Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays. Except for the fireworks. I used to love fireworks as a kid. However now I realize how upsetting they are to veterans and also to pets I have revised my opinion. However time for a great barbecue with friends and usually great weather helps us appreciate our freedoms and hopefully we can hold on to these in troubling time.
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I belong to a group of the world’s best street photographers , The B&W Humanist and Street Photography Corner. They have over 17,000 members and publish thousands of images a day from around the world. Twice a month they produce videos of the best images. Once again, I had an image selected for the video which is a much appreciated honor. You can see the video here.
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I realize that wars are necessary sometimes. However it now seems that we are engaged in forever wars and the military industrial complex prefers to have conditions of permanent warfare, something I do not support. However the people that do battle for our country deserve nothing less that our full support and respect.
Memorial Day is a day when we pay tribute to all that went to battle on our behalf and did not return. Thanks for your service and to the families that have lost loved ones, thanks for your sacrifice.
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When I took this picture I noticed to joy on this person’s face. It made me think. A garden is a garden no matter how small. I couldn’t help but wonder if the joy came from the windowbox or from a larger garden in days gone by.
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Legend has it that Tom Petty wrote the third verse of Mary Jane’s Last Dance while looking down on Market Square from his hotel room.
“There’s pigeons down on Market Square
She’s standin’ in her underwear
Lookin’ down from a hotel room
The nightfall will be comin’ soon”
Who knows if it is true but Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers did play in Pittsburgh frequently and there are usually pigeons in market square. In any case, it is a fun place to spend some time in.
It has been a while since I found a suitable image for my Selective Color Project. This is the first since Black and Gold city and the 23rd entry in the series. This is a Kauai Hibiscus .
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Hummingbirds are fun to watch and very difficult to photograph. Sure you can put up a hummingbird feeder filled with sugar water. You can also sit in a tree stand with feed spread out on the ground to shoot a deer. I prefer to do my hunting in a natural way. I want to photograph hummingbirds in the wild and that requires patience and luck.
Hummingbirds are really fast. Their wings beat very fast. The fastest recorded rate is about 80 beats per second on an Amethyst Wood- star Hummingbird. North American hummingbirds average around 53 beats per second in normal flight. They are drawn to red plants for feeding. I invested a few hours to get these pictures.
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While in Maui a friend of ours took us to a Protea Farm. Protea is an ancient angiosperm found in fossils back as far as 80 million years. They only grow naturally in Africa, Australia and South America, It is believed they grew in South America and Australia before the continents split from Africa. They can be cultivated and now grow naturally in Hawaii which is the only place in the United States they can be found outside of a greenhouse.
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In 1795, before unification of the islands, the town was conquered by Kamehameha the Great. Lahaina was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1802 to 1845. It was once an important destination for the 19th-century whaling fleet, whose presence at Lahaina frequently led to conflicts with the Christian missionaries living there. On more than one occasion the conflict was so severe that it led to sailor riots and even the shelling of Lahaina by the British whaler John Palmer in 1827. In response, Maui Governor Hoapili built the Old Lahaina Fort in 1831 to protect the town from riotous sailors.
Originally whalers only chased the enormous and slow Right Whales. They were so slow you could catch them from rowboats off sailing ships as described in Moby Dick. After nearly killing off the right whales, whalers discovered that at certain of the year the faster Humpback Whales would travel to Hawaii to mate and Lahaina became the center to the decimation of this species. However in 1970 things changed and so did Lahaina.
The United States listed all humpback whales as endangered under the Endangered Species Conservation Act in 1970 and then under the Endangered Species Act. The international outlawing of whaling has enable the Humpbacks to survive and thrive. Lahaina changed from being a center of whaling to becoming a center for whale research and conservation. Today the boats still leave Lahaina Harbor in search of whales but to photograph them and enjoy their frolicking in the warm Hawaiian sun
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The North Shore of Kauai is often overlooked by tourists. It is a drive to some of the more popular tourists attractions. However it is more relaxed and with its own attractions like Hanalei, The Kilauea Lighthouse and remarkable beaches like Lumaha’i Beach. A newer attraction that should not be missed is the Na ‘Aina Kai Sculpture Park By The Sea. This beautiful garden also contains over 75 magnificent sculptures, a maze garden, multiple waterfalls and is a beautiful place to stroll and contemplate life and nature.
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Imagery Photography 