AT SEA:   In this handout image supplied by the US Coast Guard, and taken 29 October 2012, The HMS Bounty, a 180-foot long, three-masted sailing ship, is submerged in the Atlantic Ocean during Hurricane Sandy, approximately 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, North Carolina, on October 29, 2012. She was sailing from the state of Conn. to the state of Florida. At the time of the photo, the ship was about 160 miles west of the eye of the hurricane. Of the 16-person crew, the Coast Guard rescued 14, and recovered a woman crewmember who was later pronounced dead. Coast Guard Searches for the captain ceased several days later. There are hundreds of web-based news items on the sinking of HMS Bounty and the rescue of the crew by the Coast Guard.  The HMS Bounty was built for the 1962 film, "Mutiny On The Bounty" and was also used in "Pirates Of The Caribbean."  Hurricane Sandy, which impacted on 50 million people in the eastern third of the United States, brought days of rain, high winds and snow, death and destruction.  Above Photo of the 180-foot tall vessel was taken by Petty Officer 2nd Class Tim Kuklewski/ /U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images.  Other photo images of the HMS Bounty on the ReflectionsUSA web site were taken by Saint Augustine resident Mark Murray, on 25 April 2012, from Saint Augustine's Bridge of Lions.  For a National Geographic history video of the HMS Bounty, please see: http://www.oldsaltblog.com/2012/11/remembering-hms-bounty-national-geographic-footage-from-her-maiden-voyage-in-1960/
12 Dec 12.  An experiment for today, that worked better in full file size than it has for the images being shared. This is a composite of thirteen 11MB files stitched together to make the complete pano. That resulted in a file 240 MB in size and measured 14,432 pixels wide by 2,924 pixels high. I then had to "compress" that image to 6.24 MB for the large size and roughly 300 KB (1024 pixels wide x 207 pixels high)for the small sized image. The result is that quite a bit was lost in the process. In truth I didn't employ software designed to do that very thing, I simply did a file reduction. While these panos can reveal a great amount of detail, and this one did, working with them to achieve all that with such large file sizes has many drawbacks. Among those are the demands on the equipment; even with a fast processor and 8 GB of RAM, this file brought the computer to its knees a couple of times while I was working on it and using filters required between 5 and 7 minutes to complete the rendering. Taken from the top of one of the trails across the parking lot from the visitor center at Hurricane Ridge, you have a view of a huge Christmas tree lot growing perhaps billions of Christmas trees.  D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 200; 1/500 sec @ f / 9.
I had the pleasure of meeting these little cuties during my last Christmas session of the season! lol They reminded me of my own family and how the holidays are with allllll the cousins that get together. My absolute favorite time of year. :) I'm really looking forward to celebrating the holidays this year!! Sooooo much still to do though! I gotta get my wrap on. ;) Only 15 days left.... 12/10/12  ;)
An AmeriCorps member and CNCS CEO Wendy Spencer look at a 150-year-old home in Union Beach, NJ, that was cut in half by Hurricane Sandy. (Corporation for National and Community Service photo)
Union Beach, NJ. Corporation for National and Community Service Photo.
150 year old home in Union Beach, NJ cut in half by Hurricane Sandy. Corporation for National and Community Service Photo.
AmeriCorps members from the Washington Conservation Corps and AmeriCorps St. Louis removing debris from a home Union Beach, NJ. Corporation for National and Community Service Photo.
CNCS CEO Wendy Spencer and AmeriCorps members from the Washington Conservation Corps and AmeriCorps St. Louis removing flooring from a home Union Beach, NJ. Corporation for National and Community Service Photo.
An AmeriCorps member and CNCS CEO Wendy Spencer look at a 150-year-old home in Union Beach, NJ, that was cut in half by Hurricane Sandy. (Corporation for National and Community Service photo)
An AmeriCorps member and CNCS CEO Wendy Spencer look at a 150-year-old home in Union Beach, NJ, that was cut in half by Hurricane Sandy. (Corporation for National and Community Service photo)
An AmeriCorps member and CNCS CEO Wendy Spencer look at a 150-year-old home in Union Beach, NJ, that was cut in half by Hurricane Sandy. (Corporation for National and Community Service photo)
See photo in original gallery.