I don't know if you need to be a Flickr user but here's the 2019 best post:

https://blog.flickr.net/en/2020/01/2...nners-announce

 

Awesome

 

Wow...spectacular!!

 

Nice stuff there!!! Thanks for posting!

 

There is an old fort at the south end of the city I grew up in. It has had some major improvements, walking/biking paths, a beautiful pier. It's often the coldest place in the city when the winds are blowing. However, yesterday, there was so little wind, and it was a picture perfect day. The fishing vessels pass by on their way back into port I grabbed this shot which included the lighthouse (which is for sale), along with the wind turbines in the town across the river. I liked it.

 

Wonder what lighthouses sell for?

 

Info on this lighthouse (Butler Flats)
1898 (F. Hopkinson Smith). Inactive since 2014. 53 ft (16 m) round cylindrical brick tower incorporating 3-story keeper's quarters, with double upper gallery and a lower gallery, mounted on a concrete and cast iron caisson. Original 5th order Fresnel lens in use. Unusual design: a sparkplug tower in brick rather than cast iron. Lighthouse painted white; lantern, galleries, and caisson painted black. Cristina Carvalho's photo is at right, Anderson's page has good photos, Huelse has a historic postcard view, and Google has a satellite view and a distant street view. The lighthouse was maintained by the city for many years beginning in 1978; volunteers and county jail inmates worked to keep it in order. It was one of the first lighthouses in the country to be converted to solar power. In 2012 the lighthouse became available for transfer under NHLPA but the city declined to apply for it and no other group came forward. The lighthouse was offered for sale by auction in August 2013. Nick Korstad, the owner of the similar Borden Falls lighthouse (see below), declined to bid; he estimates the lighthouse needs $1 million just to restore the foundation. That auction was cancelled but in September 2015 the lighthouse was again offered for auction, and in November the lighthouse sold for $80,000. The buyers formed a nonprofit organization called Mass Light to maintain the lighthouse. In May 2019 the city council approved a $250,000 grant for the stabilization and repair of the base of the lighthouse and the concrete deck. Located in New Bedford Harbor east of Clark's Point. Accessible only by boat. Good views from the Martha's Vineyard ferry mid-May to early October. Site and tower closed. Owner/site manager: Mass Light. ARLHS USA-099; ex-Admiralty J0498; ex-USCG 1-16853.

 

Thanks, Gene! Didn't know about the transfer or the funds to stabilize it.

PS: Looks like I sold a couple more photos at the local gift shop. The owner will verify inventory. One of the photos is of this lighthouse.

 

That's some contrast between the old and new. The reflections in the water

 

Thanks, Dave. It was a great day out there.
Back in the day, I remember you "introduced" me to Picasa, I think by letting me know I could get rid of the red eyes in people in my photos. Well I used Picasa for a long time. It was easy, the edits suited my needs and other editing programs overwhelmed me. Many still do. Not long ago I had photos printed at the same lab I've been using for years. The guy finally told me he had to resize my images for printing, even though I was cropping them to a size for printing, that crop didn't follow, so to speak when he would print them. He said nice things about my images and suggested I try other programs. I wasn't interested in Photo Shop, or paying a subscription, but I had received free Software, Corel Paint Shop pro when I purchased my last camera. So I've been giving it a try. Some things are still way over my head, but I've learned a few new tricks. When duck hunting with a camera, the ducks aren't exactly posing, they are often in a group, and from afar I'm not sure what I'm looking at. These are Greater Scaup according to Google. I was just shooting away but wanted to see what I could do. So I cropped out the ducks on the right and changed the photo from landscape to portrait mode. My favorite edit was making the duck in the lower part of the photo disappear, leaving me with the one duck and a better photo. It's not one I'll print, but I still have enough resolution if I wanted to. The edits aren't perfect but they are good enough to share the photo on some birding forums on FB.
Resized for easier posting here:
Before



After



And this is just one cool duck...photo has had a ton of cropping as he was very far away. Long tail duck