Your Canon Photos No. 48: 31st March to 6th April 2024

The marsh marigolds in our tiny garden pond are flowering.

Yeah, RT is also a good option, though it's not as actively developed. I personally prefer darktable.
ART (Another RawTherapee) is another FOSS option. It's a greatly simplified version of RawTherapee.
discuss.pixls.us/c/software/art/36

Also see this dpreview article on open-source alternatives to lightroom:
The best open-source Lightroom alternatives (three winners and two that broke our hearts)

Dunlin,

I like seeing the yellow flowers with the dark background. I took a picture of a yellow tulip with a dark background today too. I either showed those here or on Dpreview last year. This year the purple tulip near the yellow tulip also came back to life. I took pictures of that too. I thought it was not going to be seen again because (I believe) a squirrel bit it off. Once you destroy the tulip flower by picking it, next year the tulips won't have flowers (from what I have observed and heard about). But apparently if the tulip flower is destroyed late enough, then it comes back the following year. I have not seen the squirrels near where I live recently. Maybe a neighbor or cat killed them. We can trap them also and let them go in the forest. Once they figure out how to get in the house, you have to get rid of them. They will try "forever" to get back in to make their nests etc. Anyway, I didn't mean to get a little off topic about that, but that's what these yellow flowers remind me of. That's an example of why certain photos might appeal to some and others maybe not as much. Sometimes, it's something about the connection you have with what's photographed.

I have often thought to myself, that the writtn word is the pureist form of creation that we have.

You take an idea that only exists in your head. It has no form or substance, and through the written word, you are able to transform that immaterial thing into something that is corporeal. It has body and substance. You have created something from nothing.

It seems to me that photography runs a close second. A photographer sees something and it stirs something inside of him or her. The photographer tries to communicate what they have felt or remembered to others in some tangible way. It's an act of creation.

One man's tulip is another's appreciation for its fight for survival.

So sayeth the bard.

Steve Thomas

Steve,

Thanks. Yes, the written word creates stories of things that do or do not exist (non-fiction or fiction). Photographs can give us a clear image instead of many words. Many pictures together can also give us a story. I show often many photos in a series such as the pedestrian bridge. It is my hope that you like the story, which some images may be preferred over others. But together they can be interesting. I don't know if I explained that very well. 😀

Woke up this morning at 5:00AM to tornado warnings.
Sirens going off.
A town just south of us had 100mph winds. We just had a couple of tree limbs come down.

Steve Thomas

A Day in the Life of...

Another early start this morning. This time to take my car to have the winter wheels/tyres exchanged for the summer ones. The Mazda dealership is conveniently right by the Hauptbahnhof. The first pictures are what I see as I traverse the station to my train to return home.

This is actually a tram stop which, as you can see in the distance, is below road level. This part of the station is also called Südtiroler-Platz (which is directly above it), and the whole complex is built on several levels.

To the right of the above photo there is a mosaic of the city, showing the transport lines in 1959.

This is a close up which shows some of the places I have illustrated earlier, Schönbrunn, Stefansdom, the giant ferris wheel in the Prater, the Karlskirche and the Teggett memorial.

The posted explanation is interesting, though the word "depressing" is inappropriate and should be read as "excavating"!

On the wall opposite is a map of the current comprehensive and generally highly reliable public transport connections, by bus, tram, train, subway...

What are not so reliable are the escalators, which are often out of action, presumably waiting for spare parts.

Descending the staircase, we can see replacement steps waiting to be installed one day, the ubiquitous McDonald's, and, on the upper right, through the window Platform One of the station, where I shall arrive when I return to collect the car later.

Although it is not as fast or as comfortable as the train, I took the subway home as I wanted to buy vegetables on the way. More construction work, though this looks as if it is holding up the roof — i.e. the road above it! The elevator that one can just glimpse sight of goes down another level to the subway platforms.

The man at the service desk had suggested that I might collect my car at 5pm, which, as I pointed out to him, was nine hours later. I asked him why it took so long to do a job which I used to do myself in 20 minutes in Indiana, when I had a garage attached to the house. He smiled and got the message. We parted friends. I received a text message later in the morning telling me that the car was ready for collection. So after lunch, I sallied forth again to take the S-Bahn (electric train) to the Hauptbahnhof. This was a double decker "weasel train", so I could sit upstairs and take photos. This shows the fluffy clouds we had by then. Setting 1/2000 sec and letting the camera choose the rest gives in-focus and sharp photos from the moving train. The unavoidable cables power the train's engine.

At one point, we encounter the largest collection of cranes I have seen in one place. (I have decided that the collective noun for these is a "forest" of cranes!) Despite the reflections in the window, I count eleven!

We arrive at Platform One of the Hauptbahnhof and I have time to take a photo of the delightful picture of the weasel on the side of the train.

The big surprise is that the escalator has been repaired. Perhaps somebody important saw me taking photos of it earlier! Notice that the No.18 tram goes to Schlachthausgasse (Slaughterhouse Lane), which was once an accurate description. (I should have readjusted the camera to something like f/8 and let it choose a longer exposure -- my fault!)

Getting around the city on the public transport is amazingly fast and there is always something interesting to see. I am amazed that most passengers have their noses in their cell phones -- called Handys here. Not shown are the long distance coaches that I pass between the station and the Mazda building, which go to exotic countries like Hungary, Bosnia, etc.

By now, the road traffic was thick, but the sun was shining and it was warm enough to drive with the top down.

David

... and then there's music! 😀

David

Interesting photos David.
That Weasel train sounds like fun. I hope I get to ride one someday.
Why is it called Slaughterhouse Lane?

Steve,

I like seeing those ominous clouds. Wow...100 mph is beyond what I have experienced. Usually 40 mph is the most I know of...maybe in Colorado we had 70 mph winds at night when I lived there.

David,

I liked seeing all of the colors. I'll have to look at the maps more closely later. Right now I'm going to try to grab some sun this afternoon.

David,

Wow...you are right...yes, music can tell a story or be part of a story. How often is it that we hear music in the background of movies we watch for example? Video is another medium I want to pursue more also that tells stories.

Subject: It stirs something inside of him or her

Steve mentioned something about photography that is stirring something inside of him or her. Part of my recovery is walking, so yesterday I did that during a sunny day. I did find these green spring plants that stirred something in my soul. What do you think? Do you like it also? I just love this time of year seeing this new life.

Model - Canon EOS M50m2
ExposureTime - 1/500 seconds
FNumber - 8
ISOSpeedRatings - 250
ExposureBiasValue - -0.33
FocalLength - 42 mm
Lens Model - EF-M15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM

Dig,

I know what you mean. Things are starting to bloom again.

Soon, we'll be seeing little baby squirrels and rabbits and stuff.

Steve Thomas

I came across a tree today with stunning blossom. I did my best to showcase it; but the original was better!

David

Cool Steve,

I'm glad I got another one of you to show this wonderful spring weather. 😀 I did also get a real nice photo of a back bird (super close and great background) and two wood ducks yesterday, but I thought seeing spring time pictures is appropriate now. We were supposed to have rain today. I did see the sun momentarily again from the window. I don't know exactly as I just woke up from my morning deep slumber, after sleeping all night. 😀 I'm still recovering which makes me sleepy. Let's see some more spring time photos from the rest of you. Yes, I did see some rabbits and of course those squirrel pests. 😀

David,

Cool. You must have been preparing these photos when I was replying to Steve's photo. Thank you for showing these spring flowers. I like seeing the white, green and blue together. Flowers can be extremely difficult to photograph, because not only do we try to take a good picture of them but the backgrounds have to be just right also. It's fun playing around with different settings to achieve the results. I like that you used the blue sky as the background. Sometimes we can find that one branch that extends to the sky. It looks neat isolated like that. If I'm well enough today, maybe I'll try to find some examples. It's tough first to find that branch with the green leaves and blossoms in the right place. But that is what makes it fun, right? 😀

Thanks, Digi!

The problem with blossom on trees is that of getting the right angle. I am not satisfied that I managed this today...

David