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The Imaginary Sauropod

Photography Objects posted on Mar 25, 2013
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Description


The sight of a crane inspired thoughts of more prehistoric things: animals of a gargantuan sort…sauropods…dinosaurs…inspirations for countless childhood dreams, fantasies, and on occasion, nightmares. Our understanding of prehistoric animals has changed, considerably. No longer are they visualized as show-witted, ponderous critters. No longer do we assume that they were, uniformly, cold blooded, though it’s likely that most of them were. No longer do we imagine them with tails dragging behind them. We know, beyond any shadow of a doubt that they used their tails as…well…posterior-mounted gyroscopes, and studies of spinal compression in the bones of one particular species seems to indicate a habit of flicking their tails like massive, fleshy whips. Bone-compression patterns in the fossils of both Apatosaurus (otherwise known as Brontosaurus) and Diplodocus indicate that members of these species might have cracked their tails like…well…like impressively big bullwhips. By analyzing fossils and developing computer models of sauropod tails, Drs. Nathan P. Myhrvold of the Microsoft Corporation, and Philip J. Currie of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Drumheller, Alberta struck up an email correspondence, did some science stuff, and determined that it’s more than likely that famous, long-necked sauropods not only cracked their tails like whips, but in doing so, established themselves as the first creatures on earth to break the sound barrier. Well, the first creatures on earth to allow specific parts of their anatomy to do that sound-barrier-breaking thing. Chuck Yeager remains well ensconced in his reputation as the first human to do so, but he’s not the first biological entity to do so. The findings surrounding the “supersonic tail” hypothesis (actually, only the tip of the tail would “flick” at supersonic velocities) have sparked controversy within the scientific community, and it’s likely that there’s something else at play behind the whole sound-barrier-breaking excitement rippling through dinosaur-land, but it brings a lot of other things into sharp focus. Dinosaurs, no matter what we think of them now, were probably far more interesting (and complicated) than we’ll ever know. Fossils aren’t in the habit of telling us very much, after all…not directly, at least. I thought of this because of a crane, seen looming over a bed of rubble at what was once a hospital (with a notorious reputation.) The crane made me think of a sauropod, a rather…metallic one. As I snapped this photo, I imagined a similarly sized, similarly proportioned reptilian thing, mincing its way through the growling, dusty destruction Corey, Kate, and I had gone to photograph. I amused myself with the sounds of Diplodocus and Brontosaurus songs, rumbling in some near-subsonic register, while the soft-stepping giants themselves, made their way in an easterly direction. (Contrary to popular rumor, dinosaurs didn’t lumber any more than elephants do. It would seem that lumbering around like drunken behemoths is something that only humans are able to manage…or dogs, if they’re particularly clumsy.) Sauropods, as fossil evidence suggests, measured their steps in a somewhat dainty fashion, which just goes to show…dinosaurs are likely far weirder than we’ll ever be able to imagine. This scene inspired such thoughts and a giggle as I imagined a crane mincing its way across a demotion site. I’d initially taken the photo in black and white, but after looking at it for a while I decided that a quasi-sepia treatment would do some good. As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re all having a great week.

Comments (16)


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Faemike55

10:28PM | Mon, 25 March 2013

makes me think of one of the final scenes in Mel Brooks movie, Life Stinks where he and Jeffery Tambor battle it out with large crane earth movers

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Wolfenshire

10:48PM | Mon, 25 March 2013

How do you do it!?! It's awesome, really. You find things that I would walk past without a second glance and turn them into really cool art.

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wysiwig

10:50PM | Mon, 25 March 2013

Your narrative has me imagining a prehistoric scene. A Velociraptor comes running up behind an Apatosaurus. Lunch! And with a flick of its tail the Apatosaurus sends the smaller creature flying into the bushes. I can see where this image would take the imagination. Sepia was a great choice.

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beachzz

10:57PM | Mon, 25 March 2013

this reminds me of the newer version of a movie i just saw and now can't remember the name of. invasion of the body snatchers maybe? anyway, there were these REALLY bad creatures that could just make people turn into thin air and they sure looked like this!! be careful!!

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auntietk

1:00AM | Tue, 26 March 2013

Love the ominous clouds and the slashing diagonal composition. Excellent stuff!

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durleybeachbum

1:27AM | Tue, 26 March 2013

A powerful compo and a great rambling.

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prutzworks

5:20AM | Tue, 26 March 2013

cool title and POV monochrome works well

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Cyve

7:51AM | Tue, 26 March 2013

Beautiful capture !!!

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sharky_

11:05AM | Tue, 26 March 2013

Love the lighting and POV.... Great Shot! Aloha

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ragouc

1:39PM | Tue, 26 March 2013

Very good light/coulour and POV.

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helanker

2:42PM | Tue, 26 March 2013

HAHA! Now you make me think about mister Flintstone and his work :) I can still hear the sounds of his feetm when he started his car and the sound of the screeming bird when the days work was over. :-)

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vis151

3:25PM | Tue, 26 March 2013

I thought only strange things went thru my head. hahaha

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kgb224

4:58PM | Tue, 26 March 2013

Superb capture and post work my friend. God bless.

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sandra46

6:38PM | Tue, 26 March 2013

superlative work!

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MrsRatbag

11:28AM | Wed, 27 March 2013

The clouds are apocalyptic, with that ominous brightening centrally located behind the "head"...excellent verbal imagery to go along with the shot. These things remind me of the same thing!

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flavia49

6:03PM | Thu, 28 March 2013

marvellous picture


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Photograph Details
F Numberf/8.0
MakeCanon
ModelCanon PowerShot A1000 IS
Shutter Speed1/1250
ISO Speed80
Focal Length6

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