Wildlife and Natural Photography Pics
- Thread starter Mr.Cyan
- Start date
Nienna said:
Yes! Me too! Soooo cute!
Mr.Cyan said:
Very nice Mr.Cyan! I'm not taking lots of pictures lately but I used to see it that way too. Now, I take care of my plants and that gives me that space to connect with mother nature. :)
And I agree, your pictures are breathtaking!
Εἰρήνη
Jedi Master
I truly understand what you are saying, Mr.Cyan,Mr.Cyan said:
this is an amazing hobby. I also feel very calm when I am in the nature. And I it never stops surprising me with its different forms and colors! Nature has amazing healing powers and we can learn a lot from it.
Thank you for your thread again. It actually inspired me to put my feelings about Nature in writing in another thread I started:The Nature of Things.
Maybe you can also relate to it
Εἰρήνη
Jedi Master
The Amazing Journey
Today people take Nature out of their lives and out of their countries too. Ancient people had probably never imagined wildlife and starry skies being a separate part from them. Sadly Nature is no longer a source of wisdom and inspiration to many modern people.
I love being in the beautiful and serene setting of Nature. Observing Nature not only brings us great joy, peace, emotional healing and inspiration, it is also essential to the process of gaining knowledge. We can learn a lot by observing patterns in the micro- and macrocosms. A pattern is a part of a cycle by which the cyclic nature of a phenomenon can be revealed. I am fascinated by how everything in the Universe is interconnected: the wildlife, the Nature, the Cosmos, the philosopher’s Work.
A few days ago I came across 2 wildlife documentaries in which the life cycle of salmon was shown in details. Some of the information presented in those documentaries wasn’t new to me as I spent many months during my childhood in the countryside watching salmon with my own eyes. But in the light of the new knowledge and growing awareness, big thanks to our community here, I was able to see the big picture that was hidden from me for a long time. Even though animals are primarily concerned with the laws of attraction and reproduction, studying animal behavior can help us understand the interdependence of the inner and the outer worlds, the hierarchy of energies by which we are driven and in which we are all enveloped. Manly P. Hall in his Lectures on Ancient Philosophy remarks:
The life cycle of salmon makes me think of our spiritual journey. The life of a salmon begins when a female salmon lays thousands of eggs into a nest in a quiet freshwater stream for the chosen male to fertilize. Then, most mature salmon die. The young salmon stay for several years in freshwater, feeding and growing stronger. When they are strong enough, they travel hundreds of miles downstream to saltwater. This is a dangerous trip full of predators. At the estuary, where the river meets the sea, the salmon undergo a complex internal change that allows their bodies to adapt to saltwater by enriching their body fluids with the ocean salts. If this change does not happen, the salmon would become dehydrated and die in saltwater. This is very relevant to people’s lives. After being nurtured in our parental shelters during the transitional age we acquire certain skills necessary to survive in the world, develop certain attitudes, become emotionally “thick-skinned”. Freshwater symbolizes purity, in which children reside. Salt is the residue which life casts upon us.
What is the urge that drives them to go on this epic journey? Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces describes it as a Call, which requires a future Hero traveling to a distant land and promises both treasure and danger. This Call, says Campbell, “is a moment, of spiritual passage, which, when complete, amounts to a dying and birth. The familiar life horizon has been outgrown; the old concepts, ideals, and emotional patterns no longer fit; the time for the passing of a threshold is at hand.” A Hero, according to the ancient Greeks, is an individual, who freed himself/herself from the illusions of the physical world and tuned his contemplation toward the non-material world.
No one knows how salmon navigate the open ocean, how after years at sea they identify the stream of their birth from thousands of options, and how exactly they find their way home, to within feet of their birth. Perhaps they use their sense of smell. Or maybe they use the Earth's magnetic fields to navigate. This mystery fascinates many scientists. And how do we realize our true path and move toward fulfilling our destiny? Laura in her Amazing Grace observed that the human soul is “designed to grow” like trees, which, if planted in suitable soil and favorable growing area with adequate moisture and light, can grow “full and abundant.” The choices we make are important. One uninformed decision can result in the death of the tree or some of its branches. No matter how high a tree will strive to stretch its branches away from its roots toward the sun, in a case of success its fruit will fall on the nearby ground and provide an opportunity for a new life.
After salmon spend their adult life, between 1 and 7 years depending on the species, in the sea, they can travel up to an amazing 1000 miles back to the calm fresh waters of their origin -where they hatched - to lay eggs and complete their epic journey. Campbell remarks about the Hero’s path:
There are times in my life when I feel like I am struggling upstream against the raging flow of the matrix. Our environment often imposes barriers, which sometimes may seem impossible to overcome. At times like this it is important not to stop, to keep trying. Campbell explained:
This journey was not only amazing, but vital to them and to many others who will come after them. Joseph Campbell emphasized the importance of the return of the hero:
[size=12pt]Just thinking...
- Lao-tse, ancient Chinese philosopher and poet
Today people take Nature out of their lives and out of their countries too. Ancient people had probably never imagined wildlife and starry skies being a separate part from them. Sadly Nature is no longer a source of wisdom and inspiration to many modern people.
I love being in the beautiful and serene setting of Nature. Observing Nature not only brings us great joy, peace, emotional healing and inspiration, it is also essential to the process of gaining knowledge. We can learn a lot by observing patterns in the micro- and macrocosms. A pattern is a part of a cycle by which the cyclic nature of a phenomenon can be revealed. I am fascinated by how everything in the Universe is interconnected: the wildlife, the Nature, the Cosmos, the philosopher’s Work.
A few days ago I came across 2 wildlife documentaries in which the life cycle of salmon was shown in details. Some of the information presented in those documentaries wasn’t new to me as I spent many months during my childhood in the countryside watching salmon with my own eyes. But in the light of the new knowledge and growing awareness, big thanks to our community here, I was able to see the big picture that was hidden from me for a long time. Even though animals are primarily concerned with the laws of attraction and reproduction, studying animal behavior can help us understand the interdependence of the inner and the outer worlds, the hierarchy of energies by which we are driven and in which we are all enveloped. Manly P. Hall in his Lectures on Ancient Philosophy remarks:
As above so below.
The life cycle of salmon makes me think of our spiritual journey. The life of a salmon begins when a female salmon lays thousands of eggs into a nest in a quiet freshwater stream for the chosen male to fertilize. Then, most mature salmon die. The young salmon stay for several years in freshwater, feeding and growing stronger. When they are strong enough, they travel hundreds of miles downstream to saltwater. This is a dangerous trip full of predators. At the estuary, where the river meets the sea, the salmon undergo a complex internal change that allows their bodies to adapt to saltwater by enriching their body fluids with the ocean salts. If this change does not happen, the salmon would become dehydrated and die in saltwater. This is very relevant to people’s lives. After being nurtured in our parental shelters during the transitional age we acquire certain skills necessary to survive in the world, develop certain attitudes, become emotionally “thick-skinned”. Freshwater symbolizes purity, in which children reside. Salt is the residue which life casts upon us.
What is the urge that drives them to go on this epic journey? Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces describes it as a Call, which requires a future Hero traveling to a distant land and promises both treasure and danger. This Call, says Campbell, “is a moment, of spiritual passage, which, when complete, amounts to a dying and birth. The familiar life horizon has been outgrown; the old concepts, ideals, and emotional patterns no longer fit; the time for the passing of a threshold is at hand.” A Hero, according to the ancient Greeks, is an individual, who freed himself/herself from the illusions of the physical world and tuned his contemplation toward the non-material world.
No one knows how salmon navigate the open ocean, how after years at sea they identify the stream of their birth from thousands of options, and how exactly they find their way home, to within feet of their birth. Perhaps they use their sense of smell. Or maybe they use the Earth's magnetic fields to navigate. This mystery fascinates many scientists. And how do we realize our true path and move toward fulfilling our destiny? Laura in her Amazing Grace observed that the human soul is “designed to grow” like trees, which, if planted in suitable soil and favorable growing area with adequate moisture and light, can grow “full and abundant.” The choices we make are important. One uninformed decision can result in the death of the tree or some of its branches. No matter how high a tree will strive to stretch its branches away from its roots toward the sun, in a case of success its fruit will fall on the nearby ground and provide an opportunity for a new life.
After salmon spend their adult life, between 1 and 7 years depending on the species, in the sea, they can travel up to an amazing 1000 miles back to the calm fresh waters of their origin -where they hatched - to lay eggs and complete their epic journey. Campbell remarks about the Hero’s path:
When salmon are ready to breed, they take time to adapt back to the fresh water and to lose the excessive salts off their body accumulated during their ocean journey. Likewise, on the way to ascension it is necessary to cast off the salts of illusions. After the transition comes the most dramatic part of salmon journey: they travel from the ocean up the river against the relentless flow. It is amazing how determined they are to their path. Often the river is too shallow and the waterfalls are too rocky and steep to let them pass, and salmon fights upstream in their vain attempts against the merciless environment. But salmon do not quit. They keep leaping again and again.
There are times in my life when I feel like I am struggling upstream against the raging flow of the matrix. Our environment often imposes barriers, which sometimes may seem impossible to overcome. At times like this it is important not to stop, to keep trying. Campbell explained:
This also brings to mind what the C’s once said:
Indeed, the wave brings salmon much needed hope: the rainfall makes the water level rise creating a wave that gives the salmon the exact push they need to continue on their journey. After breaking through obstacles they approach liberation. Many years at sea and a tough climb up the mountain stream have brought them to their final destination: the clear and quiet stream of their origin where they lay their eggs. They reached the end of their lives, they have succeeded.
This journey was not only amazing, but vital to them and to many others who will come after them. Joseph Campbell emphasized the importance of the return of the hero:
It must be great to experience a sense of completion, to fulfill your life exactly as it was meant to. We are both humbled and made stronger by our journeys. We will never be the same –we return transformed. The knowledge and experience we gain through the struggle is being distilled into spiritual qualities. Nothing we achieve is lost or forgotten.
[size=12pt]Just thinking...
Attachments
davey72 said:
Nice pics davey72 - are these the animals and sunset/sunrise views on your farm :) ?
Thanks as well Eipnvn - really enjoyed reading your musings on Nature, and the path of the Salmon. Indeed nature has many lessons to teach. Reminds me of the book Siddharta, by Herman Hesse - thoroughly philosophical musings about Nature, life and consciousness...
thanks davey72, it definitely looks the animals on your farm, are healthy, happy, contented and most importantly best of friends with each other :)
Just adding 1 more pic below. The picture attached, and the earlier posted one of the Bearded Seal were shortlisted for the final round of judging in the 2015 Natural History Museum Wildlife Photography competition. I doubt they will win, and just posting it to share with the Forum.
This one was under the category : Impressions - and the Bearded Seal category: Mammals.
Just adding 1 more pic below. The picture attached, and the earlier posted one of the Bearded Seal were shortlisted for the final round of judging in the 2015 Natural History Museum Wildlife Photography competition. I doubt they will win, and just posting it to share with the Forum.
This one was under the category : Impressions - and the Bearded Seal category: Mammals.
Attachments
Been a "strange" last two weeks with electronics/digital stuff for me. Phones, laptops, and even the control software in my car had glitches at weird moments causing malfunctions - and when these were checked later by the experts, they could find nothing wrong. Emails were never received by some colleagues, laptop kept crashing even when it was brand new, and weird random phone calls from overseas numbers. There was also block in the bathroom plumbing, and one of the showers at our flat refused to drain properly. Hence I immediately remembered the previous posts of events in the Chateau, and my guard was up thinking that negative energies are abound in my immediate sphere.
But what was most painful, was that the hard disk where I stored almost all my wildlife and bird photographs taken since Jan this year crashed ! I had repeatedly reminded myself that I had to back this one up (as I normally have backups for other important pics); but somehow never got down to it, and now it has crashed, and with it are lost a whole load of RAW format images taken. I will definitely explore the option of using a data retrieval company to see what can be salvaged - and this really felt like a punch in the stomach for me. However all is not lost, as I still had the jpg images of some of the pics - hence ive decided to share the pics here with the Forum. Hopefully the RAW images of these files can be retrieved at some point :)
But what was most painful, was that the hard disk where I stored almost all my wildlife and bird photographs taken since Jan this year crashed ! I had repeatedly reminded myself that I had to back this one up (as I normally have backups for other important pics); but somehow never got down to it, and now it has crashed, and with it are lost a whole load of RAW format images taken. I will definitely explore the option of using a data retrieval company to see what can be salvaged - and this really felt like a punch in the stomach for me. However all is not lost, as I still had the jpg images of some of the pics - hence ive decided to share the pics here with the Forum. Hopefully the RAW images of these files can be retrieved at some point :)
Attachments
