Capra Hispanica
"Maybe the probability of Life spontaneously appearing is so low, that Earth is the only planet in the observable universe in which it happened.” (Stephe...
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"Maybe the probability of Life spontaneously appearing is so low, that Earth is the only planet in the observable universe in which it happened.” (Stephen Hawking, Life in the Universe). Whatever the case is, let's celebrate that our Biosphere is such marvelous event in the universe.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
But, what is Life? None of the definitions is completely comprehensive. My contention (also limited) is that Life is the only system in the universe that is formed by something physical and something intrinsically non-physical, matter and written information, atoms and intangible ideas written in a language with infinite possibilities.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
Any written word is made out of matter, ink and paper or bits in a computer or even ions in our brain, but the information contained in any word, its meaning, has not matter at all. The existence of any idea behind a word or sentence is determined by an essential absence of any physical property. The idea of a form, the information, the significance, the purpose, the meaning, the value, the beauty, have no mass, no volume, no inertia, no weight, no density, no electrical charge, no spin, no color. They cannot be measured in our external world, neither in our interior, nor in any other part of the material universe. The information and the ideas are “nothing”. Zero. But exist.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
Life is the only physical system that is formed by matter and written information, by something and nothingness, by mass and "missingness", by atoms and intangible information of ideas written in a book, the DNA. Life is the only system composed by blood and ideas, by tangible matter and something essentially and intrinsically intangible. Moreover, Life is the only physical system that pursues the exchange and transmission of something non-physical, information and ideas.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
With Life the universe reached the critical evolutionary stage that is the development of language, particularly the written language. It meant that information could be passed on, from generation to generation, through written books of DNA containing the instructions and construction drawings of life forms, and that these ideas were not like the information contained in the physical constants or in the laws ruling the physical matter but, as with any coded language, could be exchanged, combined and changed to produce infinite results, infinite posibilities, immaterial concepts and meanings. (Thus, Homo sapiens has not the copyright of the written language; we only have the rights of the ‘conscious’ written language).
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
The book of DNA of many complex animals, like the human being, contains about three thousand millions letters (the nucleic acids). A paperback novel of four hundred pages has around half a million letters. So a complex animal is made-out of atoms plus the information and ideas contained in 6.000 books of four hundred pages each. However, much of the information coded in these DNA books seems to be (apparently) meaningless (like the filling garbage books in many libraries), so certain scientists, like Stephen Hawking, say that the total amount of "useful" information in the genes of complex animals like the human being is only 100 million bits, 50 times the bits contained in an average novel (one bit of information is the answer to a yes-no question). Hence, any complex animal would be made-out of atoms plus the information, meanings and ideas contained in 6.000 books, out of which 50 books would be the only ones that contain the important instruction manuals, cooking recipes and construction details drawings.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
In any event, with Life the universe reached a critical evolutionary stage in which incredibly beautiful systems combine matter with non-material ideas and information about forms of so many goodly creatures, ideas that are transmitted in a written language, with the purpose of passing the old information and any new combination of ideas to the next generation, perpetually, apparently chasing to overcome the space-time, apparently pursuing the eternity.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
The value of a photo, the information that it contains, its beauty and its significance, are also features whose existence is determined by an essential absence of any physical property. Its beauty and meaning are 'nothing'. Zero. But exist. However, although the most unique feature of any Life is its concrete physical form plus the information to produce that form contained in its own written language, paradoxically the beauty of a life moment cannot be measured physically, neither described with words... Like (I hope) the one of this photo.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
Blue hour. Pedro, my 11 years old son, and I started to walk at 4:00 solar time (UTC), when the dawn had not even broken. It was the Solstice of Summer, June 21. We were hiking the hard west face of Bola del Mundo, one of the highest mountains of Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, in Madrid, at the very center of Spain. Suddenly this family of "Capra Hispanica" appeared in a cliff in front of us. This species of wild goat was nearly extinct. But twenty years ago a group of individuals were re-introduced in this National Park and under this protection they have flourished here. This group of young animals was very active, moving very rapidly in the walls of the cliff, playing with the precipice and from time to time even fighting among themselves. The rising sun was still covered by the high mountain we had in the East and, hence, there was very low light. I was shooting with my Canon 70D and Canon 70-300f L lens, with only 400 ISO because I was looking for dawn landscapes and did not expect any action. So when Pedro suddenly saw these wild goats and alert me of their presence (nothing like the eyes of a kid for discovering animals), I had no time neither the ability to change the ISO, and I had to shoot the fast moving animals at 300f with a low speed (1-20). Thus, most of the photos that I took of that moment are useless. But I was able to shoot this one when the family stopped for a second in this small rocky peak. The photo was taken the 21st of June exactly at 4.44 am solar time, that is "exactly" when the sun raised at Madrid's latitude that day of the Solstice of Summer. This precise timing was by pure chance, but for me it makes the photo even more magical.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
I converted the RAW file with DXO OPTICS PRO v10, applying just these three adjustments: 'Smart Lighting' at 50%, the 'Clear Wiew' at 25% and the color 'Vibracy' at 20%. No Photoshop or other post processing were applied.
(File#: 2015-06-21 04.44.00_DxO).
Read less
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
But, what is Life? None of the definitions is completely comprehensive. My contention (also limited) is that Life is the only system in the universe that is formed by something physical and something intrinsically non-physical, matter and written information, atoms and intangible ideas written in a language with infinite possibilities.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
Any written word is made out of matter, ink and paper or bits in a computer or even ions in our brain, but the information contained in any word, its meaning, has not matter at all. The existence of any idea behind a word or sentence is determined by an essential absence of any physical property. The idea of a form, the information, the significance, the purpose, the meaning, the value, the beauty, have no mass, no volume, no inertia, no weight, no density, no electrical charge, no spin, no color. They cannot be measured in our external world, neither in our interior, nor in any other part of the material universe. The information and the ideas are “nothing”. Zero. But exist.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
Life is the only physical system that is formed by matter and written information, by something and nothingness, by mass and "missingness", by atoms and intangible information of ideas written in a book, the DNA. Life is the only system composed by blood and ideas, by tangible matter and something essentially and intrinsically intangible. Moreover, Life is the only physical system that pursues the exchange and transmission of something non-physical, information and ideas.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
With Life the universe reached the critical evolutionary stage that is the development of language, particularly the written language. It meant that information could be passed on, from generation to generation, through written books of DNA containing the instructions and construction drawings of life forms, and that these ideas were not like the information contained in the physical constants or in the laws ruling the physical matter but, as with any coded language, could be exchanged, combined and changed to produce infinite results, infinite posibilities, immaterial concepts and meanings. (Thus, Homo sapiens has not the copyright of the written language; we only have the rights of the ‘conscious’ written language).
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
The book of DNA of many complex animals, like the human being, contains about three thousand millions letters (the nucleic acids). A paperback novel of four hundred pages has around half a million letters. So a complex animal is made-out of atoms plus the information and ideas contained in 6.000 books of four hundred pages each. However, much of the information coded in these DNA books seems to be (apparently) meaningless (like the filling garbage books in many libraries), so certain scientists, like Stephen Hawking, say that the total amount of "useful" information in the genes of complex animals like the human being is only 100 million bits, 50 times the bits contained in an average novel (one bit of information is the answer to a yes-no question). Hence, any complex animal would be made-out of atoms plus the information, meanings and ideas contained in 6.000 books, out of which 50 books would be the only ones that contain the important instruction manuals, cooking recipes and construction details drawings.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
In any event, with Life the universe reached a critical evolutionary stage in which incredibly beautiful systems combine matter with non-material ideas and information about forms of so many goodly creatures, ideas that are transmitted in a written language, with the purpose of passing the old information and any new combination of ideas to the next generation, perpetually, apparently chasing to overcome the space-time, apparently pursuing the eternity.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
The value of a photo, the information that it contains, its beauty and its significance, are also features whose existence is determined by an essential absence of any physical property. Its beauty and meaning are 'nothing'. Zero. But exist. However, although the most unique feature of any Life is its concrete physical form plus the information to produce that form contained in its own written language, paradoxically the beauty of a life moment cannot be measured physically, neither described with words... Like (I hope) the one of this photo.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
Blue hour. Pedro, my 11 years old son, and I started to walk at 4:00 solar time (UTC), when the dawn had not even broken. It was the Solstice of Summer, June 21. We were hiking the hard west face of Bola del Mundo, one of the highest mountains of Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, in Madrid, at the very center of Spain. Suddenly this family of "Capra Hispanica" appeared in a cliff in front of us. This species of wild goat was nearly extinct. But twenty years ago a group of individuals were re-introduced in this National Park and under this protection they have flourished here. This group of young animals was very active, moving very rapidly in the walls of the cliff, playing with the precipice and from time to time even fighting among themselves. The rising sun was still covered by the high mountain we had in the East and, hence, there was very low light. I was shooting with my Canon 70D and Canon 70-300f L lens, with only 400 ISO because I was looking for dawn landscapes and did not expect any action. So when Pedro suddenly saw these wild goats and alert me of their presence (nothing like the eyes of a kid for discovering animals), I had no time neither the ability to change the ISO, and I had to shoot the fast moving animals at 300f with a low speed (1-20). Thus, most of the photos that I took of that moment are useless. But I was able to shoot this one when the family stopped for a second in this small rocky peak. The photo was taken the 21st of June exactly at 4.44 am solar time, that is "exactly" when the sun raised at Madrid's latitude that day of the Solstice of Summer. This precise timing was by pure chance, but for me it makes the photo even more magical.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
I converted the RAW file with DXO OPTICS PRO v10, applying just these three adjustments: 'Smart Lighting' at 50%, the 'Clear Wiew' at 25% and the color 'Vibracy' at 20%. No Photoshop or other post processing were applied.
(File#: 2015-06-21 04.44.00_DxO).
Read less
Jun, 2015Views
10272
Likes
Awards
Contest Finalist in We Love Animals Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Composing With Depth Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in On The Wild Side Photo Contest
Featured
Contest Finalist in Image of the Year Photo Contest by Snapfish
Contest Finalist in Monthly Pro Vol 13 Photo Contest
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Superior Skill
Genius
Love it
Virtuoso
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 20 rank
Top 10 rank
Top 10 rank
Categories
PRO+
Stuart
July 03, 2015
Beautiful shot, and the depth of field, (Boken), is amazing. I appreciate your description of the challenges you had to overcome. It ads so much to our, the viewers,pleasure. So thank you for a great shot, and description...Voted
PRO+
MaryAnne306
August 16, 2015
Beautiful shot with great DOF. The composition looks like it was carefully planned, not taken on the fly. So nice to have your explanation, too; it surely was a magical moment. And the sure-footedness of the goats is incredible--how do they do that?!
Premium
Platinum
LyndaMc
September 30, 2015
Wonderful shot - and love that you have told us the whereabouts of the event! Looks like you planned the shot, not that it was an unexpected bonus - well done!
PRO
shema
November 29, 2015
love the stories you tell both with the photo and in your writing, wonderful!
PRO+
RionaNally
January 11, 2016
This King and Queen of the mountain deserves to win more photo contests !
PRO
angelabravin
July 11, 2016
Congratulations!!! I just saw that you are one of the finalists in the "On the wildside" contest. Brilliant shot...well done!
rosaposa
January 12, 2017
An absolutely wonderful shot! I am just wondering to myself...how would they get back down without one knocking the other one flying? I rate it as one of those, 'once in a life time moments'! Many congratulations on your awards. So richly deserved!
Rosa (my Mother was from La Coruna)
Rosa (my Mother was from La Coruna)
gman176
March 31, 2019
Not only is there significant information stored in the DNA, but there are complex machines that know what to do with it.
Platinum
nathaliemedeiros
November 14, 2019
Epoustouflant.Magnific Capture!
Thank you very much for Sharing With US. Regards.Nat :O)
Thank you very much for Sharing With US. Regards.Nat :O)
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
In Madrid, Spain, at Sierra de Guadarrama National Park.Time
The photo was taken in the solstice of summer, the 21st of June, exactly at 4:44 am solar time (UTC), that is "exactly" the time when the sun rised at Madrid's latitude that day of the beginning of the summer.Lighting
It was Blue Hour. The lighting was very poor due to the hour and the big mountain we had in front of us in the East.Equipment
I used a Canon EOS 70D camera with a zoom Canon 70-300 / 4-5,6 L IS USM lens.Inspiration
"Maybe the probability of Life spontaneously appearing is so low, that Earth is the only planet in the observable universe in which it happened.” (Stephen Hawking, Life in the Universe). Whatever the case is, the Biosphere is a unique event in the universe. But, what is Life? None of the definitions is completely comprehensive. My new contention (also limited) is that Life is the only system in the universe that is formed by something physical and something intrinsically non-physical, matter and information, atoms and intangible ideas written in a language with infinite possibilities. Any written word is made out of matter, ink and paper or bits in a computer or even ions in our brain, but the information contained in any word, its meaning, has not matter at all. The existence of any idea behind a word or sentence is determined by an essential absence of any physical property. The idea of a form, the information, the significance, the purpose, the meaning, the value, the beauty, have no mass, no volume, no inertia, no weight, no density, no electrical charge, no spin, no color. They cannot be measured in our external world, neither in our interior, nor in any other part of the material universe. The information and the ideas are “nothing”. Zero. But exist. Life is the only physical system that is formed by matter and information, by something and nothingness, by mass and "missingness", by atoms and intangible information of ideas written in a book, the DNA. Life is the only system composed by blood and ideas, by tangible matter and something essentially and intrinsically intangible. Moreover, Life is the only physical system that pursues the exchange and transmission of something non-physical, information and ideas. With Life the universe reached the critical evolutionary stage that is the development of language, particularly the written language. It meant that information could be passed on, from generation to generation, through written books of DNA containing the instructions and construction drawings of life forms, and that these ideas were not like the physical constants or the laws ruling the physical matter but, as with any coded language, could be exchanged, combined and changed to produce infinite results, infinite possibilities, immaterial concepts and meanings. (Note: Homo sapiens has not the copyright of the written language; we only have the rights of the ‘conscious’ written language). The book of DNA of many complex animals, like the human being, contains about three thousand millions letters (the nucleic acids). A paperback novel of four hundred pages has around half a million letters. So a complex animal is made-out of atoms plus the information and ideas contained in 6.000 books of four hundred pages each. However, much of the information coded in these DNA books seems to be (apparently) meaningless (like the filling garbage books in many libraries), so certain scientists, like Stephen Hawking, say that the total amount of "useful" information in the genes of complex animals like the human being is only 100 million bits, 50 times the bits contained in an average novel (one bit of information is the answer to a yes-no question). Hence, any complex animal would be made-out of atoms plus the information, meanings and ideas contained in 6.000 books, out of which 50 books would be the only ones that contain the important instruction manuals, cooking recipes and construction details drawings. In any event, with Life the universe reached a critical evolutionary stage in which incredibly beautiful systems combine matter with non-material ideas and information about forms of so many goodly creatures, ideas that are transmitted in a written language, with the purpose of passing the old information and any new combination of ideas to the next generation, perpetually, apparently chasing to overcome the space-time, apparently pursuing the eternity. The value of a photo, the information that it contains, its beauty and its significance, are also features whose existence is determined by an essential absence of any physical property. Its beauty and meaning are 'nothing'. Zero. But exist. However, although the most unique feature of any Life is its concrete physical form plus the information to produce that form contained in its own written language, paradoxically the beauty of a life moment cannot be measured physically, neither described with words... Like (I hope) the one of this photo. ............................................................................................................................................................ Blue hour. Pedro, my 11 years old son, and I started to walk at 4:00 solar time (UTC), when the dawn had not even broken. It was the Solstice of Summer, June 21. We were hiking the hard west face of Bola del Mundo, one of the highest mountains of Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, in Madrid, at the very center of Spain. Suddenly this family of "Capra Hispanica" appeared in a cliff in front of us. This species of wild goat was nearly extinct. But twenty years ago a group of individuals were re-introduced in this National Park and under this protection they have flourished here. This group of young animals was very active, moving very rapidly in the walls of the cliff, playing with the precipice and from time to time even fighting among themselves. The rising sun was still covered by the high mountain we had in the East and, hence, there was very low light. I was shooting with my Canon 70D and Canon 70-300f L lens, with only 400 ISO because I was looking for dawn landscapes and did not expect any action. So when Pedro suddenly saw these wild goats and alert me of their presence (nothing like the eyes of a kid for discovering animals), I had no time neither the ability to change the ISO, and I had to shoot the fast moving animals at 300f with a low speed (1/20). Thus, most of the photos that I took of that moment are useless. But I was able to shoot this one when the family stopped for a second in this small rocky peak. The photo was taken the 21st of June exactly at 4.44 am solar time, that is "exactly" when the sun raised at Madrid's latitude that day of the Solstice of Summer. This precise timing was by pure chance, but for me it makes the photo even more magical.Editing
I converted the RAW file with DXO OPTICS PRO v10, applying just these three adjustments: 'Smart Lighting' at 50%, the 'Clear Wiew' at 25% and the color 'Vibracy' at 20%. No Photoshop or other post processing were applied.In my camera bag
The mentioned Canon EOS 70D camera with a zoom Canon 70-300 / 4-5,6 L IS USM lens, plus Sigma 18-35 1.8 Art lens and Sigma 50 1.4 Art lens.Feedback
For action shots and catching special moments like this, my tip is stay hungry always with your camera prepared. "Inspiration does exists, but when it comes it has to encounter you at work".
