View allAll Photos Tagged hamstrings
I took this last night after a much frustrating walk for miles and miles and miles, in the wrong direction, now thanks to that my Achilles Tendinitis and a RSI in my Hamstring has come back to haunt me. However, that said I got some good LE's last night which I am happy about. I was stood on the side of a highway and trucks, that were lit up like Christmas trees came one after the other, I was very grateful to them!
I hope everyone has a great weekend and so as always, thank you! :)
PS: Go Fullscreen! ;)
A day when I was to fill my camera full of water and pull a hamstring, but before then the day was wonderful, with sea spray filling the air , and sunlight making beautiful angles across the cliffs. Stranger on the shore is a track by Val Bennett and the Upsetters, I love reggae.
Attention SL
Sun, Feb 07 2021 4:55:33 AM PST
Attention SL's February edition is here!
Beauty: Carrie Tatsu of Zooby and Love Mama.
Magazine Editor: Maximus Morningstar
Cover Art: Piper Olivia
MP: marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Attention-SL-February-2021-V...
Web: www.attentionmagazinesecondlife.com/
This issue was one of our biggest challenges to date. In short, I had an accident in my home and tore my right groin/hamstring. I'm unable to sit at my computer for anything behind the briefest of periods (hence my lack of photos lately). We initially dallied with delaying the issue or not having it entirely. However, we had a great cover story lined up.
In short, this magazine was created by Maximus Morningstar with me watching his shared screen. Piper Olivia refereed us and Amy Beebe was kind enough to take my publisher's shot.
Attention SL is always a team sport, but this has never been more true than this month.
My deepest appreciation to Maximus Morningstar, Gavin Nova, Piper Olivia, Amy Beebe, Heather Ashford, Rachel Swallows, Brunella Voelisa and everyone else I'm forgetting to mention for pitching in and making this happen.
Enjoy!
Back blip from Akaroa. I have injuried my hamstring. I can't get up the stairs just now. My computer is up there so can't put up any photos. I had this shot on my notebook.
Hopfully I will be back to normal soon.
Akaroa wharf at dusk. October 12, 2016 New Zealand
After a hard afternoon on the beach.....then came the near vertical climb up a 200 to 300 metre stretch of very light and soft sand to the top of the headland...it certainly worked the hamstrings and lungs.
We can all use some Higher Ground right about now with all the world happenings lately. Combination of sun and breeze made for quite an effect this afternoon.
I am very behind on everyone's streams and hope to catch up a bit. Some odd things have been occurring in my stats here and it has made me very uneasy but it may just be some odd thing with flickr but it has been a bit stressful. As usual work and gym to repair a strained hamstring which has taken time but almost back on par.
Higher Ground inspiration from Stevie Wonder (covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers) and has it's base in an old hymn.
Published in the July 2015 Issue of CS Modern Luxury!!
Winter is a great song by Georgia Ruth, and I'm posting this to try and remind myself it's not too late to get a burst of winter. We've had three days of rain, and this morning I went out and managed to slip on some muddy grass while crossing a stream, dropping my camera into the water, and pulling a hamstring in the process. All the result of a lack of a decent cold spell, well that's what it feels like to me.
Last spring I injured my left leg, totally rupturing my hamstring where it attaches to the pelvis. In June I had major surgery to reattached it. I spent my entire summer rehabbing. Without going into the details, it was very difficult for an old man. My goal was to be able to get out with my camera to capture the fall colors. At times, I was not sure that would be possible. I am deeply grateful and feel abundantly blessed I was able to achieve that goal with the help of physical therapists, my surgeon and my beloved spouse Marcia. I am so thankful I am physically able to get out and capture some of the beauty in the small corner of Colorado we inhabit.
Latinskt namn:
Parus ater - vilket betyder, svart mes.
Typiska kännetecken:
11 cm. Den minsta av våra mesar. Lätt att känna igen på det svart-vita huvudet samt två vita vingband som skiljer den från titorna.
Svartmesen lever i stor utsträckning av granfrön, även om den också tar insekter, spindlar och andra smådjur. Liksom så många andra fåglar som har granfrön som huvudföda, blir svartmesen beroende av granens frösättning. Dåliga kottår kan den uppträda i väldiga flockar som drar söderut i jakten på föda. En stor del av svartmesarna stannar emellertid kvar i närheten av sin häckningslokal även under vintern och stryker då omkring i flockar med andra mesar. Dessa mesflockar söker emellertid inte sin föda helt på en slump. Flera mesar lägger upp förråd inför vintern. De börjar tidigt under sommaren att stoppa undan överskottsföda i barkspringor, mellan barr och i andra skrymslen på träden. Mesarnas hamstring skiljer sig från exempelvis nötskrikans genom att en och samma individ sällan torde återfinna just det förråd som han lagt upp. I stället så gömmer alla individer av en art sina förråd på för arten karaktäristiska delar av träden, nämligen desamma som de främst utnyttjar för näringssök. På så sätt får alla individer av arten som söker föda i den aktuella skogen att ha glädje av de upplagda förråden. Denna kollektiva hamstring är naturligtvis en utomordentlig anpassning till de hårda villkor som kan råda under vintrarna för små mesar.
Källa: Våra svenska fåglar i färg av Gustaf Rudebeck
"Lord of Sand, Your Sacrifice is Ready."
Inspired by the Genshin Sumeru Eremites, this look is all about tribal power, desert grit, and devotion.
The canvas for this is the brand new "Brett" Skin from Gloom (Velour: Cocoa), perfectly complemented by the intense new "Automatica" Eyes, also from Gloom.
The full toksik "Eremite" outfit (top, pants, shoulder plates, vambraces) brings the Genshin vibe to life, while the [GK] ANTAGONIST PONY hair and [REKT x TREVOR] DRAGON KANABO add that final, raw power.
Layered with a heavy BOM stack of S-RANK "KAIZO" body definition, [VARC] sculpting, and VELOUR "CHAD" addons to create a truly formidable desert warrior.
— C R E D I T S —
▸ Skin: Gloom - Brett Skin - Velour : Cocoa NB (New Release)
▸ Eyes: Gloom - Automatica Eyes (New Release)
▸ Outfit: toksik - Eremite Top, Pants, Shoulder Plate, Vambraces
▸ Hair: [GK] ANTAGONIST PONY [UNIT]
▸ Weapon: [REKT x TREVOR] - DRAGON KANABO
▸ Head: LeLutka EvoX CAMDEN 4.0
▸ Facial Hair: S-RANK "ABDUL" STUBBLE
▸ Facial Details (Full Stack): [VARC] Sculpt Kit // VELOUR "CHAD" ADDONs // Not Found (Rasec Scars, Palmer Scar) // Bloody Nose L // Gloom (Adrian Tired Liner) // BRABOS (Eyeliner, Blush, Marks) // KOKOS-veins
▸ Body Addons: S-RANK "KAIZO" Collection (Neck Blend, Hamstrings, Obliques, Quads, Chest Striations, Chest Definition, Abs)
▸ Nails: N E X U S HD nails v.4.1 [ legacy ]
It had been raining hard & after debating whether we would actually see anything from the top of Mt Beerburrum we decided to give it a go.
It was well worth the climb & as we approached the summit the rain stopped just long enough to see this stunning view.
This was taken in 2012 & at the time I had a strained achilles making the climb up Mt Beerburrum a bit of an effort.
I have now torn my hamstring off the bone & I'm out of action for a while.
It's given me a chance to go back through some of my old photos.
As always thanks for looking.
Time for this discussion. Local and national news outlets are clutching their pearls over the destruction of a small number of cybertrucks (those which are not self-disassembling). I am not promoting violence or the destruction of public or personal property, but let's think about this.
When you destroy health care, educational services, aid to those starving, dying of diseases, and other humanitarian aid, fire tens of thousands of federal workers without just cause and hamstring other agencies without understanding their purpose, when you threaten the retirement funds of those who have spent their working lifetimes paying into do you not think that maybe some of those people are going to be upset? Livelihoods and lives are literally being lost. These actions cause pain, poverty, disease and death.
Maybe the symbolic destruction of a few crappy bruh vehicles in acts of civil disobedience may feel like a stretch, but the alternative is for more Luigi Mangione style vigilantes to find justice. Nobody wants that.
But this is what happens when billionaires sidestep, ignore and abuse the law. The law is there to settle injustices without violence. It is the remedy for a functioning society, but when it is ignored violence will take its place.
One from the Archives…
Pulled a Hamstring and trying to recuperate. But I’m Not Worried; Doc says I’m doing just fine… for a Guy of My Age. What’s that supposed to mean :)
(Nikon 300/2.8 + 1.7TC, 1/1250 @ f/6.3, ISO 900)
Yes, 9.72s!! I will always remember this guy’s name: Usain Bolt from Jamaica – just like a lightning bolt, 21 years old, the 5th time in a race and he broke the men’s 100m world record… I watched the whole race live at the Icahn Stadium in the Reebok Randall’s Island Grand Prix meet. It was breathtaking… in fact, he got Tyson Gay (9.85s) chasing the whole way, read here.
I and several friends of mine were watching the whole tournament especially to see the world champion and Olympic gold medalist Liu Xiang to compete in the Men’s 110m hurdle. But it turned out that Xiang mildly hurt his hamstring during practice and therefore couldn’t race just to be conservative for the coming Olympics … he came and said sorry to all the fans though :) It was late at night. Just when we were about to leave, someone said oh let’s see the last race - the Men’s 100m. And of course we stayed and were expecting Tyson Gay to put up yet another amazing performance. But now you know what happened… I am glad that I wasn’t trying to shoot photos in the race otherwise I would miss seeing the most amazing 100m race in my life. I was standing in the middle of the home stretch on the audience stand. There were 2 false starts before they finally got a clean one… when the runners passed my location, Usain Bolt was 1.5 yard ahead of Tyson Gay and both seemed to be in the same pace but we then saw Mr. Bolt hit the finish line first. I was just about to talk, one of my friends yelled at us – look at this, 9.71. He broke the world record!!! (they later adjusted it to 9.72 adding the wind speed) Oh yes, I knew that Tyson would not run slow but it was this guy who ran really fast… just amazing! Then he walked the whole lap and came around to the home stretch again... that's when I took this photo. There were thousands of Jamaican fans chanting and he waved to them, may not be realizing how excited everybody was…
Oh btw, it was a nice Saturday evening, loved it! I watched the amazing performances by Veronica Campbell-Brown (my all-time favorite :)) (10.91s) in the Women’s 100m, Wallace Spearmon’s 20.07s in 200m and Xavier Carter’s 44.70s in the Men’s 400m. Really nice races! And, Sanya Richards was signing autographs and taking photos with fans at the end :)
A blog about movement:
Movements Afoot Pilates Studio
151 West 30th St. 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10001
212-904-1399
Free Newsletter: Let us know if you are interested.
The theraband teaches how much the limbs have to be active for the Pilates roll down.
1. Sit with legs extended. Place theraband around the back and hold the theraband with the hands. Bend knees if hamstrings are tight.
2. Exhale, hollow abdominals and sequence the spine on to the floor.
3. Inhale and lengthen the head away from the feet.
4. Exhale, hollow and roll back up.
Repeat two more sets.
Due to a hamstring injury this morning falling down a rabbit hole on a run I am now only able to photograph in our wildlife garden that has been re-wilded over the past couple of years. We have many species and flavours of aquilegia as these grow very well and always encourage bee's, hoverflies and bee flies to the garden....
Schpirerr Farben colored pencils on Borden & Riley # 116 sketchpad, 9x12".
The result was digitally darkened by about 50% to match the original.
The original painting by Nicholas Roerich (1922):
www.lgroutes.com/art/roerich/roerich_35.html
I slowed down a bit over the summer. I'm trying to get back to mountain hiking and have started playing football again after a decade(s)-long hiatus. However, after pulling a hamstring, I was presented with an opportunity to use my pencils. I misplaced my avian sketchbook, so I had the chance to draw something meaningful instead: another study after Nicholas Roerich's "Sancta" series, where all the titles start with "And we are..."
The body stutters
Like a street dancer.
For a love of creativity
Into a sea of uncertainty,
Find the rhymes that combine
With what lies inside the mind,
That you unearth with delight,
The mind quakes for a taste
Of the cake,
that is blessed with greatness.
"Feeling Uncertain of the Curtains" by Marco Buschini
(Special thank you to my super amazing friend, Morgan, for the uber cool dance togs, for inviting me to have so much fun while I pull a hamstring, but mostly for the friendship!)
Pop over to Morgan's feed and watch us work on our moves!
Who won this round? For once, I didn't trip over my feet! (giggles)
Morgan
www.flickr.com/photos/morganwhitfield/46826092752/in/date...
Every image I post has a specific visceral connection to some component in my body. No joke. I can look at a image from 5 years ago and say, definitively, 'hamstring'. Or 'ankle'. Or 'lung'. Or whatever piece of flesh was humming hardest/loudest at that particular moment in time. Weird. For sure...
A few months ago it was a 4 or 5 story building near where I live in Palo Alto. There was a fence around the site and a row of orange plastic traffic blockers abutting the fence. I stood on one to get shots of the deconstruction. I didn't realize there's a circular piece at the top and that is where they pour in water to weigh the whole thing down. That is.... until one leg went right down into the cold water, while the other leg instinctively pulled me back up..... stretching my hamstring in the process. So this is one of the few photos I've taken that came with a bruise and a limp for a few days.
Attempted once again to evoke film through post-processing in Lightroom. Cropped to 1:1 (also just because I like that ratio), cooled the WB (it was pretty yellow before), added clarity for more definite edges through the misty/hazy atmosphere of the night, split toned in yellow and blue, and finally added slight vignetting and grain. It's pretty hard to mess up a shot of Minneapolis, so I thank it for being a forgiving subject!
On the more specific subjects of the shot, there's just no way to avoid the large transmission lines running along the river. There's also no way to avoid the Carlyle mega bucks condo, but here I think both make interesting (/obtrusive) subjects, especially due to the reflections and the leading lines of the bridge and its reflections. Would it be nice to have a clear vantage of the "proper" Minneapolis skyline? Well yeah, but you might have to go back a few decades to get it!
A side-note on the film vs. digital debate: I wholly endorse both mediums! I hope to work more with film in the future, it certainly has a lot of romantic appeal and the ability to evoke fantastic images in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing! However, I also enjoy the flexibility of digital for a relative newcomer such as myself. For instance, the city lights reflecting off of the clouds and the river in this shot made the original shot very orangish. In post-processing, I cooled it down considerably to achieve the look I was intending. I wanted this image to evoke a vintage feeling as well, and all of the images from the past were shot in film. So, it becomes necessary then to make your digital capture more "film-like" to achieve the desired affect. It's certainly not the same thing as shooting directly with film---and I get that, but for someone with limited experience like me, shooting in film only would hamstring my ability to get the results I see in my head when I'm setting up the shot. I hope that I will get better at getting the "right" shots out of the box, that I will someday have a darkroom to process film prints, and that I can say that all of my shots are taken on film, but for now, I'm happy learning how to take better pictures on my digital Canon and post-processing them to achieve something close to my vision. If that vision happens to look like film, I say, "So be it!"
Vanwege de zaterdag opgelopen hamstring-blessure was ik helaas niet zo snel met inpakken in Dordrecht-Zuid en was ik voor het mooie net enkele seconden te laat bij Chemours voor de aanvoer van trein 62022. Gelukkig kon ik toch nog wat improviseren, want de trekkracht werd geleverd door de enige nog in actieve dienst zijnde geel/grijze 6461, die recent zijn oude Railion bestickering heeft ingeruild voor zwart DB-logo met zwart locnummer. We zien dit opvallende buitenbeentje hier met een forse trein vlak voor aankomst op Dordrecht-Industrie op de heerlijke late middag van 25 juni 2018.
Sometimes it's just too hard to be good and wait...
Sometimes you just need a little reminder on what else is important during the holidays... com'ere.
ERSCH - Paola Dress {KupraKups} L -blood- (No Kupra/Just Kups)
Alpha 911 v2.5
Back Left Hamstring (Above Knee) [Entire]
Back Right Hamstring (Above Knee) [Entire]
Lamb. Sunshine (M) - Variety Pack
Messy. Leo Leg Tattoo Left
Messy. The Queen Tattoo
Izzie's - Festive Shimmer Eye Make-Up green
Izzie's - Neck Blender 17
Izzie's - Genus - Baby Hairs V2 Hairbase black
Eredita - Belly Morph__Depth6
[the Skinnery] Demi (LOGO) toffee BB
[theSkinnery] Waterline eyeliner
Messy. Midi Rings Set Kupra Gold L & R
[RHUDE] Wreath Earrings Green
Seems some clothes are still works in progress for Ininithium and that's okay. Still super new body and there are easy work arounds
2009. 5/2 "Ground Level"
All this talk about time made me think I should go snap a picture while I can. I have been planning and scheming on this 400' Native Plant Garden bed for weeks now. The plants arrive on Saturday! This past weekend I moved 1/2 a ton of flagstone. (Thankfully my hamstrings hurt, not my back!!) There are 3 boulders that will go in here too, but I'll leave that to the professionals. The plants I will do myself, and then the flagstone I'll spread around will serve as a pathway/weed control in between. (Along with rock and mulch) This is the best garden I've ever planned. I am beyond excited. I also know my week will spiral out of control, so dog pictures it is!
"Houston, we have a problem!" Went for a stunning cross-country run with a freind today and I managed to find a rabbit hole! Nothing broken but did manage to pull my already sensitive hamstring. Today I have mostly been photographing our re-wilded garden and will be until I can get my physio to do my strapping for me. Oh well, no cycling or running or walking far for a while and we are off to North Norfolk next week too.
Imagining peace is so easy to do practicing yoga at sunset on top of a hill at our yoga retreat this past weekend. The empty mat in front is mine. Because of a hamstring injury I'm limited in my poses right now, so I was our "official photographer".
Floyd needed a walk so my daughter came with me to help, seeing as I’m still limping around with a pulled hamstring. There wasn’t a lot of walking we mainly stood around and let Floyd run around exercising himself so that I didn’t have to walk too much. We brought Roo with us and he enjoyed some fresh air and climbed a tree while Floyd was busy sniffing things.
Sometimes you just need a little reminder on what else is important during the holidays... com'ere.
ERSCH - Paola Dress {KupraKups} L -blood- (No Kupra/Just Kups)
Alpha 911 v2.5
Back Left Hamstring (Above Knee) [Entire]
Back Right Hamstring (Above Knee) [Entire]
Lamb. Sunshine (M) - Variety Pack
Messy. Leo Leg Tattoo Left
Messy. The Queen Tattoo
Izzie's - Festive Shimmer Eye Make-Up green
Izzie's - Neck Blender 17
Izzie's - Genus - Baby Hairs V2 Hairbase black
Eredita - Belly Morph__Depth6
[the Skinnery] Demi (LOGO) toffee BB
[theSkinnery] Waterline eyeliner
Messy. Midi Rings Set Kupra Gold L & R
[RHUDE] Wreath Earrings Green
Seems some clothes are still works in progress for Ininithium and that's okay. Still super new body and there are easy work arounds
.
This is one that has been hanging around for awhile.
I generally take off that first full week of October to get out of town on day trips, and coming to Santa Fe to see the Aspens is what I try to do first.
That day had started out overcast after some good rains.
I hadn't thought the climb up Big Tesuque Trail was terribly steep or hard.
But on my descent back from where it crosses the Aspen Vista Trail I began having tremendous knee pain.
Knee pain is my business, but the only thing which controlled the posterior knee pain was descending backward. It wasn't the typical anterior pain from quads and poor patellar tracking. I think it was from hamstrings as the pain was lateral near fibular head, or from the fibular nerve which can be tweaked as it goes by. Combined with that I have no ACL in that knee, I think the shearing forces could have caused either problem.
It took me the rest of that week to get the knee better, and caused me to not be going on the excursions I had planned.
So the photos from that day are particularly precious.
Happy Tree-mendous Tuesday!
Thursday June 25th 1998
Theres something that you wont show
Waiting where the light goes
Take the darkest hour-break it open
Water to repair what we have broken
I built up the courage last night to give Brad and the family a call and maybe take them up on their offer. So right now I am writing this entry sitting in the middle of the floor of a small child’s bedroom in Hurricane, suburbia/small town Utah.
Today I had another amazing day in Zion. I woke up sore as hell from yesterday’s excursion up to Angel’s Landing - but decided that since I was there (and not sure when I will return) that I would hike the 10 mile roundtrip hike to Observation Point. Strenuous is an understatement, but once I got out on the trail the pains in my legs settled down and the moleskin took care of the blisters. I thought that the cut backs up the mountain yesterday were extreme…there were times today that my hamstrings were screaming “stop stop stop!” But I kept on tramping and finally made it. The view was definitely worth the trip.
Anyway, afterwards I was so exhausted - my legs were shaking the entire trip down and my hunger was gnawing at my stomach - I literally felt like I was on the verge of collapsing. I made it back to the Jeep pouring sweat and veered the truck off into one of the Virgin River access points and waded into the current - clothes and all. I just dunked my head into the waters and let the river water bring me back to life. After a while I got my wits about me again and sat on a rock along the shore while my clothes dried.
I made my way to a payphone down the road and dialed up Brad on the phone…Hi this is Mike from Lake Powell…is that offer still good? Sure it is…come on down! These people are great. I sat up talking to Brad about religion, as I have been dying to pick a Mormon’s brain about the million questions I have. It led to a discussion about today’s society, basically about how screwed up and backwards its become. And although I may not agree with everything he had to say I do have to grant him this much - his devotion to his religion, god and especially his family and friends (community) is admirable and he must be doing something right judging by looking around. Maybe if everyone had his morals, ethics and devotion the world would be a better place.
At one point he mentioned that certain Catholic sects don’t even recognize Mormons as Christians. I was baffled by this - and it led to the one fundamental flaw in all organized religions - intolerance of others. Basically they all believe in the same higher being, it’s the details that are the sticking point. They become so biased and distorted over the minutia that they end up hating one another.
Anyway, I have a real bed for the night - a small bed - but a bed, in a real house, surrounded by a real family…sort of scary. But it feels right…I am forever in their debt for giving me a little piece of their lives and a safe shelter for the night. Amazing people.
I truly believe that a man is equal to the sum of all of his experiences - this experience has definitely enriched me in an incalculable way.
_____________________
If your wondering what the heck this is all about, go here.
To keep track of progress on a map - here.
Stuck…
The bald eagle’s nest built atop the Sanibel cell tower could be seen for miles. As soon as it was noticed, fantasies of taking great shots of the parents bringing in food for the young filled my head. Quickly pulling into a church parking lot at the base of the tower, I leapt out of the car (ok, leapt might be an exaggeration…got out as quickly and comfortably as possible so not to pull a hamstring…yea, that might be more accurate) and made my way to the best angle and lighting I could find to see if it was occupied.
After several minutes of standing in the hot parking lot and photographing a parent on the edge of the nest, it was time to head back to the car. My wife and friends had been waiting patiently for my return and I didn’t want to push my luck. As I approached the car they started waving and pointing into a tree, just feet from the front bumper of our car. To my amazement, a juvenile Red-shouldered hawk was just sitting there as if frozen.
I snapped off a few safety shots and then started moving for better light while closing the gap between us ever so slightly. As I got closer and closer the hawk became more and more irritated, but did not try to escape. For a moment I stood baffled as it jumped from limb to limb trying to use the small trunk of the tree to hide. Such odd behavior…was it hurt…it was certainly old enough to fly, why wasn’t it? Then it hit me…it had wondered too close to the eagle’s nest and was trapped by my presence down low and the eagle sitting high above. It sat so very still, looking me in the eye with that sad look captured here. He was truly stuck between a rock and a hard spot…or in this case an eagle and a guy with a camera.
Being cooped up now for 5 weeks rehabbing from major hamstring surgery is no fun. HOWEVER, I have been reminded again there are little wonders to see and enjoy right outside my door and in front of my nose! It has caused me to look closer at the detail around me, those things I might otherwise overlook.
This ground squirrel was in his happy place this morning at the top of a large current bush that grows in front of the house, He caused me to smile and laugh as he scrambled and scurried agilely among the branches feasting on the tasty berries.
Sitting here now in workout getup because I'm not sure I have time to shower before my brother-in-law pops in to drop something off. It was colder this morning, but my yoga practice today was more warming than yesterdays so I managed un-bundled. It specifically tried my hamstring and I felt pretty unpleasantly stiff around about where I was injured, so I was extremely careful not to push myself too hard and I think it went rather well. I might have to add the hamstring specific stuff to whatever I'm doing when I finish the 30 days. I have pulled my left hamstring twice in the past few years, so obviously I haven't been paying enough attention to it.
I felt extremely ill last night, but woke up this morning feeling only a little bad, stuffy, sneezy, tired.
Zakouma is an unusual park when compared to the better-known national parks of East or Southern Africa, because on normal game drives through the park, you simply don’t see elephants, except for the handful of bulls, that hang around the airstrip and the park HQ in the area of the park that is actually called Zakouma, elsewhere you just don’t see them, not unless you are actively looking for them and know in advance where they are. You won’t drive around a corner and find a small herd feeding beside the road as you might in a park like say Ruaha in Tanzania, to understand why this is the case, you need to know the tragic history of Zakouma’s elephants.
For roughly 6 months of the year between June and November Zakouma National Park is almost entirely inundated with floodwaters, at this time elephants would often disperse into the surrounding area of what is now the Salamat Faunal Reserve. During this time Arab horsemen from the Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan would come to hunt the elephants, as they had done for perhaps several hundred years. Traditionally a group of up to 20 horsemen armed with lances would charge a herd aiming to separate out one of the elephants, picking one with good tusks. A single horseman would then ride in front of this elephant to draw its attention and get it to pursue him, allowing the other men to ride in and spear it from behind with their lances. They would aim for the elephant’s hamstrings in its hind legs, these if severed would bring the animal down and ensure it could not get up again. Huge numbers of elephants were killed this way and in response the surviving herds in the region, have learned that at the first sign of horsemen, their best defence is to bunch up into tight groups, to ensure that no individual can be separated out.
Today this is no defence, the horsemen are Janjaweed militiamen and members of the Sudanese armed forces and they come not with the lances used by their ancestors, but with AK47s, belt-fed machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. This habit of bunching up into a single large herd, has meant that the poachers can easily kill 50-60 elephants in a single attack by simply machine gunning the terrified animals as they try to escape. In 2005 an aerial count found 3,885 elephants in Zakouma and the surrounding area, in under a decade the population was reduced to just 430 and had stopped breeding due to the constant stress. Since African Parks took over Zakouma the poaching has been almost entirely stopped and the elephants are breeding again, they have not lost an elephant to poaching in 6 years at the last count in 2021 the population had reached 636.
Zakouma had become famous for what was often described as the largest elephant herd in Africa, simply because the majority of the park’s elephants were congregating together in a huge unnatural mega-herd, that would include bulls that would normally have been pushed out. Besides sticking together for protection, the elephants also like to remain in the thick bush and woodlands, avoiding open areas of the park, this is why you just don’t see them when driving around. Just in the last couple of years the elephant herd has started to split into several big herds instead of just one, but they still stay deep in the bush, doing their best to avoid people entirely.
The best chance of seeing them is at the Bahr Salamat, where they have to come every day to drink, if you can anticipate which part of the river they will come to, and position yourself so that they won’t be aware of your presence, you can have an amazing elephant experience. When we tried to find them, despite receiving tracking information from the park HQ, (some of the elephants are wearing tracking collars) and having a ranger to assist us, we were not lucky, instead of seeing the whole herd come to drink where we had chosen to wait, we just saw two single bulls. The herd did come to drink but at a different stretch of the Salamat, not too far away, unfortunately we missed them.
The tiny tusks of this bull are sadly typical of Zakouma's elephants, due the very heavy poaching in the past.
Jackson had a terrific start to today's postseason game against the Cubs. He only played two innings before re-injuring his hamstring while running to first base, but in those two innings, he had three at-bats, against three different pitchers, collecting three hits and three RBI.
National League Division Series -Game 1
American Family Field
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
The Franks Casket is a small Anglo-Saxon whale's bone (not "whalebone" in the sense of baleen) chest from the early 8th century, now in the British Museum. The casket is densely decorated with knife-cut narrative scenes in flat two-dimensional low-relief and with inscriptions mostly in Anglo-Saxon runes. Generally thought to be of Northumbrian origin, it is of unique importance for the insight it gives into early Anglo-Saxon art and culture. Both identifying the images and interpreting the runic inscriptions has generated a considerable amount of scholarship.
The imagery is very diverse in its subject matter and derivations, and includes a single Christian image, the Adoration of the Magi, along with images derived from Roman history (Emperor Titus) and Roman mythology (Romulus and Remus), as well as a depiction of at least one legend indigenous to the Germanic peoples: that of Weyland the Smith. It has also been suggested that there may be an episode from the Sigurd legend, an otherwise lost episode from the life of Weyland's brother Egil, a Homeric legend involving Achilles, and perhaps even an allusion to the legendary founding of England by Hengist and Horsa.
The inscriptions "display a deliberate linguistic and alphabetic virtuosity; though they are mostly written in Old English and in runes, they shift into Latin and the Roman alphabet; then back into runes while still writing Latin". Some are written upside down or back to front. It is named after a former owner, Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks, who gave it to the British Museum.
A monastic origin is generally accepted for the casket, which was perhaps made for presentation to an important secular figure, and Wilfrid's foundation at Ripon has been specifically suggested. The post-medieval history of the casket before the mid-19th century was unknown until relatively recently, when investigations by W. H. J. Weale revealed that the casket had belonged to the church of Saint-Julien, Brioude in Haute Loire (upper Loire region), France; it is possible that it was looted during the French Revolution. It was then in the possession of a family in Auzon, a village in Haute Loire. It served as a sewing box until the silver hinges and fittings joining the panels were traded for a silver ring. Without the support of these the casket fell apart. The parts were shown to a Professor Mathieu from nearby Clermont-Ferrand, who sold them to an antique shop in Paris, where they were bought in 1857 by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks, who subsequently donated the panels in 1867 to the British Museum, where he was Keeper of the British and Medieval collections. The missing right end panel was later found in a drawer by the family in Auzon and sold to the Bargello Museum, Florence, where it was identified as part of the casket in 1890. The British Museum display includes a cast of it.
The casket is 22.9 cm long, 19 cm wide and 10.9 cm high – 9 × 7+1⁄2 by 5+1⁄8 inches, and can be dated from the language of its inscriptions and other features to the first half of the 8th century AD. There are other inscriptions, "tituli" identifying some figures that are not detailed below and appear within the image field. The mounts in precious metal that were undoubtedly originally present are missing, and it is "likely" that it was originally painted in colour.
The chest is clearly modelled on Late Antique ivory caskets such as the Brescia Casket;[10] the Veroli Casket in the V&A Museum is a Byzantine interpretation of the style, in revived classical style, from about 1000.
Leslie Webster regards the casket as probably originating in a monastic context, where the maker "clearly possessed great learning and ingenuity, to construct an object which is so visually and intellectually complex. ... it is generally accepted that the scenes, drawn from contrasting traditions, were carefully chosen to counterpoint one another in the creation of an overarching set of Christian messages. What used to be seen as an eccentric, almost random, assemblage of pagan Germanic and Christian stories is now understood as a sophisticated programme perfectly in accord with the Church's concept of universal history". It may have been intended to hold a book, perhaps a psalter, and intended to be presented to a "secular, probably royal, recipient".
The front panel, which originally had a lock fitted, depicts elements from the Germanic legend of Wayland the Smith in the left-hand scene, and the Adoration of the Magi on the right. Wayland (also spelled Weyland, Welund or Vølund) stands at the extreme left in the forge where he is held as a slave by King Niðhad, who has had Wayland's hamstrings cut to hobble him. Below the forge is the headless body of Niðhad's son, whom Wayland has killed, making a goblet from his skull; his head is probably the object held in the tongs in Wayland's hand. With his other hand Wayland offers the goblet, containing drugged beer, to Beaduhild, Niðhad's daughter, whom he then rapes when she is unconscious. Another female figure is shown in the centre; perhaps Wayland's helper, or Beaduhild again. To the right of the scene Wayland (or his brother) catches birds; he then makes wings from their feathers, with which he is able to escape.
In a sharp contrast, the right-hand scene shows one of the most common Christian subjects depicted in the art of the period; however here "the birth of a hero also makes good sin and suffering". The Three Magi, identified by an inscription (ᛗᚫᚷᛁ, "magi"), led by the large star, approach the enthroned Madonna and Child bearing the traditional gifts. A goose-like bird by the feet of the leading magus may represent the Holy Spirit, usually shown as a dove, or an angel. The human figures, at least, form a composition very comparable to those in other depictions of the period. Richard Fletcher considered this contrast of scenes, from left to right, as intended to indicate the positive and benign effects of conversion to Christianity.
“Eschew the monumental. Shun the Epic. All the guys who can paint great big pictures can paint great small ones.”
― Ernest Hemingway
I've been sorting through some old files and decided to finish this one, which I'd given up on months ago. I had apparently decided at the time that it wasn't perfect. The willow tree in the upper left corner had waved around during the long exposure, leaving an indistinct smudge that was pretty much irreparable. In fact, many of the trees in the photo had been moving in the wind. I had blown out the highlights in the park lamps and hadn't properly bracketed another exposure so that I could fix that. There were little light flares all over the place.
But the problem was that I still really liked the photo. Cathedral Park at night is beautiful. I liked the warmth of the streetlights and the way they lit the park's grass. The composition spoke to me. The blue-hour glow gave me a good feeling. I liked the photo when I took it, and I liked it when I tried to post-process it. But as I pixel peeped the file at 150%, I discovered to my horror that it wasn't perfect. So I gave up on it.
Over the past year I've been getting much more selective about the photos I post. At some point, despite being (in my own mind, anyway) a free-thinking and creative person, the Prevailing Attitudes of Modern Digital Landscape Photography had seeped their way into my head. The PAoMDLP names, among other things, the following commandments:
1. Though shalt focus stack so that every pixel of your digital photo is so tack sharp that you can make prints the size of small moons, even though you will never, ever make a print the size of a small moon.
2. If thou findest out that something in your photograph has moved or blurred, thou shalt clone it out immediately.
3. If thou cannot clone out said moving object, thou must delete the file in an expedited manner.
4. Self-expression shalt always play second fiddle to posting perfect photos and retaining a perfect online portfolio.
I could go on and on about the quest for "perfect" sunstars and the expensive lenses that must be used to achieve them, the tragedy of clipped shadows or highlights, the 500px groupthink that has left us with technically perfect but emotionally sterile photographs instead of creative art, the gearheads who claim that an extra 1.7685 stops of light will help them create "better" photographs...but I'll probably save those for a blog post that I started on months ago but still remains only partially written.
Instead, I'm just going to declare that I'm done with the pursuit of perfection, of only posting the most epic, wow-worthy photos. Don't get me wrong, my goal is to do my best to deliver high-quality images. But why hamstring myself by limiting my creativity to a bunch of "rules" that I never agreed to in the first place? Even in the most beautiful settings, I don't see a perfect world, so why would I attempt to convey perfection?
Your thoughts?
Until next time!
Zakouma is an unusual park when compared to the better-known national parks of East or Southern Africa, because on normal game drives through the park, you simply don’t see elephants, except for the handful of bulls, that hang around the airstrip and the park HQ in the area of the park that is actually called Zakouma, elsewhere you just don’t see them, not unless you are actively looking for them and know in advance where they are. You won’t drive around a corner and find a small herd feeding beside the road as you might in a park like say Ruaha in Tanzania, to understand why this is the case, you need to know the tragic history of Zakouma’s elephants.
For roughly 6 months of the year between June and November Zakouma National Park is almost entirely inundated with floodwaters at this time elephants would often disperse into the surrounding area of what is now the Salamat Faunal Reserve. During this time Arab horsemen from the Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan would come to hunt the elephants, as they had done for perhaps several hundred years. Traditionally a group of up to 20 horsemen armed with lances would charge a herd aiming to separate out one of the elephants, picking one with good tusks. A single horseman would then ride in front of this elephant to draw its attention and get it to pursue him, allowing the other men to ride in and spear it from behind with their lances. They would aim for the elephant’s hamstrings in its hind legs which if severed would bring the animal down and ensure it could not get up again. Huge numbers of elephants were killed this way and in response the surviving herds in the region, have learned that at the first sign of horsemen, their best defence is bunch up into tight groups to ensure that no individual can be separated out.
Today this is no defence, the horsemen are Janjaweed militiamen and members of the Sudanese armed forces and they come not with the lances used by their ancestors, but with AK47s, belt-fed machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. This habit of bunching up into a single large herd, has meant that the poachers can easily kill 50-60 elephants in a single attack by simply machine gunning the terrified animals as they try to escape. In 2005 an aerial count found 3,885 elephants in Zakouma and the surrounding area, in under a decade the population was reduced to just 430 and had stopped breeding due to the constant stress. Since African Parks took over Zakouma the poaching has been almost entirely stopped and the elephants are breeding again, they have not lost an elephant to poaching in 6 years at the last count in 2021, the population had reached 636.
Zakouma had become famous for what was often described as the largest elephant herd in Africa, simply because the majority of the park’s elephants were congregating together in a huge unnatural mega-herd, that would include bulls that would normally have been pushed out. Besides sticking together for protection, the elephants also like to remain in the thick bush and woodlands, avoiding open areas of the park, this is why you just don’t see them when driving around. Just in the last couple of years the elephant herd has started to split into several big herds instead of just one, but they still stay deep in the bush, doing their best to avoid people entirely.
Driving down to a crossing point on the Salamat, we unexpectedly came across this bull walking along the bank towards us, he was clearly intending to cross the river as well, whilst we had to follow the road and bounce over the rocks, he just waded through the not very deep water and wandered off up the other bank. This was a lucky sighting, as we were nowhere near the HQ area, and by the time we were driving along the other side of the Salamat he had melted back into the bush, had we reached the river somewhat earlier or later we might not have seen him at all.
I love the intense colors of fall. So exhilarating! This was taken some years ago but decided to use it for today's Smile On Saturday Theme: Trees in the picture. The year this was taken, a wonderful friend gave me a free airline ticket to anywhere I wanted to go in the U.S. I had always wanted to see New England in the fall and so that was where I went. Earlier in the year my mother was very sick--in the hospital for six months and in a rehabilitation center for two more. Also around the same time, our youngest daughter, 12 years old at the time, had major surgery on her Achilles, hamstrings and adductors on both legs. She had full leg casts on each of her legs for 3 months. By October they were both recovered and my friend's kindness completely turned the long, weary year around for me! HSoS!
Zakouma is an unusual park when compared to the better-known national parks of East or Southern Africa, because on normal game drives through the park, you simply don’t see elephants, except for the handful of bulls, that hang around the airstrip and the park HQ in the area of the park that is actually called Zakouma, elsewhere you just don’t see them, not unless you are actively looking for them and know in advance where they are. You won’t drive around a corner and find a small herd feeding beside the road as you might in a park like say Ruaha in Tanzania, to understand why this is the case, you need to know the tragic history of Zakouma’s elephants.
For roughly 6 months of the year between June and November Zakouma National Park is almost entirely inundated with floodwaters, at this time elephants would often disperse into the surrounding area of what is now the Salamat Faunal Reserve. During this time Arab horsemen from the Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan would come to hunt the elephants, as they had done for perhaps several hundred years. Traditionally a group of up to 20 horsemen armed with lances would charge a herd aiming to separate out one of the elephants, picking one with good tusks. A single horseman would then ride in front of this elephant to draw its attention and get it to pursue him, allowing the other men to ride in and spear it from behind with their lances. They would aim for the elephant’s hamstrings in its hind legs, these if severed would bring the animal down and ensure it could not get up again. Huge numbers of elephants were killed this way and in response the surviving herds in the region, have learned that at the first sign of horsemen, their best defence is to bunch up into tight groups, to ensure that no individual can be separated out.
Today this is no defence, the horsemen are Janjaweed militiamen and members of the Sudanese armed forces and they come not with the lances used by their ancestors, but with AK47s, belt-fed machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. This habit of bunching up into a single large herd, has meant that the poachers can easily kill 50-60 elephants in a single attack by simply machine gunning the terrified animals as they try to escape. In 2005 an aerial count found 3,885 elephants in Zakouma and the surrounding area, in under a decade the population was reduced to just 430 and had stopped breeding due to the constant stress. Since African Parks took over Zakouma the poaching has been almost entirely stopped and the elephants are breeding again, they have not lost an elephant to poaching in 6 years at the last count in 2021 the population had reached 636.
This bull lives in the area around the park HQ, there is always water and plenty of food here, and in the recent past this area would have been much safer than the rest of the park.