Robert Swanson's photos

Seen on a farm (estancia) we visited in Tierra del Fuego.

The fruit, not necessarily the color. Taken in the market, Manaus, Brazil. Most of the fruit is green, but the inside is the real stuff. Hope your weekend is sweet!

Taken in Laughlin, Nevada. This RV park is associated with the local casinos, and was a very nice place to stay. We parked here during the first week after moving into our new RV, July, 2008. As you can see, sunsets in the desert are quite lovely. A nice sign for Sunday Challenge.

This is what they were looking at, and taking selfies, with. If you want to see the people at the base who are taking photos of this famous statue, see: www.ipernity.com/doc/2543754/51993382

For Sunday Challenge. You add your own words. Image processed with GIMP. - - - - - Hooray, I figured out how to do PIP. - - - - - - - - - Wording added after the Sunday Challenge was over: These were tourists at the base of the Christ statue in Rio. Some were trying to get just the right angle with their photo. Some were posing so that the photographer (probably not in this picture) could put them together, some were taking selfies. The object of their photography: www.ipernity.com/doc/2543754/52008016 We saw this kind of behavior in Pisa, as visitors from around the world positioned themselves and their photographers so that they were "holding up the leaning tower". To me, this tableau of people looks like a store window, or some frozen moment in time.

We had seen 4014 in Nebraska in 2021, but had another chance this June. The train was headed to Omaha for an event, and traveled through mid-Nebraska, an easier drive. We found a rural crossing near Schuyler, Nebraska, and set up the cameras. The videos and photos here were taken by both myself and my wife, but she did the video composition work. Always an awesome experience to see this 1,000,000 pound machine pass by.

We had another opportunity to capture images of this remarkable piece of machinery in action. This time, June 11, 2023, we were at a rural crossing in Nebraska. This is a frame captured from a video being recorded as the train passed. Image then processed with GIMP. This should meet the "historical" Sunday Challenge. These massive locomotives were built during WW II to handle the heavy loads over the Rocky Mountains. The locomotive and tender weigh 1,000,000 pounds, the heaviest locomotive ever built. As steam was removed from the Union Pacific operations in the 1950's these locomotives became obsolete. In the early 1960's, this particular locomotive was donated to a club in Southern California, and was moved to a static location at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds in Pomona, California. I was living in that town at the time, and as a teenager, I climbed all over this massive machine. There it sat for decades. Recently, the Union Pacific decided to restore one of the "4000" series to operation, and they chose the unit from Pomona. In 2019, this magnificent locomotive again ran on the rails under steam power. For other images and information: swansongrp.com/4014 For other railroad-related images, see: swansongrp.com/P/railroad

A fellow RV'er was trying to convince us to buy a stand-alone air fryer. So, he cooked some chicken (see photo) and it WAS DELICIOUS! So, we bought one. It works well, but we now have a gas stove with an "air fryer" option that works well too. The color comes from our friend's "secret" spice combination. Enjoyed this chicken in Quartzsite, Airzona, during the winter show season. Image taken with the phone and processed with GIMP.

A "Freedom Rock" in Iowa, USA. These rocks were paid for by local fund-raising organizations, and painted by an artist. They are usually sited in a Veterans Memorial in small Iowa towns. The plan was to place one rock in each Iowa county. That part of the project is now complete. We've visited 4 of these sites so far. This one honors "heros". I felt that this would be appropriate to U. S. Memorial Day (upcoming). See: www.thefreedomrock.com Image processed with GIMP.

Looking for composition, found the big X in the hillsides. The scenery of Montenegro is spectacular. Image processed with GIMP.

Located at one end of the bridge at Hoover Dam. Image processed with GIMP.

Happy Orange Thursday! Also May the 4th, for some folks. Got a Macro lens for the Panasonic GX85, Micro 4/3 camera body. It is an Olympus lens, but works fine on the Pana body. Tested the lens extensively, particularly trying macro/closeups. Image processed with GIMP.

Open door Sunday Challenge. This "office" was a small building in one of the locks of the Panama Canal. This 2018 transit was yet another Canal one for us (10 so far?), and it was made more interesting by torrential rains.

Taken from the cruise ship as we left Venice. This lovely park is located away from the crush of tourists and St. Marks. You can see the folks enjoying a sunny day and the pleasant benches. (And a close-up view of a cruise ship as it sails past..) It appears that these are the Giardini della Biennale. Image processed with GIMP.

A lovely range of colors in the trees, from yellow to orange, to a little bit of red. Taken in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (North) during our 2022 road trip. The Panasonic GX85 does a nice job. No manipulation done.

Some delicious dim sum. Taken at an excellent Chinese restaurant in San Antonio, Texas. When we have the chance, we enjoy this style of food. Dumplings on the left, sticky rice on the right. Taken with the fixed 20mm f1.7 lens on the micro 4/3's Panasonic GX85 camera.

Taken in a lovely park along the MIssissippi River, in Muscatine, Iowa. This town is overshadowed by the "Quad Cities" nearby, but is worth a stop for itself. This park looks like a nice stop on a hot summer day. Did you know that this was a major pearl button manufacturing town in the late 19th century? There is a statue in this park to the mussel fisherman of that time. Image taken with phone and processed into square format with GIMP. Using the square format allowed me to crop until there is some Rule of Thirds behavior present.

Our view across the bay of the fortress at Bodrum. Called the Bodrum Castle. Quite impressive. Do look up the history in Wikipedia (for instance). The castle was built using the ruins of the famous Tomb of ancient history. Image processed with GIMP.