The Flickr Голландия Image Generatr

ꒌ НАЈТОПЛИЈИ ДАН ОВЕ ГОДИНЕ (7. марта, 17°C). На реци у природном резервату Авелинген. Чак ни на самој води не требају више рукавице, шал и капа. Нема ветра ни таласа, осим од проласка брода са већом гажом и тонажом.
– Недељу дана касније, и по ведром времену целе седмице је јутром мраз. Враћај рукавице и капу! И тако све до првог дана пролећа кад је ово постављено.

► ▓░█ THE WARMEST DAY OF THIS YEAR (March 7th, 17°C / 63°F), calm, almost no wind. I haven't been there on Rastko's krib for just two days, and the changes are already notable. The cormorant colony made big advances building nests in the group of trees that I named "Dutch Safari". Wild geese have gone somewhere, there are just a couple of hundred left in that big field. But so many more sounds of other, smaller birds coming from all over the place...
I tried to capture the last glimpse of the setting sun of that day. Enlarge and have a closer look! A week later and the frost is back at night, al the way to the first day of the spring when this gets posted.

֎⃣ E-M1 gen.1 fitted with the much newer OM 12-45mm f/4 zoom. Fully zoomed in (= 90mm full frame equivalent), WB cloudy, at f/8, 1/250 of a sec, ISO 200, overexposed for ⅔ of a sec.
SOOC, straight-out-of-the-camera jpeg, unedited.


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File name: P3070112

► ▓░█ A MOMENT WHEN our flying friends break loose above our heads. Everybody is excited by the sunset in De Avelingen, the place to be at such a moment, and happy with an obvious anticipation of spring. March does his entry here in a jolly way. At long last the month that will invoke the spring, in less than three weeks! But not everybody exhibits joy in the same way. Wilde geese can go wild, but the dogs and the humans are tied by the canine and human etiquette. So do we not only show more restraint, but also freeze for the camera.

I like how everybody here, including the photographer, is looking in a different direction. But the colours disappoint me greatly. Read below.

֎⃣ Oldie Olympus E-M1 mark 1 fitted with a much newer 12-45mm f4.0 pro zoom. AWB, aperture priority f4 resulting in 1/500, ISO 200. Developed from raw and edited in Affinity Photo 2.4The 'Haze Removal' filter does wonders for the birds at the cost of making them too dark, and the sky assumes unnatural tints not to my taste.

For a reason, I've been editing on an old ThinkPad that has a rather neutral, or slightly blueish, low contrast matte screen. Coming over with the finished edit to a newer Apple screen is a huge disappointment. Instead of the colours popping up, there is often an orange-green hue out of control. This is "the golden hour" moment pictured, okay, but still, even with the "True Tone" off, the hue is not nice to say the least. The sooc jpeg is uninviting, but neutral. There is a calibration possibility for this Apple screen, so there is still hope. But if the problem persists even after the calibration, I will have to abandon the idea of editing on this MacBook whatsoever. Perhaps another way to test its screen is to compare it to a professional monitor. Do you have any experience with this nuisance?


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File name: P3010026-from-RAW_0.tiff

► ▓░█ RACING WITH THE SUN. Left home late and tried to reach Rastko's groyne before dark. Just missed this ship when almost there. There were still 12 minutes left until astronomical sunset, and of course cargo ships keep on sailing into the night, but there was an unusual pause on the river after Messina – no other ships appeared.

֎⃣ E-M1 gen.1 with OM 12-45mm f4 pro at 12mm handheld. Overexposed for ⅓ of a stop. AWB, aperture priority f4.0 resulting in 1/200 and ISO 200. Developed from raw, cropped and edited in Affinity Photo 2.4


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File name: P3010038-from-RAW_HazeR.tiff

► ▓░█ ALTHOUGH THERE'S still five to six minutes left until the astronomical sunset, ideal horizon lies here behind the dykes and other relief blocking the view. So it appears that this is precisely the sunset. –Note in the distance the usual euphoric bird play around this time (or sunrise) with the setting Sun as backstage.

֎⃣ E-M1 gen.1 with OM 12-45mm f4 pro at 42mm handheld with side support of a pole. Overexposed for ⅔ of a stop. AWB, aperture priority f4.0 resulting in 1/1000 and ISO 200. Developed from raw and edited in Affinity Photo 2.4 -I am rather unhappy with the colors I got... the Affinity's Haze Removal filter is indispensable for bringing up the distant detail but shifts the blue colour of the sky into an ordinary midday tint which comes rather unnatural over.


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File name: P3010042-from-RAW_HazeR.tiff

► ▓░█ This Airbus A380-861 belonging to Etihad Airways EY67 A388, flight ETD1VW, took off from Abu Dabi 6 and half hours prior to this moment. The half of this flight was at leaving the Turkish coast and entering the air space above the Black Sea at Amasra. In this image she still has the maximum cruise height and ground speed of 40.000 ft. and 472 kts reg. although it will land in London LHR just over 40 minutes. Above Breda Noord at the moment of this capture, pilots will start reducing the speed and begin descending very soon - in just three minutes, exactly when they reach the North Sea coast line above Renesse. When they will have crossed the sea in a strangely winding fashion and reached the British coast at the tip of Foulness island (Foulness Point) at 15.725 ft / 357 kts, it will take them another 21 minutes above the mainland – having flown passed North London and making a full U-turn just short of Reading – to finally land on Heathrow.

Interesting enough, there is another plane in this image, low down left. The flight UAE70M of Emirates has so many similarities with Etihad that it is almost uncanny. The aircraft is also an Airbus A380-842, flying with the identical speed and just 600 m lower, it also left the Gulf (Dubai) 6 and half hours prior to this capture, it will also land on London Heathrow in 40 minutes, the difference is only a couple minutes both in departures and arrivals. But this plane is at this moment about to fly across south Antwerpen, which is way further from the camera – a major city in Belgium. It is a 100+ km ride over the highway and it takes 1 - 1,5 hours to get there by car.

So much about my obsession with the navigation. I took this photo for the way the bare branches were "drawn" over a wintery mood canvass, but got intrigued by the airplane while developing it. The sun had set for me on the ground 17 minutes prior to the shot, and the astronomical sunset was 11 minutes before, triggering the blue hour palette. But in the airplane they were bound to still seen the Sun due to 12,2 km height at which the aircraft was cruising.

֎⃣E-M1 gen.1 with OM 12-45mm f4 pro at 21 mm. Overexposed for 1⅓ of a stop. AWB, aperture priority f4.0 resulting in 1/40 and ISO 200. Handheld. Developed from raw and edited in Affinity Photo 2.4 ...I am rather unhappy with the sky colors I got... I got them wrong here. The Haze removal filter changes it. Mostly for the worse, with some unnatural tints. I am not a big fan of pink... ;) But the river has this color also in the sooc jpeg.

Flight data: Flightradar24


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File name: P3010051-from-RAW_0.tiff

► ▓░█ Feeding fish with your dinner leftovers :)) – ON HER WAY to the west, presumably to Port of Rotterdam. I was racing with the Sun, left home late and tried to reach Rastko's groyne before dark. Just missed this ship when almost there. There were still 12 minutes left until astronomical sunset, and of course cargo ships keep on sailing into the night, but there was an unusual pause on the river after Messina – no other ships appeared.

֎⃣ E-M1 gen.1 with OM 12-45mm f4 pro at 45mm handheld. Overexposed for ⅓ of a stop. AWB, aperture priority f4.0 resulting in 1/250 and ISO 200. Developed from raw and edited in Affinity Photo 2.4


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File name: P3010039-from-RAW_HazeR.tiff

PURE PLAY, inspired by the setting sun, there is hardly any practical functionality in this behaviour of the wild geese. The end of the first March day this year.

Took my old E-M1 gen.1 with me, with stills on my mind. The camera has poor video, but the scene was irresistible.

Wild geese make a distinct sound and have a demeanour which is not always the same. I often hear them at night, when they fly in small groups low above my flat 25 m high. Then it's more like navigating, a kind of sound radar. Or encouraging each other. Yesterday evening (5 March) I was late coming back from the river shore, and the geese had been conspicuously calm for an hour... when I was at the middle of that big field, it was almost completely dark already. Camera already packed in my bag. Then something like exploded. The whole flock of around thousand wild geese put up a play for me. They suddenly burst into flight from the field on my right hand side and came right above my head over to the other side of the field where they landed. It was the sound of a thunder, all those huge wings flapping and the geese honking and calling. Like fff tutti of a large symphony orchestra. –Maybe I should take a sound recorder with me the next time... :)))

֎⃣ SOOC


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File name: P3010033

ꒌ ПЛИНСКИ РЕЧНИ ТАНКЕР руши километре низ Мерведе (Рајну), највероватније негде ка Ротердаму или ка некој рафинерији у околини. Рекло би се да овај теретњак под немачком заставом плови празан или полупразан. Палуба је крцата импресивном специфичном технологијом коју на жалост не видимо добро због нижег положаја фотографа у равни воде. До астрономског заласка сунца остало је тачно 20 минута, али разни објекти на површини Земље већ су га заклонили при самом тлу (и површини воде).

► ▓░█ HGK GAS TANKER, under German flag, presumably empty on its way to new cargo somewhere around Rotterdam. Imagine that refueling! To my eye this is a very neat vessel with highly specialized technology on deck designed for moving around specific, highly flammable fuel. Air temperature on the river at this moment is ~-1°C in biting steady breeze. Twenty minutes left before the astronomical sunset at 17:56 ↓ 251°. But the objects on the Earth's surface in the distance are already blocking the sun rays close to the water line. The bow and the bridge are still fully lit.

֎⃣ Panasonic G90 with Lumix 12-35mm f2.8 fully zoomed in, shutter priority 1/1000 sec handheld, overexposed ⅔ of a stop. Resulting in aperture of f/2.8 and ISO 500 (I love those fine intermediate ISO-steps in auto modes of Olympus and the newer Panasonics – it appears to me that the intermediate values like ISO 1000, 1250, 2000, 4000 or 10000 render noise better than the standard values – have you too noticed anything like that?).
Developed from raw and edited in Affinity Photo 2.4
The JPEG file is much smaller than tiff and in IrfanView I could have sharpened it additionally, but even without the sharpening the jpeg exported version has slightly more noise. So I opted for tiff. Thank you Flickr.


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File name: P1020928-from-RAW_.tiff

ꒌ СМРЗНУТИ ВРБАК уз Мерведе, најјачи крак у делти Рајне (у даљини, десно горе). Задњи сунчани зраци средине фебруара управо напуштају врхове трске и дрвећа. Астрономски залазак сунца (половина сунчеве лопте на идеалном хоризонту) следи тек за 33 минута.

► ▓░█ FROST IN A REEDLAND showing off the last Sun rays of the day. It's still 33 minutes before the astronomical sunset at 17:56 ↓ 251°. But various objects on the surface of the Earth are already blocking it. Passing by I saw the glowing tops of the reed and stopped to take a snapshot of it in the field next to Schelluinse gat. Yet at -3°C and bitter wind my hands were stiff and clumsy. It took forever until I fetched the camera from the camera bag which was inside the bike's saddlebag, mounted the sun hood, took off the cap, switched on, checked the settings and... the battery died on me. Back to the bag inside the bag, found a spare battery in the pocket inside the bag inside the bag, switched off the camera, replaced the battery, switched on the camera, tried several focal lengths, composed, and finally shot it. But, almost five minutes had passed meanwhile. By this time the sun glare from the reed tops was sadly gone. Disappeared. I was surprised though to find some of it back on the "negative" brought home. Apparently, not quite all of the sun was gone yet as I pressed the shutter. Or, have the camera sensors become more sensitive than my eye?

Bevroren Rietveld langs Boven Merwede (boven rechts in de verte) met de laatste zon ogenschijnlijk verdwenen.

֎⃣ G90 with Lumix 12-35mm f2.8 fully zoomed in, aperture priority (fully open), resulting in 1/160 sec ISO 200, handheld. Developed from raw and edited in Affinity Photo 2.4. –Sharpening in IrfanView brings nice detail to life but strangely "deafens" the highlights and color vibrance, so I decided to stick to this, less sharp version.


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File name: P1020923-from-RAW_.tiff

ꒌ НАДИРАЊЕ ДИВЉИХ ГУСАКА – Avelingen Nature Resort неснимљив призор, али сам покушао. Није успело, наравно, али ипак ће овако остати више у сећању него да нисам ни снимио ни записао.

► ▓░█ AMAZING, BREATHTAKING SCENE of many wild geese flocks clustered together to cover the whole sky. And the sky is big in Holland in those few places where there are no settlements! As always, I heard the geese before I saw them. The evening was feeling cold with a steady wind, so immediately after the sunset I took off to home from the uncomfortable breeze on the river (Rastko's krib surrounded by ominous whirlpools!). I reached De Avelingen main polder plain exactly ten minutes after the sunset and wasn't expecting any photo opportunities more, the light getting flimsier per second.

Then they came. They flew in from the north and flew over, over the river and into North Brabant. I am used to them, they even fly low above my roof (at night I only hear them, but their persistent calling is so recognisable). With no time for any settings to choose, like exposure compensation, AFC or movie mode, I started filming realising at once that there's no way I can cover the whole spectacle being so unprepared. The 12mm focal length (fully open zoom) is ridiculously narrow to grasp the whole scene. And too wide to offer the insight of individual flocks and the feeling of standing right under a skyful of big birds. This scene I witnessed alone and was overwhelmed by during this short minute. So I place my unsuccessful humble attempt to your avail. Just think that the "geese front" was at least 3-4 kilometres wide, if not more.

֎⃣ G90 + Lumix 12-35mm f2.8, 4k 10bit 25fps, picture profile 'Natural', shutter speed priority 1/50 sec. AFS. Ideally, you would overexpose the sky for ⅔ of a stop and use AFC, but, unlike the G9, the G90 doesn't allow for exposure compensation changes during the recording.


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File name: P1020966

ꒌ ВИДИ СЕ И ПОСЛЕ ЗАЛАСКА? - Минут после АСТРОНОМСКОГ заласка сунца. Моја претпоставка је да се као астрономски залазак рачуна моменат када је средина сунца (пречник) у нивоу са хоризонтом. Овде је тај тренутак давно прошао (1 минут). Временска разлика са претходним снимком је тачно три минута. Није лоше за неки осећај којом брзином се све ово одвија...

У овом правцу 240 km иза хоризонта су Кале и канал Ла Манш. Сунце не тоне овде право надоле, него се ’котрља’ удесно до ове зграде са равним кровом, под углом од око 45°.

► ▓░█ TAKEN A SHORT MINUTE AFTER THE ASTRONOMICAL SUNSET at 17:28 at 243°. This was captured at 17:29:05. The extremes get flattened, the color shifts are less pronounced, the night takes quickly over.

The power line is definitely the one leading south from Molenaarsgraaf and Wijngaarden. The tower supporting it stands almost for sure on Sliedrechtse Biesbosch, supporting the line branch over the river (Beneden Merwede) and distributing electricity further south (or coming from there?.. this also needs research). The building with the flat roof could be one of those in Boven Hardinxveld, I would need to research that too to find out which one. Not so difficult, but time consuming.

Behind the Sun, across De Biesbosch nature resort on the horizon, some 240 km from the lens as the crow flies lies Calais guarding the Strait of Dover.

Was it not for this mighty telephoto lens (which I purchased to use in the mountains), I would probably never have payed attention to some astronomical phenomena like sunsets or sunrises this much.

֎⃣ Developed from raw and edited in Affinity Photo 2.4
— Panasonic DC-G9 with Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4.0-6.3 at 400mm, aperture priority at f/8, 1/640 sec, ISO 1250, WB auto, Underexposed 1 stop. Handheld.


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File name: P1014729-from-RAW_1.tiff

ꒌ ПОСЛЕДЊИ СЕКУНДИ ДАНА - Минут и по после астрономског заласка сунца. Моја претпоставка је да се као астрономски залазак рачуна моменат када је средина сунца (пречник) у нивоу са хоризонтом, а не када нестаје последњи крајичак сунца (као овде на слици). Поред тога камера је на висини од 25 метара изнад земље овде. Временска разлика са претходним снимком је само 18 секунди. Гледајући кроз овај објектив на 400mm (800mm full frame equiv) први пут сам физички својим очима видео како се креће сунце... Тако је и овај призор, сунце иза прозора зграде на хоризонту, трајао само пар секунди.

У том правцу иначе 240 km иза хоризонта су француски град Кале и канал Ла Манш. Сунце не тоне овде на северу право надоле, него се ’котрља’ удесно под углом од око 45°.

► ▓░█ TAKEN ONE MINUTE AFTER THE ASTRONOMICAL SUNSET at 17:28 at 243°. This was captured at 17:29:23. The extremes get flattened, the color transitions are less pronounced, the lighting gets colder, the night takes quickly over.

The power line is definitely the major one stretching from Krimpen aan den IJssel all the way to Geertruidenberg via Wijngaarden (11 km, or 7 miles from the lens). The huge tower supporting it stands almost for sure on Sliedrechtse Biesbosch (often flooded!), supporting the line arch over the river (Beneden Merwede) and connecting Rotterdam urban area consumers with the high voltage terminal and the always smoking electricity power plant RWE Kraftwerk Amer. The building with the flat roof could be one of those along Rivierdijk in Boven Hardinxveld, like Neptun Repair or Damen Shipyards. I would need to research more to find out which one. Not so difficult, but time consuming. Seeing the setting Sun through its window was a scene that lasted but a couple of seconds.

The wind mill (turbine, generator) behind the building is likely the Killwind at Dordtse Kill, with axes 85 m high, at double the distance (24 km).

Behind the Sun, across De Biesbosch nature resort on the horizon, some 240 km from the lens as the crow flies the French town Calais guards the Strait of Dover.

Was it not for this mighty telephoto lens (which I originally purchased to use in the mountains), I would probably never have payed attention to some astronomical phenomena like sunsets or sunrises this much.

֎⃣ Developed from raw and edited in Affinity Photo 2.4
— Panasonic DC-G9 with Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4.0-6.3 at 400mm, aperture priority at f/8, 1/640 sec, ISO 1250, WB auto, Underexposed 1 stop. Handheld.


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File name: P1014730-from-RAW_1.tiff

ꒌ УТОНУЋЕ ВАТРЕНЕ ЛОПТЕ - Два минута пред астрономски залазак сунца. У овом правцу 240 km иза хоризонта су Кале и канал Ла Манш. Сунце неће утонути овде право надоле, како чудан ефекат преласка боје сугерише, него ће се ’откотрљати’ косо удесно до зграде са равним кровом, под углом од око 45°.

► ▓░█ TAKEN TWO MINUTES BEFORE THE ASTRONOMICAL SUNSET at 17:28 at 243°. This was captured at 17:26:24. The strange color pattern effect of the sinking Sun is not 'manufactured' in post, it is there in the raw file, produced by the lens itself. Behind the Sun, across De Biesbosch nature resort on the horizon, some 240 km from the lens as the crow flies lies Calais guarding the Strait of Dover.

Was it not for this mighty telephoto lens (which I purchased to use in the mountains), I would probably never have payed attention to the life and behavior of birds. A general rule in the Lowlands is that birds get really euphoric at the sunrise and sunset, and very lively during half an hour after the sunset. The seemingly random pattern of the flight that this flock exhibits is not accidental. Nor is it instinctive. It is a pure collective art statement. I have seen it many times – especially crows can perform incredible stunts (these are not the crows but probably geese). I even dare say that those creatures are more receptive of the natural beauty and phenomena than the average humans.

֎⃣ Developed from raw and edited in Affinity Photo 2.4
— Panasonic DC-G9 with Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4.0-6.3 at 400mm, aperture priority at f/9, 1/640 sec, ISO 500, WB auto, Underexposed ⅓ stop. Handheld.


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File name: P1014724-from-RAW_1.tiff

ꒌ САВУ ПРОНАШЛО СУНЦЕ! -- Низ дана који су водили ка овом празнику било је лоше време, без трачка сунца. Дан свесрпске Славе освануо је са наговештајем бољег времена. Ипак, облаци се у Ротердаму још нису били размакли. До самог почетка службе.

У току Савинданске литургије можда је само ова госпођа приметила да су сунчеви зраци од 20 метара широког иконостаса са много икона, одабрали баш Светог Саву: и то од врха преграде до пода. По висини три нивоа иконе Светог Саве бише обасјани светлошћу као неким природним рефлектором: у врху икона ”Свети Сава благосиља Србе”; у средини - Свети Сава између својих родитеља, светих Симеона Мироточивог и мати Анастасије (у десном крају слике је свети Јустин Ћелијски); и коначно, испред овог реда на иконостасу, стоји засебни триптих са Студеничким крстом: на левим вратанцима је живописан Свети Симеон Мироточиви, на десним Свети Сава.

► ▓░█ SAINT SAVA, early in XIII century THE FOUNDER of Serbian Orthodox Church, is in its diocese parishes often venerated so much that many churches abroad bear his name, like in London or Paris. Not in Rotterdam, however, where the church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. But here too, Saint Sava's icons occupy a prominent place. Surely not the most prominent: a proper iconostasis is highly ordered so that the exact position and the particular saints are there where they belong. Just as about anything else in the seemingly spontaneous Orthodox Church and its services, the icons layout on the iconostasis is meticulously thought out and organised.

There are 9 images of the 6 saints in this capture, 2 of the angels and 9 of the laymen. Of the latter, one is a contemporary person photographed relating to the former; she is the only one present with her body. The faith and the prayer she is showing are a bridge connecting us to the eternal world. We firmly hope that and the countless saints testify for it. The icons are the reflections of the existence in metaphysical realm, spread over the physical vectors of this life.

֎⃣ Developed from raw and edited in Affinity Photo 2.4 to resemble the experience at the spot (from memory, of course), slightly sharpened in IrfanView 4.62 and finely tuned in Flickr online editor (de-saturated, lifted shadows and whites etc).
This is one of my first photographs with an old second hand lens I could finally, after 8 long years of waiting, lay my hands on. From this copy of Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8 - old, stiff and beaten, very much used, I wasn't expecting much. But it surprised me with its intrepid character and consistent delivery. A top buy! It is sharp and its colours are advanced, equaling my favourite Sigma 30 mm f1.4 prime, with an added bonus of the OIS working in conjunction with G9's body and a useful zoom range.


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File name: P1362706-from-RAW_+iV.jpg

ꒌ САВУ ПРОНАШЛО СУНЦЕ! -- Низ дана пред Савин празник бијаше без трачка сунца. Дан свесрпске Славе освану са наговештајем бољег времена, али облаци се у Ротердаму још не размакоше. До почетка службе.

У току Савинданске литургије сунчеви зраци су од 20 метара широког иконостаса са много икона, одабрали баш Светог Саву; и то од врха преграде до пода. По висини три нивоа иконе Светог Саве беху обасјани светлошћу као неким природним рефлектором: у врху икона ”Свети Сава благосиља Србе”; у средини - Свети Сава између својих родитеља, светих Симеона Мироточивог и мати Анастасије; и коначно, испред овог реда на иконостасу, стоји засебни триптих са Студеничким крстом: на левим вратанцима је живописан Свети Симеон Мироточиви, на десним Свети Сава. Овде је приказан само горњи ред, са иконом ”Свети Сава благосиља Србе”.

► ▓░█ SAINT SAVA, early on in XIII century THE FOUNDER of Serbian Orthodox Church, is in its diocese parishes often venerated so much that many churches abroad bear his name, like in London or Paris. Not in Rotterdam, however, where the church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. But here too, Saint Sava's icons occupy a prominent place. Surely not the most prominent: a proper iconostasis is highly ordered so that the exact position and the particular saints are there where they belong. Just as about anything else in the seemingly rather spontaneous Orthodox Church and its services, the icons layout on the iconostasis is meticulously thought out and organised.

There are four images of the 4 saints in this capture, among which an angel, and images of 8 laymen. All at approximately 4 meters height from the floor. Icons are a bridge connecting Christians to the eternal world. The countless saints testify. The icons are reflections of the existence in a metaphysical realm, spread over the physical vectors of this life.

֎⃣ Developed from raw and edited in Affinity Photo 2.4 to resemble the experience at the spot (from memory, of course). G9 with Sigma prime 30mm f1.4, also here less sharp than the Lumix zoom to come (from file nr. 705 on) - but that might be due to Sigma's lack of the OIS.


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File name: P1362698-from-RAW_.tiff

ꒌ САМО 45 МИНУТА ПОСЛЕ (недоживљеног) најкаснијег изласка сунца у години, разочарани фотограф награђен је дугом коју ”пресеца” јато дивљих гусака у формацији.
Срећан БАДЊИ ДАН! :) 🎉✨

► ▓░█ EVEN THE NATURE IS BEING MINDFULLY REFLECTING the great event to come over a couple of days. On January 6th, – or December 24th according to Julian calendar – the orthodox Christians loyal to their universal, apostolic character, celebrate Christmas Eve throughout the world. Our profound repeated experience is that the nature awaits a week or so after the Western shifted Christmas (as celebrated according to Gregorian calendar), only to start unmistakably showing the real awakening in the days prior to old-calendar old-style orthodox Christmas.

☩Southerner in the North, still dreaming of the Southern Cross... its a Cross to bear. The Northern Cross.⍅

This capture is made 8 minutes before the Airbus A320 from a previous photo (seen high above), will have landed in Munich. The flock of wild geese however flies by, some 45 minutes later in the opposite direction, as if to 'cross the rainbow'. Is that their goal? (Of course, just one soloist goes ⥃opposite direction, the brave ones are always alone!) What could be their goal... what instinct is driving their passage? A rainbow is thrilling to see from the ground, or from an airplane, just imagine how it must be, seen by these birds in their perfectly synchronised free flight. A flight over dense network of high-voltage power lines, high rise erections, transmission towers, radio antennae wiring and other treacherous interfering objects. Using no GPS, no IFR nor ILS, no VOR or beacons, just VFR but no instruments – the formation is ever neatly kept and the goal achieved. Just that we don't know what, why, when and where...

❖ Underexposed ⅔ EV (for the rainbow, not for the birds). Panasonic DC-G90, OM System 12-45mm f/4 at 42mm, stopped down to f/6.3, handheld 1/640 sec., ISO 200. Developed from raw and edited in Affinity Photo 2.4


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File name: P1020915-from-RAW_#1

ꒌ ТРАГОМ СУНЦА – Наслов ове књиге Алана Жербоа [Alain Gerbault, 1893 - 1941], давно преведене на српски, прати ме цео живот. Често се појави у мислима или ситуацији чак и кад нема повода за то. Жербо је остао да живи на Јужним морима Тихог океана; мој сан се није остварио чак ни да видим Полинезију, ни друга острва Океаније (осим острва Светог Јована у Сингапурском мореузу).

Пилоти авиона на фотографији иду трагом сунца – али не било којим! Него ка Београду. Ово је за мало био тренутак најкаснијег рађања сунца ове зиме (теоретски овде пре три дана; у Београду баш овог јутра у 07:15). Ипак нисам имао срећу да доживим тај излазак, због облака који се виде на слици (испод авиона). Али пилоти Ербаса су боље среће. Светлуцави траг иза њихових млазних мотора сведочи да су они обасјани сунцем. На висини од 37.000 стопа (11.278 метара), дакле изнад облака, не само што виде сунце које је мени заклоњено, него је оно за њих одавно изнад хоризонта (због њихове висине изнад површине земље). Тачно пре један сат полетели су из Даблина и за нешто мање од сат времена слетеће у Минхен.

► ▓░█ IN QUEST OF THE SUN. The first minute of the day – 2 Jan 2025 07:48 UTC / 08.48 CET (local time). Taken mere seconds after the astronomical sunrise, which in this particular place on the globe on this day is almost the very latest sunrise of the winter (the latest was on December 30th but the difference is just several seconds and all those mornings were totally gloomy ⛆overcast)! Sun rises here at 128°SE, almost exactly as is the flight direction of this Airbus A320 belonging to Aer Lingus. The flight EIN3KM originated in Dublin 59' prior to this capture and will be landing at Munich MUC over 52'. So the pilots in the cockpit at 37.000 ft (11.278 m, which is 2400 m higher than the summit of Mt. Everest) are probably watching the sunrise precisely ahead of them. In spite of the clouds above Germany it is indicated by the sunlit jet trail behind them. Their view of the sun is thus not blocked by the clouds like my view is.

They are flying at 525 kts, so for the crew the scenery must be changing really fast. Having crossed the Irish Sea they encountered Liverpool, then traversing England and crossing the North Sea they reached the Old Continent at Den Hague; then flew over Rotterdam, Dordrecht and Biesbosch. They are above Eindhoven Airport at this moment, ahead of them is not a straight route to Munich but a corridor connecting the airports on route – Cologne, Frankfurt, almost as far as Deggendorf, short of where they initiated a 180° right turn to get back to Munich. This is by and large a car route I often take on my way to south. Just that I need almost the whole day for what they cover in one hour.

I have missed "The [Latest] Daybreak of the Year", sadly no clear sky for weeks in the Lowlands. The cloud front was blocking the sun for me this morning too, but I did make the eye (and lens:) contact with the airplane who was all lit in those first sun rays. The pilots have definitely witnessed this rare sunrise right before them.

Pre-focused on the airliner (back button focus, AFS), geese surprised me and are hence out of focus. Panasonic DC-G90, OM System 12-45mm f/4 at 45mm f/4, 1/1000 sec., ISO 200.
Developed from raw and edited in Affinity Photo 2.4


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File name: P1020909-from-RAW_#1

ꒌ ЈУТРО ДАНА НАЈКАСНИЈЕГ ИЗЛАСКА СУНЦА у Београду, 2. јануара, нешто даље на северу Европе било је опет облачно. Ништа од прве слике сунца у 2025. Ради утехе снимио сам претходне две фотографије и одустао. Прогноза је ипак најављивала сунце пре подне. После 15 минута кроз кухињски прозор указао се одсјај првог сунца на северном делу неба. Комбинација Панасоник - ОМ Систем нашла се на дохват лењог фотографа. Сунце "из друге руке" рефлектовано на ниским облацима. Овакво осветљење се у крајевима близу морске обале брзо мења.

► ▓░█ WE'VE HAD QUITE a challenging period behind, with weeks of gloomy, overcast skies, occasional gales, days-long rain and ever raging wind. Worst of all: very few sunshine, if any. From the winter solstice on I was patiently on guard for a clear morning so that I could finally photograph the latest sunrise of the year. The December 30th with its theoretically latest sunrise for this location went by in bad weather. The forecast on January 1st for the next day did promise Sun in the morning. So armed by my Japanese micro electronics and step-motor-driven glass I appeared on my balcony on January 2nd just in time to capture the glory furthest to south on the horizon. In vain! The clouds overwhelmed the eastern horizon. See previous two images.

After 15 minutes however from my kitchen I saw the first red glow reflected off the clouds due north. The Sun has finally emerged from the clouds! And these are its first rays I saw since the winter solstice.

Panasonic DC-G90, OM System 12-45mm f/4 at its longest throw of 45mm, stopped down to f/6.3, handheld 1/160 sec., ISO 200. Developed from raw and edited in Affinity Photo 2.4


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File name: P1020911-from-RAW_#1

ꒌ БОЖАНСТВЕНА ЛИТУРГИЈА у Парохији Светог Симеона Мироточивог СПЦ Утрехт (локација у Зајсту).
Служи парох, јереј Крсто Станишић.

НА СЛИЦИ (ПО ПРИЧЕШЋУ): свештеник, пошто се поклонио и узео свети путир тихо изговоривши: "Благословен Бог наш...", окреће се ка народу и узноси возглас:
Свагда, сада и увек и у векове векова.

► █░▓ THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH of the Communion in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. The priest, after bowing, takes the holy Chalice and turns toward the Doors, saying in secret: “Blessed is our God” which is followed by his loud exclamation to the faithful:
“Always, now and ever...”


Developed from raw and edited in Affinity Photo 2.4 and IrfanView 4.66

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File name: P1362024-26_from-RAW_PANO.jpg