Camel Hoof...

[Chris of Arabia]

A few shots from a trip to the camel souk about 10 minutes drive from the compound I live on in Riyadh. I've been threatening to do this for a while and thought it was about time I did something about it. Given that I took a fair few shot whilst lying on the ground, it's perhaps as well that camel dung is pretty dry stuff - apparently though, Eau D'Poop is not a good fragrance on me - she has no taste...

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5.

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8.

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10.

11.

12.

 

[Jamiebear]

I absolutely #10!!
Those are all really cool pictures, i didnt know baby camels looked like that with all the curly hair!!
#11 is one of my faves too..nice work!

 

[Chris of Arabia]

I was pleased with #10 too. Whilst it's not too clear at this resolution, his eyes aren't absolutely sharp though. The light wasn't great by the time I took it unfortunately and getting focus was a bit tricky. He thought it was great seeing the pictures on the back of the camera though. I'll run some prints off in the next day or so and take them back down there for them - I guess they'll be around and about.

 

[Antarctican]

Oh, what a fun thread! Love seeing the baby camels (and the white one looks almost like a lamb in pic #2). The ones with mom close by or nuzzling the baby really appeal to me (5, 8 and 9) as well as the fisheye view in #11 (makes me laugh)

Interesting too to see how 'addidas' is spelled over there. And I love the shot of the little boy (#10) ...wonderful shot with that dof and the camels in the background. Sad to see they still brand the animals. Surely the mark on the face of the camel in #6 is just a scar and not a brand?

Thanks for sharing these!

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Oh, what a fun thread! Love seeing the baby camels (and the white one looks almost like a lamb in pic #2). The ones with mom close by or nuzzling the baby really appeal to me (5, 8 and 9) as well as the fisheye view in #11 (makes me laugh)

#11 was quite tricky to take - just checked and the focal length was 18mm on the 17-55mm. Whilst some are a bit skittish, many are extremely curious to find out what exactly you are - when I took the camera from my eye, it had its nose about 18" from my face - that's kind of up close and personal given the size they are.

Interesting too to see how 'addidas' is spelled over there.

Nope, that's a genuine counterfeit overcoat - Adidas had nothing to do with it...

And I love the shot of the little boy (#10) ...wonderful shot with that dof and the camels in the background.

He was a bit cute and quite a character

Sad to see they still brand the animals. Surely the mark on the face of the camel in #6 is just a scar and not a brand?

Looking at them reasonably closely, it's only the coat that is branded, it's extremely thick. No self respecting camel farmer wants to hurt the animal. Infection would set in very quickly in that climate and camels take things very personally. Like elephants, they don't forget and stories abound of ones that have taken revenge at a later date, having suffered previously. As far as the mark on#6 is concerned, I'm pretty sure that is a brand.

Thanks for sharing these!

There may be more...

 

[Chris of Arabia]

A couple more...

13.

14.

Just checked another shot that didn't make the grade and some are definitely branded on their face.

 

[Dagwood56]

They are all great shots, but my personal favovrites are 8 through 12.

 

[Lyncca]

These are really amazing shots and great so show for people who wouldn't get the opportunity to see this. I'm not sure which is my favorite, but I really love the mama camel with her baby.

 

[Harmony]

awwwwwwwww!

what a cute series! i love the baby camel, and his/her (?) curly hair!

 

[kundalini]

I'm certainly glad you decided to use the proper use of the animals foot. Otherwise we would be having a completely different discussion.

There are several favorites for me, such as I have always wanted to see the backside of a camel as in #6 and so much more the act of a mother nuzzling the backside of a calf (what are the young called?) as in #8. All seriousness, the young boy in #10 is superb, but in #13 he seems to have grown some ears on the top of his head.

But in all seriousness, #11 & 12 are my favorites.

Well done Chris. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Spidy]

Nice job! When ever I look at camels, I smile. They are so cute!

Thanks for pointing out the ears on the boy ... too funny!!

 

[Mesoam]

nice shots, did you get spit at???

 

[Chris of Arabia]

I saw the boys' extra set of ears as soon as I opened the file for processing. At the time I was too busy trying to make sure I captured the image of him with 'his' camel. I thought about trying to clone them out, but I'm not sure I could have done too great a job of it.

I didn't notice any of them spitting, but I gather they can - I believe they only do it if they're annoyed. To be honest I thought they were quite docile and were as curious about me as I was about them. I'm sure I had a rather different aroma to the average camel farmer.

These shots were only done near the road that runs past the souk and even then only on the fringes of it. This was more of a test run, as I'm planning on getting into the main body of the area which is vast (and isn't littered with power pylons). Hopefully I'll be able to capture rather more of the life down there than just the animals themselves.

 

[The Empress]

I really like 5, 9, and 13 myself lol, great series!