Back in Manhattan again

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I went into Manhattan AGAIN (I don’t think I’ve been into the city this often since I retired) to meet up with some friends and to watch England play Denmark in the semi-finals of the delayed Euro 2020 competition. England won 2-1 with a quite controversial penalty. Controversial penalty or not I felt England deserved to win. They are now through to the final of a major competition for the first time in 55 years and for the first time ever in the final of this competition. I wish them luck.

Update. I just watched the final against Italy. England scored after 2 minutes. Italy equalized after 67 minutes. At the end of full time the score remained the same (1-1) so the match went to extra time (15 minutes each way). After extra time the score still remained the same (1-1) so the match went to penalties, which Italy won 3-2. Just as I felt that England deserved to win against Denmark, I felt that Italy deserved to win against England.

I was still an excellent performance by England though. Well done!

Taken with an Olympus OM-D E-M10 and Panasonic Lumix 20mm f1.7

Ken’s Hat

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kenshat-1

I had to drop off something at my friend Ken’s house. As I walked up I saw that he was outside and working in the garden. He must have decided that he’d done enough gardening because he invited me onto his deck for a drink. As we walked up to the table he took his hat off, put it down and went to get the drinks.

It was at that point that I took this picture. I’m not sure exactly why I like it, but I do. It’s something to do with the early evening light falling on the hat and the chair behind. I also like the colors

Taken with a Fuji X-E1 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II

A bee

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bee-1

Another attempt at macro photography. I was sitting outside on the balcony when I heard a sound as this small (1/2 to 3/4 inch) bee dropped down onto the arm of the chair where I was sitting.

For once I actually had the right lens within easy reaching distance. The bee didn’t seem to want to leave any time soon so I was able to take a few pictures, of which this one was the best.

A footnote: I took this picture about a week ago. Yesterday afternoon I was sitting on the balcony again when I felt a sharp prick on my left shoulder. Having been stung before I knew immediately what it was. I took off my tee shirt and shook it out and a small bee dropped out and scuttled away. I’d always heard that bees die after they sting, but this didn’t seem to be the case with this one. It looked suspiciously like the bee in the picture above. Maybe it was annoyed because I’d posted its picture to Instagram.

Taken with a Sony A6000 and 7artisans 60mm F2.8 Macro Lens

Around the Neighborhood – An Egret

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egret-1

I was going into New York City with a friend and we’d arranged to meet in Law Park (my town park). I got into to the village a little early so I could have a coffee at the Moonbean Cafe. After I’d finished my coffee I was walking past the pond in Law Park when I noticed this magnificent Egret.

As is often the case I didn’t really have the right camera/lens combination for taking pictures of birds, but I guess he/she was probably used to people and so let me get quite close.

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Taken with a Fuji X-E1 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II

Roses on a fence

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I’ve been taking pictures of these roses growing on a fence near the lake house for years. Usually I get a lot of fence and very few roses. This year, however, the roses are particularly lush practically covering the entire fence. Of all the pictures I’ve taken of this subject this is by far the one I like the most.

Taken with a Sony A6000 and 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 OSS.