CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-24 08:47:54 (27 comments, 2 reshares, 91 +1s)

It feels really strange to post something again after three months of complete inactivity.......anyway, I felt it was right to let people know that my eyes problem is slightly better and I am slowly trying to have some kind of presence here again.
Thank you for having been so nice with me.

2013-02-17 15:55:16 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 25 +1s)

My congratulations go to +Sue Finley for having been selected once again to contribute to +Hawkea's Charity Book project with one of her beautiful shots.
The theme was Please take a seat and you can see her photo just below.
Thank you +Sue Finley :)
https://plus.google.com/113872036290897760996/posts/5hhoTmSJ6ZA

2013-02-08 14:25:54 (12 comments, 0 reshares, 42 +1s)

This time it was my turn to be selected for +Hawkea's friends charity project.
The shot that was chosen for Still...in motion, weekly theme #50, was in fact this:
https://plus.google.com/113722211762693166526/posts/2zrvGgTRJTH

A big thanks to the panellists and everyone that plussed my photo!

2013-02-05 15:32:54 (23 comments, 8 reshares, 92 +1s)

Weekly theme #52, also the last, for
+Hawkea's friends charity project will be Somewhere over the rainbow. As usual archive shots are fine, so don't worry if you won't be able to catch some nice rainbows in the next few days. 

This last theme will run for almost two weeks, until Sunday 17th, because in the meantime I am starting to get everything ready for the editing and publishing of +Hawkea's Charity Book. 

http://youtu.be/PSZxmZmBfnU 

2013-01-30 15:46:27 (12 comments, 0 reshares, 29 +1s)

This beautiful photo by +Diego Cattaneo was selected by our panellists to feature in +Hawkea's Charity Book for the weekly theme #49 Colour me blue. Congratulazioni, Diego!!
https://plus.google.com/118197341263476239819/posts/BGRrgMM4gjU

Soon I will start rolling out full instructions to the Authors whose photos have been selected  and I will also start to ask you to help me to take some important decisions about the editing and publishing of the book and to choose the charity to whom the proceeds will go. Stay tuned please!

2013-01-27 16:35:18 (26 comments, 2 reshares, 80 +1s)

Today I couldn't come up with a good idea for the next weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends but hey presto, I just had to ask for help around here to find the right inspiration.

And so, thanks to dear +Annelies Kroen's suggestion, our weekly theme #51 will be Please take a seat!.

Time to share your favourite chairs, benches, sofas, couches, seats, and all different kinds of things where you like to rest your tired backsides ;) 

2013-01-27 16:14:27 (37 comments, 0 reshares, 81 +1s)

Help, my friends!
Does anyone want to help me choosing the next weekly theme (#51 and second to the last!!!) for +Hawkea's friends charity project? 

Have a nice Sunday everyone!

UPDATE: thanks to +Annelies Kroen I now have a good idea for the new theme. Going to post it in a minute!

2013-01-23 19:59:29 (20 comments, 5 reshares, 87 +1s)

for Still...in motion, current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends.

For info and rules on this charity project/book please visit this link  ---> https://plus.google.com/b/100519235758823334026/100519235758823334026/about

2013-01-23 19:07:34 (8 comments, 0 reshares, 14 +1s)

The results of the voting for Modern Marvels, the 48th weekly theme of +Hawkea's friends charity project/book,  are finally out and I am really glad to announce that the panellists have selected this gorgeous photo by +Stefan Kierek.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/112055620905339459149/posts/iVQFP22tS6a
Congrats, Stefan!!

All the photos that have been selected so far can be found here: https://plus.google.com/b/106616202597331004868/106616202597331004868/posts
And if you have no idea what I am talking about, please read the about section of +Hawkea's friends profile.

PS to all the authors whose photos have been selected: you should already know by now of my intention to publish a charity book that will collect the best 52 images contributed to +Hawkea's friends  themes (one per week per theme).
Should you have any question about the book(pu... more »

2013-01-20 18:52:47 (18 comments, 6 reshares, 64 +1s)

Only 3 weeks left to the end of the collection phase of +Hawkea's friends charity project!!!
And for week #50 the theme will be Still.....in motion.

The shot below should give you a good idea of what I would like to see, a still shot that gives a good sense of motion, but as usual interpretation of the theme is left to you!

This theme will run from tomorrow, the 21st, until Sunday the 27th. Have a great week ahead!

2013-01-19 17:45:45 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 78 +1s)

My blue star

Colour me Blue is the current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends
You still have a couple of days left to show me your best blue captures.
Tomorrow I will announce the new theme for next week.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Comments are disabled because for a couple of days I will not be able to comment on your posts being too busy working in and around the house.

2013-01-16 21:10:39 (19 comments, 0 reshares, 102 +1s)

#WordlessOnWednesday

2013-01-16 15:11:07 (24 comments, 3 reshares, 74 +1s)

A re-share from the archives to remind you that this week's theme at +Hawkea's friends is Colour me Blue.

Have a nice day!

2013-01-14 19:18:52 (50 comments, 4 reshares, 96 +1s)

A moody morning in the Sicilian hills

In the end I decided to follow my heart (and +Jules Falk Hunter's suggestion to do so) and therefore I chose a slightly reworked version of Moody Hills as my submission to #PlusOneCollection2012  http://plusonecollection.com/

This wasn't my most plussed or commented shot of 2012 but this place is very special to me. Hope you like it too :)

+Plus One Collection +Ivan Makarov 

2013-01-13 19:46:01 (15 comments, 3 reshares, 70 +1s)

Weekly theme #49 for +Hawkea's friends charity project will be Colour me Blue. This theme will run from tomorrow, Monday 14th, until Sunday the 20th, and the interpretation is quite obvious. Anything blue goes!

2013-01-11 21:01:46 (27 comments, 1 reshares, 81 +1s)

a softy for +FloralFriday and +Tamara Pruessner 
#floralfriday

2013-01-09 17:13:34 (9 comments, 1 reshares, 23 +1s)

And the winner of the 47th weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends charity project (that btw is finally almost over) is.......
+Rosie Nixon, with this lovely shot that was submitted for Christmas Bokeh. Congrats!!!
https://plus.google.com/107133978588742488575/posts/d2NPULTd5Pm

I am very happy because Rosie has been contributing many beautiful photos to our project and you should definitely check her stream if you haven't done so yet!

2013-01-06 15:10:48 (73 comments, 2 reshares, 87 +1s)

Help needed :)
Dear friends,

that time of the year when I ask you to help me choose the best photo of 2012 to be submitted to the Plus One Collection http://plusonecollection.com/about-the-book/ is here again.....

I have uploaded to this album my most popular photos of 2012 and I would like to ask you to kindly plus the ones you like the most, hoping that in a few days there will be a clear winner. Thank you so much for your time and sorry for the notification!!!

In other news +Hawkea's friends latest weekly theme, Modern Marvels hasn't received as many contributions as I'd hoped probably because it was running through the new year's period. Therefore I have decided to extend it for another week, so it will end next Sunday (the 13th).

2013-01-05 17:45:32 (31 comments, 2 reshares, 138 +1s)

Happy  #Caturday to all my friends here :)

#caturday +CATURDAY!  curated by +Jules Falk Hunter, +Shantha Marie Fountain and +Cicely Robin Laing 

2012-12-30 19:38:38 (17 comments, 1 reshares, 87 +1s)

the CUBE - Kyoto, Japan

The weekly theme #48 for +Hawkea's friends charity project will be Modern marvels. This theme will run from tomorrow, Monday 31st, until Sunday the 6th, and as always the interpretation is left up to you but obviously we are mainly talking of architectural and technology-related submissions.

Since this will be my last post for this year (I'll be back on the 4th of January), I would also like to send you all my warmest wishes for a truly wonderful New Year!!!

2012-12-30 19:03:17 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 16 +1s)

It is the utmost pleasure for me to announce that the winner for the +Hawkea's friends weekly theme Snowed under is +Sofie Løve Forsberg  with her beautiful The Walk
https://plus.google.com/104553282398354948134/posts/A5FcQLjSHfv
Thank you for contributing to our themes and congrats, dear Sofie!!

2012-12-23 10:14:34 (33 comments, 2 reshares, 92 +1s)

Tomorrow we'll restart the weekly themes at +Hawkea's friends and, as already anticipated, the theme for the week starting the 24th and ending the 30th, will be Christmas bokeh.
I won't be around much but I'll make sure to reshare all your contributions in +Hawkea's friends as usual.

I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a decent New Year (one can always hope right? :) )

PS to all the friends with whom I usually interact: I am sorry if I havent been too active in your streams all last week but for a few reasons I havent been feeling too "festive" or active......regardless you're always in my mind.

2012-12-20 18:09:03 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 23 +1s)

This beautiful shot by +Nathalie Meyer was selected to feature in +Hawkea's Charity Book for the theme Shadows.
https://plus.google.com/107858901573506297168/posts/ePLjyjn1EA1
Thank you to all the plussers and panellists and congrats to Nathalie!

All the photos that have been selected so far can be found here: https://plus.google.com/b/106616202597331004868/106616202597331004868/posts
And if you have no idea what I am talking about :), just read the about section of
+Hawkea's friends profile.

PS to all the authors whose photos have been selected: you should already know by now of my intention to publish a charity book that will collect the best 52 images contributed to +Hawkea's friends  themes (one per week per theme).
Should you have any question about the book (publishing, licensing rights, anything really that comes into yourmin... more »

2012-12-16 12:27:10 (19 comments, 2 reshares, 57 +1s)

Yesterday, as usual, I was going to announce the new weekly theme for +Hawkea's friends, that would have been Christmas bokeh....however what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary school, has hit me so hard that I barely even want to spend my time around here....

For this reason and to pay our respects to the affected families and community, Hawkea's weekly theme will be momentarily suspended.

2012-12-13 11:44:54 (23 comments, 11 reshares, 103 +1s)

Snowed under is going quite well, with tons of great contributions that you can watch and plus over at +Hawkea's friends. I remind you that every Monday I select the 5 posts that have received the most plusses from you, for the final evaluation step by our 12 mighty panellists. And the selected shot will be featured in our upcoming charity photobook.

You can see all the photos selected so far in +Hawkea's Charity Book  stream.

Have a marvellous, hopefully snowy but not necessarily snowed under, day!!

2012-12-12 19:53:17 (30 comments, 12 reshares, 115 +1s)

Another shot for Snowed under, current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends 

#hawkeasfriends

2012-12-12 16:34:38 (13 comments, 5 reshares, 67 +1s)

For Snowed under, current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends 

2012-12-11 20:55:42 (16 comments, 0 reshares, 37 +1s)

This beautiful mountain shot by +Dalibor Pačić has been selected by the panellists to feature in +Hawkea's Charity Book for the theme Mountain Sights, and I am very happy because Dalibor has been contributing many nice shots for our +Hawkea's friends weekly themes. 
Congrats, Dalibor, and welcome on board, :))
https://plus.google.com/109016846311760962211/posts/VAaWscASPcq

2012-12-11 10:33:20 (31 comments, 8 reshares, 112 +1s)

A re-share to remind everyone that this week's theme at +Hawkea's friends is Snowed under.

Enjoy life, G+!

2012-12-10 18:48:21 (23 comments, 3 reshares, 74 +1s)

Please stop staring at my bum.....

Today's theme-within-a-theme at +Macro Monday is Bokeh
Thank you +Kelli Seeger Kim +Kerry Murphy and +Jennifer Eden for curating the best theme :)
#MacroMonday

2012-12-08 14:06:03 (31 comments, 8 reshares, 112 +1s)

Considering that snow seems to have started to appear pretty much everywhere in most of the northern hemisphere (even here in Sicily there should be some snow coming in the next couple of days), I have decided that the next weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends will be Snowed under.

As usual, contributions to this theme will be welcome from Monday the 10th to Sunday the 16th. 

Looking forward to your beautiful snowy photos,

Have a nice weekend!!

2012-12-06 17:08:47 (13 comments, 2 reshares, 41 +1s)

Please read after the "Expand this post" link

I have received a couple of emails from G plussers that were asking me why, even though the photos they had submitted to +Hawkea's friends for the weekly themes had received hundreds of plusses in their streams, said photos hadn't reached the final panel evaluation phase.

Back in February when I started the +Hawkea's Charity Book project, together with the panellists, we had decided that, in order to make things fairer, only the plusses received within the reshared posts at +Hawkea's friends will count to decide the 5 most plussed contributions that can reach the final evaluation step.
The reason is quite simple; if someone that has 1000000+ followers posts a crappy shot of a dirty roll of toilet paper, he/she will still receive way more plusses than someone else who has only 1000 or 10fo... more »

2012-12-06 15:49:04 (6 comments, 1 reshares, 24 +1s)

+Clare Bambers  is on a roll :)
Another of her beautiful shots, has in fact been selected to be included in +Hawkea's Charity Book to represent the theme RED.
https://plus.google.com/116265180994399322519/posts/eiA2542ngh2
Congrats again, Claire!! :))

2012-12-05 17:19:24 (26 comments, 3 reshares, 69 +1s)

Just a shadow of myself

I keep screaming out your name
What have I become
A mere shadow of myself (just a shadow)
Fleeing from the sun
(by L'ame Immortelle)

A reminder that the current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends is Shadows
Have a great day!

2012-12-04 15:41:12 (12 comments, 1 reshares, 34 +1s)

+Jarek Klimek surely knows how to make me happy :)
My damselfly in distress made it to the top 3 of the Plus Extracts for the 1st of December and I am very thankful to Jarek of course and to everyone that commented or plussed it!!

2012-12-03 18:00:32 (44 comments, 1 reshares, 62 +1s)

I am not sure I fully deserved this look, even though I must have said something really bad.......
Anyway, a few people have been asking how was Luna doing and here she is, as Luna as can be :))
Ciao!

2012-12-01 19:15:01 (43 comments, 4 reshares, 110 +1s)

Time to announce the new weekly theme for +Hawkea's friends. 

The weekly theme #44, starting Monday the 3rd and ending on Sunday the 9th, will be Shadows. Said shadow should be an important part of the frame that possibly enhances the shot itself.

Please do NOT share silhouettes, 'cause we had that theme already and therefore I will not re-share any silhouette shot.
Have a great weekend!

Shadow: An area that is not or is only partially irradiated or illuminated because of the interception of radiation by an opaque object between the area and the source of radiation. The rough image cast by an object blocking rays of illumination.
Silhouette: The dark shape and outline of someone or something visible against a lighter background, esp. in dim light.

2012-11-30 17:04:50 (30 comments, 4 reshares, 79 +1s)

For +Powerline Friday curated by the electrifying +Natosha Davis 

And for Mountain Sights current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends 

#powerlinefriday   #hawkeasfriends  

2012-11-30 14:25:36 (10 comments, 3 reshares, 66 +1s)

For Mountain Sights, current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends 

Have a great weekend, plussers!

2012-11-27 17:11:09 (8 comments, 1 reshares, 25 +1s)

The #41 weekly theme for +Hawkea's friends, Vintage, has just gotten a winner. Our panellists have in fact chosen this lovely shot by +Lella H:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/103391187270001716921/posts/cPANgT4gd6W  

Congratulations (again :) ), Lella!!

You can find all the photos that have been selected so far here: https://plus.google.com/b/106616202597331004868/106616202597331004868/posts

And if you have no idea what I am talking about :), just read the about section of +Hawkea's friends profile.

2012-11-26 20:18:42 (34 comments, 0 reshares, 105 +1s)

Purple is the sub-theme today at +Macro Monday and I am enjoying looking at all those great purple-y  :) contributions.
Here is my little contribute to my favourite G+ theme curated by +Kerry Murphy +Kelli Seeger Kim and +Jennifer Eden.
#macromonday

2012-11-25 14:58:19 (47 comments, 4 reshares, 100 +1s)

Stitch, my favourite cat model, incredibly awake!!! I couldn't believe my eyes ;))

Have a nice week ahead my friends!

Sony NEX-6 with vintage manual lens (Konica Hexanon AR 40mm f1.8, my fave manual lens at the moment).

#NEX-6 #Konica

2012-11-25 11:56:55 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 27 +1s)

PLEASE HELP CAROLINE MEET HER IDOL, TAYLOR SWIFT

This adorable 5-year-old girl, Caroline ‘Calle’ Cronk, has an unoperable cancerous brain tumor. She’s been given less than a year to live. Her dream is to meet Taylor Swift.  Please share this post to raise awareness and help Caroline meet her idol.   #taylorswift    +Taylor Swift 

via +Tom Rolfson & thanks for the ping, +Jo Anne Thomas

To make donation, see bottom of the link: http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/12009141353346/cancer-patient-5-hopes-to-meet-idol-taylor-swift/  

2012-11-24 19:59:47 (16 comments, 4 reshares, 69 +1s)

The new weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends, for the week starting on Monday the  26th and ending on Sunday the 2nd, will be Mountain Sights.
Mountains will be the main subject but interpretation, as always, will be left to you.

In the meantime, do not forget that there is still time left to contribute to RED!!

Full rules and info on how to participate to my weekly themes can be found here:
https://plus.google.com/b/100519235758823334026/100519235758823334026/about

2012-11-23 19:07:12 (15 comments, 1 reshares, 53 +1s)

I kinda liked how this B&W shot of one of our Bromelia came out straight from the B&W profile of my new NEX-6.
I love the fine grain that its sensor gives at 3200 iso. The net-like banding in the BG is the anti-mosquito net in the window.

#NEX-6 

2012-11-22 17:01:53 (8 comments, 2 reshares, 20 +1s)

Our panellists have selected these French castle ruins, skilfully shot by +Clare Bambers, to be featured in our upcoming charity photobook,+Hawkea's Charity Book, for the theme Castles.

Congrats again, dear Clare :)

https://plus.google.com/u/0/116265180994399322519/posts/1Fi7vDVJ7xL

To see this and all the other shots selected so far, please follow my page +Hawkea's Charity Book, that I update weekly with the new themes' winners. 

2012-11-20 18:19:10 (43 comments, 20 reshares, 126 +1s)

A reshare from the archives just to remind you that the current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends is RED

Have a nice time!

2012-11-18 14:54:57 (25 comments, 2 reshares, 104 +1s)

Winter has almost started to kick in even here, today it's been raining all the day and the next few days should be more of the same, and therefore for the next weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends starting tomorrow, Monday the 19th and ending on Sunday the 25th, I would love to see some vibrant colours. 
Actually just one of them will be enough, so RED will be our theme for next week!! 
Have a nice week ahead!!

2012-11-16 16:54:23 (9 comments, 2 reshares, 62 +1s)

The eye of the beast

Kodak 200 Gold - Diana F+ (in Exposure 3)

A reminder that Vintage is the current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends 
Have a great weekend, my friends!

2012-11-13 13:52:51 (18 comments, 0 reshares, 26 +1s)

This time I didn't even have to wait for all the votes of the panellists to be in, before announcing the winner for the weekly theme Ladies at +Hawkea's friends. 
8 out of 9 votes received so far (out of the total 13 panellists) have in fact chosen this beautiful shot by +Sue Finley to feature in +Hawkea's Charity Book 
https://plus.google.com/u/0/113872036290897760996/posts/Kda1nK2CCCs
Incidentally, it was my favourite too. Congrats again, Sue!