Clouds
Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts
Saturday, August 18, 2012
29 life lessons learned in travelling the world for 8 years straight
29 life lessons learned in travelling the world for 8 years straight
Eight years. That’s 416 weeks, or almost 3,000 days. This is the amount of time that I have not had a fixed home; moving to a new country, culture and language every few months and taking absolutely everything I own with me. It has been a significant percentage of my life, and it’s still long from over.
I had actually done some travelling before - a couple of summers in the states, and an entire month already in Spain. But about this time back in 2003, on the week of my 21st birthday, I left Ireland for good. I had graduated university a few days before, and knew that I’d only be coming back “home” for visits (I’ve never once missed the family Christmas dinner). But it’s not really my home any more. Since then, “wherever I lay my hat, that’s my home”.
After devoting my life to them, university and schools had taught me nothing of any real importance. I had gone through as many books as I could and thought I knew it all, but the fact of the matter is that I have become the person I was meant to be in the last 4/5 of a decade, while on the road. And I certainly still have a lot left to learn.
[Edit: People keep asking me how I can afford a travel lifestyle for so long, or if I'm rich or if my parents paid for everything. I paid for the entire trip myself, starting with no moneysaved up; I can assure you my lifestyle is way cheaper than most settled people who prove observation #10 and need so much money to buy rubbish!
You don't need to be rich to travel the world. To find out more about me and my story, please read my site's About page to see a list of the many jobs I've had during my travels. For just the last one year I've been earning money by helping people to hack languages quicker.]
Since yesterday was my 29th birthday and this week is my 8 year “travelversary”, I thought it fitting to share 29 of these revelations with you of things that I have learned on this journey. Many of them are about life in general, but these are actually my observations after meetingmany people from all over the world:
1. Everyone everywhere basically wants the same thing
Vastly different as the world’s cultures are, if you speak to Italian millionaires, homeless Brazilians, Dutch fishermen and Filipino computer programmers, in their own languages, you start to see that we are all incredibly alike where it matters.
Everyone just wants validation, love, security, enjoyment and hopes for a better future. The way they verbalise this and work towards it is where things branch off, but we all have the same basic desires. You can relate to everyone in the world if you look past the superficial things that separate you.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Man who lost his legs as a child scales 19,000ft-high Kilimanjaro
Man who lost his legs as a child scales 19,000ft-high Kilimanjaro by crawling on his HANDS for seven days
It's a feat most able-bodied people would struggle to achieve - scaling one of the highest peaks on the planet. Spencer West managed it using just his hands.
The
31-year-old, from Toronto, Canada - who lost his legs when he was just
five years old - reached the summit of the 19,341ft high Mt. Kilimanjaro
on Tuesday after a slow, gruelling and awe-inspiring trek.
Spencer West, celebrates at the peak of Kilimanjaro on Monday, after scaling the tallest mountain in Africa on his hands
Friday, June 22, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
50 Magical Examples of Misty Morning Photography
50 Magical Examples of Misty Morning Photography
Some of the most magical times of the day are early morning when the world is waking up. It's a great time to get out in nature and capture its beauty through the lens. Here is a collection of fantastic examples to get you inspired.
Make sure and share your morning masterpieces with the TPA community here.
Simply the Most Beautiful Pics of Waves We've Ever Seen
These incredible pictures capture the stunning moment waves roll on to a tropical beach.The breath-taking images show the split-second in which each one breaks and crashes on to the sand, and are the work of two keen photographers who wish to remind people just how beautiful Mother Nature can be.Photographers Nick Selway, 28, and pal CJ Kale, 35, position themselves in the magnificent Hawaiian water - and then wait for the waves to crash into their heads.Their only equipment are standard cameras - but a waterproof case means they do not need to sacrifice their cameras for their art.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Infrared Photography - 2/2
History of Infrared Photography
Until the early 1900s, infrared photography was not possible because silver halide emulsions are not sensitive to infrared radiation without the addition of a dye to act as a color sensitizer.The first infrared photographs (as distinct from spectrographs) to be published appeared in the October 1910 edition of the Royal Photographic Society Journal to illustrate a paper by Robert W. Wood , who discovered the unusual effects that now bear his name. The RPS is co-ordinating events to celebrate the centenary of this event in 2010. Wood’s photographs were taken on experimental film that required very long exposures; thus, most of his work focused on landscapes. A set of infrared landscapes taken by Wood in Italy in 1911 used plates provided for him by CEK Mees at Wratten & Wainwright. Mees also took a few infrared photographs in Portugal in 1910, which are now in the Kodak archives.
Infrared-sensitive photographic plates were developed in the United States during World War I for spectroscopic analysis, and infrared sensitizing dyes were investigated for improved haze penetration in aerial photography.After 1930, new emulsions from Kodak and other manufacturers became useful to infrared astronomy.
Infrared photography became popular with photography enthusiasts in the 1930s when suitable film was introduced commercially. The Times regularly published landscape and aerial photographs taken by their staff photographers using Ilford infrared film. By 1937 33 kinds of infrared film were available from five manufacturers including Agfa, Kodak and Ilford.Infrared movie film also available and was used to create day-for-night effects in motion pictures, a notable example being the pseudo-night aerial sequences in the James Cagney/Bette Davis movie The Bride Came COD.
False-color infrared photography became widely practiced with the introduction of Kodak Ektachrome Infrared Aero Film and Ektachrome Infrared EIR. The first version of this, known as Kodacolor Aero-Reversal-Film, was developed by Clark and others at the Kodak for camouflage detection in the 1940s. The film became more widely available in 35mm form in the 1960s but KODAK AEROCHROME III Infrared Film 1443 is their sole remaining infrared film.
Infrared photography became popular with a number of 1960s recording artists, because of the unusual results; Jimi Hendrix, DOnovan, Frank Zappa and Grateful Dead all issued albums with infrared cover photos. The unexpected colors and effects that infrared film can produce fit well with the psychodelic aesthetic that emerged in the late 1960s.
For some, infrared photography can easily look gimmicky, but many photographers such as Elio Ciol and Martin Reeves have made subtle use of black-and-white infrared-sensitive film. With the advent of digital infrared photography, as a part of full spectrum photography, the technique is gaining popularity and is being sold as fine art photographs in a variety of galleries worldwide.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Real-life mermaid swims with whales
Real-life mermaid swims with whales using very own fish tail - and holds breath for two minutes on deep sea dives
- Hannah, 36, was inspired to make first tail after watching Daryl Hannah in mermaid film Splash
Hannah, 36, an Australian who now lives in LA, made her first mermaid tail at the age of nine, after seeing the film Splash with Daryl Hannah. Now she works as a model, actress and performer, swimming with whales, dolphins, stingrays and even sharks.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Infrared Photography - 1/2
Infrared Photography
Due to the arrival of digital photography, we can take infrared pictures whenever we please, mixing them with “normal†ones, and see results on the spot, tweaking the settings to our hearts’ desires…All depends, of course, on how your camera sensor array reacts to the infrared ��" and, depending on the filter you are using, to the far red end of the visible spectrum.
At the first glance, a monochrome picture taken in infrared may look similar to just another black and white photograph. And then you start seeing differences: objects which are bright in visible light (like sky) look dark here, while some of those which are “normally†dark (green foliage) acquire a bright glow. An unusual and eerie feeling.
The most dramatic difference between the visible and infrared spectrum is in case of foliage: it does, indeed, become very bright in infrared. Photographs in infrared show quite unusual tonality, different than that to which we are used, and this may make them esthetically pleasing, at least in many cases. Which, of course, is a matter of taste.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Top 10 Deserts in the World
Top 10 Deserts in the World
The usual words that one naturally associates with the term – deserts are; sand, heat, dry, utter chaos! Here you can take a look at all the reasons why some of these beautiful, amazing and sometimes downright lovely deserts should not give you the sinking feeling inside.
This desert, located in Bolivia would change your conception of the idea of deserts completely. It happens to be the largest salt desert in the world but the beauty of the place is exceptional. The desert is completely flat and the so large and crystal in its salty nature that the whole sky seems to be reflected in it creating the ground in different shades of blue.
The usual words that one naturally associates with the term – deserts are; sand, heat, dry, utter chaos! Here you can take a look at all the reasons why some of these beautiful, amazing and sometimes downright lovely deserts should not give you the sinking feeling inside.
This desert, located in Bolivia would change your conception of the idea of deserts completely. It happens to be the largest salt desert in the world but the beauty of the place is exceptional. The desert is completely flat and the so large and crystal in its salty nature that the whole sky seems to be reflected in it creating the ground in different shades of blue.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Breathtaking Waterfall Wallpapers-1/5
The view of a waterfall is spectacular. I love them and I hope that you love them too, so I collected 40 breathtaking waterfall wallpapers to download.
Waterfalls at Davenport beach – California
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Japan Attacked By 200Kg JellyFish
Waters of the east coast of Japan are occupied by swarms of giant jellyfish. The local residents say that they have never seen jellyfish of such enormous size. The jellyfish reach about two meters in diameter and weigh around 200 kilograms.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
