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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 😊
My best wishes for 2017 to all my friends and Flickr contacts :)
And please, take care of you..
Mes meilleurs voeux pour 2017 à tous mes amis et contacts Flickr :)
Et s'il vous plait, prenez bien soin de vous..
The conditions couldn't have been better for this. Godrays, fjords, sunset, an amazing vista. When you're traveling it's not always possible to time your visit at the best time in terms of light or even weather. I was incredibly lucky to have such a great sunset and was able to capture this moment in time.
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All rights reserved © Niko Hörkkö
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If you find my work worth using, please humor me and read my About section!
Unfortunately many people take using photos they found online very lightly and disregard (or are unaware of) the fact that most of it is copyright protected and using it may have conditions or be completely disallowed. Before you use my photos, I ask that you read my About page so that we're both on the same page and avoid all the headaches that result from license violations and copyright infringements.
It's prudent to keep the eye closed, it would seem, when using a sharp talon to scratch an itch on one's face.
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis)
HBW
Hope you like it... I was there at Mimmo and it felt like vacation.
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pomerania%20Park/229/156/21
Thanks for your favs, awards (hope to get one or two) and please tell me what did you see.
*hugs* Ash
in august the yellow-billed stork (micteria ibis) enter in to the breeding season.
so the birds change their dress.
the bill become bright yellow,the naked facial skin become bright red and some feathers become pink.
wearing their best dress the storks can try to "pick up" along the african riverbanks.
i think nature has always done what human beings do.
"the best outfit"
chobe riverbanks,Botswana
original 3K file here:
A male Harris's sparrow sat on a branch very close to me and let me take as many shots as I wanted. Happily this allowed me to line it up against the colorful background.
Ain't never been much of the church type
But I believe in the last days
I walk through Hell almost every night
But I believe it's a pathway
Say boy, what you doin' with your life
With those tattoos on your face?
Say boy, you know that you'll pay the price
Well, I guess I'll see when I head that way
To the father son and holy spirit
I hold you nearest
My best friend, best friend
Let the trumpets blow with your appearance
I can almost hear it
My best friend, best friend
When you wish me Hell upon my soul and spirit
Behold these lyrics
I got a best friend, best friend
Yeah, I got a best friend, best friend, yeah
Sometimes we overthink happiness. Just keep it simple and close to yourself, appreciate what is now.
Tonight I feel like the world won't miss me
So much to say but there's no one listening
If we're alone are we all together in that
I threw a penny in a well for wishing
and prayed for all the things I think I'm missing
A little time is all I really need
I am doing the best I can with everything I am
Don't you know nobody's perfect
Do you understand how hard I'm trying to do the best I can
The best I can
A second chance to give you something
It takes a lifetime to come from nothing
I refuse to believe in running away
I am doing the best I can with everything I am
Don't you know nobody's perfect
Do you understand how hard I'm trying for you
I am doing the best I can with everything I am
Don't you know I think you're worth it
Do you understand how hard I'm trying to do the best I can
The best I can
I got a picture of what matters and I keep it close to my heart
It's a little faded but so am I
Cause I am doing the best I can with everything I am
Don't you know nobody's perfect
Do you understand how hard I'm trying for you
I am doing the best I can with everything I am
Don't you know I think you're worth it
Do you understand how hard I'm trying to do the best I can
The best I can
'Best I Can' ~Art of Dying~
Taken at Furillen.