autofantasia's photos with the keyword: South

The second of my panorama shots from our trip to Dalgety Bay and Queensferry. This one has been created from 17 (no that's not a typo) images stitched together in Photoshop and shows the full expanse of the infamous rail bridge that stretches across the River Forth. As with the last one the size and the detail in the original file is pretty impressive, but once again I've had to reduce it somewhat for upload which sadly means a lot of the detail is lost. Still, I hope there's enough left for you guys to get some enjoyment from seeing it. The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge and considered to be both an iconic structure and a symbol of Scotland. It was designed by the English engineers Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker, work on it began in 1882 and it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With a total length of 8,094 feet (2,467m) it was the longest single cantilever bridge span in the world until 1917 when the Quebec Bridge in Canada was completed. It continues to be the world's second-longest single cantilever span and it was a pleasure to get time to photograph it. Please try it large on black for best effect.

When we went to Dalgety Bay earlier this year I managed to pop across to Queensferry to get some snaps and to have another go at panoramas. This is one such attempt and has been created from 8 images stitched together in Photoshop. The main subject of the shot is the existing road bridge that stretches across the River Forth. However, if you look closely you might be able to see the beginnings of the Queensferry Crossing. This bridge is being built alongside the existing Forth Road Bridge and will carry the M90 motorway across the Firth of Forth between South Queensferry and North Queensferry. You can read more about it by following the link below: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensferry_Crossing Please view large on black for best effect or go to View All Sizes.

For this week's Sunday Challenge , which had the theme of heat . Taken in our back garden earlier this week on one of the rare occasions that we enjoyed some warm sunshine, something that is essential if your are to see these lovely flowers open up fully. Osteospermums are in fact relatively new to most gardeners, and were almost unheard of 25 years ago. They have risen in popularity in the last decade as they have become more commercially available seeing more and more people use them as summer bedding plants, either to put in the border or into pots. As I said earlier, Osteospermums require full sun for the flowers to fully open, although while half-closed it is still possible to appreciate the different colours on the underside of the petals. The name Osteospermum is derived from the Greek osteon ( bone ) and Latin spermum ( seed ). They belong to the daisy family ( Compositae/Asteraceae), hence their common names: African Daisy or South African Daisy; Cape Daisy; and of course Blue-eyed Daisy. If you want to know more about them please follow the link below to a great little website that I've just discovered. There you can learn more about the propagation, botany and plant care of this beautiful daisy plant: www.osteospermum.com Also for Sight and Sound , what else but Morecambe & Wise with "Bring Me Sunshine" ... youtu.be/qfXjDELeW5M youtu.be/toqxJ4jbXaM