridge about which I had my doubts would carry my 210lbs+ (95kg+) camera gear. Working out with weights and doing landscape photography isn’t perhaps the best combination.

Pentax 25mm — the scene is actually shot at f/32

The transition to the 4:3 format has gone surprisingly smooth. I find the format increasingly pleasing, and it opens up new possibilities compositional wise. The format has also challenged me to think outside the box something which isn’t exactly one of my strong sides. In addition to the aforementioned, I also notice that I am far more inclined to shoot panoramas with the 645Z than what is the case with my other cameras.

Menus are easy to navigate and it doesn’t take long before one knows where to find the various settings — everything is very intuitive. A dedicated button on the camera body itself makes it very simple to shoot bracketed if so desired. The “Info” button option on the back of the camera provides a convenient short-cut to the often most used settings. The ability to have a histogram in Live-View is very handy notably when shooting long exposures. A dedicated mirror lock-up switch is also found on the camera body. I have a tendency of forgetting that it exists but as of yet none of my shots have been ruined by shutter shock or vibrations.

Rjukandefossen, Norway. Oct 2018. Pentax 645Z, Pentax 25mm. EC National Geographic

I have had no computer issues with the relatively large files the 645Z produces. My i7 laptop has effortlessly stitched and edited a seven frame pano scene. Even my i5 travel laptop has without great problems stitched three frame panoramas.

The Pentax 645Z is a value for money camera, and Ricoh/Pentax has thus made medium format available to a huge group of photographers who otherwise couldn’t have afforded a medium format system. In true Pentax spirit, the system is of course thoroughly weather-sealed.

Romsdalen, Norway. Two in the night. Pano from three horizontals. Pentax 25mm. EC National Geographic

The camera with three lenses and the Nisi 100 mm filter system neatly fit into a Lowepro Whistler BP 450 AW.

We will end this review with a four frame panorama of the more or less famous cabin scene — cabin to which I have developed a love/hate relationship. Admittedly, during my first years with a camera I shot this location “to death”. I have received some criticism for this. Rightly so, I would add.

Pentax 28–45mm. A white background doesn’t favor images like this, unfortunately.

The criticism has had the effect on me of pushing me out of my comfort zone, so it is all positive. This is a scene which has offered me much fun and provided me with many great memories. Anyway, we are in this instance dealing with yet another extreme high contrast scene. The sun had just set behind the hill so the light bleeding into the sky was very strong. No filters were used to balance the light since I wanted to give the 645Z a really tough challenge.

Well, the camera was up for the challenge.

About the author: Ole Henrik Skjelstad is a landscape photographer and math teacher from Norway. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can find more of Skjelstad’s work on his Flickr, 500px, and Instagram. This article was also published here.

source https://petapixel.com/2019/01/29/the-medium-format-experience/

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pauldeckerus · 6 years ago

Text

The Medium Format Experience

Pentax 645z with the 25mm, 28–45mm and 55mm.

As a landscape photographer, my chief concerns in regards to a camera are dynamic range, details, sharpness, colors, noise, and ease of use.

Romsdalen, Norway, July 2018. Pentax 645Z, Pentax 28–45mm

After a few minutes of adjusting sliders in Lightroom the scene has completely changed character (the image is not finished and will be further edited in Photoshop when time permits):

Pentax 28–45mm, Nisi polarizer to add contrast to the sky

My first evening with the 645Z— Pentax 25mm

Pentax 28–45mm. A thinking mountain? ;)

Who needs more detail than this:

Very close crop from image above

‘Bispen’ is one of several characteristic peaks in Isterdalen:

Pentax 28–45mm

Pentax 28–45mm. Panorama from three horizontals.

Pentax 28–45mm

Pentax 25mm — the scene is actually shot at f/32

Rjukandefossen, Norway. Oct 2018. Pentax 645Z, Pentax 25mm. EC National Geographic

Romsdalen, Norway. Two in the night. Pano from three horizontals. Pentax 25mm. EC National Geographic

The camera with three lenses and the Nisi 100 mm filter system neatly fit into a Lowepro Whistler BP 450 AW.

Pentax 28–45mm. A white background doesn’t favor images like this, unfortunately.

Well, the camera was up for the challenge.

from Photography News https://petapixel.com/2019/01/29/the-medium-format-experience/

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clusterassets · 6 years ago

Text

New world news from Time: Greek Officials Say Arson May Have Caused the Wildfire That Killed Almost 90 People

(ATHENS, Greece) — Frantic relatives headed to the Athens morgue Thursday to seek the fate of loved ones still missing after Greece’s deadliest forest fire in decades, a blaze that Greek authorities said they increasingly suspect resulted from arson.

Public Order Minister Nikos Toskas said satellite image analysis and ground inspections provided “serious indications” the fire that broke out in multiple places within a short time frame Monday and killed at least 82 people was set deliberately.

“We have serious indications and significant findings of criminal activity concerning arson,” Toskas said. “We are troubled by many factors, and there have been physical findings that are the subject of an investigation.”

He declined to provide more details.

The fire department’s special arson section, which probes all major fires, was conducting the investigation to determine how the wildfire started. The cause of the blaze has not been established. Before Toskas’ news conference, the mayor of the area where it broke out said it might have been sparks from a severed electricity pylon cable.

The death toll from the fire inched up Thursday morning, when the fire department put the number of people killed at 82. Rescue crews and volunteers continued to search on land and at sea for more victims. Many of the bodies were burned beyond recognition, making identification difficult.

At the morgue, relatives were informed about the steps needed to match one of the bodies held there to a missing person, including providing DNA samples and dental records.

“The procedure is difficult, harder than that of other mass disasters which we have dealt with in the past as a forensics department,” coroner Nikolaos Kalogrias said. “Here, the main cause of death was burning, in most cases the complete burning (of the body), so identification is very difficult.”

Germany’s federal criminal police said a team of its forensics specialists was in Greece to help authorities identify the dead. The team members have worked on major disasters such as the 2002 plane crash in Ueberlingen, Switzerland, and the 2004 Asian tsunami.

The fire broke out near Rafina, northeast of Athens. Fanned by gale-force winds, it raced through seaside resorts of full-time homes and vacation residences popular with Athenians and tourists.

The large area the flames swept through further complicated the process of identifying victims. Officials said there was no way of knowing how many people were there at the time. By Thursday afternoon, there was still no official number of missing.

Thanassis Moraitis went to the morgue searching for his 90-year-old mother.

He had tried to drive away with his mother, wife and 19-year-old son, but the fire was too fast. They had to abandon the car and started running to the beach and into the water. Moraitis suffered burns to his leg from the heat of the air. His mother didn’t make it.

“In the sea, there was a rain of fire, there was smoke, there was a Force 12 wind,” said the 53-year-old, adding that boats picked the family up after about three hours.

“I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to my mother,” Moraitis said.

Fire department spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri said the search for victims continued and would not end until every building had been thoroughly investigated. Rescue crews had not been able to enter homes that had not been destroyed and were shut, she said.

Apart from the house-to-house searches, coast guard and volunteer divers were searching the waters off the coast and a nearby deserted island. Hundreds of volunteers lined up at the Rafina town hall to offer whatever help might be needed.

During the fire, hundreds fled to nearby beaches, with many swimming out to sea to escape the ferocious flames and choking smoke. Dozens spent hours at sea before being picked up by coast guard vessels, fishing boats and a passing ferry. Several of the dead were people who drowned.

The worse affected area was the seaside community of Mati, where the majority of victims were found, including 26 people found huddled together, many embracing.

Arriving at the morgue with her son, Maria Saridou was hoping her 55-year old sister, Eleni, was not among the victims. She had gone swimming with a friend of hers in Mati, Saridou said, but the two became separated in the chaos of the fire. She hadn’t heard from her since.

“We found her car, it wasn’t burnt, nor was the house,” said 60-year-old Saridou. “It’s just that we can’t find her. … I believe she’s alive. Where she went, nobody knows where she went.”

Hundreds of homes were burnt. The speed with which the flames spread took many by surprise. The narrow streets of Mati, an area built up with no town planning, quickly became clogged with parked and abandoned cars as people tried to flee, hampering access by firefighting trucks and blocking escape routes.

One Belgian national and one Irish national were among those confirmed dead.

Some of the casualties are believed to have tried to make it to the shore through narrow pathways, but lost their way in the thick smoke or had their paths blocked by the swift-moving blaze. Even those on beaches were not safe, as flames burned trees and vegetation at the water’s edge, while flaming pine cones rained downward, survivors have said.

Recriminations about the apparent lack of an evacuation plan and what many perceived to have been a slow response has mounted, with survivors saying they had been abandoned to do whatever they could to save themselves alone.

Firefighting and rescue efforts, particularly from the air and the sea, were hampered by gale force winds and rough seas. When the Rafina fire broke out, crews were also engaged in fighting a massive fire west of Athens that had broken out hours earlier and also burnt homes.

But survivors have accused authorities of failing to adequately prepare and for not evacuating the area, as well as not responding fast enough.

Defense Minister Panos Kammenos visited Mati Thursday morning and was heckled by distraught men and women, who accused authorities of not doing enough in the initial hours of the fire.

“People died for nothing!” one woman sobbed at the minister.

Local resident Giannis Kardiakos, who said he stayed in the area until midnight, said efforts to tackle the blaze and to rescue those who had fled to the beaches started too late.

“There was no protection, there was nothing! … I’m saying things as they were,” he said, as Kammenos detailed what the military and firefighters had been doing to battle the fire. “I’m not lying. We’re not talking politically here,” he added, before breaking down in tears.

____

Thanassis Stavrakis in Mati, Greece, and Menelaos Hadjicostis in Athens contributed to this report.

July 27, 2018 at 01:16AM ClusterAssets Inc., https://ClusterAssets.wordpress.com

#Time #world #news #ClusterAssets #ClusterAsset #Cluster Asset Inc.#ClusterAssets Inc.

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bryancclark9 · 8 years ago

Text

Five Edward Panos That would Ultimately Make Your life A lot better.

Beneficial Assitance To Assist By Using A Home Business

New doors have been opened for anyone everywhere who are able to now start their particular business from the inside their home. But, there exists always competition with regards to using a home-based business. It’s vital that you research your options to learn to be a success and maintain your organization running well. Doing this can help you stand out from the group.

One sort of deduction you could possibly get is designed for a web connection. Several of the cost out of this service can be written off when it comes to filing your taxes.

Starting a residence business might be exciting, but it also takes a bunch of initiative plus a burning wish to bring your dreams into realityEdward Panos If the requirements of your small business demand it, you really should construct a separate structure for your business on the property. This keeps customers from your house, and may also be legally required for certain businesses in some municipalities. Consider renting work place, so that you can easily separate home and work life.

It’s vital with an workplace to work from the time running a business from your own home. It might be small, but it must be organized. You must help make your office an area where you feel productive, inspired, and calm. Though it may be small, it is possible to still optimize the space.

To set an acceptable price for anything you want to sell, start by acquiring a good feel for its current market price. Try to keep your prices a tad lower than your competition. Tend not to put other companies down. Make yourself look nice instead.

Describe your business objective in a few complete sentences. Take into consideration the reasons you created this business and what you intend to achieve. This place must also include information about your organization and what makes you better than the competitors.

Make certain you reserve money for taxes! You will have to save at least twenty percent of the things you are making in order that there is no need to make it during tax season.

Guarantee that your home business fits in with the family. If it starts as a problem to your family, you should think up an alternative kind of company.

Make a decision on the selling price for the merchandise. You must figure in the price of this product as a way to recognize how much you are going to make from selling your product. An ordinary pricing suggestion to follow takes the expense of the type of material and multiply that by two. This is the standard wholesale rate for almost all goods. To discover the list price, you need to figure: COST X 3.

To make your company more visible, utilize the proven, successful strategies for search engine optimisation. Raising your rank in search query results is implemented via a tool called search engine optimisation, or SEO in short, also it can help you become more visible on the Internet. You can find associated with the SEO process by hiring expert consultants or by figuring out how to do your very own optimization.

Let’s hope the details provided here can help you succeed. Remember, to get and then, stay ahead of the game, you need to continuously be on the quest for new information that will help your home-based business prosper. Gather as much information as possible and form your personal unique methods for success..

from Using Video To Market Your Business with Persegresfc http://www.persegresfc.com/five-edward-panos-that-would-ultimately-make-your-life-a-lot-better/

#News

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repwinpril9y0a1 · 8 years ago

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Windows Developer Day – Creators Update

Back in October, Satya, Terry and Panos introduced the Windows 10 Creators Update. They showed some of the new features and announced some amazing new additions to our Surface family of devices. Since then, my team has been working to complete the platform work for the Creators Update to deliver the full power of the Universal Windows Platform to our developers around the world.

Today, I had the chance to host the Windows Developer Day for the Creators Update and to share some of the developer-focused features that are coming soon. You can get started using these today by becoming a Windows Insider and downloading our latest preview SDK, which is now feature complete.

This is an exciting day for me because I love getting to spend time and share information with our developers. We are all driven by our mutual passion to build technology, whether we work on apps for enterprise, games or anything in between.

UWP Improvements

The Universal Windows Platform (UWP) enables your Windows apps to take advantage of the full power of the PC. To show an example of this power, I was joined on stage by Vincent Hardy from Adobe Systems, who showed us Adobe XD, a full-featured and sophisticated desktop application built on UWP. The Adobe XD app combines beauty and power to deliver a great experience across multiple devices, form factors and input modalities.

We know that many developers want to take full advantage of modern Windows capabilities delivered in UWP, while still retaining their existing technology and code investments. The Desktop Bridge for Windows enables existing desktop applications to call UWP APIs and to be distributed and updated via the Windows Store. The Desktop Bridge makes it easier than ever to share code between Win32, .NET and UWP, taking advantage of the store’s ability to deliver easy and automated upgrades to help ensure that customers are always running the latest and best versions of their apps. Today, I showed Evernote, Photoscape X Pro and KODI, just three of the more than 330 Windows apps and games published to the store in the first four months of availability.

We believe we can work faster and smarter to deliver the best platform for developers if we work with the community. To do just this, I announced that we will make all Microsoft developer documents available and open for community collaboration. In addition, we will open our bug and feature backlog to the public and take bug contributions and feature requests starting today at noon.

In that spirit of openness, I was joined on stage by Todd Anglin from Progress, makers of the powerful Telerik controls. Telerik is popular with enterprise developers, enabling them to build great business applications with a rich set of easy-to-use UI controls. Todd showed us what these great controls can do, and announced that they are now Open Source and available on GitHub and also as NuGet packages. Find out more at telerik.com/uwp.

One of the great powers of UWP is its ability to run across a wide range of Windows devices and enable a wide range of experiences. Today, I showed a few examples of this ability:

Developers will be able to use the Windows Holographic Platform to bring amazing 3D experiences, both apps and games, not just to HoloLens, but to the wide range of mixed-reality headsets coming soon. We showed how easy it is to make a single app look fantastic across HoloLens and occluded headsets.

The new Cortana Skills Kit gives developers new and natural ways to connect user to their apps and services. We built a Cortana Skill on stage today and showed how easy it is to integrate bots created using the Microsoft Bot Framework and LUIS.

We know that your users interact with a variety of devices throughout the day, so we are building UWP capabilities (called “Project Rome”) to help your experiences flow seamlessly across devices, and guide users to your best and richest experience. Rome provides “apps for websites”, a simple tool that directs users to your apps (with the right context) rather than simply opening the browser. Rome’s cross-device services make it easy for users to continue an activity within your app as they move from one device to another, including Android devices. To make this possible, we released today the Rome SDK for Android.

Whenever I talk to developers, I hear that it is critically important for us to enable you to build apps that are visually beautiful and engaging, and that also take advantage of the latest and coolest hardware capabilities. It is also a high priority for us. Today, I showed some of the new capabilities that are coming to the visual and XAML layers of the platform that enable you to create beautiful user experiences through the use of effects, animations and transitions. With only a small amount of code, you can bring these effects to your apps with amazing results that delight users. In the Creators Update, we have worked to deliver new capabilities in pen and ink, including a more powerful ink toolbar that’s easy for any developer to use; smart ink, which enables recognition of lists, simple shapes and even math symbols; and enhanced APIs that enable you to do more than ever with the Surface Dial. Check out the video of the presentation for a full demo that shows a lot of these features coming together to make a beautiful and engaging app.

Games on UWP

I talked a lot about apps, but we’re also building UWP to be the best platform for building amazing games that run across the PC and Xbox One. With the Creators Update, UWP makes game development faster, easier and better. Specifically, I’d like to call out three key UWP improvements that will be appreciated by gamers and devs alike:

Game Mode: Windows 10 can optimize system resources to deliver the best PC gaming experience possible.

UWP on Xbox: UWP games (along with apps) will now be available on Xbox One via the Windows Store.

Windows Sonic: Microsoft’s next-gen spatial audio platform provides a powerful, immersive sound experience with support for Dolby Atmos. Windows Sonic will be available on Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs, also supporting both speakers and headphones.

Intelligent install: Lastly, the UWP packaging format makes it easier to install the bits in the right order, letting players jump into a new game (or app) before it has fully downloaded. And updates focus on downloading only the bits that have changed, so players can jump back in even faster.

For more information on these features and many more coming this year, tune into the Xbox sessions at GDC in a few weeks.

Windows is the home for all developers

I’m a developer, and my team is a team of developers. Like you, we love our tools and services and we’re very demanding of them. We want Windows to be the very best place to develop experiences, whether for Windows, the web or cross-platform. Today, we showed some of the performance, stability and debugging improvements in Visual Studio 2017. We demonstrated improvements to the Console and Bash, as well as to the Windows Subsystem for Linux. We showed remote access to device information via the Windows Device Portal, and even pixel-level GPU debugging with the new PIX tool for Windows.

The Windows Store team walked through several new and improved services coming in the next few months. Store Services APIs provide services to help you understand how your app is performing in the wild, including analytics and telemetry, flighting, automated submissions and updates, and ad campaigns. The team also highlighted updated services to enable better user engagement using A/B testing, targeted push notifications and more.

And, of course, I recognize that you use lots of services from providers other than Microsoft, so today it gave me great pleasure to show powerful additions to the collection of middleware that is available to Windows Developers. Today, we announced the immediate availability to two important libraries:

The Windows SDK for Google Analytics brings one of the most popular and powerful real-time analytics packages to Windows. The core library works with UWP, Xamarin, Windows Forms and WPF, allowing for maximum code reuse.

Facebook App Install Ads are now available for UWP apps. Facebook App Install Ads are displayed in the Facebook newsfeed both on the web and in the Facebook app, bringing immense reach to Windows developers, as well as rich targeting capabilities (including interests, location and demographics) and their ads manager dashboard.

Where to get the bits

Here’s a quick recap of some of the announcements we made today:

Windows SDK Availability: Become a Windows Insider and get the newest feature-complete flight of the Windows 10 Creators Update SDK today.

Documentation: For the first time, all of Microsoft’s developer documentation will be in one place (http://ift.tt/26PPg9U) where it will be easier to find and use. We are also opening up the docs to community contribution.

Developer Platform Backlog: My team and I are making our backlog public, for both features and bugs. This will be online at noon today at http://ift.tt/2lrdMLQ.

Telerik Controls: The Telerik UWP control library is now open source and available on GitHub and as NuGet packages. Find out more at telerik.com/uwp.

Cortana Skills Kit: The Cortana Skills Kit will enter open Developer Preview later this month.

Rome SDK for Android: This is a new SDK that brings the cross-devices services of “Project Rome” to Android devices, allowing easy and powerful integration with Windows. Find the new SDK at http://ift.tt/2ls3Dif.

UWP Community Toolkit 1.3: Today, we are releasing a big update to the toolkit that includes many contributions from our developer community.

Windows SDK for Google Analytics: This new SDK, available now, enables Windows developers (UMP, Xamarin, WPF and WinForms) access to one of the more popular and powerful real-time analytics suites. Get this today at http://ift.tt/2kq7BJH.

Windows SDK for Facebook: With one billion users, Facebook offers one of the most powerful tools for you to acquire new users for your app or game. Check out the new SDK here: http://ift.tt/2lrZE56.

It was a great day today, and there is more to come. We look forward to seeing you at Build in a few months when we will go deeper into the Creators Update capabilities for developers, and take a look at what’s coming next. In the meantime, I’d like to invite all of you to get started developing for Windows Creators Update today. Download the SDK, update your applications with new features (or build all-new apps that deliver the best new experiences), and please keep giving us feedback.

— Kevin

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2llvIeq

#DIYS

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pauldeckerus · 6 years ago

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Capturing the Milky Way Over Yosemite National Park

Back in June of 2018, I was fortunate enough to make a 9-day trip to Yosemite National Park, California to capture the Milky Way galaxy over Half Dome. My entire trip revolved around capturing this image since I had captured nearly this same panorama two years prior during my first ever trip to the park in 2016.

It wasn’t until mid-2017 that I discovered that the panorama I had photographed in daylight in 2016 lined up perfectly with the Milky Way in May and early June. Immediately I knew that this pano was one that I would have to perfect, whatever I had to do in order to capture it with maximum detail.

Having improved my knowledge and technique for photographing the Milky Way and keeping clean foreground significantly since my 2016 trip, I knew that in order to keep the foreground free of noise I would have a few options.

I could photograph the scene in roughly five images in vertical orientation as single exposures and stack five or more frames per section.

I could blend the foreground from blue hour by photographing the foreground an hour after sunset using a little bit of atmospheric light to illuminate the foreground and then wait to photograph the Milky Way

I could photograph the foreground as single exposures and stack them under starlight, then track the sky to preserve the maximum sky detail and blend them back together.

Or finally I could photograph the foreground under starlight as long exposures at a higher aperture giving me more sharpness all the way through the image and use a low ISO to give me less noise. Then track the sky and blend them back together using a one image single exposure panorama beforehand with the alignment to use as reference.

After considering my options, I decided to go with the final method of capturing the foreground with longer exposures. This method would allow me to capture the foreground under natural starlight and maintain the natural colors and illumination of this time, and minimize the noise using a low ISO. This method also guaranteed I would have a sharp image throughout using a higher aperture and depth of field. I wanted to maximize the quality and resolution of this image to make it as large as possible for a potential future print.

Using the 45-megapixel Nikon D850 DSLR would give me an insanely large file that could be printed in large dimensions. The final panorama would be 27,500 pixels wide, and the final edit and crop was roughly a 350-megapixel image.

Original foreground panorama 500% crop RAW

Final Edit, 500% crop.

I would do this by setting my camera on my tripod in vertical orientation, making sure that my ball head was completely level, and waiting until I was under complete starlight.

Example of my Camera in vertical orientation during a trip to Death Valley, March 2018.

Having photographed the foreground panorama once before back in 2016, I knew that I would need 5 vertical images at 15mm to capture everything I needed, and having captured countless Milky Way panoramas, 4–5 images would give me a good view of our galaxy at 15 to 20mm.

In order to keep my exposures steady and keep my shutter open for long enough to capture all the light in a clean foreground image, I would need to use a shutter release remote so I wouldn’t bump the camera by pressing the shutter button. Using a remote would also allow me to program the exposure time for each frame.

Yosemite was a 1,000-mile trip one way for me from home (on the most boring stretch of road in the whole united states), so I planned my trip carefully ensuring I would be there during proper moon conditions, allowing me a window to photograph the sky without any moonlight.

Using the app PhotoPills, I carefully projected my alignment and opportunities to shoot the Milky Way while visiting the park. Once I had my plan together I started my preparations for a 9-day trip to make the most of my time there.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Derek Sturman (@dereksturmanphotography) on Dec 7, 2018 at 7:56am PST

Doing a little experimental time lapse here from Olmsted point in Yosemite during my first night in the park. Having come from Nevada I found myself entering Yosemite from what I would call the back of the park and being able to see new parts of it I didn’t see in 2016.

Now if you are familiar with any of the stories of how I captured any of my previous images, you will know that coming prepared has never been one of my strengths. However, for a trip 1,000 miles from home and camping out in the desert alone, I made sure to create a rigorous checklist of things I would need. In an attempt to stay on a budget I decided to pack all the food and water I would need and blow up an air mattress in the back of my vehicle so I would be able to sleep periodically for short periods while photographing some kind of night sky image.

Included on this list of things was sunscreen, bug spray, and a shutter remote (of course). I ended up stopping for the first night of the trip roughly halfway to my destination somewhere in the Nevada desert, where I had an incredible dark sky to photograph. Already almost 500 miles from home, I discovered that though I had packed 4 shutter remotes and a whole pack of AAA batteries, I had left this insert for my pack somewhere at home, leaving me without any reasonable way of triggering my camera’s shutter remotely. Sadly the Nikon Snap bridge app would only allow me to program 30″ exposures.

Too far to turn back, I began photographing just 30″ tracked images to use for later images and dug through my gear for any kind of remote I might have from the past. Sadly I didn’t find any remotes, but I did happen to have a cool little device my father (an avid programmer and electronic project enthusiast) had made using an Arduino programmed to do various exposure types. Luckily for me, this device connected to any 1/8″ audio jack and I happened to have a spare cord for that. Also fortunate for me was the fact that the device had a bulb option.

Sunset fades to Star light in Yosemite National Park.

Once inside the park I was greeted by the unbearable summer heat, walls of mosquitoes so thick you could use them as shade, and of course unbelievable crowds of people. Despite all of this the park was spectacular and seeing it again was just as jaw-dropping the second time as the first. Absolutely nothing about this park is boring.

Having felt that I was prepared, I brought a bottle some kind of all-in-one sunscreen bug repellent spray. Immediately upon visiting the park I needed both, as the early summer heat and pooling water in the valley attracted millions of mosquitoes and the heat was almost unbearable in direct sunlight.

My first night in the park I broke out in some kind of terrible rash. Something I had not experienced since I was very young. Hives covering my arms, neck, and body made for a very uncomfortable stay. Thinking I had some kind of mosquito bite that had initiated the rash, I began applying more of this bug spray sunscreen mix. The cause of my terrible full body rash was sadly unknown to me. So from day one I was a little irritable and had a hard time standing the conditions of the trip. Also unfortunate to my trip itinerary, I planned to stay a full 7 days and saw no need to buy new sunscreen or bug spray and assumed it was anything from some kind of plants in the area to something I was eating.

I had planned to do all my shooting in new locations and scouting first and save my Milky Way panorama over half dome from Glacier Point until the last two nights of my stay so I would force myself to endure the entire trip knowing I would not allow myself to give in a go home until I had completed that image. Reserving my final two nights, since the image would likely take several hours of shooting just to complete the pano for the foreground and several hours of shooting just for the sky.

Night sky over Yosemite National Park

When the time came to capture my panorama I went to Glacier point almost 6 hours early just to get a parking spot. The lot at the top of the road for the popular overlook is often heavily crowded and has very few actual parking stalls. When I arrived there weren’t any so I ended up driving in circles for about two hours waiting on an opportunity to park. Once I parked, I quickly began packing my gear to go watch the sunset and set up for my image.

In my excitement and hurry to finally get out to the spot and quickly dying sunlight, I managed to lock my keys inside my car. Having done this multiple times in the past I have a habit of checking for keys as I am walking away from my vehicle and realized I had locked them inside. I spent the next two to three hours trying to find a way to get into the car. I had no service in that area so I would have to hitch a ride with someone all the way down to where I would get service to call AAA. I actually went and found a sick and managed to pry the passenger side door open just a little and tried to slip thin sticks in and flip the lock switch. After seeing the apparent damage I was doing to the seal on the door I went to back pop out windows.

I noticed that these windows had a small latch that could be pressed out so that the windows could angle outwards but no open all the way. I figured if I could break this small plastic latch I could crawl in through this window and unlock the car. But after prying just a little too hard, I shattered the window and glass went all over me and the parking lot.

You can see the small black latch next to the seat belt in the left corner.

Needless to say, I missed the sunset. And once I was inside my car and covered in glass, I wasn’t in the most inspired mood, but after cleaning up the glass in the parking area as best I could, I moved out to my spot for the image.

I began by focusing on the foreground, and realized that once I had my camera set up in the proper position, the Arduino remote’s programmed bulb mode required me to hold the button down for the duration of the exposure. There was no programmable time setting in its programming, meaning I would need to sit and hold the button down until the exposure was done.

I’m not going to lie: it’s fortunate that only my good friend the Milky Way was there to hear what I said next. Interestingly enough, yelling to a large beautiful vista is actually quite therapeutic, but I was quickly distracted by the beauty of the Milky Way rising over the Yosemite Valley.

Glacier point provides one of the most amazing views of Yosemite. Looking head on half dome, you can see an insanely large vista. Waterfalls, peaks, and large cliff faces into forested valley’s. The scale of this place is simply indescribable.

Once the Milky Way started to appear I took a quick test exposure, f/2.8 ISO 12,800 30″ and focused on a bright star to make sure I was getting infinity focus throughout. In my f/28 image, it looked like most of the image was sharp so I decided just to increase my aperture slightly. I started out by trying an image at f/5 but after holding down the button for so long and seeing I made a mistake I decided to stop back down to f/3.2. Once the test exposure was complete I used Photopills exposure calculator to calculate the images exposure time needed if I were to use f/3.2 at ISO 800. I figured this would give me a clean foreground image without me losing too much time to each exposure before sunrise.

Single test exposure, f/2.8 ISO 12,800 30″

This gave me an exposure time of roughly 13 minutes per frame. So I set a thirteen-minute count down timer in Photopills and sat with my finger on the button until the alarm went off.

759″ exposure f/3.2 ISO 800

Unfortunately for me, I didn’t realize that the red light from the homemade remote was casting onto the rocks in front of me, so I photographed this first exposure a second time.

792″ Exposure f/3.2 ISO 800

Unfortunately, I had bumped my tripod or ball head somehow without noticing and the image had tilted slightly. Tired and irritated, I battled with the idea of using this image but ended up deciding to realign and try again.

759″ Exposure f/3.2 ISO 800

I finally had the first of five images correct. I carefully reviewed the image for noise and detail at 300% zoom.

759″ f/3.2 ISO 800, 500% crop

Aside from a few hot pixels from the long exposure and warm weather, and a little noise on the surface of the peaks the image looked sharp and mostly clean.

Third (middle) image of pano, 759″ ISO 800 f/3.2

The following two images went smooth, though my thumb was getting a little tired from holding down the button to keep the shutter open. That was until the fourth image.

Hikers head lamps and flash lights illuminate the Trail between Nevada and Vernal falls. 439″ f/3.2 ISO 800

I stopped this exposure early when I noticed some hikers with flashlights creating some trailing. This could have easily been cloned out in post but I didn’t want to risk it so I started over.

Finally, after a few more images I had the complete foreground merge. Due to technical problems, bumping my tripod during a couple and starting over, It was astronomical twilight shortly after completing the final image in the pano.

5 vertical image Stitch, Adobe LR. RAW

Once all the images had been stitched and the distortion corrected and image compositionally balanced this was the foreground result. Now all that was left was to photograph the sky! I returned the following night to set up my tracker from the location where I shot this pano, however using a tracker requires a clear view of Polaris, the northern star, to calibrate the tracking. Sadly I was unable to see Polaris from this location due to all the tree cover.

I began searching for nearby locations with absolutely clear horizons and discovered Taft point, an overlook just back down the glacier point road. This seemed like the closest sure-fire location with clear skies.

I quickly hiked out to the location during sunset and promptly set up my tracker to capture my sky panorama.

477″ tracked f/2.8 ISO 400 19mm

One of the single images tracked from Taft Point.

Taking several attempts to get the sky right and clean with as little foreground as possible I had my sky after shooting all night.

And once twilight hit I was so ready to be done with shower less, rash-ridden, mosquito-infested forests that I packed up and hiked straight to the car to start the long journey home. My image was finally captured and it was time to get back to the desktop and start putting the pieces together.

250″ f/2.8 ISO 800 Tracked

And with that my 9 day trip to the incredible Yosemite came to end, and after a long and boring drive through the deserts of Nevada, I would be able to review my images to see how I did.

“Galactic” Yosemite National Park, 2018

Thanks for reading! I hope something in this was beneficial to you, or maybe at least you won’t make some of the mistakes I have and never buy all-in-one bug spray and sunscreen…

P.S. If you’d like to learn more about photographing the Milky Way you can check out some of my one-on-one and group workshops hosted across the western United States on the techniques and tricks I use personally. Or if you would like to know how I post process my images, consider checking out my paid post processing Instructional courses for Adobe Photoshop.

About the author: Derek Sturman is a landscape and night photographer. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can find more of Sturman’s work on his website and Instagram. This article was also published here.

from Photography News https://petapixel.com/2019/01/11/capturing-the-milky-way-over-yosemite-national-park/

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sailorrrvenus · 6 years ago

Text

Capturing the Milky Way Over Yosemite National Park

I could photograph the scene in roughly five images in vertical orientation as single exposures and stack five or more frames per section.

I could photograph the foreground as single exposures and stack them under starlight, then track the sky to preserve the maximum sky detail and blend them back together.

Original foreground panorama 500% crop RAW

Final Edit, 500% crop.

I would do this by setting my camera on my tripod in vertical orientation, making sure that my ball head was completely level, and waiting until I was under complete starlight.

Example of my Camera in vertical orientation during a trip to Death Valley, March 2018.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Derek Sturman (@dereksturmanphotography) on Dec 7, 2018 at 7:56am PST

Sunset fades to Star light in Yosemite National Park.

Night sky over Yosemite National Park

You can see the small black latch next to the seat belt in the left corner.

Single test exposure, f/2.8 ISO 12,800 30″

This gave me an exposure time of roughly 13 minutes per frame. So I set a thirteen-minute count down timer in Photopills and sat with my finger on the button until the alarm went off.

759″ exposure f/3.2 ISO 800

Unfortunately for me, I didn’t realize that the red light from the homemade remote was casting onto the rocks in front of me, so I photographed this first exposure a second time.

792″ Exposure f/3.2 ISO 800

759″ Exposure f/3.2 ISO 800

I finally had the first of five images correct. I carefully reviewed the image for noise and detail at 300% zoom.

759″ f/3.2 ISO 800, 500% crop

Aside from a few hot pixels from the long exposure and warm weather, and a little noise on the surface of the peaks the image looked sharp and mostly clean.

Third (middle) image of pano, 759″ ISO 800 f/3.2

The following two images went smooth, though my thumb was getting a little tired from holding down the button to keep the shutter open. That was until the fourth image.

Hikers head lamps and flash lights illuminate the Trail between Nevada and Vernal falls. 439″ f/3.2 ISO 800

I stopped this exposure early when I noticed some hikers with flashlights creating some trailing. This could have easily been cloned out in post but I didn’t want to risk it so I started over.

5 vertical image Stitch, Adobe LR. RAW

I quickly hiked out to the location during sunset and promptly set up my tracker to capture my sky panorama.

477″ tracked f/2.8 ISO 400 19mm

One of the single images tracked from Taft Point.

Taking several attempts to get the sky right and clean with as little foreground as possible I had my sky after shooting all night.

250″ f/2.8 ISO 800 Tracked

And with that my 9 day trip to the incredible Yosemite came to end, and after a long and boring drive through the deserts of Nevada, I would be able to review my images to see how I did.

“Galactic” Yosemite National Park, 2018

Thanks for reading! I hope something in this was beneficial to you, or maybe at least you won’t make some of the mistakes I have and never buy all-in-one bug spray and sunscreen…

source https://petapixel.com/2019/01/11/capturing-the-milky-way-over-yosemite-national-park/

0 notes