I doubted in Thursday’s post that I’ll ever capture a kingfisher in flight in a pin sharp image. I blamed lack of kit and ornithological knowledge, and slow reflexes. All true to a degree but the bigger problem is my … Read More »
[ezcol_1half]This beauty’s been in Sheffield’s Porter Valley, on a pond two hundred yards from my home, for a few days. She – I think I can tell the sex from the orange on the lower mandible of the beak – … Read More »
But for certain misfortunes, Robert Hooke would surely have been among the most celebrated of Englishmen. He invented air bellows for Boyle, built telescopes and microscopes, discovered stars and advanced our understanding of planetary orbit. He taught himself illustration for … Read More »
We all know Stalin’s Soveit Union was unrelievedly grim and sexually repressed, right? So what would you expect when Sergey Merkurov, People’s Artist of the USSR and creator of the three biggest statues ever of Uncle Joe, was asked in … Read More »
[ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end] Saturday, Feb 7. The third unsourced statistic on this FB post is almost certainly false: [/ezcol_1half_end] Two days later an American friend, Daniel, posted his disgust at a homophobic quote allegedly by Ted Cruz. But others say it … Read More »
[ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]A friend asked: were my images of Burbage Photoshopped? Absolutely. I edit all photos in Lightroom and/or Photoshop. In my days of teaching photography at the University of Sheffield, when students boasted that they never edited images after exposure … Read More »
[ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]Thanks to Steve who posted this on FB. (More of John Macpherson’s Close to Home ‘toons here.) A man once played Blowin’ in the Wind as he drove his 5 year old to school. When it ended the boy … Read More »
[ezcol_1third][/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end]Thursday. I walk near Redmires with Sue. Here’s the conduit curving over the moors to the reservoir. Should’ve changed lens. Cutting ‘elbows’ is naff. A lazy snapper’s a bad snapper. We spoke of films, including Spotlight, due out next … Read More »
After my post on the MMR vaccine I had this reply from the originator of the thread: You are an academic Phil, to be blunt you have been brainwashed. I was fortunate enough to escape that. Do you see the … Read More »
[ezcol_1third]I stumbled on an anti-MMR discussion on FB last night. Couldn’t resist sticking my oar in of course. Human beings have wonderful brains but, untrained, we are hopeless at stats and not much better at any kind of rigorous thinking. … Read More »