Stunning Sunset, End of Day on Tampa Bay - IMRAN™ -- (SOOC)

Stunning Sunset, End of Day on Tampa Bay - IMRAN™ -- (SOOC), a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

SOOC Straight out of camera, stunning 1MB image from Fuji W3 3D camera. Simply framed in Photoshop with *NO* editing or processing of any kind. .

I have been away from posting for too many weeks because of a hectic (and blessed) wonderful time working and traveling. I also got a little lazy after hitting 1 Million Views. :-) But I hope to be more regular!

A stunning end of the day at Tampa Bay, taken from beautiful Apollo Beach, looking at St. Petersbeerg with the sun sitting cradles exactly between two buildings.

© 2013 IMRAN
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The One Thing Indians And Pakistanis Both Complain About But Equally Love And Live By, Corruption

The Wall Street Journal has a great article, One Cheer for Corruption in India by an Indian writer about how the rich and corrupt ruling classes got richer by hook or by crook, while blaming the lower class Hindus (sadly Hindus have classes of people considered from the highest to the lowest, "untouchables") and Muslims, who make up the poor.

That was something I had seen in my own visit to New Delhi, India many years ago. I commented on how Pakistan cannot just compete with India, but do even "better" in the unfortunate field of growing corruption.

"What an interesting and thought-provoking piece. I am an American, here for 25 years, but came from Pakistan, an almost completely Muslim country.

When Pakistanis have time to spare from making conspiracy theories, we have a holier than thou posture embedded into the national genome. A plunder today because tomorrow never comes mentality is in the blood of the rich elite -- and of bureaucrats in positions to take bribes to help those rich get richer. I can sadly confirm that Corruption is institutionalized in both India and Pakistan.

We can blame the way the British set up these societies to rot from the inside, by empowering government servants with authority but poor salaries and leaving wealth in the hands of a few who could only keep it or grow it by avoiding the regulations those bureaucrats had to be paid off to look the other way on. (Yes, I know, run on sentence, but that is the intricate long flow of the full circle of corruption in these countries).

But, blame as we may the British, after six decades of independence, the decision and structure to remain corrupt lies with the people of both these nations, and sadly the consensus remains to continue those practices,

Imran Anwar
IMRAN.TV"

The Light(House) At "The End" (Montauk) Of No Tunnel - IMRAN™

The Light(House) At "The End" (Montauk) Of No Tunnel - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

As 2012 was drawing to an end, and I was making fresh new starts in my life, I had the company of an absolutely gorgeous companion from Christmas Eve, into the New Year….. several of our many firsts together.

We drove to Montauk, which stands for "The End" in the native American language of the tribe that once ruled this part of the land, at the end of the Eastern-most point on Long Island and I believe New York state.

Even as the sun was setting behind us, the lighthouse in front of us, closed for seasonal repairs, but glowing even redder in the sunset's glow, was a reminder, it was The Light(house) At "The End" (of no tunnel but a long journey).

May God give us all the blessings to have fresh new starts, and bright days ahead.

© 2012-2013 IMRAN
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New Year's / Ball(s) - IMRAN™

New Year's / Ball(s) - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

A Belated Happy New Year and Happy Holidays wish to you all, my friends and loved ones.

Enjoy this cell phone photo I took in the lobby of the Hilton BWI in mid-December.

© 2013 IMRAN
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The End (Of Day At) The End (Of 2012 At Montauk) The End - IMRAN™

The End (Of Day At) The End (Of 2012 At Montauk) The End - IMRAN™ -- (SOOC), a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

SOOC Image Straight Out Of Camera!! NO editing, tweaking, or color processing of ANY kind. Only framed & titled in Photoshop..

There were few who were not impacted by the (few) ups and (many) downs of the last few years.

As 2012 drew to a close, by the grace of God, it appeared that the number of ups was up, the number of downs counting down, like the hours, and minutes, to the end of the year.

Though the global economy, the nation, and my own personal challenges had not fully come back from the edge of the (fiscal) cliffs, there was a sense of optimism I felt like a soft but unsure sigh of relief the world wanted to let out.

Even though 2012 had proven to be a year of uncertainty initially, for the most part it seemed to be the year that also brought a turnaround, in the economy, in hope, in life, and in love. But, all in all, poor 2012 was lumped more with the terrible years of 2009-2011 that brought so much devastation and sorrow to so many.

It was then so poetically ironic to take this picture, with a very special someone coming into my life, as many new goals, destinations, and dreams also started coming back into view, as we stood, in the freezing cold wind at Montauk (meaning "The End" in native American languages, at the Eastern tip of Long Island and New York), as the cold day, and a warming but still cold year started to disappear from view….

It was the beginning (of beautiful new times) and the beginning of The End (Of Day At) The End (Of 2012 At Montauk) The End !

Happy New Year, my friends, and may 2013 bring good fortune, love, life, health, prosperity and peace to all. Amen.

© 2012-2013 IMRAN
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BaltiMore Sun(Set!) - IMRAN™

BaltiMore Sun(Set!) - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

I had to be in the Washington, DC area for meetings, and flying Southwest Airlines to BWI airport is the most convenient way. Except this trip.

I had pulled an all-nighter for all day and all week meetings in DC, on top of a difficult personal challenges filled week! Prayers appreciated my friends.

So I got to the airport early 0500 for the 0630 flight of 55 minutes. Due to fog at BWI, we could not take take off and a one hour trip became 11 hours in an airplane seat.

I could've walked faster, as I joked. Then some passengers who were allowed to walk around the terminal just left for home without telling anyone, so we had a person by person identification against a paper list. If it was an Extra passenger I'd say it was my evil twin brother. LOL. Instead we were a few passengers short.

By the time the check was done, BWI had closed landings again so we missed our take off slot! What a joke that process was. I did get to the hotel that night, ironically one I had last stayed at when it was brand new, 7 years ago. It took 12 hours door to door! I wondered if the local newspapers, the Baltimore Sun, had given news coverage to the delays.

But, by the next day, the weather had cleared, and that evening I was able to catch this spectacular sunset from my pocket Nikon 6200, through the unopenable and not perfectly clean 9th floor hotel window. Zooming it to the max ensured the window's impact on the photo was minimized, as I caught more of the BaltiMore Sun(Set). :-)

© 2012 IMRAN
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NetFlix CEO Makes Dubious Analogies On Cloud Computing

I read a magazine article titled "Netflix CEO likens cloud computing to early coding era".

That is quite a dubious, if not totally strange, analogy. Probably the same kind of logic led him to increase DVD by mail prices 60% (and lose me as customer among another million), try to create a new company to mail vs. stream, then fold it, and other such poor judgement calls.

If anything, one can argue that the stage today's cloud is in can be analogous either to rudimentary web site applications accessed over dialup with floppy disks to store data locally. 

Cloud Computing is changing (and benefiting from developments in) storage, network, compute and accessibility. As these continue to develop, as more innovation takes place in these areas, cloud will benefit, further driving innovation in those industries. 

What do you think?

Imran Anwar

The Bridge To The Sun - IMRAN™

The Bridge To The Sun - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

We can go through decades of life and the realize how quickly the days of our lives flew by. I wonder if the sun, hurtling on its own one-way ticket to burning out in the heavens one day, wonders how quickly its own billions of years of existence have flown by.

The last few weeks, months, even the year, have been a blur… of downs and ups, of sorrows and joys, despair and hope, but above all, a certain knowledge of how blessed this amazing life has been, and seeing dreams start turning to reality in front of my eyes.

An irony of these few weeks has been the destruction of the boardwalk to my beach here on Long Island, due to hurricane Sandy. The debris on the alternate path kept me from visiting the beach as much as before, so, I did not catch as many sunsets at the beach as before. Last night, well, just 5 PM EST really, I braved the really cold wind, and walking over debris fields, fallen tree trunks and treacherous piles of wood, to step back onto my home beach that I have been blessed to live at for nearly 20 years.

And, I saw the ironic imagery of how the setting sun's burning orb colors were exactly touching the tip of the bridge 17 miles away that the Nikon D300 and Nikkor 300mm (450mm eq) lens caught even with my trembling cold hands.

The Bridge To The Sun, which is the bridge to what makes our lives possible on earth, which are the bridge from when we are born to when our sun sets, and we, once born from stars, burn out in the cosmic winds leaving behind, we hope, shining images in the memories of those who love us, even better replicas of us in those whom we give birth to, and our deeds, and how we made people feel, and how we lived, laughed and loved to our last breaths…..

© 2012 IMRAN
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Be/Hold The (Man); The (Super) Human Stain(ed) Glass View - IMRAN™

Be/Hold The (Man); The (Super) Human Stain(ed) Glass View - IMRAN™ -- SOOC, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

2012 has gone by in a blur of activity, even as what is likely more than half of my life has rushed by, as time flies, before it is time to meet my maker, at the end of my human life.

Because of the hectic schedule, I have not even been able to add more than one or two pictures here since I had the pleasure of passing the One Million Views mark in August 2012.

I was about to post a gorgeous sunset I captured at home in New York this weekend, when I remember the Stained Glass theme I played with words on, in the previous photo, of a butterfly, the wings of which almost appeared to be made of stained glass.

That reminded me that I had captured some photos deep inside the Köln Dom (Cologne Cathedral) on my arrival there, in Germany, exactly 25 years after my first visit. So, I decided to post a photo from that April-May 2012 trip.

This SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera) photo was simply framed in Photoshop and titled, otherwise, nothing was changed. It is how the Nikon D300 captured the windows of these religious symbols, of such symbolism and significance to many Christians.

I am a Muslim but went to Catholic schools in Pakistan. That is where I studied Shakespeare and was introduced to puns.

The title was based on too many puns that combined wordplay and mixing religious metaphors. Be! A powerful word ascribed to events carried out at the order of a supreme being. Behold the man. A baby Jesus image, likely the mother holding the child, who is to be a man many would follow and behold. Others would later attribute super human, even god like, powers to him.

And it reminded me of the movie with Anthony Hopkins that related to the games genes and mixed parentages can play, The Human Stain, coming full circle to the stained glass view, of great human beings, miraculous events, stained by violence and murder in the name of God, marred by near-idolatry worship of a great man whose message was to erase idolatry, seen through the windows of time, and stained glass windows....

Do as the man did, not by what others later tell you to do. Don't be BeHoldEn to dogma created in all religions by power hungry men decades and centuries later to usurp power, to legally steal money from poor believers, and to kill others, in the name of messengers of peace.

© 2012 IMRAN
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Stained Grass Wing Do? Bad Puns Seen On Good Fun Scene - IMRAN™

Stained Grass Wing Do? Bad Puns Seen On Good Fun Scene - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

I was about to throw some burgers on the grill to savor the passing days of end Summer on Long Island, New York, as a strong onshore wind started picking up, carrying with it news of thunderstorms arriving tomorrow.

The butterfly bushes on my back deck were swinging wildly, but I saw several tenacious butterflies still at work. I only had the Nikon D300 with a 300mm (450mm eq.) zoom lens on the kitchen counter, so I grabbed it, and zoomed in full power. My attempt was to catch the butterfly and flowers lit by the sun but with the pale blue sky as the background.

It was impossible to get perfect focus, with the wind, the swinging bush branches, the fluttering wings and that it was a handheld maximum telephoto picture being taken of a butterfly barely a few feet away from me.

I still felt I should post the picture because of the shocking colors and textures I caught on the butterfly. They reminded me of stained glass windows and rich fabrics in famous cathedrals…. with straining Stained like Wings the grassy green leaves visible, as the butterfly did what it had to Do…. Stained Grass Wing Do was what I muttered to myself as a bad punny sounding title for this photo…

© 2012 IMRAN
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Lv LV Or Lv LV -- IMRAN™

Lv LV Or Lv LV _ IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

Love Lois Vuitton Or Leave It, one does have to appreciate the unique look and style of the LV Store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, New York.

This photo was actually stitched from 6 iPhone 4S pictures on the iPhone standing right outside the building, later imported into iPhoto on my MacBook Pro, and then processed in Photoshop CS6, before being saved as merely a 2.2 MB file.

© 2012 IMRAN
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Butterfly / Bush / (Whacked) - IMRAN™

Butterfly / Bush / (Whacked) - IMRAN™ -- Thanks For 1 MILLION Views!, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

I'll have to learn Spanish just to make the landscapers stop chopping off my Butterfly Bushes during hedge trimming. They did it twice this year but I managed to save the bushes the most recent time.

There was still enough time for them to bloom again, rising to about 9 feet, though much less than the 12-15' high they had gotten mid-summer. An amazing growth considering I planted these a dozen years ago, and each was less than one foot tall.

Like all past years, this weekend the butterflies again came out in force, even three at a time on each flowering branch. All peacefully savoring nature's bounty, while their wings showed scars of surviving encounters with predators.

My downstairs deck is filled with the sweet aroma of the bushes, and the dazzling colors of these lovely winged creatures, including a stunning midnight blue one that got away before the Nikon could capture it in a net of photons and electrons. Maybe next time!

© 2012 IMRAN
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Blind Emulation Of Industries Like Technology & Entertainment Can Kill Pharma Firms & People!

McKinsey Quarterly, a business and strategy  journal I respect and enjoy reading, did a recent article "Pharma manufacturing for a new era: The sector can restore lost value by focusing intently on manufacturing innovation." This was one that I found logical sounding, but also found difficult to completely agree with.

It is an interesting analysis of what pharmaceutical industry players need to do, to be more like other big industries, in manufacturing operations. But therein lies the rub… pharma cannot completely be like other industries. The writers give examples of how it can learn from archetypical firms like Intel and Disney…. and the steelmaker, Nucor, which left me completely amazed.

Pharmaceutical firms face existential threats not because they do not have cool manufacturing plants like Intel, but when they spend billions in what can sometimes be nothing more than a scientific educated gamble. They can come up with something that "seems to work OK" and  then be denied the right to sell the resulting product -- as it may have side-effects no one can predict -- because the ultimate recipient, the human body, is still such a mystery. 

Keep in mind, I am no defender of pharma, much less any big industry. But, I want them to get a fair shake. Like many industries that get too big, and can (seem to) make "obscene" profits in the eyes of people, pharma gets the worse of both words compared to banking, oil companies, etc.

On the one hand people accuse them of exploiting suffering and on the other hand complain about the lack of more blockbuster drugs. That is not even counting the conspiracy theorists and others who suggest governments and pharma companies conspire to sit on cures for things like cancer "to make more money." {How NOT selling a cure and sitting on it makes more money they are unable to explain}.

We want firms to fund billions in research at their own risk, but ask them to throw it away the minute one patient in a trial dies of a heart attack (as happened just this week with a major drug trial). We put them through onerous processes that can take years, if not decades, then we complain about the time to market for new drugs. We look the other way when they lose billions on a failed drug, but then complain when they finally make a profit on something that (seems to) work… at least until some unknown side-effect pops up years later.

Much that we like Utopian ideals of only launching drugs that have no side-effects, and cost very little, we cannot forget that we live in the real world.

Intel can design a new version of a chip, usually based on an existing architecture, or even a new one entirely, but most likely targeted at one of its usual areas… e.g. CPUs for PCs, or cell phones. Pharma does not have the luxury of saying, we will keep redesigning and launching new versions of a drug every 90 days going after the same sore-throat market as the existing product.

Intel can decide to enter a new industry, say, chips for car entertainment systems, but using almost all the same core knowledge, with the same known laws of physics, electronics engineering and manufacturing, that they use for their other chips. Even if they decide to go into some new type of ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), they can use existing knowledge, skills, processes, people, manufacturing and some levels of innovation to quickly bring the chip to market, seed it to OEMs, see how it works, and go back to designing the next version improving on the last one. They do not have to wait for a trial of 100,000 devices over 2-5 years while they await approval from a government authority (like the FDA in USA) before they can actually "launch" or monetize the product. 

The writers' giving the example of Disney in a discussion on pharmaceuticals left me even more puzzled. Yes, DIsney went from a movies-based business into an entertainment conglomerate, but how does that relate to pharmaceutical manufacturing? Should pharma firms start selling soda, chocolates and cigarettes to move from being a medicine-based business to a "conglomerate of products that go down people's throats"?

The final comparison the article above makes is to the steel industry, mentioning Nucor. I am sorry, but which one of us would like to have our medicines, that go into our mouths, stomachs, hearts, brains, and bloodstreams, be made by pharma companies that somehow emulate (no disrespect to steelworkers) the steel industry!?

Yes, pharma firms need to focus more on strategy (all industries do), and learn from every other industry what makes sense to learn and emulate. Yes, they need more innovation (all industries do). Yes, we all know, almost any known product or manufacturing process in the world can be improved. NO, you cannot emulate Disney, Intel and Nucor to somehow become more successful in creating, manufacturing, and delivering safe, reliable, inexpensive, drugs that will win approval, of authorities, doctors and the rest of us.

Such blind emulation of other industries like Technology, Steel & Entertainment can kill not just the Pharma industry, but real people, like us!

Summer/Night/City - IMRAN™

Nothing better than Times Square, Manhattan, the heart of New York City, the city at the center of the Universe, to feel, breathe, savor and live the energy of a summer weekend at midnight which one of my favorite ABBA songs refers to. Handheld panorama stitched from 38 photos is the size of a 36MP image. See larger to see individuals, faces, expressions, even folds in fabrics, as people dance to the internal beat, of Summer/Night/City. - © IMRAN

Reason #1 That I Don't Get Anything Done! Life Is A Beach! - IMRAN™

Reason #1 That I Don't Get Anything Done! Life Is A Beach! - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

Life is neither a bed of roses, nor a day at the beach. As a matter of fact, as I took this photo with my iPhone 4S, with the late summer Atlantic rip tide churning near my feet, I was contemplative.

The weekend brought with it an unexpected twist, an unresolved challenge, but I am not one to let the challenges of life faze me. But, as I sat in the wet sand, the reddish summer dusk starting its moody glow over my shoulder, I realized how blessed I am, have been, and, God willing, will be, until it is my time to go.

I resolve to make the best use of my time, to achieve my potential, to find my true love, and to leave behind a legacy, of a life well lived, a love incredibly loved, a family to be proud of and that is proud of me.

In the meantime, there is never a moment that I do not want to waste the opportunity to play with words, to jest with life, to mock fate….

A twist on a "Wish You Were Here" card came to mind, especially as it gave me an excuse to make excuses for all the excuses I cannot make for all the things in life I need to get done, but procrastinate away the precious hours. :-)

Yet, for all that, there are moments, even hours and days, when there can be no better way to savor one's blessings than to do nothing but soak in God's gift all around all day, and then take a break!

All the best to you, all, my friends.

© 2012 IMRAN
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Can't Ration Passion - IMRAN™

I experienced something on Sunday that reminded me of the tenuousness of life. As Pakistan and its youth prepare to celebrate Independence Day, and as my friends, family and beloveds presence in my life shows me how blessed I am, here's  something I whipped v0.1 together to remind you….

Can't Ration Passion
by Imran Anwar

Live, with passion. Love, with passion.
Desire, with passion. Lust, with passion.
Dream, with passion. Pursue, with passion.
Rebel, with passion. March, with passion.
Freedom, with passion. Devotion, with passion.
Achieve, with passion. Sacrifice, with passion.
Until it is time to Die, with passion!

Live long, play hard, love madly, die happy! .... Can't Ration Passion!

Why Email Is Here To Stay, Whatever The Platform Or Interface

It is ironic, and a sign of the times, that the two most interesting discussions in my office email (with many colleagues far smarter than me!) AND on my personal FaceBook page (with many friends even more opinionated than me!) are both about Email, and whether its time has come and gone.

My prediction: Email is here to stay.  Here is why.

Everything has a time and place (and audience). Face to face, telephone, old fashioned hand-written letter, email, post, tweet, all have their uses and none of them really replace any of the others.  As a matter of fact, they complement each other. They enable us to build deeper relationships leveraging these micro-contacts even when we are time-constrained and distance challenged.

I am all for social media. I love interacting with many among the nearly 10,000 people following me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/imrananwar if you’d like to connect), and nearly 10,000 more on FaceBook and Flickr. But it would be highly impractical to pull all of them  into my “real” Address Book or inundate my EMAIL Inbox.  The ones who become important to me on social networks are “upgraded” (or as they become real friends, colleagues, associates) to communicate with me via my “real email.”

BUT, here is something I like to point out to people who wonder if Social Media somehow will be a replacement for EMAIL? No!

What they are talking about is simply exchanging emails in much less robust, far less searchable, far less open, and far less secure, proprietary platforms of social media firms than traditional email systems.

Here is what that means….

We do not hold discussions with clients (or even personal family members) in newsgroups or mailing lists. We interact with them usually in one-to-one exchanges of messages sent in “electronic” “mail” called “EMAIL”.

The irony is that the “one on one” communications that takes place on Social Media (FaceBook, Flickr, you name it) is in one-to-one exchanges of messages just like traditional web-based email, that are exchanged out of the public eye, not on the Wall, not in the Timeline, not on a stream, but in specific areas, e.g. called Messages. And with far less flexibility, accessibility, security, or manageability. 

In other words, using  social media to “replace” Email simply means sending private "messages" on their platforms, simply email by another name!

Social media firms know email is, and likely will, remain the most used mechanism for one-to-one exchanges…. with the flexibility of multimedia multimodal multiple-use that even telephone calls do not offer.  

FaceBook is even more obvious in showing its recognition of this fact, by forcibly inserting  YourName@facebook.com as your default EMAIL address in the About > Contact Info page, until there was a huge outcry about it. Trust them to go back on their word… Even today they have NOT "fixed" the problem as they promised and most people's pages still show FaceBook.com addresses.

Even worse, for those of you daring enough to place their entire (email) stock in a social network, think about this…

You post something that FaceBook deems inappropriate, or if you send out 20 invitations to people and 10 are not accepted, the clerical-gods of FaceBook (and other networks too) may strike you with e-Lightning and cancel your account. If that happens, good luck recovering your email, or any of your content, from there.

With traditional email providers, even if, say, Yahoo shuts down one day (sorry, Marissa!), Hotmail migrates to Outlook.com, Gmail spying gets too intrusive, you can still easily drag your emails onto another provider/server/account/computer/device. You still “own” or have far greater control over your emails/messages in these “legacy” email approaches than you do, or likely will, in the social media sites’ Messages boxes.

The tragedy of “regular” email is that many great discussions like the ones I mention above, including those with actual knowledge transfers from smart people answering questions, are lost in email folders’ deep recesses forever. Mail apps and operating systems like Windows and OS X are getting better at helping us "spotlight" what we need to find, but it can still be a pain, especially in corporate mailboxes. Sometimes you can have 200+ email messages with the same keywords mentioned and poorly written subject lines (a pet peeve of mine) making it next to impossible to find THE particular email you are looking for with the answer to that complex question someone had answered 3 months ago.

In my humble opinion, detailed technical topics, with specific questions asked and many valuable replies sent (that are the majority of traffic on most companies internal email discussions) would be so much more effective, less intrusive, and more useful to others later, if they were held on suitably tailored Microsoft SharePoint or Wiki type collaboration platforms. So, yes, for that email is not the right tool. And the unnecessary traffic (plus resultant bloated mailboxes with each reply-all containing the last dozens of emails in each discussion, in every instance of each message, in all of our mailboxes!) give rise to the type of very discussion my Enterprise Architect colleagues are having. 

When, over time, we are able to influence people to use collaboration tools where appropriate, social/mobile media (Yammer/Twitter/Lync/SMS) as practical or needed, somehow overcome a propensity to hit Reply-All on almost every email (another pet peeve ;-) ), get in the habit of writing better Subject lines (PLEASE, You can do better Subject lines than "Doc attached" or "Here it is" or the dreaded "RE:" !!), learn to judiciously delete previous body text not relevant or required, many of the reasons we complain about email would be reduced. 

So, yes, it may shift platforms, take on new interfaces, become more “intelligent”, but Email is here to stay, regardless of what platform we exchange it on…..

What do you think? Email me! 

 

Imran Anwar is a New York based Pakistani-American entrepreneur, Internet pioneer, inventor, writer and TV personality. His day job is with the world's best software company, but these opinions are his and his alone. He can be reached through his web site http://imran.com . You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/imrananwar

Leaving A Mark On The Sands Of Time - IMRAN™

Another Hidden Gem Of Eastern Long Island, New York.

A beautiful day to enjoy beautiful company riding on my motorcycle in beautiful weather to a beautiful beach on the Great Peconic Bay, near Southampton, for a beautiful afternoon and later a very special sunset and late evening on the beach, leaving my mark in the soft beautiful folds of nature, on the sands of time, as the day died a little death, as the night silently came roaring to life.

Simply Spectacularly Stunning Sunset At Home

Simply Spectacularly Stunning Sunset At Home NY.

Light layers of clouds without overly heavy cloud cover to the Western horizon almost always ensure beautiful sunsets and gorgeous dusks at my home. Because of torrential rains the previous night, the air was so clear that the sky became brilliantly blue as a backdrop for the shocking pinks.

This dusk was so stunning I did not even make it to the beach and just stayed at the marina dock soaking in this scene.

Handheld photos stitched into a panorama, shown here in low resolution. IMG_6930

Sun Settles On Seattle Scene - IMRAN™

Sun Settles On Seattle Scene - IMRAN™ -- 100+ Views Within Hours!, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

I finally made it to Seattle Washington (after lots of time in Bellevue and Redmond the last 2 trips).

I had a great time walking Alki Beach Park with a friend, and we had a great dinner at Cactus. My special thanks to the beautiful young lady at the front desk, with gorgeous eyes, who took my friend and me to the top of the long wait list. :-)

As my friend and I walked along the water of Alki Beach Park, the beautiful Sunday was coming to an end. The street vendors at a small fair type event going on there were wrapping up.

A cool nip in the summer air surprised us but I had to stop to capture some photos with my Canon Vixia HD camcorder's built-in camera. It could not match what my Nikon D300 would have captured, but, it was the only camera I had carried with me on this trip.

The tendril like branches of a tree framing the scene…. the layers of mountains under layers of clouds under layers of colors looking like a painting…

So I went with that effect in Photoshop… calling this picture, Sun Settles On Seattle Scene.

© 2012 IMRAN
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