2019 An Image A Day: Travels, Landscapes, Birds, Wildlife & People

Another Ship

The Star Princess was not the only ship in Antarctica waters. This photo should give you some sense of scale of the 2K-4K foot mountains in the Antarctica Peninsula.

Plateau Ice in the Weddell Sea

This is one of the first sights of the Antarctica continent. It was bitterly COLD.

Welcoming Committee of Gentoo Penguins

The weather in Antarctica changed on a dime. One minute it was raining-snowing windy, foggy, the next minuted the sea was calm and like glass. As we neared the Peninsula islands we were greeted by throngs of Gentoo penguins. Gentoo penguins are the third largest penguin species. They can dive as deep as 655 feet in pursuit of fish or krill. Like all penguin species, the ventral side of the Gentoo penguin is white while the dorsal side is black. This color pattern is known as countershading, which is useful when swimming underwater. The lightly colored side helps penguins blend in with the sky for predators or prey that are looking down. The dark dorsal side blends with the ocean floor for predators or prey looking down. I've included this photo of the jumping Gentoos to tell you about a software product I used to sharpen this image. It's called Topaz Sharpen AI. Before using Sharpen AI on this photo, the penguins appeared fuzzy, not sharp and I just don't like my images to be fuzzy. This was my test of Topaz Sharpen AI and it exceeded my expectations. I hope to "fix" some other photos and make them worthy of uploading into this gallery....have a wonderful day, God bless.

Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station

King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica Peninsula: The station is named for Henryk Arctowski (1871-1959), who as meteorologist had accompanied the Belgian explorer Baron Adrien de Gerlache on the Belgian Antarctic Expedition "Belgica", 1897-1899. This was the first expedition to overwinter in Antarctica. He proposed the original notion of a wind chill factor, arguing that wind could be as damaging to human flesh as cold in harsh climates. Established on 26 February 1977, the station is managed by the Polish Academy of Sciences; its main research areas include marine biology, oceanography, geology, geomorphology, glaciology, meteorology, climatology, seismology, magnetism and ecology. Because it is readily accessible, and the Polish staffers are friendly, it is one of the most-visited scientific stations in Antarctica. A greenhouse provides fresh vegetables. The beaches near the station have numerous whale bones, relics of the time when the site was used to process whales killed nearby. The station is near colonies of three different types of Pygoscelis penguins (Adelies, chinstraps, and gentoos), and has been designated a site of Special Scientific Interest (SSI) as provided by the Antarctic Treaty. (Source: Wikipedia) The Star Princess' cruise through Antarctica included a 4 hour stop in the South Shetland Islands and a visit by six Polish scientists. That's them in the Zodiak as they approached the ship. After coming aboard, they presented a program about their research which included weather, marine biology, etc. They were most appreciative of the lavish lunch and even more of the hot showers each took advantage of while on board. It seems that long hot showers are few and far between in Antarctica. I just admire scientists who seek answers and go to the limit to find them. The ship was welcomed by a group of Gentoo penguins but I'll save that for tomorrow.

Antarctica: First Sight

As the Star Princess neared the Antarctica Peninsula the weather changed from choppy seas to calm winds and smooth waters. The weather would change again and again from calm sea to stormy seas. It was COLD.

Deception Island

Located near the tip of the Antarctic peninsula, Deception Island is made up of a caldera of an active volcano. It has erupted several times since humans first set foot in the South Shetlands around 1820. The active volcano is home to a wide variety of wildlife and has repeatedly spewed ash and hot lava into the frigid waters of the surrounding ocean. A violent eruption about 10,000 years ago caused the volcano’s summit to collapse and formed the flooded caldera in the center of the island. While life on the island can seem bleak and inhospitable, a diverse array of species still exists there. Because of the volcano’s activity, 18 species of moss and lichens that have not been recorded elsewhere in Antarctica live on the island. Eight seabirds also nest there, including the chinstrap penguin colony at Baily Head. The colony is comprised of over 100,000 breeding pairs of penguins—the largest group in the Antarctic Peninsula and possibly one of the largest in the world. The last eruption was in 1969. A short-lived eruption occurred on Deception Island in 1969 from a series of fissures under a thin (ca. 100 m thick) glacier over a distance of 4 km. The eruption created a large and sudden discharge of meltwater that overflowed the glacier, severely damaging buildings on the island. source: National Geographic

Wandering Albatross

The wandering albatross is the largest of seabirds, with a wing span reaching three metres and a body mass of 8–12kg. The largest of albatrosses, the wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans), ranges from sub-tropical to Antarctic waters on trips covering up to 10,000km in 10–20 days. Albatrosses use their formidable wingspans to ride the ocean winds and sometimes to glide for hours without rest or even a flap of their wings. They also float on the sea's surface, though the position makes them vulnerable to aquatic predators. Albatrosses drink salt water, as do some other sea birds. Wandering albatross are found right across the Southern Ocean, including Antarctic, subantarctic and subtropical waters. Wandering albatross breed on subantarctic and Antarctic islands between 46° and 56°S such as Iles Kerguelen, South Georgia and Macquarie Island. The albatross as a superstitious relic is referenced in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's well-known poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. It is considered very unlucky to kill an albatross; in Coleridge's poem, the narrator killed the bird and his fellow sailors eventually force him to wear the dead bird around his neck. (Reference: Wikipedia) I took this photo from the stern of the Star Princess on an Antarctic cruise in February 2008.

Elephant Island

Antarctica: Elephant Island Elephant Island is an ice-covered mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. Its name was given by early explorers sighting elephant seals on its shores.The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent. The voyage of the James Caird was a small-boat journey from Elephant Island in the South Shetland Islands to South Georgia in the southern Atlantic Ocean, a distance of 1,300 km (800 mi). Undertaken by Sir Ernest Shackleton and five companions, it aimed to obtain rescue for the main body of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917, which was stranded on Elephant Island after the loss of its ship Endurance. Polar historians regard the voyage as one of the greatest small-boat journeys ever completed. In October 1915 pack ice in the Weddell Sea had sunk Endurance, leaving Shackleton and his companions adrift on a precarious ice surface. Throughout the duration of their survival, the group drifted northward until April 1916, when the floe on which they had encamped broke up. They then made their way in the ship's lifeboats to Elephant Island, where Shackleton decided that the most effective means of obtaining rescue would be to sail one of the lifeboats to South Georgia. Of the three lifeboats, the James Caird was deemed the strongest and most likely to survive the journey. Shackleton had named it after Sir James Key Caird, a Dundee jute-manufacturer and philanthropist, whose sponsorship had helped finance the expedition. Before its voyage, the ship's carpenter Harry McNish strengthened and adapted the boat to withstand the mighty seas of the Southern Ocean. Surviving a series of dangers, including a near capsizing, the boat reached the southern coast of South Georgia after a voyage lasting 16 days. Shackleton and two companions then crossed the island's mountainous interior to reach a whaling station on the northern side. Here he organised the relief of the Elephant Island party, and the return of his men home without loss of life. After the First World War, in 1919, the James Caird was moved from South Georgia to England. It has been on regular display at Shackleton's old school, Dulwich College, since 1922. Source: Wikipedia The weather in the Southern Ocean was unpredictably cold. It was sunshine one minute, the rain would roll in and it would start sleeting and the next minute it was snowing. Give it a few minutes the fog would lift, clouds depart and it was clear and sunshine again. I can't imagine being stuck on this island for months. I had on two pairs of pants and four layers of shirt-sweater-light coat and overcoat, gloves and I was still cold. I had to limit my exposure to minutes. This was during the Antarctica summer!

Baby That's Cold

Antarctica, February 8, 2008: My wife and I took a Princess Cruise from Buenos Aires, Argentina which sailed into the Antarctica waters of the Weddell Sea. The ship passed many of these icebergs which appear to have "blue ice." I asked the question,"What turns snow and ice into shades of blue?"This is because they are made of snow and "glacier ice", which is compressed snow. While a small amount of light reflects from the surface of an iceberg, most of it enters the iceberg and interacts with snow particles and bubbles of air trapped in the glacier ice. Of all the places I've been, Antarctica is very special. Photo taken with a Nikon D200 (excuse the noise)

Tours, France: Cathedral Saint Martin Dome April 2017

If you look at yesterday's photo you see two beams of light coming into the cathedral. These are the windows allowing the sunlight. I was used to seeing tall Gothic cathedrals but this one is Romanesque in style. I later learned it is Byzantine. This is iconic dome of the Saint Martin Cathedral in Tours. The church is relatively recent structure. It is built in the Byzantine style. Byzantine architects were eclectic, at first drawing heavily on Roman temple features. Their combination of the basilica and symmetrical central-plan (circular or polygonal) religious structures resulted in the characteristic Byzantine Greek-cross-plan church, with a square central mass and four arms of equal length Alas, the last photo of that day. Some of you have experienced the same miscue. I don't try and download any more photos on a trip. I just bring enough memory cards with me and download them at home instead of my travel laptop. Other photos of the Cathedral and Tours: https://birdshooter.smugmug.com/France-2017/Tours-Cathedral-de-Saint-Martin/

Saint Martin de Tours

On a tour of the Loire Valley of France in 2017 we stopped in the city of Tours and visited both cathedrals. This is the basilica of Saint Marten. The St Marten of Tours basilica was built between 1886 and 1924 by French architect Victor Laloux in neo-Byzantine style. I took this image with my iPhone 6s. I am glad I did because I lost the rest of the images taken with my D750 that day. I have no idea where the images went. The only thing I can assume is that I reformatted my memory card and did not download them. However, the iPhone image turned out pretty good.

Tooling Around Bordeaux

I have no idea what kind of antique car this is. I just thought it looked cool coming down the street....click. Maybe some of my Smugmug friends have seen this model before and can put a label on it. Thanks for all the comments, questions, etc.

Bordeaux's Clock Gate (Closeup)

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Grosse Cloche de Bordeaux

Known as the "Clock Gate," it is the most photographed of the four medieval gates in Bordeaux.One of the oldest belfries in France, this tower was a traditional gateway to the city and once functioned as a prison.

Arches-Lines-Shadows

What to do in the middle of the day? Find a high contrast subject shoot it.

Les Fruits de L"Orient

One of my favorite subjects, a street market, was near one of the Bordeaux cathedrals. Aurora HDR helps bring out all of the details in the back. There are no supermarkets, big box stores to shop. Most shopping is local and one on one.

Arches-Lines-Shadows

Walking around Bordeaux one day, I found this old convent. The cloister presented itself with some nice lines and shadows.

Saint Andre Cathedral: Rose Window

Rose windows are the large circular stained glass windows found in Gothic churches. They developed from a small round window called an oculus in Ancient Roman architecture. During the Gothic period, the development of decorative supporting stonework called tracery allowed such large windows to be created.

Inside Saint Andre Cathedral

The massive organ takes up the entire backside of the church. This one was quiet but the organist at Saint Michel was practicing and I recorded a little of it. Click on the previous image and turn up your volume. PS: That's Mary Alice sitting in the third row patiently waiting for me. She's a very understanding wife.

The Cathedral of Saint Andrew of Bordeaux

The Cathedral of Saint Andrew of Bordeaux, commonly known as Bordeaux Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Andrew. You'll have to forgive the blown out sky, I'm still learning PS and don't know how to replace it. This is the other Gothic cathedral in Bordeaux. We'll go inside this week and take a look around. It's quite impressive.

The Bordeaux Arrow

The Saint Michel Bell Tower, part of the church I could not fit in with the pano.

Holy Windows

Photoshopped! Three of the stained glass windows in the Basilica Saint Michel. https://www.ineditions.net/bordeaux/en/2019/02/the-stained-glass-windows-of-saint-michel/ Thank you all for your comments.

Mom Explains Prayer

Inside of Saint Michel Cathedral I watched this family come up to the prayer candles. The older man dropped a coin into the box while mom put her arm around the two boys. I wish my French was better but she was explaining to them why we are lighting a candle. I quietly took few frames without disturbing the moment. The photo info is available if you're interested, but I had the ISO cranked up to 6400 and held it steady at 1/50 s at f/8.

Gothic Interior

Entering Saint Michel Cathedral, one is awed by the height of the ceiling, the massive columns and the sculpture and paintings. Camera & Photo Info: Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5 VR lens, ISO-6400, f/3.5, 1/100 s, Manual Mode, ....hand held!

What's Behind the Green Door?

Entering the Basilica Saint Michel, you walk through a massive green door.

Basilica Saint Michel, Bordeaux

This is the other church in Bordeaux, Saint Michel or Saint Michael. Both are massive Gothic edifices and both are magnificent inside. We'll go inside for the next two weeks and explore each church. Saint Michel was so large I had to do a 3 image pano to get it all and still I had to leave out the bell tower which is a separate building on the left of this photo.

The Grand Theater........Bordeaux

Of all the public buildings in Bordeaux, the Grand-Théâtre is unquestionably the most well-known. It is Neo-Classical architecture. It provides a gorgeous subject for aspiring photographers. It is a short walk from the Mirror Fountain and on the way back to our hotel. Here is a link to learn more about it. https://www.bordeaux-citytours.com/en/que_faire_a_bordeaux/the-prestigious-grand-theatre/ I got a question about the street lights and the starry effects....how did you do that? When taking a night shot f/22 will produce this star burst from lights. One of my old photography teachers told me that.

Twilight at the Mirror Fountain

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