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Photo of the Day August 2020

I agree, GBH and other herons are destructive and they are ruthless in their search for food; if they don't find a plentiful supply of fish at hand, they'll go for something else: frogs, newly-hatched goslings or ducklings or other small creatures. I think that probably one reason we never saw any ducklings on the lake this spring is that probably Alfred and his brethren opportunistically grabbed them and dined on them. Nature can be cruel at times!

Alfred also looks somewhat prehistoric, as someone pointed out in this thread, and that makes him intimidating right from the get-go for small creatures -- not to mention the fierce expression in his eyes when he is getting ready to spear a fish from the water. He's big, too, and when he stretches his long neck all the way, he's really tall. Alfred doesn't terrorize me, fortunately, as I'm always at a fair distance when shooting him (that's what long lenses are for!) or if I or anyone else does get too close for his comfort, he promptly takes off.
 
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DSCF9619.jpeg

Wet, and not amused on a rainy day.
 
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Clix Pix said:
I agree, GBH and other herons are destructive and they are ruthless in their search for food; if they don't find a plentiful supply of fish at hand, they'll go for something else: frogs, newly-hatched goslings or ducklings or other small creatures. I think that probably one reason we never saw any ducklings on the lake this spring is that probably Alfred and his brethren opportunistically grabbed them and dined on them. Nature can be cruel at times!

Alfred also looks somewhat prehistoric, as someone pointed out in this thread, and that makes him intimidating right from the get-go for small creatures -- not to mention the fierce expression in his eyes when he is getting ready to spear a fish from the water. He's big, too, and when he stretches his long neck all the way, he's really tall. Alfred doesn't terrorize me, fortunately, as I'm always at a fair distance when shooting him (that's what long lenses are for!) or if I or anyone else does get too close for his comfort, he promptly takes off.
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That was me. I think they look like the mutant child of a dinosaur.
iAssimilated said:
This is the first year in a while (I believe in four years) that we tried growing corn in our garden. Only one plant survived (the other one was dug up by a squirrel). Here is a picture of the tassel in the evening:

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Increased contrast and resized in Luminar 4.
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I’ve got some growing in my garden. But we didn’t plant it!
 
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It's when I see this sort of thing that my heart sinks low. This is part of what was once a beautifully ornate marble fireplace surround and mantle, now sadly sitting in pieces on the ground in a ruin site.


Exif is attached to the image.
 
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Alexander.Of.Oz said:
It's when I see this sort of thing that my heart sinks low. This is part of what was once a beautifully ornate marble fireplace surround and mantle, now sadly sitting in pieces on the ground in a ruin site.


Exif is attached to the image.
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Yes, I see a lot of arts and crafts style homes in the not great parts of town going abandoned and in disrepair. I once had a 1920s bungalow, and the oak flooring was 16 feet long in some places. You’d be hard-pressed to find such building materials anymore, and if you did, it would be very expensive. Sadly, many of these types of homes get let go to the point that they must be vacated and bulldozed.
 
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Darmok N Jalad said:
Yes, I see a lot of arts and crafts style homes in the not great parts of town going abandoned and in disrepair. I once had a 1920s bungalow, and the oak flooring was 16 feet long in some places. You’d be hard-pressed to find such building materials anymore, and if you did, it would be very expensive. Sadly, many of these types of homes get let go to the point that they must be vacated and bulldozed.
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We don't have many Arts & Crafts places here, unfortunately. That was a really nice architectural style when craftsmanship was placed above mere function and you can easily see the influence upon the Art Deco period, before Modernism reared its ugly head (says he that loves Brutalist architecture!)
 
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Alexander.Of.Oz said:
We don't have many Arts & Crafts places here, unfortunately. That was a really nice architectural style when craftsmanship was placed above mere function and you can easily see the influence upon the Art Deco period, before Modernism reared its ugly head (says he that loves Brutalist architecture!)
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I studied architecture for a couple years in college before changing majors. I always liked the architecture part, just not the compromises that come with design, and not to mention the feast and famine nature of the job--it follows the economy like no other! That said, architecture is a reflection of human history. Back when the bungalow was standard fair, homes were packed together, as transportation was mostly public. Porches were big and inviting, while garages were single car and in the back. Closets were small, and storage was minimal since people didn't have a lot. Today, the front of most homes is a massive garage, with a front porch so small that you may not even notice there's a front door, which goes mostly unused as you now enter the home through the garage most days. The closets of some homes today are bigger than 2 of the bedrooms in the bungalow we had. I kinda miss those days, though the extra space of our 60s colonial is welcome with the kids. Some days I feel like it's more than I want to handle, and our house isn't even big by today's standards!
 
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Darmok N Jalad said:
I studied architecture for a couple years in college before changing majors. I always liked the architecture part, just not the compromises that come with design, and not to mention the feast and famine nature of the job--it follows the economy like no other! That said, architecture is a reflection of human history. Back when the bungalow was standard fair, homes were packed together, as transportation was mostly public. Porches were big and inviting, while garages were single car and in the back. Closets were small, and storage was minimal since people didn't have a lot. Today, the front of most homes is a massive garage, with a front porch so small that you may not even notice there's a front door, which goes mostly unused as you now enter the home through the garage most days. The closets of some homes today are bigger than 2 of the bedrooms in the bungalow we had. I kinda miss those days, though the extra space of our 60s colonial is welcome with the kids. Some days I feel like it's more than I want to handle, and our house isn't even big by today's standards!
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I worked as a consultant to home owners, architects and builders advising on eco-architecture, passive solar design and similar things back in the early 90's. A tough slog back then and still sadly overlooked in regard to designing places fitting well with locale and people even in this day and age. The McMansion cookie cutter approach is unfortunately the norm for most all new developments; where thermal and environmental impacts are watered down and promoted as 'green' when they are nowhere near that in actuality! :(
 
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Alexander.Of.Oz said:
I worked as a consultant to home owners, architects and builders advising on eco-architecture, passive solar design and similar things back in the early 90's. A tough slog back then and still sadly overlooked in regard to designing places fitting well with locale and people even in this day and age. The McMansion cookie cutter approach is unfortunately the norm for most all new developments; where thermal and environmental impacts are watered down and promoted as 'green' when they are nowhere near that in actuality! :(
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We live in a lovely 1923 bungalow but unfortunately in a neighborhood in transition. Big square boxes get built as the older homes get bulldozed. The new architecture around here is almost a caricature of brutalist style, the vague shape but none of the optimism and love of material (yes, probably most people don’t use those phrases when describing Brutalist :D). They’ve gotten a little better over the last couple of years but there was a good 7 years of rubbish that destroyed a lot of the original character.
 
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r.harris1 said:
We live in a lovely 1923 bungalow but unfortunately in a neighborhood in transition. Big square boxes get built as the older homes get bulldozed. The new architecture around here is almost a caricature of brutalist style, the vague shape but none of the optimism and love of material (yes, probably most people don’t use those phrases when describing brutalist :D). They’ve gotten a little better over the last couple of years but there was a good 7 years of rubbish that destroyed a lot of the original character.
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I had to give your comment a Love! For the appreciation and love of architecture and dropping such wonderous terms in regard to Brutalist design!

Huge apologies to all for dragging the thread so far off-topic. I'll make sure to not do so again until next time. ;)
 
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