Themed Photo Challenge #15: My Country

[arith]

Voting Ref: V21

Actually it is part of the University of Birmingham.

[Ati]

Voting Ref: V22

[McTangle]

Voting Ref: V23

[Lectrolink]

Voting Ref: V24

[Emspics]

Voting Ref: V25

[zzalnera]

Voting Ref: V26

Heroes

[BlueJay]

Voting Ref: V27

Table Mountain
My first ever post is my take on an iconic Cape Town landmark. Taken about 10 minutes before the sun rose, unfortunately the breeze was picking up at the same speed as the light, with the resulting ripples destroying the reflections. It's not often there is a day without wind here, so I may not get another chance at this shot within the allowed time frame. As a beginner photographer all constructive criticism is welcomed.

[pchong]

Voting Ref: V28

[amarin]

Voting Ref: V29

Venice is a very romantic city, full of history and culture, but maybe most of all it's carnival is the most important in Italy, Cheers

[mark4583]

Voting Ref: V30

Illinois Vietnam Veterans Memorial

[Michhappysnapper]

Voting Ref: V31

Hi. Honestly this shot was taken about 2 weeks before the date (and I live a really long long way from there), but it is an icon of my country by which everyone knows us.

[Mawks]

Voting Ref: V32


These guinea fowl were at a game park in the Eastern Cape and it looks like they were huddling together for moral support.

[Donald]

Voting Ref: V33

If I interpret 'my country' as the Highlands of Scotland as opposed to the whole nation (and they are distinctive and different in both geography and culture), then I arrive at this. Someone from the Highlands would get it, but maybe others wouldn't, hence the explanation below.


40D, 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM @ 50mm. ISO100. 1.5s@f16. Circ Polariser+ 5 (3+2) Stop GND.

In the 1940s, the then Secretary of State for Scotland in the UK (London-based) government was Tom Johnston - A former Red Clydesider and a leading figure in the Labour movement.

I don't often turn to Wikipedia for my information on history, but in this case it does quite a good job:

" Undoubtedly his greatest legacy was the creation of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board. Until the 1940s, many rural areas of Scotland outwith the Central Belt had little or no electricity supply. There were coal-fired steam-turbine and some diesel-driven power stations serving urban locations, and excess capacity from a few large industrial hydroelectricity stations (e.g. those serving the aluminium smelters at Foyers and Kinlochleven) was made available locally, but there was no widespread distribution of electricity through a comprehensively-integrated electric power transmission system such as the present National Grid.

Possibly inspired by the earlier example of the American Tennessee Valley AuthorityNew Deal administration of President Franklin D Roosevelt, but undoubtedly determined to address the very strong popular sentiment of the immediate post-war period for a more equitable distribution of the resources and benefits of a modern economy, Johnston strove hard and successfully to win over all interested parties, including generally-reluctant landowners, to the goal of harnessing the (then) scarcely-developed but naturally well-suited geography and climate of the Scottish Highlands to the generation of electricity by water power. In the three decades following the Second World War, the Hydro Board's teams of planners, engineers, architects and labourers succeeded in creating an epic succession of electricity generation and distribution schemes that were world-renowned not only for successfully achieving their technical aims in very demanding terrain but for often doing so in an aesthetically-inspiring manner. The economic and social benefits thus brought to all the people of Scotland, and especially those in rural areas, were immense and longlasting."

Another legacy of the need to develop a long-lasting, sustainable post-war economy in Britain, which could use the vast empty tracts of land in the Highlands, was forestry. It has provided thousands of jobs in a very rural, land-based economic environment over the last 60 - 70 years.


So, my childhood and cultural background are in this image. It was taken this morning (April 10th) as I was travelling to the Highlands to visit my dad.

[gcowan]

Voting Ref: V34

Montague Dawn.



This is an island off the south coast of New South Wales. It has a light house on it built in the 19th century. Our coast is littered with shipwreaks. You can visit it and stay in the light house keeper's cottage. There are fur seals colonies and fairy penguin colonies on the island and the native vegetation is being restored. On the South end of the island is a stand of rocks which mirror the ancient extinct volcanoes on the mainland. The island itself is granite from these volcanoes. It forms part of the stories of the aboriginal people of the area.
I am an old surfer and the power of the tide, wind and ocean present in this place spoke to me in a unique way.

[Tinman]

Voting Ref: V35

Taken at the top of Dinas Bran at sunrise

Towering high above the Dee Valley and the bustling town of Llangollen, home of the International Eisteddfod, Castell Dinas Bran occupies one of Britain's most spectacular sites. A rugged, foreboding pinnacle, the hillock was the ideal spot to erect a castle. It seemed completely impenetrable, commanded views for miles around, and offered quick recognition of an approaching visitor, whether friend or foe. Yet, the native Welsh princes of Powys occupied the hilltop for only a few decades.

Today, that same site is open to exploration by the public. Forced to climb to the summit, modern visitors experience the struggle and the exhilaration that the castle's medieval inhabitants - and their Edwardian attackers - must have felt. Without a doubt, the walk is a breathtaking challenge. However, that climb heightens the allure of Dinas Bran. And, it demonstrates the stark reality of medieval castle life.

"Dinas Bran" is variously translated as "Crow Castle," "Crow City," "Hill of the Crow," or "Bran's Stronghold." The castle first appears in 12th century historical documents as part of a medieval piece entitled "Fouke le Fitz Waryn,"or "The Romance of Fulk Fitzwarine." While this work claimed that the castle, known as "Chastiel Bran," was in ruin as early as 1073, the remains we see today date to the occupation of the princes of Powys Fadog in the mid 13th century. Possibly, the Chastiel Bran mentioned in the romance was a Norman timber castle, but nothing of substance supports this conjecture. However, the encompassing ditch and earthen embankments, which enclose the southern and eastern portions of the stone fortress, do date to the Iron Age. They remind us that this hilltop had strategic value long before the princes of Powys, or the Normans, ventured into the region. Interestingly, the word, "Dinas," has its origins in the Iron Age as well, and is found in the names of Iron Age hillforts throughout Wales.

[Juanluna]

Voting Ref: V36



One of the oldest churches in the Philippines ~ the only Christian country in Asia.

[Diane Darlow]

Voting Ref: V37

[MrB]

Voting Ref: V38

Cherry Blossom at the Pub



A watering hole along an English country lane.

[whited3]

Voting Ref: V39

[Djd3mo]

Voting Ref: V40