Just picture it

I came across this image today as I was uploading my own to Flickr.

Sometimes there is just something about a pic that does it for you.

In this one, its the drops. Dropping.

I would stay up to watch this.

Tracks from the two-wheeled Modularizedd Equipment Transporter lead away from the lunar module on the moon's surface during the Apollo 14 mission.

Photo: NASA/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Jan 01, 1971

Between March 1918 and late 1919, the "Spanish Flu" is thought to have infected perhaps 20 percent of the world's population. Masks were considered de rigeur, especially for Red Cross and other healthcare workers.

Mortality estimates have long pegged the number of dead worldwide as somewhere around 20 million people -- but newer estimates put the number closer to 100 million.

Lest we forget.

One of the greatest gifts one generation can pass to another is the wisdom it has gained from experience.

I took this photo on a recent trip (Oct 2008) to Kenya.

An elder of the Masai tribe hosting us, he just seemed to have the wisdom of years engrained in his eyes.

I've been reading 'Wisdom' by Andrew Zuckerman. It's brilliant.

But I often wonder how much wisdom there is in those close to us, in the silence of their eyes.

Andrew Zuckerman: Wisdom
http://www.wisdombook.org

Scenes in nature so serene, they seem somehow perfect, and untouched.

Pier Pilings with Bird, 2005
Brian Kosoff | Photography

Nothing quite prepares you for a moment like this.

Lying in the dirt behind the relative safety of a 4x4, a long lens trained on a group of elephants, as they lazily amble their way towards you.

The whole family stops to take things in. Mom and dad look you in the eye. Sniff the air. Satisfy themselves that all is well. And quietly continue.

Towards you.

Taken with Nikon D80, 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 @ 200mm
1/2000 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400

I'm a lover of great photography. So no surprises that I try to learn from award winning shots the world over, be they from professionals, or amateurs who just happen to be in the right place at the right time.

But there are some images that just take your breath away.

This is one of them.

Photo Contest Finalist - A tiger underwater | 6th Annual Photo Contest | Smithsonian Magazine

A tiger underwater
Pam Wood (Watsonville, CA)
Photographed July 2008, Vallejo, CA

This pic was taken at Lake Amboseli (www.kws.org/amboseli.html) in Kenya (a temporary lake that floods during years of heavy rainfall ... probably more apt to describe it as a pan).

Anyone ever seen the lighter pattern, like on the giraffe on the left?

It's the first time I've ever seen it ... and it really makes the image really work.

In fact, I only noticed the difference when I reviewed the images later in the day. At the time of taking the image, when we spent an hour or more with the giraffes, I didn't pick up the 'reversed' pattern.

Was getting restless.

Wanted to take a pic. Whipped out the camera ... and waltzed outside. The wind was blowing off the Indian ocean.

I knew when I saw the washing line, that I could get a great shot. It was just the colours. And the content.

SNAP.

Hot pants.