Sunday 27 February 2011

HDR Images - Fantastic Shots

 
HDRI (English High Dynam ic Range Image) - the image with wide dynamic range.Images obtained using this technique, sometimes surreal, but very beautiful.



Chevrolet Bel-Air, 1957 - one of the most venerated icons of the American automobile industry.This edition is now included in the pantheon of the best cars of all time and is usually called simply '57 Chevy : (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
In the evening : (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
Station : (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
Cathedral of Leon, also called House of Light, located in the city of León in northwestern Spain : (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
Ice Castle, Utah (Photo by Alan Fullmer)

 
Welder : (Photo by Mark Gvazdinskas)

 
  Under the influence of time: (Photo by bob merco)

 
Moonlight over Mount Everest in the park of Disneyland : (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
Iceland : (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
Blue Glacier : (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
Pipeline : (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
Dresden : (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
Infinite lock : (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
Chicago : (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
  Ready to attack : (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
The streets of Germany : (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
  At midnight, the Japanese cemetery: (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
The road into the distance: (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
Ranjit : (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
Iceland at suns: (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
The underwater passage: (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
  Hydrothermal vents Yellowstone National Park.This is the oldest and largest of the U.S. National Park:

 
Paris.Truimfalnaya arch : (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
Andes: (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
Frozen Pond: (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)

 
Loneliness: (Photo by Trey Ratcliff)
 

 Sunset on Maui - the second largest island of the Hawaiian archipelago (Photo by Jeff Osban)

 
Old Mill (Photo by Daniel Mennerich):

 
Times Square, New York: (Photo by Jay Miller)

 
Red truck: (Photo by Jim)

 
Frosty Morning:


Shelby Cobra 427.At one time this car was entered in the Guinness Book of Records by dialing 100 miles per hour in 9.8 seconds: (Photo My Dynamic Range)

 
In the retro style : (Photo My Dynamic Range)

 
Banff National Park - Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 in the Canadian Rockies: (Photo by Jesse Pafundi)

 
Zion National Park in Utah. Lonely tree on the mountain. : (Photo by Jason Butler)

 
Defoliation in Williamstown, Massachusetts.: (Photo by Bobby Bradley)

Creative models of shoes from designer Robert Tabor











Duke Snider Dies

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Duke Snider, the longtime center fielder for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980, died on Sunday morning following an undisclosed illness, both the Dodgers and the Baseball Hall of Fame have announced.
He was 84.
Snider was the Dodgers' primary center fielder from 1947-62 and generally is considered one of the greatest among a long line of superb players who have worn the Dodgers uniform during the franchise's long, storied history. An eight-time All-Star, he still ranks as the franchise's all-time leader in home runs (389) and runs batted in (1,271). He led all major leaguers in the decade of the 1950s with 326 homers and 1,031 RBIs, and he hit four home runs in each of the 1952 and 1955 World Series.
Snider hit .320 with four homers and seven RBIs in the seven-game victory over the New York Yankees in the '55 World Series, giving the Dodgers their first world championship and the only one they would win in Brooklyn before moving three years later to Los Angeles.
"He was an extremely gifted talent, and his defensive abilities were often overlooked because of playing in a small ballpark, Ebbets Field," Vin Scully, the Dodgers' Hall of Fame broadcaster, said in a statement issued by the club. "When he had a chance to run and move defensively, he had the grace and the abilities of [fellow Hall of Famers Joe] DiMaggio and [Willie] Mays, and of course, he was a World Series hero that will forever be remembered in the borough of Brooklyn.
"Although it's ironic to say it, we have lost a giant."
Edwin Donald Snider, who was given the nickname "Duke" by his father when he was 5, was born in Los Angeles on Sept. 19, 1926. He played football, baseball and basketball at Compton High School before being signed by the Dodgers in 1943. In 16 years with the Dodgers, he batted .300 with a .385 on-base percentage and scored 1,199 runs.
Snider was sold to the New York Mets before the 1963 season, then to the San Francisco Giants a year later before he retired after 1964 with a career average of .295 with 407 home runs and 1,333 RBIs.
"I was Duke's teammate and looked up to him with respect," said Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda, who was a young pitcher with the club during Snider's best seasons in Brooklyn. "Duke was not only a great player, but he was a great person, too. He loved his family and loved the Dodgers. He was the true Dodger and represented the Dodgers to the highest degree of class, dignity and character.
"He was my teammate and friend, and I will really miss him."
Snider died at the Valle Vista Convalescent Hospital in Escondido.
Tony Jackson covers the Dodgers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.


Source 

Strange and exotic stretch limos


When the first stretch limos arrived way before the Second World War, they were designed and built to carry the wealthy as well as heads of state. Built in tiny numbers, few ever got to experience the inside of these tastefully luxurious vehicles.

How times have changed; now the streets are lined with pink stretched Hummers and 60-foot long pearlescent white Lincoln Town Cars, available to rent by the hour. Taste has gone out of the window, replaced by ostentatiousness.
However, while tacky and tasteless stretch limos are now all too common, there are plenty of more interesting ones cobbled together in garden sheds and back-street workshops. Here we share some of the most bizarre from the wonderful world of the web, with a few extras thrown in for good measure from the archives of Magic Car Pics.

Ferrari F40

If there's a style of car that's completely unsuited to conversion to a stretch limo, it's the supercar, so what possessed somebody to come up with this confection is beyond us. Thankfully it's not based on a real Ferrari, but it's still unforgivable.

Ferrari 360

If a lot of you need to get somewhere in a hurry, this stretched Ferrari might just be the answer. Unlike the F40 in the previous picture, this limo was based on the real deal; it's hard to imagine that it was done with the blessing of anybody at Maranello.

Citroën 2CV

Creating a luxury limousine from just about any car would be an absolute breeze compared with trying to come up with anything remotely opulent when you've got nothing more than a Citroën 2CV to work with. Six or eight people on 602cc? No thanks!

Trabant

The first of several Eastern European delights here, this is something really special. As if painting the car fluorescent yellow and incorporating some of the most bizarre window shapes ever wasn't enough, this Trabant owner has stretched his motor and given it a third axle. Nice.

Lada Riva

We don't know who the bloke is, but we suspect he's just sunk a pot of cash into this stretched Riva, with a view to watching the dough roll in via a queue of people desperate to hire his overblown Rusky. The pic is 20 years old; does the car survive?

Volkswagen Camper

Messing about with VWs is a disease from which many people seem to suffer, as you can see from this tranche of Vee-Dub specials. Kicking things off is a nicely done early camper, which didn't start out as a 23-window edition, but it seems to have become one. Almost.

Volkswagen Camper

For when 23 windows aren't enough, there's always the option of adding a few more by doubling the length of your Camper. And while you're at it, why not graft what appears to be the top of a boat onto the roof, for good measure? Practicality with taste...

Volkswagen Golf

While this Golf mk 1 is rather longer than when it left the factory, it doesn't look that much longer. Well, not enough to fit in an extra pair of doors on each side, anyway. One assumes there are four bench seats in there too - which must make it extreeeemely cramped.

Volkswagen Beetle

Our last Volkswagen and perhaps the barmiest of the lot. While car makers would have you believe the crossover is something new, this shot shows that way back in the 1960s (we think) there was demand for a vehicle that combined the best that the car/bus/convertible/limousine could offer. Or was that the worst?

Mercedes S-Class

It's hard to see why Mercedes' special vehicle engineering division didn't build more of these beautifully finished stretch drop-tops. Extensive research suggests that there was just the one taker, who went for the five axles and heart-shaped Jacuzzi on the options list.

Fiat Panda

You'll have seen this one before; it's the giant Panda created by Clarkson back in 2007. One of three cars created for one of the crazy challenges that are the staple diet of Top Gear, Clarkson's Panda was used to transport Chris Moyles around London - until it broke in half.

MGF

If Clarkson's Panda was just that little bit crazy, it was nothing compared with Hammond's MGF which sported the sort of rear wing that would have teenage drivers in Romford wetting themselves with excitement. His passenger was Jamelia, who is still receiving counselling after the experience.

Salfa Romeaab

And to round off the Top Gear trio is May's cut-and-shut that took the Alfa 166 V6 and mated it with a V6-engined Saab 9000. One assumes he misunderstood the rules, or maybe elegance was never a requirement. Either way, Lemar was none too impressed as he did a tour of some of London's low spots.

Smaaart Fortwo

More of a promotional vehicle than a limousine, the Carbonyte Smaaart Fortwo is still worth a look as it's the world's longest Smart. We think. Stretched by nearly nine feet to create a car that's 17 feet long, the Smaaart retained its original 600cc engine yet could still manage 80mph. Impressive, but scary too.

Ferrari 412

Another Maranello marvel with this extra-long 412, built by Robert Jankel's Le Marquis operation in the 1980s. A Ferrari saloon sounds wrong, but this actually works rather well - even down to the two-tone paint scheme.

Zimmer

Neo-classics were all the rage in the US in the 1980s and into the 1990s, with marques like Clenet and Zimmer flourishing briefly. We're not sure what this one is, but whatever it is, it looks pretty nasty. Still, it's probably marginally classier than an XXL pink Hummer.

Range Rover

The stately Range Rover provides the ideal basis for a limousine conversion, but that doesn't mean you can't go wrong; this eighties abomination by Townley proves it. A raised roof line, extra axle, lengthened wheelbase and a full-length sunroof mark this out as a mobile hunting platform - and it looks hideous.

MINI XXL

From the sublime to the ridiculous; a Mini that's anything but small. Called the XXL, this confection was no less than six metres long and packed a Jacuzzi, the weight of which was supported by a third axle. It was built for MINI and made its debut back in 2004.

Mini

A rather poor effort we think; this Mini features just the two axles and doesn't appear to be fitted with a Jacuzzi - what sort of a stretch limo is that? Still, the chap standing next to it looks pretty pleased with himself; he's probably just squandered his life savings creating it.

Lamborghini Countach

Built by Ultra Limousines, the California Countach was a glassfibre replica that was 5,710mm long - around 1,500mm longer than standard. Build quality was dire while power (if that's the right word) was supplied by a 2.8-litre Ford Taurus V6.

Formula One car

Michael Pettipas spent two years creating his road-legal Formula One limousine. The seven-seater can sprint from 0-60mph in just five seconds and hit a top speed of 140mph; very handy for those hen nights in Birmingham on a wet weekend in February.

Cadillac

No round-up of the world's craziest stretch limos would be complete without this one - the record holder for the longest limo ever made. Featuring 26 wheels, a Jacuzzi, a swimming pool, a heli pad and a length of over 100 feet (30 metres), this is one car you wouldn't want to have to wash too often.

Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit

Rolls-Royce prides itself on being able to offer whatever you want, but we suspect Crewe didn't have much to do with the very tasteful modifications made to this Silver Spirit. Used for the 2004 wedding of the Crown Prince of Brunei, we'd love to know what the resale value of this Roller would be.

Armoured personnel carrier

Limousines tend to be fairly conspicuous, but this must rate as one of the most visible ever. It'll be slow and noisy too, so if you're a target you're not going to get away from the enemy very easily - although the full armour plating should help you stay alive.

Ford Capri

You want tasteless? Tacky in the extreme? Then you've got it with this amazing tongue-in-cheek six-wheeled Capri built for promotional purposes. With its Roller grille, pink paintwork and twin front axles it's, er, eye-catching. But how do you get into the back?

Triumph Herald

Another car built for no other reason than to have a bit of a laugh, this ultra-long Triumph Herald was created by marque specialist Canley Classics. It gained them no shortage of column inches at the time, but sadly the car is now rotting away quietly somewhere in the midlands.