I live in front of one of the many canals of Amsterdam, together with many ducks, seagulls, swans and other birds. I had never seen a black swan though, until today. There were two in front of my house.
I had no time to fetch my camera and used my iPhone8 instead.
My husband reminded me of the meaning of the “black swan expression”, and that made the photo session even more interesting.
I found this explanation at Wikipedia:
The “black swan theory or theory of black swan events is a metaphor that describes an event that comes as a surprise, has a major effect, and is often inappropriately rationalized after the fact with the benefit of hindsight. The term is based on an ancient saying that presumed black swans did not exist – a saying that became reinterpreted to teach a different lesson after black swans were discovered in the wild.
The theory was developed by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Seeing black swans was beyond what I had expected, and I took this as a good omen to start my week believing in the impossible.
How many times have we given up pursuing what we want because we give too much room for limiting beliefs, like: I cannot, I don’t know, I’m not able, etc. We may have believed that black swans don’t exist!
My blogger friend Desleyjane at Musings of a Frequent Flying Scientist runs the Weekly Regular Random challenge. See here her newest post as well as the one of Julz here at Julie photography.
I joined them today, as I found the ideal subject to match with the instructions. They may start believing in this theory from now on, as I finally joined the challenge!
Would you like to join in the RegularRandom crew?
Here’s how:
• choose a subject or a scene
• spend five minutes photographing it – no more!
• try to not interfere with the subject, instead see it from many angles, look through something at it, change the light that’s hitting it
• have fun!
• tag your post #regularrandom and ping back to this post
Sights & Insights 
Wow! I’d never heard of the black swan theory, but it wouldn’t make much sense here in NZ, where black swans are really common.
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It’s a theory commonly used in finance and economics, says my husband.
How nice to have more of them there. I was so happy to see those, as I’d never seen one before.
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Thanks for that. 🙂 Now I want to find out more about the black swan theory.
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You will be able to find a lot on the internet.
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How amazing to see the black swans, Lucile, and so glad you had your phone to capture the event! I’ve never heard of the theory either, but it makes sense. I can’t wait to see my first Bald Eagle (at least on photographic range)…I wonder if there is a theory for that besides “lucky duck?” 🙂
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It was amazing, Terri. I was excited as a child, making photos and attracting their attention so that they wouldn’t go away so fast. I hadn’t heard of the Bald Eagle theory yet, but you could create one!
Thanks for popping up!
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. . . hopefully, not an omen . . .
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I think they’re beautiful, Lucile. I especially like how in the first shot, the curve of the two necks almost makes a perfect heart. 🙂
janet
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Hello Janet, nice to ‘see’ you here.
They were so cute and playful that I almost couldn’t get a sharp picture. I was trying to get a full heart shape, but they moved a lot.
Thanks for commenting and have a lovely week.
Lucile
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Fabulous. Love that first shot where they are making a heart shape. Thank you for joining x.
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Thanks! You’d have loved to watch them cuddling. Xx
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So so sweet 💕
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The texture and color of those feathers! – it’s almost like the light is shining up from underneath. I think you and the iPhone did quite a lovely job on these captivating creatures!
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I also found the texture very beautiful, Lex. The iphone camera has improved a lot and always amazes me on what it can deliver.
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These are just delightful Lucile. I’ve never heard that theory either but it sounds good! Lovely collection and perfect for the prompt of regular random! 😊
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They were so adorable, Debbie. Thanks for the lovely comment. 😘
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Aww, black swans! Even before I read your text, I thought, wait, what, black swans don’t exist, right? I’m so ignorant. It’s a powerful metaphor though.
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Hey, Mara, nice to see you here. You’re not the only one who thought that they don’t exist. The metaphor is really good, isn’t it?
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Nice to see you, actually! You’re as rare as the black swans. (At least here, I haven’t seen such a creature in my entire life.) And it’s great that you ventured to shoot birds, though you specialise in people. Of course, I’m biased, as I tend to prefer animals to people, I guess…
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Haha, indeed I’ve been more absent than the black swans. I cannot but shoot more birds than people, as there many in front of my house. I wish there would be more people too so I wouldn’t need to go out to ‘chase’ them.
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I have more people than birds in front of my windows: there’s a bar right under my balcony, so I get to see things…
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You could make some photos or videos!!
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I would but I’d be too conspicuous and you don’t want to upset drunk people!
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And I’d not want you to be unsafe there.
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