Clicking on a collection takes you to a list of photos but just click on the
first one and you will see a photo displayed in a large (enough) window with
arrows allowing you to navigate back and forth. Yes, Virginia, there are even
captions. Funny ones. Are the photos ugly? Some of them are. Are the lighting
displays ugly? No. While they do range from garish to “so what,”
all of the images clearly demonstrate how different people use lighting to celebrate
the holidays. And I think Santa would approve of that.
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© 2002-2006, UglyChristmasLights.com, All Rights Reserved
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www.tonyhowell.co.uk/
I was surprised to learn that the use of holiday lights on homes was international
and many homes in England practice this but with a twist: Profits made from
donations usually go to charity. Tony Howell’s site includes images of
homes in the UK decorated with holiday lighting. He’s a professional photographer
from Somerset, England, who specializes in landscape and plant photography.
He tries to “capture rare moments, and express peace and stillness”
in his images. His holiday lighting photographs are found in the “Christmas
Lights” section of the extensive (there are 68 of ‘em) A-Z of Photography
galleries. There are 16 main galleries, including one for “trees,”
but while many of the images are stunning (notably “Weeping Birch #T1828”)
there are no Christmas trees among them.
If you thought you’ve seen everything on plant photography take a peek
at the Digital Plant Photography collection, featuring manipulated images of
flowers, plants, and trees that are real and surreal at the same time. Prints
of many of the images are available for sale, but you can pick up a free sample
by visiting the Wallpaper section to download multi-resolution files for your
monitor. Visit for the holiday lights, but stay for a look at the natural world
captured by a master photographer.
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© 2006, tonyhowell.co.uk, All Rights Reserved
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www.hickerphoto.com
Rolf Hicker is a well-known photographer and filmmaker whose website bristles
with amazing nature, travel, and wildlife images. I suggest you start with a
visit to the Northern Lights collection. Hicker’s Northern Lights pictures
were made in Alaska and the Yukon. The best times to see the Northern Lights
or Aurora Borealis, Hicker said, is in fall and spring: “On clear nights
these dancing veils of light can be seen and, if active, they can provide great
photo opportunities.” He is being modest. The images in this collection
are breathtaking. I direct your particular attention to the image entitled “Christmas
Pictures” that shows an illuminated, decorated tree on a snowy Alaskan
hill with the Aurora Borealis in the background!
This site is so well designed that if you display an image that you like, another
set of similar photographs are shown as small thumbnails below it. Under the
Christmas tree photo are several thumbnails of amazing nocturnal images, including
“Dempster Aurora,” which shows the Aurora Borealis near Tombstone
Mountain Lookout in the Yukon. Clicking on any thumbnail displays a larger version
with detailed caption information and voila! more image suggestions. This is
a fun site to browse and what’s more, prints of Hicker’s spectacular
images are available for purchase at extremely modest prices.
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© 2006, Rolf Hicker, All Rights Reserved
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