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Photography thread

Thought it might be nice to have a thread for folks to post photos. Cool if they're cycling related, OK if not. First one, a shot from Santa Cruz, CA this morning. The tracks along Highway 9. Amazing place to live and ride, Northern California...

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Why are you riding on the train tracks? You're not a train.

I'm assuming (hoping) they're not actually in use anymore.
Actually they are, but use is limited to a couple of sightseeing trains. https://www.roaringcamp.com/

They're infrequent, don't move too quickly, you can hear them from a mile or more away, and since you're on a mountain bike, any need to escape (wildly unlikely) is not only easy, but potentially really fun. There's a huge shoulder as well, it's really not an issue. There is a 100 feet of bridge a bit further up, but it only takes a few seconds to cross.

Some of the trails coming off the steep side of UCSC dump about a quarter mile north of the trail back up. The options are to ride down Highway 9 with no shoulder and a fair bit of not-too-bike-friendly-traffic, or drop into a really fun little descent to the tracks, and ride the tracks back to the climb. It's fun, scenic, and a nice little diversion from the climbing and steep-as-heck descending.

Still wondering what the guy we captured off in the distance is up to. Mildly creepy.
 
Actually they are, but use is limited to a couple of sightseeing trains. https://www.roaringcamp.com/

They're infrequent, don't move too quickly, you can hear them from a mile or more away, and since you're on a mountain bike, any need to escape (wildly unlikely) is not only easy, but potentially really fun. There's a huge shoulder as well, it's really not an issue. There is a 100 feet of bridge a bit further up, but it only takes a few seconds to cross.

Some of the trails coming off the steep side of UCSC dump about a quarter mile north of the trail back up. The options are to ride down Highway 9 with no shoulder and a fair bit of not-too-bike-friendly-traffic, or drop into a really fun little descent to the tracks, and ride the tracks back to the climb. It's fun, scenic, and a nice little diversion from the climbing and steep-as-heck descending.

Still wondering what the guy we captured off in the distance is up to. Mildly creepy.
Nice picture. Did that guy just stare at you when your rode by? (I've been watching a lot of thrillers lately, so any person just hanging around the woods could a be a potential serial killer.)

My camera isn't very good, and Halloween was a week ago. But my pumpkin, while starting to shrivel up, hasn't started to mold yet, so I haven't tossed it. Each year my carving efforts are getting to be sadder and sadder, years ago I actually put some effort into it. I had only about half a dozen trick-or-treaters, so who cares anyway.


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Maybe I'll take some pics of the local foliage later, the tree colors are just gorgeous here in western Oregon at this time of year.
 
Perhaps my favorite European City at night. At least one of them.. Taken with my iPhone.

Great picture with your iPhone!

I have never been to Belgium, but Gent looks marvelous at night.

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As promised I took some pics of the trees while walking my neighbor's dog around the block... I'm using a crappy old Canon Powershot, just noticed I should have cleaned the lens first. Plus, it's a foggy day here in Eugene, so both the weather and the camera don't do the brilliant colors justice.

Right now we have a little bit of green, a little bit of red, yellow, brown... on chilly, dreary days like these they really brighten the place up.


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There are piles of fallen leaves everywhere on the streets, the city won't pick them up till early December. But, at least the dog is having a good time checking them out.
 
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Went for a little run around the neighborhood just now, seeing as we live in an age where everyone is offended by at least one thing or another I must say I was thoroughly offended by this sign. (I'm sure those who saw me run were offended by my lack of form, but that's a different story.)

Note the blatant exclusion of a cyclist... they've got the runner, the dog walker, a basketball player, and some punk on a skateboard - where is the cyclist? Couldn't they have at least included some kid with a helmet on a tricycle?


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I'm offended I tells ya, just offended!
 
Sorry for the awful pictures, but am in the middle of trying to rescue a hummingbird in distress. (Found him outside basically frozen to a tree branch, for a while he wouldn't even move.)

After looking for some tips on the webs he's flying again, but for now I'm keeping him inside till he's strong enough to go back out.

Picture #1 - Have some sugar water for him in case he's feeling hungry and thirsty.


Picture #2 - Apparently he really likes to sit on Pre's head (one of the posters in my room), as a hobby jogger I'm totally cool with this. :cool:



Will let you know how things proceed with this poor bird, and will try to take some more pictures.
 
With a heavy heart I must report the little flyer is no longer with us, perhaps I was just trying to delay the inevitable.

I still took a piccy after riger mortis had set in - wasn't he just beautiful? In the right light his colors were just so splendid...



I think it's every photographer's dream to just capture a hummingbird in mid-flight on camera...

RIP, little guy, rip.
 
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Somebody pretty please post some pictures, I don't want to hog this entire thread. (I know you all have those fancy smartphones that seem to take very good pictures.) In the meantime, and just in time for next year's Halloween...

Bird food also attracts critters like squirrels and other rodents, just now I took a picture of a couple of rats that were feasting on some bird food. (I don't mind rodents at all, actually used to keep some rats and gerbils as pets.)

The pic is crap because I didn't have my camera with me when I first saw them, had to go fetch it without scaring them off. The zoom function sucks, plus the lighting was very poor, but that doesn't excuse the fact that, while my camera is old and shite, I still don't know how to use all its functions. (Don't know how to use photo editing functions on my apps either.)

Aren't they just the cutest?

 
Yay, though a bit early there are now some signs of spring in my area that I just had to take a piccy of!

Okay, I'm not happy with the picture itself because it doesn't quite capture all the detail of these lovely, dainty blossoms (camera operator error), but I am happy there are finally some signs of spring here in Eugene. Which means riding and being able to finally get out of the house more, and so on and so forth.



How are your signs of spring (or signs of autumn in places such as Australia) coming along ?

Btw., I do realize Australia has been through a lot lately with all the bushfires, and now floods, but surely you Aussies could at least take some pics of your bikes even if they're just resting in your garages or whatnot?
 
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Looks like it's just you and me, red flanders. Ah well.

I went for my first bike ride this year earlier today, thankfully my fat ass spent at least some time on a stationary bike over the winter, otherwise this ride would have been just too pathetic. Anyhoo...

The weather was nice - 60F, sunny, no wind...I usually ride down this path, in the summer it gets very busy with all kinds of foot and bike traffic. Today was not the case in this section, the traffic came later.



I ride past this high school multi-purpose field where they play football, American football, baseball, lacrosse, track&field... I like to watch them as I ride by because it breaks up the monotony.



And last, but not least, I have to cross several larger bridges that tend to get very busy, so I'm always happy when I get this small bridge all to myself. (I like to pretend I'm riding through some gorgeous Japanese garden.)

 
Don't you just hate it when you really, really want to take a picture but there's no camera on hand? And by the time you do fetch one the objects you wanted to photograph have moved?

Well, this was the case with these wild turkeys in my backyard recently... I've already taken and posted pictures of them in the past, but this bunch was different because it included a white turkey. I had never seen a white turkey before, too bad I couldn't teach it to stand still so I could get a better pic. (Otherwise these avian creatures are quite majestic - they do actually fly, and they are huuuuuge!)

 
Yesss! Everyone's favorite wild turkeys are back, crikes, this is starting to sound like some kind of a nature show.

This time I had my camera handy and it was actually halfway focused, plus the lighting was good... thankfully this was a bunch of girls, while not as pretty they aren't as large and as aggressive as the boys.



I don't really mind their presence too much - they do crap a lot, and the tomato patch I'm hoping to make use of later this spring they have sifted through and had made themselves comfortable in.



There is still a dog on site though, so he may not appreciate their glory as much as I do. (So you ladies better appreciate my hospitality for as long as it lasts.)
 
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In the midst of this pandemic there are also some signs of life... my mom likes to keep parakeets (on the loose in a room, not in a cage), and apparently these birds have had some sexy time sometime in the past. So now there are some baby birdies, it's fun to watch them grow.

They've gone from completely bald and blind to developing some feathers and their eyes are mostly open now, wonder what they think of what they see. And they are chirping and even screeching now when they are hungry, thankfully their mom is dutifully feeding them.



Apologies for the crap picture, but you all know I don't know how to operate a camera under the best of circumstances, let alone in a situation where I'm trying to negotiate a flash without freaking the birds out.
 
And now a much awaited picture of the baby budgies, I'm sure...

The one in the middle was born a little later, so he still has some of that baby fuzz. But the others are mostly adult-feathered now, looks like they will all be yellow/green.

All they are still doing right now is huddling for warmth and screeching for food, it'll be fun to watch them learning how to fly. (A Pink Floyd song suddenly came to mind.)

Anyway, this picture turned out halfway decent, but that's only because I'm not as cautious with the flash anymore because the birds are now more mature.

 
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Shhhhhhh, ladies and gentlemen, I must ask for absolute silence now.

I managed to steal this baby budgie from my mom, but they all are trying to fly now. Most of the time they fall on their arses, but at least I'm trying to teach this one to read CN. (Gotta get them into cycling early, you know.)

 

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