GERBERA VARIATIONS

The first image is as it came out of the camera. An orange gerbera macro shot. I then processed the image with Photoshop, using the find edges command, using colour look up tables and various distorting filters. I combined some images and for the last one I used the polar coordinates command.

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,

and also part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme,

and also part of the Nature Footsteps Inspiring Photography meme,

and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

ST NECTARIOS CHURCH, GREECE

One of the most visited sites on the Greek island of Aegina is the church of Agios Nektarios (Saint Nectarios) adjacent to the monastery of Agia Triada (The Holy Trinity).

Agios Nektarios of Aegina (1846-1920), is one of the most widely known Greek Orthodox Saints. He was officially recognised as a saint by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1961. Each month, thousands of people visit the tomb of Agios Nektarios, to pray to him, or ask for his blessings, which always seem to be answered. His Feast Day is celebrated by the Orthodox Church on 9th November. There are services in the church and there is a special procession in the morning, where the remains of Agios Nektarios are carried through the streets of Aegina Town. The translation of his relics is on the 3rd of September.

You can visit the immense church, which is one of the largest in the Balkans daily and entry is free. The church is still not finished, with work continuing. The mausoleum of Agios Nektarios is inside the church. After you visit the church you can climb the stairs to the monastery of the Holy Trinity. 14 Nuns are living in the monastery. Recently, the monastery has been expanded with the addition of a large guesthouse. The hill on which the monastery is built is named Xantos, from the word "xagnadema" (look out point), inviting you to survey the surrounding landscape.

This post is part of the Scenic Weekends meme,
and also part of the Spiritual Sundays meme,
and also part of the inSPIREd Sunday meme.

FEATHER

This post is part of the Photo of the Week meme,
and aIso Heart Macros meme,
and also part of the Weekend in Black and White meme.

RMIT SWANSTON ACADEMIC BUILDING

The Swanston Academic Building (SAB) is an RMIT building designed by the architecture firm Lyons and is located on Swanston Street, Melbourne, across from other notable architectural landmarks: Peter Corrigan-designed building 8 and ARM’s Storey Hall.

RMIT University has three campuses in Melbourne, Australia, two campuses in Vietnam and a centre in Barcelona, Spain. The University's student population of 82,000 includes 28,000 international students, of whom 17,600 are taught outside Australia (almost 7,000 at RMIT Vietnam).

Construction of SAB began on September 2010 and was completed in September 2, 2012. The budget for the SAB was $200,000,000. The new building contains 35,000 square metres of floor space, is 11 storeys high (including basement) and provides 6 large lecture theatres for students.

The building has state of the art facilities for students and also has a 5 star green star rating, meaning the building is very environmentally sustainable. The extremely colourful building is intended to reflect the cities surroundings in the façade. “The idea is to wear the ‘cloak’ of the city”.

Adrian Stanic (Lyons Architectural Director and RMIT alumnus) said in a media release (22/10/2010): “We saw the site as a focal point of the city and looked at how the SAB could create a dialogue with the other landmark buildings that define Melbourne. The process involved mapping lines from the site to these buildings. Using these lines we then created a computerized algorithm that generated the three-dimensional shapes and form of the building. We also put a boom lift on site and hoisted architectural photographer Dianna Snape up to photographically capture the vistas from the 11 levels of the building. The best viewpoints then became the location for the student ‘portals’ on each level that connect student activities inside the building with the surrounding cityscape. In this way we have created a design that integrates the building into the very heart of Melbourne architecturally, but also reflects and embraces the broader architectural legacy of the city.”

This post is part of the Geometric Friday meme.

BIRD OF PARADISE FLOWER

Strelitzia reginae is a monocotyledonous flowering plant indigenous to South Africa. Common names include Strelitzia, Crane Flower or Bird of Paradise, though these names are also collectively applied to other species in the genus Strelitzia. Its scientific name commemorates Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, queen consort of the United Kingdom, wife of H.M. King George III.

The species is native to South Africa but naturalised in Mexico, Belize, Bangladesh, Madeira Islands and Juan Fernández Islands off the coast of Chile. The plant grows to 2 m tall, with large, strong leaves 25–70 cm  long and 10–30 cm broad, produced on petioles up to 1 m long. The leaves are evergreen and arranged in two ranks, making a fan-shaped crown.

The flowers stand above the foliage at the tips of long stalks. The hard, beak-like sheath from which the flower emerges is termed the spathe. This is placed perpendicular to the stem, which gives it the appearance of a bird's head and beak; it makes a durable perch for holding the sunbirds which pollinate the flowers. The flowers, which emerge one at a time from the spathe, consist of three brilliant orange sepals and three purplish-blue petals. Two of the blue petals are joined together to form an arrow-like nectary. When the sunbirds sit to drink the nectar, the petals open to cover their feet in pollen.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

QUINCE FLOWERS

On a walk by the creek a few weeks back we discovered a quince tree growing on the bank. It must have sprouted there from  a discarded quince, and in flower it looked quite wonderful amongst all the wild vegetation.

This post is part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

BIKE

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

TRAIN

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme.

MORMON TEMPLE, SALT LAKE CITY

The Salt Lake Temple is a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) located on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At 23,505.9 m2, it is the largest LDS temple by floor area. Dedicated in 1893, it is the sixth temple completed by the church, requiring 40 years to complete, and the fourth temple built since the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois in 1846.

The Salt Lake Temple is the centrepiece of the 4.0 ha Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. Like other LDS temples it is considered sacred by the church and its members and a temple recommend is required to enter, so there are no public tours inside the temple, though there are public tours of other adjacent buildings on Temple Square. The church permitted Life to publish the first public photographs of the building's interior in 1938. In the photos below you can see a cutaway view of a model of the temple's interior.

The temple grounds are open to the public and are a popular tourist attraction. Due to its location at LDS Church headquarters and its historical significance, it is patronised by Latter-day Saints from many parts of the world. The Salt Lake Temple is also the location of the weekly meetings of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. As such, there are special meeting rooms in the building for these purposes, including the Holy of Holies, which are not present in other temples.

The temple is located in downtown Salt Lake City, with several mountain peaks close by. Nearby, a shallow stream, City Creek, splits and flows both to the west and to the south, flowing into the Jordan River. There is a wall around the temple site. The surrounding wall became the first permanent structure on what has become known as Temple Square. The wall is a uniform 5 metres high but varies in appearance because of the southwest slope of the site.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme,
and also part of the Photo of the Week meme,
and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme,
and also part of the Spiritual Sundays meme,
and also part of the inSPIREd Sunday meme.

CROW

This post is part of the Weekend in Black and White meme.