Where's Nifty?! #2

kbColorado wrote in post #18186612

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/N8Zk​Qm Nifty Sunrise- by Westcliffe Slim, on Flickr

Wow, gorgeous.

kbColorado wrote in post #18186612

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/N8Zk​Qm Nifty Sunrise- by Westcliffe Slim, on Flickr

Superb.... print it!

Thank you Renata, Annie and Joeseph. After taking the sunrise photos Wednesday I headed out for some outdoor fun with friends. Wore a light jacket all day.

Then, Thursday happened!

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/PiXM​Dd

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/PiXM​83

Friday morning ...

-18 Celsius

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/Pn84​dx

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/P9xb​po

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/Pn84​Rr

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/PiYG​py

-18ºC, that's pretty cold, Paul. Is it a normal temperature for this time of year in Colorado?

And is that feeder squirrel proof?

By the way, I too loved your sunrise!

kbColorado wrote in post #18187896
Friday morning ...

-18 Celsius

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/Pn84​dx Nifty Friday zero by Westcliffe Slim, on Flickr

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/P9xb​po Nifty Friday icy 2 by Westcliffe Slim, on Flickr

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/Pn84​Rr Nifty Friday icy 1 by Westcliffe Slim, on Flickr


It was remarkable to be able to go hiking at high altitude this past Monday given the time of the year. Just might have to bring snowshoes from now on ...

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/PiYG​py Nifty Friday- by Westcliffe Slim, on Flickr

Paul, that's a very dramatic change!
Love the ice crystal formation in Icy 2 in particular.
Stay warm, please

I have a few shots that I haven't shared yet, so here they come.
The public sculpture is in Wylie, TX where I teach one of my watercolor classes.
It is an amazing thing. Quote from the official website: "‘Voices of Wylie’ – Living Lenses
Po Shu Wang and the late Louise Bertelsen of Living Lenses designed this 13-foot-wide by 7-feet-tall stainless steel interactive sculpture located in the breezeway between the Smith Public Library and Wylie Recreation Center. “Voices of Wylie” features a Living Lensessequence of hemispheres that spiral toward each other surrounding a complete sphere at the center. Inspiration for the shape was drawn during a public meeting where citizens recalled Wylie’s rich history as the “Onion Capital of the World.”

The sculpture conceals an outdoor speaker connected to two keyboards: one in the recreation center and one in the library. Visitors are invited to type their thoughts, expressions and emotions, which are translated into Braille text dots and turned into musical tones through an electronic sampler.

I listen to the music every week and it sounds really lovely.

itsallart wrote in post #18187972
Paul, that's a very dramatic change!
Love the ice crystal formation in Icy 2 in particular.
Stay warm, please

Thanks, Renata ... fireplace is getting a workout today!

Levina de Ruijter wrote in post #18187971
-18ºC, that's pretty cold, Paul. Is it a normal temperature for this time of year in Colorado?
And is that feeder squirrel proof?
By the way, I too loved your sunrise!

Thanks, Levina. The squirrels around here get into everything except the birdfeeders

The average historical temps for today are highs of 56 (13c) and lows of 26 (-3c). This is the warmest fall we can recall ... yesterday started our first real blast of cold weather.

Hey y'all, I haven't been posting much on the forum, but still lurking this thread now and then. I really enjoy how much pictures people are posting! and of great places!

I might be traveling for a few months again next year, I might sign up to host a nifty while doing so. I guess I first have to find a way to fund such a trip...

At present we would like anyone wishing to host have at least a 200 post count or have been active on POTN for a year. Hopefully, this will reduce the number of people that do not participate in a timely manner, or "forget" to move Nifty on to the next host, or simply don't care.

* Though, this doesn't seem to alter the fact that people tend to forget to send Nifty on and tend to post very little... with some exceptions! To sign up to be a host, please copy the list completely, add your name to the bottom of the sub-list that is in your area of the world, paste the entire list into a new post with your name added.


Again, if you are near the top of the USA list James (bk2life) is ready to move Nifty along. Please contact him..


USA Nifty:

(CO) KbColorado (in possession)
(UT) tadrscin
(Chicago IL) KurtB
(Buffalo, NY) KenjiS – (moved down the list, too busy)
(Cleveland, OH) DutchinCLE
(Atlanta, GA) CameraMan
(Chicagoland, IL) Nekrosoft13
(Orlando FL) Justman1020 (No Response, moved to bottom of the list)
(Hawaii) ChrisBlaze (deployed, but on the list!)
(MI) Blake C
USA - (Texas) Ron Bailey (Possessed a Nifty, but Nifty is missing and now Written Off as Gone)
(RI) Archer1960
(Tx)Itsallart (Renata)

Euro Nifty:
(Scotland) AnnieMacD (in possession)
(The Netherlands) Levina de Ruijter

Adorama Nifty - Canadians:
(AB) Photorider (in possession)

DUPAN Nifty:

Another Nifty gone but not forgotten and replaced by Gary - Thank You gutterscum!
(Ararat Victoria) – gutterscum Gary (in possession, delivered 20 Jan 2016)
(Kandahar-Afghanistan) Bk2life (james) (In Possession)
(Cebu-Philippines or Hong Kong) Reservoir Dog

Westcliffe's Main Street dead ends at a park called "The Bluff." This land was donated to the town and is where our concerts and other events are held. At the edge of The Bluff is our community observatory, built with private funds and also donated to the town. The whole roof slides away and reveals a state of the art 17" telescope with tracking software. The observatory's grand opening coincided with our being named a "Dark Sky Community" in 2015, one of 13 in the US.

http://darksky.org/ids​p/communities/

Dark Sky Communities must of course have naturally dark skies but must also do a LOT of work replacing ambient outdoor lights with lights designed to point downward and not bleed up into the sky. This was an effort that took many years, pulled off by a very dedicated group of volunteers and a very generous community.

The "Today Show" on NBC ran a story about Westcliffe's Dark Sky efforts this past Sunday morning.

http://www.today.com …shine-bright-813547075985

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/NVFL​CU

kbColorado wrote in post #18191115
Heading west on Westcliffe's Main Street, it dead ends at a park called "The Bluff." This land was donated to the town and is where our concerts and other events are held. At the edge of the bluff is our community observatory, built with private funds and also donated to the town. The whole roof slides away and reveals a state of the art 17" telescope with tracking software. The observatory's grand opening coincided with our being named a "Dark Sky Community" in 2015, one of 13 in the US.

http://darksky.org/ids​p/communities/

Dark Sky Communities must of course have naturally dark skies but must also do a LOT of work replacing ambient outdoor lights with lights designed to point downward and not bleed up into the sky. This was an effort that took many years, pulled off by a very dedicated group of volunteers and a very generous community.

The "Today Show" on NBC ran a story about Westcliffe's Dark Sky efforts this past Sunday morning.

http://www.today.com …shine-bright-813547075985

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/NVFL​CU Nifty Bluff- by Westcliffe Slim, on Flickr

OMG Paul, this is so stunning! What a beautiful thing to do to let the Milky Way shine! Way to go Westcliffe. I'm sure you're very proud of it! And only if every town in this country followed suit!!!

kbColorado wrote in post #18191115
Westcliffe's Main Street dead ends at a park called "The Bluff." This land was donated to the town and is where our concerts and other events are held. At the edge of The Bluff is our community observatory, built with private funds and also donated to the town. The whole roof slides away and reveals a state of the art 17" telescope with tracking software. The observatory's grand opening coincided with our being named a "Dark Sky Community" in 2015, one of 13 in the US.

http://darksky.org/ids​p/communities/

Dark Sky Communities must of course have naturally dark skies but must also do a LOT of work replacing ambient outdoor lights with lights designed to point downward and not bleed up into the sky. This was an effort that took many years, pulled off by a very dedicated group of volunteers and a very generous community.

The "Today Show" on NBC ran a story about Westcliffe's Dark Sky efforts this past Sunday morning.

http://www.today.com …shine-bright-813547075985

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/NVFL​CU Nifty Bluff- by Westcliffe Slim, on Flickr

That's an amazing story, indeed, Paul. How wonderful. I did a bit of astro photography but it's hard with all the light pollution of a city, even a small city like Amsterdam. Just shows how much difference people can make if they want to.

Also great seeing your location on film there! And I love your picture. It's really beautiful. Amazing really that it was taken with a Nifty!

Thanks, Renta. Thank you, Levina ... I've not owned a 50 since my OM1 many years ago. It makes my 5DMKII feel almost light as my go to lens has always been the 24-70, aka "The Brick"

This particular photo is a 4 shot panorama @ f/5.6 and I must say Nifty is performing better than expected.

kbColorado wrote in post #18191115
Westcliffe's Main Street dead ends at a park called "The Bluff." This land was donated to the town and is where our concerts and other events are held. At the edge of The Bluff is our community observatory, built with private funds and also donated to the town. The whole roof slides away and reveals a state of the art 17" telescope with tracking software. The observatory's grand opening coincided with our being named a "Dark Sky Community" in 2015, one of 13 in the US.

http://darksky.org/ids​p/communities/

Dark Sky Communities must of course have naturally dark skies but must also do a LOT of work replacing ambient outdoor lights with lights designed to point downward and not bleed up into the sky. This was an effort that took many years, pulled off by a very dedicated group of volunteers and a very generous community.

The "Today Show" on NBC ran a story about Westcliffe's Dark Sky efforts this past Sunday morning.

http://www.today.com …shine-bright-813547075985

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/NVFL​CU Nifty Bluff- by Westcliffe Slim, on Flickr

Paul, this is a stunning image of the barn, prairie and mountains. I too was so surprised by how sharp Nifty is. Also, great story of your observatory and Dark Skies. Hopefully you'll do some astro while you are hosting.

I have to apologize as I've been having computer issues so have not been so active. I just took delivery of a brand new computer today and this is the second site I've visited on the new machine (Flickr was first!). I've got over 800 post notifications so who knows when I'll catch up. But I'll get a lot done on the Thanksgiving holiday as we obviously do not celebrate it here but I get the Thursday and Friday off.

Nifty and I have been out in the snow so I have some photos to post but I have to get everything transferred over and LR, PS etc installed and working before I can get them up. Don't you just hate getting a new computer? It's good in one way, but awful in another!