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distortions.net

I'm Ryan M. Tech geek. Avgeek. California Native plant gardener. All photos on this blog, unless stated otherwise, are mine. Cameras: Fujifilm X-T5 and X100V. Views are my own.

SOoC

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    "Öffentliche Kunst / Public art"

    Vancouver, December 2025 #FotoVorschlag

    #Vancouver #Fujfilm #SOoC

    At night, an artistic weather vain with one end as metal outlines of clocks or maybe wheels and spokes. The other end looks like a couple of paddles. It's all lit up with purpose. It does spin but no motion can be seen from the photo. Behind it are three lit up stars, probably christmas decorations for the waterfront. Lights across the harbor can be seen.

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    'Negative space' #FotoVorschlag

    At Berlin Tempelhof airport, December 5, 2023. #Berlin #Germany #Fujifilm #SOoC

    On a cloudy day with snow covered ground, a runner in a blue outfit travels along one of the Berlin Tempelhof's taxiways. A little father away, a dog runs in parrallel on gnow and grass. The scene is very white with few breaks of buildings along the skyline.

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    June, 2022: Munich’s Palace of Justice with the Neptune Fountain #Munich #Germany #Fujifilm #SOoC

    The rear of the Neptune Fountain, with Neptune's rear end prominent in front of the Palace of Justice. It's a nice blue but cloudy day, and the sky with clouds reflect in the palace's oversized windows. The copper and glass dome reaches toward the sky.

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    Finally, I got a telephoto of the hawk hanging out around our backyard. Looks like a Red-shouldered Hawk, not a Red-tailed
    #RedShoulderedHawk #Birds #BirdPhotography #Fujifilm #SOoC

    A Red-shouldered hawk sits in a Tree of Heaven, ever watchful. It is mostly brownish-red with white patches, especially on its chest. It has some slicked back feathers upon its head. Its beak is black at the tip and orange closer to the face. Some blurry elderberry leaves obscure a portion of the bird.

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    “I ONLY HAVE ONE LEG, COME AT ME!” - Western Meadowlark #WesternMeadowLark

    #Birds #BirdPhotography #LlanoSeco #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge #Fujifilm #SOoC

    A meadow lark is perched upon a swing gate, with only one leg, and its back to the camera. Its head is turned to the left, beak open, as if it is singing. A patch of orange can be seen on its throat and behind its beak. The rest of the bird is mottled brown and white. The background is blurred out but there's a strip of green among the brown.

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    Today we stumbled across some magnificent Sandhill Cranes. These badasses were right off the side of a California state highway #SandhillCrane #BirdPhotography #Birds #Fujifilm #SOoC

    Nine Sandhill Cranes in a shallow pond, slowly walking to the left. All the surrounding vegetation is brown. The large birds, with viciously sharp bills, have bright red on their foreheads. Their feathers are white to brown with a bit of rust red on the wing feathers.

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    At the refuge yesterday, we spotted a Bald Eagle nest and suddenly both eagles swooped down and flew low along a pond, disturbing a whole lot of Snow Geese

    #BaldEagle #SnowGoose #Birds #BirdPhotography #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge #Fujifilm #SOoCA Bald Eagle Nest is visible high up in a eucalytpus tree. It's massive, maybe the size of a VW bug. A bald eagle is exiting the nest, with its wings stretched out.A bald eagle soars along a pond, showing off its prominent white head and tail, with some grassy islands and snow geese floating away a short distance along a shore.A whole bunch of snow geese, maybe several dozen, are flying upwards after being disturbed by a couple of bald eagles. They were resting on land where there's some green vegetation but beyond it's all brown along with the trees. The black tips of the snow geese are prominent. There's some other geese mixed in of unknown species.

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    A moment of calm.

    Lesser Goldfinch at the refuge today #LesserGoldFinch #Birds #BirdPhotography #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge #Fujifilm #SOoC

    A yellow bodied and gray winged lesser gold finch, in sunlit profile view, facing to the right. It is on a bunch of long stemmed, brown, hive-shaped dried seed heads. The backgroud is completely blurred out.

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    This Orange-crowned Warbler was flitting between our backyard nectarine and grapevines, snatching gnats that had beacons made of sunlight shining off their bug wings

    #Yarden #HomeOrchard #OrangeCrownedWarbler #Birds #BirdPhotography #Fujifilm #SOoC

    A very yellow Orange Crowned Warbler is perched on a tiny dormant stem of a grape vine almost as thick as the bird is round (maybe 2-3 inches). The bird is looking to the left, with something reflecting in its eye. The grapevine’s bark is splitting off. The background is completely blurred.

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    December 27, 2025: this American Bushtit was perched for an unusually long time, perhaps soaking in the sun’s morning energy like humans do coffee or tea

    #AmericanBushtit #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge #Birds #BirdPhotography #Fujifilm #SOoCAn American Bushtit sits perched on a narrow branch. It is looking with beady black eyes slightly up and to the right, fully illuminated by the sun. Its face has brown and the rest of its orb-like body is a light tan. Its tail feathers stick out straight behind it.

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    December 17, 2025: At sunrise, a container ship and a helicopter that's coming in for a landing on the Waterfront, Vancouver #Vancouver #Fujifilm #SOoCA sunrise lit container ship, with its east-facing side lit up and the rest in shadows. There are clouds looming on the mountainous horizon over Vancouver habor waters, including a group of birds flying in front of the clouds. Large cranes are also illuminated from one side. A helicopter is just above the cranes, approaching a nearby landing pad.

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    December 17, 2025: Sunset over Thurlow Street in Vancouver #Vancouver #StreetPhotography #Fujifilm #SOoCThurlow Street is still damp from rain as the sun sets between tower buildings along Thurlow Street. Sunlight reflects off damp streets and there are two fire engines parked on the right-side of the road. A nearby traffic signal has a red light.

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    Today most people will be back at my work. So to celebrate the return of needless office distractions, enjoy a Song Sparrow, if you can find it #SongSparrow #Birds #BirdPhotography #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge #Fujifilm #SOoCA brown and tan Song Sparrow, borb shaped, is hanging out on a horizontal reed within a mass vertical brown and green reeds. It is looking towards the camera, helping to illuminate the tan behind its eyes.

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    The backyard was crowded with hummingbirds enjoying our planted native shrubs, so what the heck. Here’s some photos taken in very poor lighting conditions (cloudy, mid-morning, and winter) #Hummingbirds #BirdPhotography #Birds #Fujifilm #SOoC

    A hummingbird is perched in a California rose, showing a red stripe on its throat. It's otherwise gray and brown. There's a blurry branch obscuring the lower part of the bird.A hummingbird is perched on an elderberry branch that has fresh grown leaves. The little bird has an olive head and a dirty-yellow to gray chest and belly. It is looking to the right and the background is blurred out.A profile view of a hummingbird looking to the left, with one eye towards the photographer. It is in a ceanothus bush so there are lots of leaves in the way, but the hummingbird can be seen through a hole in the foliage. It has clear plummage, with a bit of red on its head and greens on its tucked-in wings. Its chest is a light gray.A profile view of a hummingbird looking to the right. It might have a membrane covering its eye? It is another bird with clear sharp individual feathers that are olive green in the back to medium gray to the front. Its long thin beak is pointing straight to the right. The background has blurred ceanothus leaves and branches along with gray skies.

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    December 6, 2023: Am Flakturm im Volkspark Humboldthain, Berlin #SilentSunday

    #Berlin #Fujifilm #SOoC

    A large concrete area with a spiraling ramp, where its walls are covered in colorful street art. A lone person stands at the center in front of looming iron rod fence. There's light snow covering the concrete ground and it's completely fogged in so there's no viewl.

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    May 2, 2025: San Francisco, Geary and Powell streets just south of Union Square #StreetPhotography #SanFrancisco #Fujifilm #SOoCA sidewalk view of Powell and Geary streets, with a person looking and smiling at a building-side mural of a family of monkey or lemurs. Various buildings loom with Saks Fifth Avenue, Swarovski, and CK Contemporary signs. Two classic palm trees sit between the Saks building and Swarovski, likely at Union Square.

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    A view from yesterday toward Goat Mountain in Northern California’s Interior Coast Range #SilentSunday #Fujifilm #SoOCA telephoto view of a few steeply rising freshly snow covered forested peaks, including Goat Mountain, in the Northern California Interior Coastal Ranges south of Snow Mountain and east of Lake Pillsbury on the Mendocino National Forest. The foothills and some blurry trees in the immediate foreground can be seen.

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    I'm not a fan of business or private jets but I like this photo of one taking off from SFO on December 14, 2025. It's a Bombardier Challenger 300 flying to Van Nuys. #Aviation #PlaneSpotting #Fujifilm #SOoCA private or business jet taking off from SFO 28R, showing its belly, with its gears up and a bit of wispy clouds behind it. Its flaps are still slightly down.

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    In Vancouver today, the sun came out and provided some great morning light at the waterfront

    #Vancouver #Aviation #Seaplanes #Fujifilm #SOoC

    A seaplane descends above the harbor, with the sun reflecting off its body. A large industrial facility with series of tall tanks looms in the background . The hills behind it all are forested with a few wispy clouds.

    A seaplane flies a few feet about harbor waters as it lands, its airframe reflects in the harbor waters. The morning sun lights up a background of ships, port facilities, trees, and buildings built up a gentle hill.

    A float plane descends in front of fluffy light orange clouds and unlit mountains below

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    Yesterday evening: Seaplanes at Vancouver Harbor #Seaplanes #Aviation #Vancouver #NightPhotography #Fujifilm #SOoC

    A night view of two single prop seaplanes, opposite sides of the photo, at their own warmly lit docks. A windsock is flying at a slight angle toward the ground. There’s a strange cloud shrouded light above the horizon. Across the harbor are hills and lights. Just beyond the docks to the left, there’s a floating chevron gas station.

    A nighttime photo of five brightly lit single prop seaplanes all lined up in a column along their brightly lit dock. A bright red beacon is at the end of the dock on the right. In the distance, across the harbor, are hills surrounded by artificial lights. A short span of suspension cable lights (including one tower) of the Lions Gate bridge is visible.

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