INCREDIBLE: commented with incredible
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This big Elephant performed the incredible act using his trunk to grab the juicy leaves. This unusual behaviour has rarely been photographed. (Satara, Kruger National Park, RSA)
Many thanks to everyone who chooses to leave a comment or add this image to their favorites, it is much appreciated.
Have a great weekend.
©Elsie van der Walt, all rights reserved. Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. If you are interested in using one of my images, please send me an E-mail (elsie.vdwalt@gmail.com).
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
Switzerland, May 2021
My best photos are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...
My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (warning, it's a bit shocking): www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2-Xszz7FI
You find a selection of my 80 BEST PHOTOS (mostly not yet on Flickr) here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/western-green-lizard-lacerta-bi... (the website exists in ESPAÑOL, FRANÇAIS, ITALIANO, ENGLISH, DEUTSCH)
ABOUT THE PHOTO:
So this photo is a bit of a novelty for me - at least here on Flickr, but it's also a journey back in time in a sense. I've always loved b/w and sepia photography; already as a very young teenager I would go out into the woods with an old Pentax Spotmatic (which I had nicked from my father) whenever it was a foggy day to shoot b/w compositions of sunbeams cutting through the ghostlike trees.
I used films with a sensitivity of at least 1600 (for those of you who remember what that means 😉 ), and the resulting photos had an incredibly fine grain which I loved; I blew them up to the size of posters and hung them on the walls of my teenage man-cave next to Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Slash.
But then I abandoned photography altogether for 20 years, and when I finally picked up a camera again, it was one of the digital kind. Now neither film nor grain played any role in my photographic endeavours - let alone b/w compositions: because the reason I fell in love with shooting pictures once more was the rare and incredibly colorful lizard species that had chosen my garden as its habitat.
It's this species - the Lacerta bilineata aka the western green lizard - that my photo website www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ and also my Flickr gallery are dedicated to, but I've since expanded that theme a bit so that it now comprises the whole Lacerta bilineata habitat, which is to say my garden and its immediate surroundings and all the flora and fauna I find in it.
I like that my gallery and the website have this clear theme, because in order to rise to the challenge of portraying all aspects of a very specific little eco system (which also happens to be my home of sorts), it forces me to constantly explore it from fresh angles, and I keep discovering fascinating new motives as my photographic journey continues.
Which brings me to the horse pasture you see in this photo. This playground for happy horsies lies just outside my garden, and it normally only interests me insofar as my green reptile friends claim parts of it as their territory, and I very much prefer it to be horseless (which it thankfully often is).
Not that the horses bother the reptiles - the lizards don't mind them one bit, and I've even seen them jump from the safety of the fly honeysuckle shrub which the pasture borders on right between the deadly looking hooves of the horses to forage for snails, without any sign of fear or even respect.
No, the reason I have a very conflicted relationship with those horses is that they are mighty cute and that there's usually also foals. The sight of those beautiful, happy animals jumping around and frolicking (it's a huge pasture and you can tell the horses really love it) is irresistible: and that inevitably attracts what in the entire universe is known as the most destructive anti-matter and ultimate undoing of any nature photographer: other humans.
Unlike with the horses, the lizards ARE indeed very much bothered by specimens of loud, unpredictable Homo sapiens sapiens - which makes those (and by extension also the horses) the cryptonite of this here reptile photographer. It's not the horses' fault, I know that, but that doesn't change a thing. I'm just telling you how it is (and some of you might have read about the traumatic events I had to endure to get a particular photo - if not, read at your own risk here: www.flickr.com/photos/191055893@N07/51405389883/in/datepo... - which clearly demonstrated that even when it's entirely horseless, that pasture is still a threat for artistic endeavours).
But back to the photo. So one morning during my vacation back in May I got up quite early. It had rained all night, and now the fog was creeping up from the valley below to our village just as the sky cleared up and the morning sun started to shine through the trees.
And just as I did when I was a teenager I grabbed my camera and ran out to photograph this beautiful mood of ghostlike trees and sunbeams cutting through the mist. There had already been such a day a week earlier (which is when I took this photo: www.flickr.com/photos/191055893@N07/51543603732/in/datepo... ), but this time, the horses were also there.
Because of our slightly strained relationship I only took this one photo of them (I now wish I had taken more: talk about missed opportunities), and otherwise concentrated on the landscape. It was only later when I went through all the photos on my computer that I realized that I actually really liked those horses, even despite the whole composition being such a cliché. And I realized another thing: when I drained the photo of all the color, I liked it even better - because there was almost a bit of grain in it, like in the photos from my youth.
Since then I have experimented quite a bit with b/w and sepia compositions (some of which I will upload here eventually I guess), but this photo here is the first one that helped me rediscover my old passion. I hope you like it even though it builds quite a stark contrast with the rest of my tiny - and very colorful - gallery. But in the spirit of showing you the whole Lacerta bilineata habitat (and also in the spirit of expanding my gallery a bit beyond lizards and insects), I think it's not such a bad fit.
As always, many greetings to all of you, have a wonderful day and don't hesitate to let me know what you think 😊
Ball-Dahlie Martina…
"Martina" ist unglaublich schön mit ihren leuchtend weißen Blütenblättern, die an ihren Spitzen mit sanftem Lila-Rosa gebürstet sind und die perfekte Form der Blüten hervorheben.
Ball Dahlia Martina...
"Martina" is incredibly beautiful with her bright white petals, which are brushed at their tips with soft purple-pink, and highlight the perfect shape of the flowers.
Thanks for your Views Faves and Comments, have all a Day. 🍂 ✌
The Queen of Spring is also the Queen of legends
La pivoine chez les Grecs
Dans leur culture, la pivoine est bien plus qu’une jolie fleur des beaux jours, elle est d’abord considérée comme une plante médicinale. Cette faculté a par ailleurs nourri un mythe grec, où se mêlent colère des dieux et guérison. Son nom d’après les rumeurs, lui viendrait du médecin Péon, disciple d’Asclépios, dieu de la médecine. Ce dernier aurait trouvé un remède à la douleur des femmes durant leur accouchement. Son maître jaloux de son talent, se dit que finalement, il mériterait bien de mourir celui-ci. Fort heureusement pour Péon et pour nous, Zeus proposa une punition moins dramatique et changea le jeune médecin en la fleur qu’il avait découverte : une pivoine. Aussi réputée pour ses couleurs vives, ses teintes et nuances ont également inspiré une légende qui continue d’exister dans notre monde moderne, à travers l’expression : “rougir comme une pivoine”.
L’histoire parle ici de la nymphe Péone, qui comme la plupart des naïades était d’une incroyable beauté. Courtisée par tous les dieux, elle eut la mauvaise idée d’en faire un peu trop et d’enfreindre le code divin de la pudeur. Un faux pas, provoquant l’indignation des tout-puissants, qui décidèrent alors de la changer en une fleur extraordinaire : une pivoine. Quant à son erreur de jugement, pour l’inscrire à jamais dans l’histoire, ils donnèrent à ses pétales la couleur de la honte, le rouge. D’où l’expression…
La pivoine au pays du Soleil Levant
L’ Asie regorge de mythes et légendes, qui nous en apprennent un peu plus sur notre fleur préférée. La première, raconte en partie pourquoi le printemps est la saison favorite des pivoines. En Chine durant la dynastie Tang, un jour de grand froid d’hiver, l’impératrice Wu Zetian après avoir bu un peu trop de vin, exigea des fleurs de son jardin qu’elles fleurissent pendant la nuit, pour la satisfaire au petit matin. Le calendrier des fleurs était apparemment le cadet de ses soucis...
Son nom signifiant “celle qui discipline le ciel”, cette dernière était persuadée qu’aucune variété fleurie n'oserait lui désobéir. Le lendemain, seule la pivoine avait décidé de n’en faire qu’à sa tête et d’attendre le printemps. La reine de la saison apparaît alors pour la première fois, comme une fleur au caractère bien trempé. Folle de rage, l’impératrice exila toutes les pivoines du pays à Luoyang, où finalement, elles s’épanouirent fièrement, donnant lieu à un merveilleux spectacle fleuri. La ville est depuis la capitale de la pivoine, et organise chaque année un festival qui lui est dédié.
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The peony among the Greeks
In their culture, the peony is much more than a pretty flower for sunny days, it is first and foremost considered a medicinal plant. This faculty also nourished a Greek myth, where anger of the gods and healing mingle. Its name, according to rumors, comes from the doctor Péon, disciple of Asclepius, god of medicine. The latter would have found a remedy for the pain of women during childbirth. His master, jealous of his talent, said to himself that in the end, he deserved to die this one. Fortunately for Peon and for us, Zeus proposed a less dramatic punishment and changed the young doctor into the flower he had discovered: a peony. Also famous for its bright colors, its shades and shades have also inspired a legend that continues to exist in our modern world, through the expression: “blush like a peony”.
The story here is about the nymph Péone, who like most naiads was incredibly beautiful. Courted by all the gods, she had the bad idea to do a little too much and break the divine code of modesty. A false step, provoking the indignation of the all-powerful, who then decided to change it into an extraordinary flower: a peony. As for its error of judgment, to inscribe it forever in history, they gave its petals the color of shame, red. Hence the term...
Peony in the Land of the Rising Sun
Asia is full of myths and legends, which teach us a little more about our favorite flower. The first, partly tells why spring is the favorite season for peonies. In China during the Tang Dynasty, on a very cold winter day, Empress Wu Zetian after drinking a little too much wine, demanded flowers from her garden to bloom during the night, to satisfy her in the early morning. . The flower calendar was apparently the least of his worries...
Her name meaning "she who disciplines the sky", the latter was convinced that no flowering variety would dare to disobey her. The next day, only the peony had decided to do as it pleased and to wait for spring. The queen of the season then appears for the first time, like a flower with a strong character. Mad with rage, the Empress exiled all the peonies in the country to Luoyang, where they finally blossomed proudly, giving rise to a marvelous flowery spectacle. The city has since been the capital of the peony, and organizes a festival dedicated to it every year.
I went back to take pictures of the ice sculptures during night time. It sure looks better with all the lights in the background.
Downtown Toronto, Canada
"A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is, a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety." - Ansel Adams
Castroviejo, Soria.
En Duruelo de la Sierra se puede encontrar uno de los parajes más impresionantes de la provincia de Soria: Castroviejo, sin duda su más firme emblema.
Sin dejar volar mucho la imaginación, estas rocas labradas en la naturaleza por la erosión del viento, la lluvia, la nieve y el hielo, adoptan formas increíbles y fantásticas.
Los amplios prados otorgan al viajero un relajante lugar para realizar una parada entre bosques de hoja perenne y helechos, pero lo más importante e indispensable de esta visita es sin lugar a dudas, contemplar las vistas panorámicas desde su mirador. Ante los ojos se abre un auténtico ‘mar de pinos’ hasta el horizonte.
In Duruelo de la Sierra one can find one of the most impressive places in the province of Soria: Castroviejo, undoubtedly its strongest emblem.
Without letting much imagination fly, these rocks carved in the nature by the erosion of the wind, the rain, the snow and the ice, take incredible and fantastic forms.
The wide meadows give the traveler a relaxing place to make a stop between evergreen forests and ferns, but the most important and indispensable of this visit is without a doubt, to contemplate the panoramic views from its viewpoint. Before the eyes opens a real 'sea of pines' to the horizon.
This moment of Show Jumping Championship I captured in Spruce Meadows Equestrian Facility in Calgary, Alberta. Canada.
The magnificent hummingbird is larger than some of the other species but certainly not the largest. What is a challenge is to capture his beauty because if the light is not hitting him straight on you would never see these amazing colors. I have been photographing them for years and this is probably the one that best shows off his beauty !! I truly love him and the white around the eye is one of his distinguishing features !!
Wishing you a great evening and a very blessed one !!!!!!
Its too hot here to go out photographing so I've decieded to experiment with Still Lifes and textures. Encouraged and inspired by the incredibly talented Joan www.flickr.com/photos/joanatkinson/
Many thanks to you all for your wonderful comments and encouragement.
I had an incredible encounter with a few non skittish Hooded Mergansers today. The fall leaves lit up the water and they were out displaying (seems early) in their finery. I love the funny sounds they make with their cocking heads. They sure are handsome drakes!
The Falkirk Wheel is a unique boat lift in the world. It replaces a series of 11 locks linking the canals from Glasgow to Edinburgh. The Falkirk rotary lift has a diameter of 35 metres and lowers or raises ships to a height of 25 metres. A set of double doors allows the boat to enter on one side and to leave on the other side. The wheel turns the two caissons, each weighing 300 tonnes, while the gearing system keeps them perfectly horizontal.
incredible evolution in sl. what people made in between to give us the possibility to create pictures almost realistic. remember when i started, many years ago, and i had problems to find a dark skin. my first one was a gift of skinmaker, who read about my wish in a forum. i was happy. and now i compare with the pictures today..... wooow
This moment of Show Jumping Championship I captured in Spruce Meadows Equestrian Facility in Calgary, Alberta. Canada.
Point Reyes National Seashore: Here's another from my evening with the herd of Tule bulls down in the ravine next to the park road. I really worked for these images. It was late, the few tourists had long disappeared. There was really no way to pull off here for photos, so I was simply paused in the "rolling blind", engine running, then moving on because these big ranch trucks kept bearing down on me from behind. So I would move on to the closest place I could turn around, then drive back past the herd and turn around again so I could shoot out my window. I think I did it maybe 4 times. But it was incredibly special to see this mass of prime specimens.
Incredible thoughts incredible minds
Too many great ideas inside
It's a miracle my head can contain them
My spectacular brain
For all humankind
Changing how we think about space and time
Now it's time to share them with the people
my brain is a genius
Incredible thoughts
Incredible minds
I'm so overwhelmed
How did my brain conceive them
Fabio just looks so thoughtful in this picture...I imagine the thoughts in this song are exactly what he's thinking about....ROFL!
A very well fed, comfortable seal pup at Donna Nook, Lincolnshire.
Clearly used to having people nearby. This pup's eye contact was incredible.
Nice to be out with my camera again. xx
“Now, I’ll tell you what we’re not gonna do. We’re not gonna panic, we’re not gonna die.”-Elastigirl
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