Double Rainbow and Windmill - in HDR

Photo © Mike Hendren, 2009

 

This summer, after a thunderstorm had passed overhead, I noticed a double rainbow out my window. After taking a few shots, my wife got home and said, "You've got to see the rainbow at our neighbor's house." So I grabbed my camera and drove down.

It was such a nice setup with the bright double rainbow, seemingly coming down right at their house.  The sun was shining in the foreground and there was a dark sky behind to highlight the entire scene.

I only got a single exposure of this so a true HDR image was not possible. So I made a virtual copy inLightroom, exported the two images to Photomatix Pro, and separated them with 4 ev (that's a function of Photomatix). After the Photomatix processing, I imported the results back in toLightroom. There I cooled the color temp. a little to get the sky a little bluer, and with a few more tweaks of color and sharpening, ended up with this.

You can see a part of the result of the HDR processing in the halo around the windmill. This can happen when an image is sort of "overprocessed" in Photomatix and is not always desirable. However, in this case, I did it on purpose just because I liked the extra contrast around the windmill blades.

Prints of this image are available at My Zenfolio:
mikehendren.zenfolio.com/

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Building a Windmill From Scratch

William Kamkwamba - the young man from Malawi who built a windmill from scratch at age fourteen. After suffering through the awful conditions of poverty and a near life-ending famine, Kamkwamba, armed with discarded motor parts, pvc pipe, and an old bicycle wheel, created an energy source. Learn more about this inspiring tale here.

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Windmill for Sale in France

Something Different .....
Windmill in good condition near to Jonzac, empty, land 2000m2. Have you ever fancied a windmill? LOOK Inside is empty 30m2 Roof sound No mechanism Land 2000m2, with the remains of two old mills. Price: 129,900 euros

Department: Charente-Maritime; Region: Poitou - Charentes

Details: Jonzac Windmill

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Schoolhouse Corn Ma(i)ze, just outside of Lambertville

One hour and 20 minutes to escape... we got an "A"

           

Click here to download:

Schoolhouse_Corn_Maize_just_ou.zip (7778 KB)

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Watch an 80,000 pound wind turbine rotor get hoisted 300 feet to the top of the tower.

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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Persistence, Jury-Rigging, and Ingenuity Against All Odds - The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind - Gizmodo

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Images Zaanse Schans.

       

Click here to download:

Images_Zaanse_Schans..zip (7126 KB)

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Windmills and about being positive.

I was planning lessons related to French and African countries as part of a professional development day on elementary school. When I was trying to find ideas to incorporate in my lessons, I remembered I watched this moving video about a man in Malawi building a windmill on his own just by reading some books about windmills. I could not really use this video in my French lesson as it is all in English but I thought it would be useful for the grade 5 (9-10 years old) homeroom teacher who will teach about Africa.
This video shows what humans can achieve with few resources but with the will to accomplish something big.
When I am in a negative mood or feel I won't make it, I just remember this Malawian guy who did so much with so little!

What about you? what do you use to make yourself feel positive?

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Energy winds

Last week on vacation I visited the Columbia Gorge with two of my daughters. Lots of photos to post later, but here's a sneak preview. The times are changin'. Do us pick-up drivers know which way the wind is blowing?

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Windmill @ GG Park

Here at Erin and George's wedding rehearsal. Event will take place in the tulip garden adjacent to the Windmill.

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