End of the RainbowThe trip from Vienna’s city center to Vienna’s Schwechat Airport is an easy ride - about 15 minutes straight shot on the A4 highway that runs past the Airport to Hungary and beyond. About 5 minutes past the Airport on A4 you run into miles and miles of farmland. Windmills and neatly kept plots dot the landscape.
However this past weekend, driving the A4 we were greeted with fields of gold. It looked like the end of the rainbow. The fields of bright yellow broccoli rape (also known as wild mustard according to Google) seemed to run forever. The yellow created such a great contrast against the now evergreen fields...
I tried to get the divider line between the grass and the yellow rape. Not to be over looked in this shot for me are the great clouds. Big white billowy clouds give the shot a huge feel. So a bit from the Vienna countryside today…a different side of Vienna.
-T
Info for Info Lovers: The Canola Controversy
Canola oil—made from the seed of a broccoli relative unfortunately named “rape”—has become controversial among health food advocates in recent years.
The debate began with an article in Perceptions magazine that made several claims, including that canola is an industrial lubricant and a carcinogen.
According to the FDA, rape plants (also known as wild mustard) were grown for centuries in Central Europe. Oil extracted from the seed was used in Canada during World War II as a substitute for scarce petroleum lubricants.
But animal studies of long-term consumption of rapeseed oil linked one of its constituents, erucic acid, to heart lesions. Canadians began cross-pollinating the rape plants, and by the 1970s developed a variety that contains less than two percent erucic acid. That oil, called Canadian oil or canola, is what appears on store shelves today.
No one contacted for this story could link canola to cancer beyond the concerns associated with overheating. Some of the concern may be a misunderstanding of the difference between hybridization (the kind of cross-pollination that developed corn larger than a finger or wheat that doesn’t shatter until harvest) and genetic engineering, which uses laboratory procedures to add genes that were never naturally present in the plant. Canola has been the subject of both kinds of modification, first to lower erucic acid levels and then to increase pesticide resistance. And while pesticide-heavy, genetically engineered canola is a concern for many people, organic varieties are free of both.
Cindy Moore, director of nutrition therapy at the Cleveland Clinic
Foundation, recommends canola because it has low saturated fat levels, a good balance of mono- and polyunsaturated fats, and contains up to 10 percent Omega-3.
Meletis won’t weigh in on the controversy himself, but says he opts for olive over canola. “I never suggested canola even before the controversy,” he explains, “because the Mediterranean diet has been proven to be heart friendly and generally promotes overall good health.”
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Wow, love the clouds field and windmills. Great composition!
Posted by Ryan at May 9, 2005 09:16 AM
lovely shot, could be from my hometown area... and as always great infos... =)
Posted by jens at May 9, 2005 09:24 AM
wow! this is a relaxing photo!great job!
Posted by Diana at May 9, 2005 10:14 AM
This is simply beautiful ... the colors ... the composition ... the clouds.
Posted by Mydepiction at May 9, 2005 10:57 AM
Wow. Love the colors, composition... good job!
Posted by Bite me! at May 9, 2005 11:49 AM
very nice photo gj
Posted by mikey at May 9, 2005 12:20 PM
Good shot Tom - great contrast in colours and the turbines standing out against the darkened sky - nice work! Interesting that in the UK windfarms are such a controversial issue and have caused loads and loads of negative press; which I can understand if you site them in the middle of a national park but not just because you don't want them anywhere in the country. Personally, I reckon they have a a subtly beauty of their own; quite graceful. The newly-elected UK administration seems to be much more interested in reviving our nuclear programme! Interesting comments about rapeseed oil too, if not conclusive.
Posted by David H-W at May 9, 2005 01:23 PM
I love the different variations of green in this photo with the contrast of blue from the sky. Great shot!
Posted by SmileTO at May 9, 2005 02:51 PM
Hi, I'm so happy to have discovered your site. I lived in Vienna from 2001 -2002 as a college student and I still get nostalgic for my time there. I loved the shots of Demel's Easter Window and the Julius Meinl boy, (I used to get embarassed everytime I saw this icon in Vienna, so politically incorrect, but so compelling to my coffee jonsing self...) I'd love to see more shots of Veinna's famous Kaffehauser.
Posted by Nancy M. at May 9, 2005 03:31 PM
WOW beutiful contrast of colors, and nice composition. :) Love the clouds
Posted by Adriana at May 9, 2005 03:32 PM
beautiful. great colors and texture.
Posted by zerosun at May 9, 2005 03:54 PM
brilliant green and dramatic sky! awesome.
Posted by frisky? at May 9, 2005 04:41 PM
wow! I won't try to say something smart about this picture..., I just love it!
Posted by Pablo at May 9, 2005 05:18 PM
lovely colors. and great imagage with the green/yellow-ish fileds. i might add that the clouds are kind of yummy:).
Posted by maya at May 9, 2005 05:42 PM
johoho, what a simple photo, but very nice... I like it. Maybe i prefer little bit less of sky...
Posted by getpixed at May 9, 2005 07:31 PM
Thanks All. I WISH the dramatic effect of the yellow *really* came through in this photo...it was unreal. Normally I would have framed this much tighter on the windmills/fields - but the full cloud complexity was too good to pass up.
David H-W - yes, I agree the windmills are beautiful...actually "graceful" as you put it is perfect. I got a few nice shots of the windmills - one actually had an "obervatory" on top - that I am thinking about posting this week...
-Tom
Posted by zoomvienna at May 9, 2005 07:34 PM
Great, as usual! I've been meaning to go out and take the fields of wild mustard growing near my house. I love that bright yellow!
Posted by Peloria at May 9, 2005 09:09 PM
This is a fantastic shot! The lines, the colors--all superb. Composition is spot on.
Posted by Darren at May 9, 2005 09:26 PM
Great colors! I really like the huge cloud formation....nice capture!
Posted by Lee at May 9, 2005 09:36 PM
This is beautiful! Almost like a painting. Love (!) those clouds, the grass, the shadows and the windmills. Lovely!
Posted by jamieq at May 9, 2005 09:41 PM
Dramatic on so many level. This is most definitely a poster shot!
Posted by Alexandra at May 9, 2005 11:06 PM
Very nice composition. The green and yellow patches are visually appealing. However it is the immense sky that is very powerful in this image. I just wish you could have cloned out the power line running near the lower left side of the image. Otherwise a stunning image.
Posted by bruce at May 10, 2005 12:48 AM
great love the cloudy sky and love those wind turbines too,we have some on the beach where i live,,good compoistion too......
Posted by jamie at May 10, 2005 01:44 AM
Now those are some tasty clouds.
Posted by Smallest Photo at May 10, 2005 02:14 AM
tom, great picture as always ... i love the colors and the cloud. nice composition.
Posted by AJ at May 10, 2005 05:28 AM
I am glad you left the clouds in... It is hard to leave skies like this out of any shot. I love the geometry of the land. Beautiful colors.
Posted by Guilherme Pinto at May 10, 2005 10:23 PM
I like this one a lot. Great color contrast of yellow and green and very interesting positioning of the wind power generators (I think).
Posted by Pat at May 11, 2005 01:16 AM
wow... yellow, green, blue, white, red.....!!!!!
Posted by she at May 11, 2005 05:27 PM
Oh I love this shot. The contast between the green of the field and the pale blue sky is just fanastic!
Posted by Ariela at May 18, 2005 04:24 PM
I would like to add something for people who are into protecting our earth and environment. Now, with all the global issues that we have to embrace into our lives and our childrens lives, we should all do our part to help a least a little bit. Why not Eliminate your Electrical Bill and Save Thousands a year with Solar Panels for your Home, they are extremely easy to build and this will be an easy way for you to do your part in helping our planet and save a tonne of money at the same time. Think about it.
Posted by Brant Rohland at June 22, 2010 05:15 AM
Isn't anyone concerned about the state of our Planet. We are slowly destroying it don't you see. If we all do our small part we can really help all we need to do is find other means of energy and fuels.
Posted by Erik Oligschlaeger at June 22, 2010 05:35 AM
http://www.zoomvienna.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/106
(click the "Vote" button below and then click "Add to Favorites") Thanks!
