Monkeys

[Ray]

Just a few shots of Macaca Malata interacting with Homo Sapiens. These images are copyrighted so any infringement will be severely punished by boiling in oil.

However, all reasonable and sensible comments on artistic merit will be impartially considered. 

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

No criticism for the monkey in #2... he obviously knows what he is doing

[Justan]

There's a monkey in the 2nd one? 

I’m reminded of a video that circulated a few years ago called “brunette awareness test”

[Rob C]

Monkey Sapiens Too.

Rob C

[stamper]

Just a few shots of Macaca Malata interacting with Homo Sapiens. These images are copyrighted so any infringement will be severely punished by boiling in oil.

Ray do you HONESTLY  think someone will nick them? 

[Ray]

Just a few shots of Macaca Malata interacting with Homo Sapiens. These images are copyrighted so any infringement will be severely punished by boiling in oil.

Ray do you HONESTLY  think someone will nick them? 

Is that question another way of saying that you don't find the shots interesting or alluring, or useful for any purpose? 

[stamper]

 I am too polite to answer that question.

[Ray]

No criticism for the monkey in #2... he obviously knows what he is doing

He's not sure. He's testing the firmness of the ground. 

[stamper]

Did you ask him to do this because you were too timid?

[Rob C]

Did you ask him to do this because you were too timid?

That's the trouble with Scots: they don't believe in a warm-up act.

;-)

Rob C

[Ray]

Did you ask him to do this because you were too timid?

Is that your way of implying that I might be an engineer? I'm not an engineer, and this particular lady's father is probably considerably younger than I am. So, not too timid, but just considerate. 

I imagine the monkeys would appeal to these ladies' maternal instinct. I don't believe I would.

[Rob C]

Is that your way of implying that I might be an engineer? I'm not an engineer, and this particular lady's father is probably considerably younger than I am. So, not too timid, but just considerate. 

I imagine the monkeys would appeal to these ladies' maternal instinct. I don't believe I would.

Don't sell yourself short, Ray; that maternal instinct is responsible fior the most unlikely social/economic mixes you can image: I've seen stunningly beautiful young women on the arms of bowed, wrinkled and yet fat millionaires. Love is blonde blind.

Rob C

[Ray]

Don't sell yourself short, Ray; that maternal instinct is responsible fior the most unlikely social/economic mixes you can image: I've seen stunningly beautiful young women on the arms of bowed, wrinkled and yet fat millionaires. Love is blonde blind.

Rob C

No thanks, Rob. That would be awful to think that some attractive lady was just after my money. I do my best to disguise my true, handsome nature so I don't attract the wrong sort of lady. I'd prefer her to be able to see the beauty within. 

[Rob C]

No thanks, Rob. That would be awful to think that some attractive lady was just after my money. I do my best to disguise my true, handsome nature so I don't attract the wrong sort of lady. I'd prefer her to be able to see the beauty within. 

Well, you only have to show it to her, but wallets still win some battles. But whether or not they are worth fighting is, as you indicated, very much another thing.

Rob C

[Ray]

What I find interesting about this shot of me and the monkey, is that it seems to be technically quite good despite the fact it was taken by a complete stranger.

As soon as the monkey climbed onto my shoulder, I was surrounded by half a dozen or more tourists snapping away with their P&S cameras. I made the comment, out loud, to no-one in particular, "It's a pity I can't take photos of myself."

Immediately, a buxom young lady offered to photograph me with one of my cameras. I was carrying a D700 with 14-24 zoom, and a D7000 with 24-120 VR zoom at the time. I quickly handed her the D7000 which was in manual mode, F5.6 at 1/800th, ISO 100 and single focussing point.

After the young lady had taken several shots from different angles and different focal lengths and the monkey had decided to jump off my shoulder after realising that I didn't have any bananas (so much for love), the young lady handed back my D7000 with the comment that she hoped the images would be okay because she hadn't been able to see any of the shots she'd taken on the camera's LCD screen.

I did my best to explain the reasons why, but in retrospect, if I'd been thinking more quickly, I could have put the camera in aperture priority mode and ISO 800 before handing it to her. I must be getting old. 

All the images were significantly underexposed of course, which is why the camera's review screen would have displayed a largely black image.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Cool story, bro! (as my teen would put it )

However, given the state-of-the-art cameras and sensors today, you might just as well had given it to a monkey and the shot would still be ok.

Funny creatures, those monkeys... they are known to outperform the majority of professional stock market investors, why not photographers then?

[Rob C]

Cool story, bro! (as my teen would put it )

However, given the state-of-the-art cameras and sensors today, you might just as well had given it to a monkey and the shot would still be ok.

Funny creatures, those monkeys... they are known to outperform the majority of professional stock market investors, why not photographers then?

Maybe the monkeys might think photographers a bit primitive, a little infra dig and not really worth all the effort in dealing with them? After all, they have had experience of Shakespeare and typewriters.

Rob C

[Ray]

No! No! The moral of the story is not about monkeys outperforming stock market investors, nor monkeys eventually succeeding in typing the whole works of Shakespeare, given enough time on the typewriter, such as a period of time which would probably be as great as the time it takes for monkeys to evolve into human beings through processes of Darwinian natural selection, but rather the moral of the story is about the importance of the skill of the person who processes the image, in this instance, me. 

[Rob C]

No! No! The moral of the story is not about monkeys outperforming stock market investors, nor monkeys eventually succeeding in typing the whole works of Shakespeare, given enough time on the typewriter, such as a period of time which would probably be as great as the time it takes for monkeys to evolve into human beings through processes of Darwinian natural selection, but rather the moral of the story is about the importance of the skill of the person who processes the image, in this instance, me. 

Ray, what are you saying? That monkeys are a sub-species of sorts? I don't think monkeys would agree at all, and let's face it, they are the ones who are happy and competent up in the higher levels, whereas we need ropes and chains and all sorts of fancy, additional equipment in order to avoid falling to our deaths or at least stubbing our toes. As Kodak said, you take the piccy and we'll do the rest. Sound advice then and probably still sound advice today. The 'phone companies are working on it, too. The 'planet of the apes' isn't just a Hollywood fantasy, you know.

Rob C

[Ray]

Ray, what are you saying? That monkeys are a sub-species of sorts? I don't think monkeys would agree at all, and let's face it, they are the ones who are happy and competent up in the higher levels, whereas we need ropes and chains and all sorts of fancy, additional equipment in order to avoid falling to our deaths or at least stubbing our toes. As Kodak said, you take the piccy and we'll do the rest. Sound advice then and probably still sound advice today. The 'phone companies are working on it, too. The 'planet of the apes' isn't just a Hollywood fantasy, you know.

Rob C

Well, Rob, they definitely seem to be related. Prior to taking the following shots, I'd been sitting by the hotel swimming pool, reading my Kindle DX and watching some young Homo Sapiens frolicking in the pool, trying to push each other under, and having a bit of a wrestle and a bit of fun.

Four or five hours later I found myself witnessing a similar type of behaviour in a different swimming pool, a more natural swimming pool which was the mouth of a freshwater creek flowing into the sea. Instead of Homo Sapien youths, I saw Macaca Malata youths. They looked a bit different to the Homo Sapiens of course. They had lots of hair covering their body and a long tail, but their behaviour seemed very similar, except I would say they were playing with more vigour.

I no longer had my Kindle DX with me, but I was carrying my Nikon DX (D7000), so was able to take a few shots of this extraordinary event.