# Photo of the Day - December, 2020



## Eric

I'll go ahead and get this one started. This is Coit tower in downtown SF early one morniing.


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## Mark

a walk in the woods 2018.10.13


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## Clix Pix

Oops, I sure did mess up earlier, didn't I?  Well, the photo was shot yesterday, on the last day of November....

OK, so here's one freshly shot today, December 1st!!


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## Eric

Some California poppies from a local hillside.


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## Clix Pix

Oops, looks as though I missed posting an image here yesterday.....

Well, here's one for today:


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## Eric

Clix Pix said:


> Oops, looks as though I missed posting an image here yesterday.....
> 
> Well, here's one for today:
> 
> View attachment 1642



You'll notice going forward that all attachments will go into your gallery.


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## Clix Pix

Oh, cool!   At first I thought, "huh?!" and then looked at the menu and noticed "Media," so opened that dropdown menu to get an idea of what that included, and.....voila!!!!   That will come in very handy because I post images in several places, not always the same image in each place on the same day, and then later I have to stop and think, "have I already shared this image with this forum?"   This is the perfect solution, as now I'll know for sure and not accidentally share a photo on here twice because I'd forgotten I'd already shared it a few days or weeks ago!   Thanks!


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## Eric

Clix Pix said:


> Oh, cool!   At first I thought, "huh?!" and then looked at the menu and noticed "Media," so opened that dropdown menu to get an idea of what that included, and.....voila!!!!   That will come in very handy because I post images in several places, not always the same image in each place on the same day, and then later I have to stop and think, "have I already shared this image with this forum?"   This is the perfect solution, as now I'll know for sure and not accidentally share a photo on here twice because I'd forgotten I'd already shared it a few days or weeks ago!   Thanks!



It's one of the better addons that Xenforo has created for this board, integrates seamlessly.


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## Clix Pix

I wish MR would adopt this, too.....!!!!  I participate there in the POTD thread and I can't tell you how many times I've gotten ready to post an image and thought, "wait a minute....didn't I already share this last week?"   For a while I tried keeping a file of images that I'd shared on there but somehow that got tedious and fell by the wayside.


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## Eric

Clix Pix said:


> I wish MR would adopt this, too.....!!!!  I participate there in the POTD thread and I can't tell you how many times I've gotten ready to post an image and thought, "wait a minute....didn't I already share this last week?"   For a while I tried keeping a file of images that I'd shared on there but somehow that got tedious and fell by the wayside.



Actually, I believe they do use it there. If you click on one of your photos you'll see that is shows all the extra info, that and you see the "latest media" block on the top right of the main forum page.


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## Clix Pix

Really??!!!  Oh, wow, I didn't know that!!!!  Huh!!!!  Well, whaddya know..... THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!


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## Eric

Clix Pix said:


> Really??!!!  Oh, wow, I didn't know that!!!!  Huh!!!!  Well, whaddya know..... THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!



They don't appear to have enabled the full gallery functions from what I can see, if you look on the top menu here you can see the "Media" link which shows all the features.


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## Clix Pix

Yeah, I had to do some hunting around on MR before I saw the "Media" listing -- not on the main top menu but second-tier.....  Then when I took a look, of course there were bunches of photos from all over the site -- took me about three pages of looking before I found the most recent one I'd posted.....  I guess that feature is not really going to help me much on MR, sad to say.


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## Eric

Hill in San Francisco so steep that they need steps.


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## Clix Pix




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## Chew Toy McCoy

One of my ancestors from the 1800’s. Hot!


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## lizkat

Chew Toy McCoy said:


> View attachment 1670
> 
> One of my ancestors from the 1800’s. Hot!




"Life is hard, and then you die..."   was how my brother characterized a couple photos something like that in my possession.

Mine are of a great-great-great-great aunt and uncle, likenesses enconced in a pair of oval carved frames.  In my city apartment, I had decided to display them in an L-shaped hallway over a glass-fronted bookcase.    The first time I was heading to the bedroom with an about-to-be lover in tow,  he inquired as we passed by those photographs,  "So... are those the chaperones?"


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## Chew Toy McCoy

lizkat said:


> "Life is hard, and then you die..."   was how my brother characterized a couple photos something like that in my possession.
> 
> Mine are of a great-great-great-great aunt and uncle, likenesses enconced in a pair of oval carved frames.  In my city apartment, I had decided to display them in an L-shaped hallway over a glass-fronted bookcase.    The first time I was heading to the bedroom with an about-to-be lover in tow,  he inquired as we passed by those photographs,  "So... are those the chaperones?"



Old photos now remind me of a sub plot in the movie 1 Million Ways to Die in the West where they wanted to find the one crazy person of legend who actually smiled in a photo.


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## Clix Pix




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## Clix Pix

Hey, kids, wanna play marbles?   With special thanks to @Alli, whose mention the other day of her Lens Ball reminded me that I had one stashed in the armoire that hasn't seen much use.   Serendipitously on Nikon Cafe, where I also hang out, this week's Collective Shoot has the topic of "Games People Play," and all of a sudden an idea hit me and I rummaged in a drawer for the marbles I knew I had in there, and grabbed the lens ball.....


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## fooferdoggie

cool shrub


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## fooferdoggie

this is in a rich suburb they drain the lake in the winter. this expensive place looks great in the summer but man its ugly in winter.


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## Mark

fooferdoggie said:


> this is in a rich suburb they drain the lake in the winter. this expensive place looks great in the summer but man its ugly in winter.
> View attachment 1717View attachment 1718



i am not familiar with this practice.
does this help control seepage or erosion?  maybe in the spring the area is susceptible to flooding?  or does it help keep the summer time water more free of pollutants?


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## fooferdoggie

I was wondering the same thing. looking it up Now it is drained so much to do some sewer line placement. but. I guess they lower it some each year for maintenance and such. looks like only every three years.


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## Clix Pix

Where is this?   Lake Barcroft?   Water's Edge?  (Both are in Falls Church, Fairfax County, VA).   I remember that a few years ago there was some natural disaster which meant that Lake Barcroft was drained completely and it took a while before it was once again filled with water.  That is considered a pricey area in which to live, and I'm sure that the residents at the time were not happy at having a big hole rather than a scenic lake!    I don't know that much about Water's Edge, except that it is a smaller community than Lake Barcroft.

This topic caught my attention because I, too,  live on a very small "lake". -- 4 1/2 acres, which is manmade, and is actually a stormwater retention pond as opposed to being a real lake, but the developer called it a lake.   A few years ago there was talk that our little lake/pond  might need to be dredged as silt and such was building up quite a bit, but apparently that plan was set aside for the time being, probably because it would have been a very expensive project.

On another topic, though......this is really meant to be a photography thread, with one photo submitted per day, of people's own photos that they've shot that they think others might enjoy as well.


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## fooferdoggie

Lake Oswego https://www.google.com/maps?client=...hUKEwi478aE3LrtAhWH_J4KHXquC9AQ_AUoAnoECA4QBA


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## Eric

Balloon taking off in Napa early this morning, it was a beautiful day and I was finally able to get a few keepers. The last few outings have left me discouraged so it's a nice boost.


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## Clix Pix

Still playing with the Lensball:


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## Clix Pix




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## Eric

Found this red barn on my way back from the balloon photoshoot.


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## Chew Toy McCoy

ericgtr12 said:


> Balloon taking off in Napa early this morning, it was a beautiful day and I was finally able to get a few keepers. The last few outings have left me discouraged so it's a nice boost.
> 
> View attachment 1727







From the Hot Air Balloon Festival in New Mexico I went to in 2017.  It’s the biggest in the country and balloonists and photographers from all over the world attend.


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## Eric

Chew Toy McCoy said:


> View attachment 1778
> 
> From the Hot Air Balloon Festival in New Mexico I went to in 2017.  It’s the biggest in the country and balloonists and photographers from all over the world attend.



Wow, you can see why... anything glowing in the night sky like that makes for a great subject.


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## Clix Pix

I wouldn't want to go up in one but I'd love to attend a festival with a lot of hot air balloons and watch them in the sky!


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## Chew Toy McCoy

Info on the balloon festival





__





						Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
					

In October the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta creates an enchanted world of special shape balloon rodeos, twilight bal




					balloonfiesta.com
				




Other things to do in Albuquerque are they have a great zoo and you can take a Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul shoot location tour.


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## Clix Pix

One of my early bosses in one of my first professional jobs a thousand years ago eventually retired to Albuquerque -- she and her husband had lived there for a brief time and loved it, knew they wanted to return, and so they did.  It really does seem like a wonderful place to live or to visit!


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## Clix Pix

Oops, dang, almost forgot to post my image for the day.....


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## Clix Pix

Oh, wow!!!!!   I just noticed this new thing -- "Awards: 1" and thought, "huh?  Awards?" and looked up top and saw the Awards tab -- hm, something new, eh?    Clicked, saw the listing of categories and that my award is for great photos!   Cool!!!!   Thanks!!   .  

Today's offering:


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## Eric

Clix Pix said:


> Oh, wow!!!!!   I just noticed this new thing -- "Awards: 1" and thought, "huh?  Awards?" and looked up top and saw the Awards tab -- hm, something new, eh?    Clicked, saw the listing of categories and that my award is for great photos!   Cool!!!!   Thanks!!   .
> 
> Today's offering:
> 
> View attachment 1802



Another great photo. Yes, you're the first recipient of our new awards system, congratulations it's well deserved! I'm still working on out the kinks but so far it seems to be working okay.


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## Clix Pix

Thanks!!!   I'm honored!!!   As for today's image --  I bought myself a Poinsettia the other day both to get into the Christmas season mood (hasn't worked yet) and to use as a model.....   The texture of the leaves and flowers on these is just so interesting, along with the brilliant red color.


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## Scepticalscribe

Clix Pix said:


> Oh, wow!!!!!   I just noticed this new thing -- "Awards: 1" and thought, "huh?  Awards?" and looked up top and saw the Awards tab -- hm, something new, eh?    Clicked, saw the listing of categories and that my award is for great photos!   Cool!!!!   Thanks!!   .
> 
> Today's offering:
> 
> View attachment 1806




Lovely photo (and terrific avatar).

Where is the awards tab located, as I can't seem to be able to see it?


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## Clix Pix

Thanks!   Top toolbar (menu), under the banner/header,   the one which begins with Forums at the left and then proceeds through New Posts, What's New, Media, etc.....    Awards comes right before Chat, which is the last item listed.   When you click on it, there is a drop-down menu which describes the categories and number of winners in each.  So far I'm the one and only!      I'm sure that will change quickly as others receive their own awards for various aspects of their participation, too.....


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## Clix Pix

Was playing around with light and shapes and such.....


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## Chew Toy McCoy




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## Clix Pix




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## fooferdoggie

found this on the bike path.


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## Clix Pix

Sometimes a guy's just gotta stretch his neck:


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## Eric

I may or may not have already share this, I have many that are similar but it's Mussel Rock in Daly City, CA.


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## Clix Pix

Two geese flying overhead on a rainy Monday morning:


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## Chew Toy McCoy

One of my first photos taken with the iPhone 1.   Doesn’t take much of a zoom to get blurry.


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## Eric

Chew Toy McCoy said:


> One of my first photos taken with the iPhone 1.   Doesn’t take much of a zoom to get blurry.
> 
> View attachment 1867



Nice, so do you develop for them?


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## User.45

Chew Toy McCoy said:


> One of my first photos taken with the iPhone 1.   Doesn’t take much of a zoom to get blurry.
> 
> View attachment 1867



I was about to say, is Ableton still hot?! Iphone 1 def makes sense.


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## Clix Pix

Shaking some booty.....


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## Chew Toy McCoy

ericgtr12 said:


> Nice, so do you develop for them?



Nah, that was at the SoCal NAMM convention that year, just a visitor.

Interestingly the Ableton forum is where I cut my teeth on posting on a subforum completely unrelated to the company that provided it.  It was the wild west where it was perfectly acceptable to respond to a post with "kill yourself" and occasionally saying the CEO should eat a dick.  I have no idea how it was allowed to go on like that for years before they realized they are a company with a product to sell and therefore shouldn't let the degenerates run amuck on their official forum.  

I made several good friends from that forum and went to that NAMM show with one of them.  Have to say it was a bit awkward meeting the Ableton bigwigs given my performance on their forum but we had some drinks and good laughs.


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## Chew Toy McCoy

PearsonX said:


> I was about to say, is Ableton still hot?! Iphone 1 def makes sense.



Ableton is still hot but some DAWs are starting to catch up with some of their experimental composing features like the loop grid session view.


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## Eric

Chew Toy McCoy said:


> Nah, that was at the SoCal NAMM convention that year, just a visitor.
> 
> Interestingly the Ableton forum is where I cut my teeth on posting on a subforum completely unrelated to the company that provided it.  It was the wild west where it was perfectly acceptable to respond to a post with "kill yourself" and occasionally saying the CEO should eat a dick.  I have no idea how it was allowed to go on like that for years before they realized they are a company with a product to sell and therefore shouldn't let the degenerates run amuck on their official forum.
> 
> I made several good friends from that forum and went to that NAMM show with one of them.  Have to say it was a bit awkward meeting the Ableton bigwigs given my performance on their forum but we had some drinks and good laughs.



I drove down from Oregon and attended NAMM in 2006, had a blast. In those days I owned and ran www.guitars101.com and had a lot of active members who were hooked up so I was able to get a pass.


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## User.45

Chew Toy McCoy said:


> Ableton is still hot but some DAWs are starting to catch up with some of their experimental composing features like the loop grid session view.



Is it pathetic that I still remember what I eyed that year at NAMM? (Never got to buy it...didn't need it anyway...).
Logic did a pretty good job integrating the loop grid session in the Summer update.
Too bad I have no time to play around with these anymore.


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## User.45

Chew Toy McCoy said:


> Nah, that was at the SoCal NAMM convention that year, just a visitor.
> 
> Interestingly the Ableton forum is where I cut my teeth on posting on a subforum completely unrelated to the company that provided it.  It was the wild west where it was perfectly acceptable to respond to a post with "kill yourself" and occasionally saying the CEO should eat a dick.  I have no idea how it was allowed to go on like that for years before they realized they are a company with a product to sell and therefore shouldn't let the degenerates run amuck on their official forum.
> 
> I made several good friends from that forum and went to that NAMM show with one of them.  Have to say it was a bit awkward meeting the Ableton bigwigs given my performance on their forum but we had some drinks and good laughs.



found it:




It felt much more appealing then...




__





						PreSonus FaderPort
					

Hands-on control of your DAW can speed up your workflow considerably, but what if you don't want or need a console-sized controller? Enter the Presonus Faderport...




					www.soundonsound.com


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## Chew Toy McCoy

PearsonX said:


> found it:
> View attachment 1883
> 
> It felt much more appealing then...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> PreSonus FaderPort
> 
> 
> Hands-on control of your DAW can speed up your workflow considerably, but what if you don't want or need a console-sized controller? Enter the Presonus Faderport...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.soundonsound.com




Oh, the Faderport.  I had a newer modal than that, probably still do buried in a box somewhere .  I also had one of those big tank Mackie Control mixers.  Eventually it ended up back in its box and a couple years ago I donated it to a school.  I found it took up too much space and wasn't really value added to my process.


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## Clix Pix

We had our first snowstorm today!   About three inches.....   Fun to watch it coming down, but I'm not planning on going out anywhere in it!


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## Eric

San Francisco before sunrise


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## Clix Pix

Colorful Cyathia:


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## Chew Toy McCoy

Creepy shit house.


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## Clix Pix

Christmas lights across the lake:


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## Chew Toy McCoy

looks like a grassy meadow but it’s moss on a rock closeup.


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## Clix Pix

Got me a new "toy," a Lensbaby Sol 45, which arrived yesterday.  One of my first experimental shots with it, using the 3 closeup filters that come with it:


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## Clix Pix

Same pinecone as yesterday's image, this time without the stacked closeup filters attached to the lens:


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## Eric

Caught this guy rowing in the fog on a local lake this morning.


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## fooferdoggie

Jonsen creek in portland almost flooding. we wanted to ride up the bike path top see how bad it was where the land is lower but we were tired and another 15 miles in the rain was out.


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## Mark

Jozankei, Hokkaido 2021.12.20 (w/Fujifilm Finepix XP)


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## Clix Pix




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## Eric

I attempted to get the Jupiter/Saturn shot but even with my gear all I could see was dots so I turned my camera to the moon instead.


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## Clix Pix

Caught this Hooded Merganser glancing behind him to see if the rest of the gang were following:


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## Clix Pix




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## Chew Toy McCoy

Clix Pix said:


> View attachment 2051




Do you take requests?  Insect macros.


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## Clix Pix

Hee, hee!!   Right now there aren't many bugs around to shoot, as we're entering into deep, dark winter.....     Even in the nice weather, though, I tend to focus on flowers and plants and birds rather than insects, though.


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## Chew Toy McCoy

Clix Pix said:


> Hee, hee!!   Right now there aren't many bugs around to shoot, as we're entering into deep, dark winter.....     Even in the nice weather, though, I tend to focus on flowers and plants and birds rather than insects, though.




Well if you ever happen to see an insect during one of your great macro shoots please point your camera in that direction.


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## Eric

Another tree line shot from Napa.


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## lizkat

ericgtr12 said:


> Another tree line shot from Napa.
> 
> View attachment 2057




Poem without words!    Great photo.


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## Clix Pix




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## fooferdoggie

`not the greatest pic but this was 5 years ago a bunny in a stroller wit ha Santa hat and reindeer antlers.


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## Thomas Veil

LOL. One of the things my granddaughter asked for for Christmas was bunny stuff...including possibly a stroller.


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## Clix Pix




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## Apple fanboy

Wales 2018.


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## Eric

We have a pair of them running the yard now and they just keep getting more colorful.


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## fooferdoggie

Thomas Veil said:


> LOL. One of the things my granddaughter asked for for Christmas was bunny stuff...including possibly a stroller.



don't go down that path .


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## Chew Toy McCoy

Wish I had a before picture, but since 1945 this room at our cabin was an unfinished room with a cracking cement floor, exposed wall beams, completely painted the dark green that is the shadow box on the right wall that we used to just throw random clutter in like tools and river lounging equipment.  Then about 4 months ago we remodeled it and used it for Christmas this year.


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## fooferdoggie

is there a more appropriate name for a middle school?


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## Chew Toy McCoy

fooferdoggie said:


> is there a more appropriate name for a middle school?
> View attachment 2132




Is that in Boring Oregon?


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## fooferdoggie

Chew Toy McCoy said:


> Is that in Boring Oregon?



yep rode up there today a 30 mile round trip almost no rain at all ended up a nice enough day and a little sun.


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## Clix Pix

Hooded Merganser enjoying the rain we had the other day.....


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## Apple fanboy

One from my garden before I headed out on our walk. Shot through the kitchen window.


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## Clix Pix

Last of the Christmas-related images now that it is over.....


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## User.45

Clix Pix said:


> Last of the Christmas-related images now that it is over.....
> 
> View attachment 2190



This is pretty cool!


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## Apple fanboy

From this mornings walk.


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## Eric

We got a new one again, they must be migrating but this guy (gal?) let me walk right up to it and didn't even flinch, rare for these birds so I was impressed. It almost said "here, get my good side".


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## Chew Toy McCoy

ericgtr12 said:


> We got a new one again, they must be migrating but this guy (gal?) let me walk right up to it and didn't even flinch, rare for these birds so I was impressed. It almost said "here, get my good side".
> 
> View attachment 2210




If it’s attractive and vividly colored it’s a male. If it’s bland as dirt it’s female.

We’ve been fighting science and the natural world long before Trump.


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## lizkat

Chew Toy McCoy said:


> If it’s attractive and vividly colored it’s a male. If it’s bland as dirt it’s female.
> 
> We’ve been fighting science and the natural world long before Trump.




But in the natural world the male satin bowerbird is the one into home decoration. This one even improves the ecosystem as well, by collecting plastic bottlecaps and straws....

Among humans, a woman may talk a husband into mowing the lawn or adding a patio on out back the house,  but sometimes it's an arm and a leg to get them to spring for a nice rock garden space or freestanding flowerbeds:  "Just stuff to mow around is all that is."


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## Chew Toy McCoy

lizkat said:


> But in the natural world the male satin bowerbird is the one into home decoration. This one even improves the ecosystem as well, by collecting plastic bottlecaps and straws....
> 
> Among humans, a woman may talk a husband into mowing the lawn or adding a patio on out back the house,  but sometimes it's an arm and a leg to get them to spring for a nice rock garden space or freestanding flowerbeds:  "Just stuff to mow around is all that is."
> 
> View attachment 2212




Also in the animal kingdom it’s the males who are the good dancers (to attract a mate).

Humans: “So you like to dress with garish style, enjoy home decorating and landscaping, and are a good dancer? What are you, some kind of homo?”


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## lizkat

Chew Toy McCoy said:


> Also in the animal kingdom it’s the males who are the good dancers (to attract a mate).
> 
> Humans: “So you like to dress with garish style, enjoy home decorating and landscaping, and are a good dancer? What are you, some kind of homo?”




Hah, you and I are getting good at derailing threads, I have to say.  They'll be calling us to star in a new revival of the Gong Show pretty soon.

*Who still knows this thread is Photo of the Day?!*​
(my apologies for my part of this derailment anyway)


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## Chew Toy McCoy

lizkat said:


> Hah, you and I are getting good at derailing threads, I have to say.  They'll be calling us to star in a new revival of the Gong Show pretty soon.
> 
> *Who still knows this thread is Photo of the Day?!*​
> (my apologies for my part of this derailment anyway)




I'm only responding to this and taking it further to say at least this thread is easy to ignore potential derailing and stay on point.  Just scroll to the next photo and ignore the rest. Plus a new thread gets started every month.


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## Clix Pix

Been busy the last couple of days....

A sort of glamor shot of a section of the newest member of my household:


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## Apple fanboy




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## Clix Pix

I love it when I'm shooting the Hooded Mergansers and one dives under the water just as I'm pressing the shutter button!


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## Eric

I was originally going to go into SF to try and get the moon setting behind the Golden Gate bridge but wanted to avoid other people so I decided to get it in my local neighborhood instead. I used the PhotoPills app to get the time and place.


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## Apple fanboy

Also keeping it local. Shot through my kitchen window.


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## Clix Pix

Yesterday afternoon when glancing out the sliding door I saw some of the hooded mergansers fairly close on my side of the lake, so grabbed the RX10 IV, which was sitting on a nearby table, and went out on the deck  to grab some shots.  I noticed one guy in particular was flipping and flopping around all over the place, rather unusual behavior, not something I'd seen any of them do before -- this wasn't preening/grooming, nor was it chasing another merganser (usually one of the females) and frolicking.    I zoomed in on him and saw that he was engaged in an epic battle with what he wanted to have for lunch!  Fascinating to watch, as duck and fish struggled, the fish trying valiantly to escape.....


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## Apple fanboy

One from this morning's walk.


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## Clix Pix

Wrapping up 2020 with an image pulling together a few things which in one way or another featured prominently in my life during the year:


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