Monthly:March 2016
I took today’s photo, Contrail, through the window of a Qatar Airways jet on a flight from Doha to JFK, New York. According to the on-board flight map we were somewhere close to the border between Finland and Sweden at the time. Gazing out of the window I had seen we were approaching the contrail of a jet traveling on an almost perpendicular heading. As we drew nearer I realized we were going to pass below it so I got […]
Today’s photo is the bow of a dhow moored in a marina in Doha, Qatar. Although built in a traditional style, complete with outhouse hanging off the back of the poop deck (literally), I think the boat itself was not that old. It’s function seemed to be that of a party boat. I was struck by the contrast between the brown of the hull planking and the green of the water.
For today’s photo I chose an image of one set of air vents at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston, TX. The building is named after Houston engineer George Rufus Brown, who joined his brother, Herman, in his fledgling engineering company, Brown and Root, in 1922. I worked with successor company, KBR, from 2009 – 2013. In these air vents I find similarities with the services of the Pompidou Center in Paris. And when I lived in […]
Does one ‘bale out’ or ‘bail out’? In this case, the man in the photo is bailing out as in he is using a pan to move water from a ditch. If I were a writer for the Guardian I’d probably be in hot water now as their style guide prefers the ‘bale’ spelling for removing water. But the Guardian is just wrong on this point. The English ‘bail’ derives from the French for bucket, ‘baille’. Anyway, this was a […]
Sunset at the Artists Palette was taken in Death Valley National Park. The aim was to capture the ‘starburst’ as the sun kissed the tops of the Panamint Range across Death Valley. The challenge, of course, is that this is an artificial sunset. If the mountain range weren’t there, then the sun would still be quite high in the sky so it’s brighter than would the case for a true sunset. The direct view has produced some pretty dramatic flare […]
The Jamestown Windmill is a 30-foot tall smock mill built in 1787. If you’re passing through Jamestown, Rhode Island, and you’ve a passing interest in history, it’s well worth a visit. The windmill is currently maintained in working order and once per year they put the fabric on the sails and let the wind take it. It’s called a smock mill because of the shape of the building – usually octagonal – resembles an eighteenth century farmers smock. The bonnet […]
