wiskerke

25 for 1348 Would have been an average month 2 years ago. Now it's the best month of the year so far. The Brexit year 2016 was the best year. After that it all went downhill. Slowly at first. A bit quicker this year. The revenue graph looks like 2008. After that came 2009 which was worse. It went up from there, but it was 5 years until it topped 2008 in 2013. What did the Bible say again about seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine... 😈 And the choir went woo woo... woo woo... ... Please allow me to introduce myself... wim

Sorry guys, Bella had to move from spot 2 to 9, there was no way to get her back to spot 2. This had probably caused the freeze or the other way around. It doesn't show though, because at the viewer's end there are no numbers. Duh. So still only 8 images to choose from. All is well in the end. wim

Ok I hope everything is included now. The thing had just frozen on me. This poll closes on December 5th at midnight GMT (I'm guessing the time here operates on GMT - not sure. The poll will auto shut-off.) This way the winner will have all Sunday to set a new challenge. Loved all the entries. The only one doing something not entirely right is of course the apprentice who still has her fingers in front of the lens. Humor/humour is apparent in a couple I think. Some of them made it on this shortlist like the upskirting with a twist. And the Santas. And now it's up to you all! Remember you cannot change your vote like you used to. wim

I hope not. However the editor will not save my edits. Like at what time the poll will close. Tearing my hair out. Which is very difficult 👨‍🦲 wim

A Look through the Viewfinder Abiyoyo - EBP9GR Woman taking a picture with her iPad of the nave of Siena Cathedral. The Selfie Doc - HCJEB3 A family dressed as Santas taking a selfie photo in Winchester Hampshire. If Caspar David Friedrich had been a Photographer John Mitchell - AJB0YM Tourist photographing the Cenote Zaci Valladolid Yucatan Mexico. The Last Animal on Earth meanderingemu - RMCEDR Group of visitors surrounding an African Penguin in Simonstown South Africa. The Lone Photographer MizBrown - RT6M2M Photographer gets a low angle shot of marching bagpipers legs and kilt hems. The Tourists pierre rochon - RABFP8 Asian tourists taking a group picture with a cruise ship in the background in Bar Harbor Maine. The Professionals vpics - EHNEP7 Press photographers taking pictures of Boris in 2015. Apprentice Photographers aka Children Bella - G1YERF Little girl playing with camera taking a photo. This poll closes on December 5th at midnight GMT (I'm guessing the time here operates on GMT - not sure. The poll will auto shut-off.) This way the winner will have all Sunday to set a new challenge. wim

And we're closed! All people who have contributed, thank you! On last count you were 42 contenders strong. You can see for yourself how high the overall quality is. (And how high you think your level is among your fellow contributors.) In the last phase of this challenge I decided to create 8 categories to make the process of whittling things down easier. Because as usual you had made that pretty difficult. Such great images all! The categories were: A Look through the Viewfinder 6 Apprentice Photographers aka Children 3 If Caspar David Friedrich had been a Photographer 5 The Last Animal on Earth 3 The Lone Photographer 9 The Professionals 6 The Selfie 2 The Tourists 6 (the numbers are the numbers of images that made the long list) For the shortlist I picked one from each group. And only one per photographer, which is sort of an unwritten rule. 9 people had made it to the long list with 2 images, so that posed another challenge. In the end only 1 of those made it to the shortlist so far, but I still have to decide 1 category. Let's see if I still remember how to set up a poll. All, thanks again for playing! wim

wim edit: for a total sum of $205 gross 😁

Haha! Just a couple of hours left! wim

Stonecrop. Here it's called Hemelsleutel or The Key to Heaven in English. I have it on my parents grave. Used to have it in the garden too. Here's a list (pdf) of all confirmed plants in the SNP. About Hylotelephium telephioides or Allegheny Stonecrop it says: P Uc N He; MF, RO, XF G4 VA: S4 P = Present Uc = Uncommon N = Native - Species naturally occurring in park or region He = Herb MF = Mesic forest - Mesic and dry-mesic forests; represents a majority of park’s forested area RO = Rock outcrop - Exposed and shaded outcrops, boulder fields, talus slopes, and rocky barrens XF = Xeric forest = Dry forests, including heath woodlands and shrublands G4 = G4 - Apparently Secure (GRank) VA: S4 - S4 - Apparently Secure Uncommon but not rare (SRank) wim

A quick reminder: this challenge will close on Monday at 24:00 GMT. Lots of great shots already of course, but it's not too late late to add your own! What was it again? For the new challenge let's pick a theme that we all know something about: - photographers. Some simple rules: there has to be a person and there has to be at least one camera. Preferably somebody who is using his/her camera. Groups of photographers/people using cameras are fine. People taking selfies are fine even people using their phones as a camera are fine. possible bonus points and wildcards: Most photographers in one image; Something funny; A photographer doing something stupid that only we, other photographers, recognize; A photographer doing something really clever. But good images will always trump win over bad ones. wim

The add and edit buttons had been gone for some days apparently. Everything seems to be working again this afternoon. wim

Wow! That's great! wim

I'm sure it was deliberate. The idea was to promote single images that have been sold. (There has been a post from management about this I think.) However it has come with a lot of side effects. wim

1954 Mercury Monterey: Without some of its chrome trim. here With this hanging from the rear: https://continentalkit.com/gallery/#book/ wim edit: and lowered. edit 2: link

I even don't see how to do that. It's been a while since I did mine. While I was testing this just now, my page showed a box upload your images here. A bit like in the AIM. Weird. Now it's gone again. wim

Hmm the front bumper looks a lot like a 1955 Pontiac. My guess: it's a Christmas tree. Can you read that sign just above the bumper? wim edit: so it's a 1954 Mercury

That's what I thought. 😃 wim

deleted - double post

Hey I have one too! Fissiparity, same phenomenon. Only one arm though. And mine is eating a mussel. Exact same details. I stayed dry though. It's shot from a big submerged tank. wim

Maybe some sort of automation going on. Could be deliberate though. Could we learn from this? Should we also try it? 😂 wim

Note that they all have different date taken dates. The oldest is G7DTN9. Date taken: 3 October 2014. And with G7DTN9 as id # it must have been here for quite a while. wim edit: good to see they're all RM.

Then I'll do it. Could take a while before I pass through your neck of the woods though... 😁 wim

Luminar wim

We don't have checks here. They were discontinued in 2002, but they hadn't been in use much since towards the end of the nineties. Here most people have one or usually more debit cards. Only half of the people have a credit card. Only 9% has 2 credit cards! Within the US I pay no fees also with my bank (a credit union actually). The problems; the delays and the fees come when currency has to cross a border. Exchange rates are always in the favor of the bank plus there are handling fees. I have been banking online since 1988, that's long before the internet, and initially one had to wait a whole 24h cycle (much like on Alamy - it's a database thing) before money from one account had arrived in the next. Usually another 24 hours for the other bank. Now it's nanoseconds of course. To see how much the banks take, I keep record of the amount due in $$; the amount received in Euros; the exchange rate on the 1st of the month and on the day the money is in my bank. The difference runs from $5 to $25 and is different each month. The time it takes is different each month too: 3 to 9 days. I'm not complaining mind you: it's all just cost of doing business. Like paying my accountant because I hate bookkeeping. wim

American banks always take a huge cut is my experience. Here in continental Europe that's forbidden. Probably why the UK wants to leave. It used to be here as well though. Now it's only allowed for cashing checks, which is like from the stone age here. (I used to live in DC - now in Holland -and not Holland Michigan) wim