Cloudspotting -Thematic Photography

I looked out of my office window when I saw Carmi's cloudspotting theme and, of course, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. However I have managed to find a few photos containing clouds and as usual some are there by accident; in others the clouds 'make' the shot.

Cloudy Horizon - Traverse City, Michigan

Norwegian Fjord in Autumn

Air Monaco Helicopter coming in to land at Nice Airport

Just two clouds for company - good visibility all round.

Majorca - early morning clouds

Back home in England large clouds dwarf the bridges at Yarm.

Yarm Bridge and Viaduct (behind) from the Teesdale Way

From Saltholme Nature Reserve there is a good view of the Transporter Bridge under a cloudy sky/

Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge

And a close up with the clouds above.

Looking up

You can't have failed to spot the clouds.

The clouds cannot be reached this way.

Firefighters practising with a Simon Snorkel Ladder

The English county of Cornwall is also known as the Land of the Saints or Cornubia.

Cornubia - painted by John Miller

This picture hangs in Truro Cathedral. It was painted to celebrate the centenary of the Cathedral in 1980. I am glad the clouds did not block out the light.

Now it's time for you to follow the Rolling Stones' advice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3F4GmbHl5g ) and cross over to other cloud spotters at Thematic-photographic-252.

Things That Fly - Thematic Photography

There is a bit of a mixture in this post. Some can fly, some have flown and some never have or will. I'll let you decide which is which.

Andrew Mynarski VC, RCAF

This statue stands in front of what was once the Officers' Mess at wartime RAF Middleton-Saint- George.You may read about him at hero's salute

During WWII my elder brother served on aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean.  I do not know where this shot was taken.

Ready for war

The new town (well it was once) of Thornaby-on-Tees has swallowed up the wartime aerodrome but there is a reminder on a roundabout of what happened there.

The Thornaby Spitfire

I wrote about this replica spitfire in a Sepia Saturday post here

I've had a few helicopter trips during my working life but few were as pleasant, or should I say 'nice,' as in one of these.

Air Monaco helicopters at Nice Airport

Despite our expertise none of our machines are as manoeuvrable as nature's designs.

Dragonfly - ready for take-off.

Landing isn't always as easy as it seems even when you have the controls.

Young Collared Dove touches down

It has rained for over 36 hours non-stop where I live in the North East of England; the sun is just breaking through for the first time. However it's still too early for snow so there is no need for the robin to take refuge like this one two Christmases ago.

Christmas Robin

Now it's time for you to fasten your seat belts, take off and fly to meet other fliers at Carmi's thematic-photographic-223.

Screens - Thematic Photography

When I saw that the topic for this week's thematic photography was 'Screens' I decided I only needed one new shot,

Thematic Photography - picture archive

I just hope you can read the header. Other photos are a selection from my files.

Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge - Visitor Centre

Wall display plus small screen of bridge in action

The Tees Barrage is up-river from the Transporter and there I found a different type of screen, this time designed to keep people out.

Archimedes Screws at Tees Whitewater Rafting Centre

The four screws recycle water from the rafting course back to the start. Only the two centre screws were lifting water when this shot was taken.

There's a ghostly look to my next set of screens in use back in the early 1940s.

Mosquito Nets - Egypt - UK naval base

You may think my next picture does not include a screen but there is still a maritime connection.

Rudder on SS Great Britain in Bristol Dry Dock

I would claim that the glass cover to the dock screens out the sunlight at least..

In the next a glass screen in the form of a box encloses a model.

Truro Cathedral inside Truro Cathedral

The crowd has still to arrive in this basketball stadium in Lansing, Michigan and the screens are blank.

Graduation Day for Thomas Cooley Law School

And for the golfing fans.

Olazabal Takes A Putt

For a leisurely ride home there is nothing to beat the view through a windscreen like this.

Helicopter approaching Nice.

Here's two who are saying it's time to go.

You Drive

But before you go make sure have your sunscreen on when you visit Carmi's Written Inc. screens

Monaco to Nice - Aerial Thematic Photography

I had to go back nearly eight years for these photos. It was either that or wait to take some more in June.

This is the helipad at Monte Carlo with the chopper getting ready for the short hop over the sea to Nice.

After take-off straight over the sea the helipad is just visible.

Then the French coastline through a dirty window which the pilot 'refused' to clean - must have been a big fly or a dirty seagull.

 

Approaching Nice:

 

Terra firma!

Couldn't he have landed nearer? The wait for a bus was as long as the flight!

 

It seemed strange flying without the immersion suit I had been used to on offshore helicopter flights in Norway and out of Aberdeen.

For more aerial acrobatics visit: Carmi's Thematic Photographic 146