Comment by salimmadjd | Hacker News Reader

Comment by salimmadjd | Hacker News Reader

OT - One of my most personal profound moments was chasing this winter photo [0] and sharing it with a coyote.

I wanted to take a night shot of the Cathedral Rock (that I had seen a few years earlier but didn't take a good photo of it) under the full moon and fresh snow. It took me several years of driving up to Yosemite when there was snow storm and one night I got lucky.

It was around 11 PM when the storm stopped and sky started to clear up. I drove to the spot set my camera and I was able to take two images before the mist disappeared.

While I was taking the long exposure photo all alone in middle of night. There was such profound sense of being so small in a universe so much vaster than what I'm able to comprehend.

Out of nowhere, this coyote quietly walked up to me and stood right next to me looking the same view. I wasn't sure if it was going to bite me or do anything, but it seemed so harmless that I just looked at it and then we both looked at the view. Shortly after the coyote walked away and the mist vaporized, but left something indelible in me.

[0] https://sf.smugmug.com/BW-Landscape/i-tPZrsLz/A

I kind of feel like if you somehow combined a succinct version of the origin story with the photo in the right format, it could become a popular poster or similar. That's a powerful story and it's a very special picture in a world with no shortage of good photos, so that's saying something. It that makes sense.

And I'm not really asking you to commercialize it per se. I'm more saying that the story adds something of value to an already breathtaking photo and it's the sort of thing people hunger for, especially now with a global crisis uppermost in the minds of most people.

I mean it could be a one page static website. It doesn't have to be a poster. But it seems like a worthy thing to package together and make more readily accessible to a world hungering for beauty and spirituality and sustainable practices so we don't go cutting our own throats, so the world continues to function so we can continue to live and breathe.

Thanks! I do agree, we all need something during this challenging times to be reminded who we are the core and that thins will be okay again.

I'll see if I can put it on a one-pager or something.

Cheers!

Sounds like a spirit. I had a similar visit from an owl during my wife’s pregnancy.

Sounds like an animal encountering a larger animal and deciding to not engage.

As a reductionist I'd have to agree, but I like the idea that the coyote was wanting to share that moment while thinking (and not being able to articulate) "Nice view, huh?"

Not totally absurd that animals would have some sort of innate appreciation or sense of beauty -- infants certainly come hard-wired for recognizing symmetry. I wouldn't be surprised if the "awe" that we get from a large landscape or a rothko painting is some sort of reward system biased towards exploration.

I'm not denying that, I just think "spirit" is quite the leap.

Once you realize spirit describes the human wave-function you will stop being uncomfortable with the word.

This just raises more questions

Epic photo. Spending anytime with a coyote seems to be mystical in a way. I shared some time with one at another national park some years ago. It’s crazy when you are both experiencing the same thing, but not. There is something about looking a coyote in the eye that words can’t describe.

Thanks for sharing your story!

Man, what a gorgeous photo! And the coyote story is really nice.

That's one heck of a shot, nice work. Puts my landscape work in perspective. The 2 min exposure does wonders there, especially with the stars suggesting motion. Something I would have probably done in post, had this been my shot, would be to either crop out or burn the bottom to avoid leading the eye there, given that the mountain is the true center piece.

Beautiful shot. Thank you for sharing the photo and the story!

That's an absolutely amazing photo

Really beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

Azo contact print that shit.

Just wanted to say great photos.

awesome story and epic photo, thanks!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com