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DPChallenge Forums >> Challenge Results >> An Orangutan is not orange, but RED!
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Showing posts 26 - 50 of 56, (reverse)
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 10/12/2005 02:22:12 AM · #26
Originally posted by Cutter:
I say that the name itself came from the blending of reds and browns that could have the effect of an orangey tint, thus the name ORANGutan. But please people, you have to at least acknowledge what I am saying and that I am right.


The name orangutan is derived from:
orang = man
hutan = jungle

The language is Malay. The name has nothing to do with the species' coloration, but rather with its general appearance, which in the early days was thought to resemble "a man of the jungle."
 10/12/2005 02:27:42 AM · #27
Exactly, rgo. My point was, in larger context, was the WAY something sounds/reads can affect someones interpretation. So in this case, the ORANG in the name, is so close to ORANG-E, that it is a correlation game in the head. And not the exactness of reality. Do you see?
 10/12/2005 02:29:21 AM · #28
Which by the way brings up a scary point about the Malay people....Since when do humans have long red fur and walk on all fours? Interesting and deciphering minds those Malays..
 10/12/2005 02:38:18 AM · #29
This is silly. If you printed up a small section of this phot showing only half hair and half grass, and asked people "What two colors do you see?" the vast majority, I believe, would answer "orange and green". Some would answer "reddish brown" probably, but reddish-brown is in the orange family, not the red family. For orange to approach red it has to pass through reddish-orange, and this color is going the other way. Besides which even IF we define (for the sake of argument) the color of the fur as "red", THIS red and THIS green are not complementary. Just naming two colors "red" and "green" doesn't make them complementary. These two colors are of different intensity and value, and don't appear "opposite" each other in any color wheel I've ever seen.

The voters didn't see complementary colors here, and I agree with that.

As to the Malay people and their minds, I don't know of a primitive people that live among apes that do NOT have a superstitious relationship to these apes as being in some ways almost-human. It has nothing to do with whether the Malay people have long red fur (or reddish-brown, as the case may be); it's a matter of facial expressions, the look in the eyes, the complex family structures, the fact that the orangs (or the gorillas) can, and do, stand upright and resemble men.

Robt.
 10/12/2005 02:52:58 AM · #30
Originally posted by Cutter:
Which by the way brings up a scary point about the Malay people....Since when do humans have long red fur and walk on all fours? Interesting and deciphering minds those Malays..


Orangutans, genetically speaking, are a 96.4% match to humans. Perhaps the Malays recognized a cousin long before the genome was laid out by modern science. There is a rich body of mythology and legends surrounding man's relationship with the orangutan, several of which serve as morality and cautionary tales; as in behave in society or you and your kids will end up looking like that. Aesop would have enjoyed reading them.

Nice of you to be so dismissive of a culture and a people you obviously know nothing about.
 10/12/2005 03:37:04 AM · #31
Originally posted by Cutter:
... This shot was of the few if not the only one to capture complementary colors in nature and as nature would have it. ...

What about ....

Top ten!
 10/12/2005 03:47:22 AM · #32
I'm not sure if this thread is a joke or not but I've removed you from my favorite photographers list anyway.

Your comments have been rude and uncalled for as have many of your comments on other people's photographs.

Perhaps it is time to admit that you don't understand the concept of complementary colors, chalk it up to experience because everyone makes mistakes that they can learn from, and apologize to some people.
 10/12/2005 04:37:57 AM · #33
Hey - I didn't enter this nature pic because I knew the voters wouldn't see it as red and green

and I reckon it is a lot closer to red than the orang is. For a challenge on complementary colours I believe you need to get as close to the 'pure' colors as you can.
 10/12/2005 05:13:06 AM · #34
Orangutans, genetically speaking, are a 96.4% match to humans. Perhaps the Malays recognized a cousin long before the genome was laid out by modern science. There is a rich body of mythology and legends surrounding man's relationship with the orangutan, several of which serve as morality and cautionary tales; as in behave in society or you and your kids will end up looking like that. Aesop would have enjoyed reading them.

Nice of you to be so dismissive of a culture and a people you obviously know nothing about.


rgo, you certainly know what you're talking about and I appreciate you lending a most cultured and objective eye to the subject. I come from Malaysia and the Orang Utan is a primate much admired there for its beauty, closeness to the human form and its non-aggresive nature and the species is largely concentrated on Malaysia's western part of Borneo Island . It's definitely got nothing to do with orange-tan. ;) In fact, it's a copper brown that can shine like orange in the sun and look a bit red in the shadows. And Orang Utan is pro-nounced by the Malays as "Or-rung Oo-ton" with each syllable being very distinctive and not swallowed up like "e-rang-nge-tan".

10/12/2005 07:56:20 AM · #35
doesnt look orange or red..looks brown like most monkey's HAHAHAHAHA!!!!
 10/12/2005 08:09:20 AM · #36
Originally posted by BrennanOB:
One naturally lit shot in the top twenty.


Actually there is more than 1 naturally lit shot in the top 20, I count at least 6.
 10/12/2005 08:12:33 AM · #37
Originally posted by Cutter:
I have my share of ribbons in the first 9 months I picked up a camera. ...... Come back to criticize after you have received at least one.


I'd add my comment that your photo DNMC, but I'm not qualified.


10/12/2005 08:19:29 AM · #38
Originally posted by Kita:
I am only a child and I cried when I saw all my one votes but I got a couple of really good comments and that made it all better.


I don't feel guilty as I gave you a '6' for 'bikini bottoms'...

At least it wasn't me who made you cry!

P.S. Incidently, I gave orangutan '5' - For a challenge about colours, I found the colours very muted.
 10/12/2005 08:26:18 AM · #39
I don't see red.
Part of being a good photographer IMO is being able to see reality as it actually is, with textures, colours, and subtleties as opposed to seeing the world with preconceptions.
For example... let's take a photo of a table.
One person can see: 4 legs and flat surface with objects on it. It's a table.
The other person will see the grain of the wood, the finish, the subtle colours, what is on the table, the background, the room it's in, it's function in the room, how well it's placed in the room, how the light falls on it, what might happen at this table at other times, etc.

What I'm basically saying is that arguing the dictionary says something is red is not a good reason for a photographer to use. It's that kind of thinking we should be getting away from to see the world creatively.

This is just my opinion... please take it graciously and don't flame me.
 10/12/2005 08:26:20 AM · #40
Originally posted by Cutter:
it is much harder to capture a specificity of idea naturally than to create it artificially.


Where did you get this idea?

On one screen he looks reddish brown, on my second monitor he looks reddish brown, on my laptop he looks more brown and less red.

It is not a bad photo. But the weeds and flowers in the foreground are very distracting. Especially the lower right hand side. It could be sharper. There is a lot of texture and detail in the coat that just doesn't show through on this photo. And although it is not something you see everyday unless you work at the zoo, the pose of the animal is kind of bland. No expression or expressive gesture. Just sitting there.
 10/12/2005 08:30:26 AM · #41
Originally posted by Cutter:
And I am not complaining about my finish in the challenge at all. I was proving that perceptions lead to common fallacies.


Sounds like complaining to me...and I fail to see where you have proved anything.
 10/12/2005 08:34:21 AM · #42
Originally posted by Cutter:
Exactly, rgo. My point was, in larger context, was the WAY something sounds/reads can affect someones interpretation. So in this case, the ORANG in the name, is so close to ORANG-E, that it is a correlation game in the head. And not the exactness of reality. Do you see?


huh? I think you are confused about how the brain works and perception.
 10/12/2005 10:36:17 AM · #43
Orangutans, genetically speaking, are a 96.4% match to humans. Perhaps the Malays recognized a cousin long before the genome was laid out by modern science. There is a rich body of mythology and legends surrounding man's relationship with the orangutan, several of which serve as morality and cautionary tales; as in behave in society or you and your kids will end up looking like that. Aesop would have enjoyed reading them

Interesting point about 96.4% shared genome, especially since if you take that approach, you must admit that, scientifically of course, we are 25% shared with a rat. Hmmmmm, looks like conclusive evidence to me. How about that all living matter shares many elemental qualities and that does not lend itself to saying we are close cousins to rats too! So does that 75% with a rat, mean that 25% of the tests for medicine we do on them are wrong and won't work on humans.....

And yes, I am familiar with philology and names do play tricks on peoples minds. I am agreeing with you about the etymology of the word orangutan, but in English speaking countries, they see the word like orange in the name and then correlations and conclusions begun to be subtley drawn. Take for instance the word apple; a majority of people would think of a red apple first, but as we know there are many other varieties.

And to many of the skeptics, I was referring to naturally OCCURRING, complementary colors. Ones that we could be somewhere like the middle of the jungle and see them in front of our eyes.

And BobsterL, I agree with you on the whole, my entire point was to simply dispell the notion that orangutan were orange to begin with. And yes, I do take a lot of stock into what someone says who has much more knowledge on the matter than me. And the dictionary, is a pretty standard place to start for anyone.
 10/12/2005 10:54:17 AM · #44
Originally posted by Cutter:
but in English speaking countries, they see the word like orange in the name and then correlations and conclusions begun to be subtley drawn.


What makes you think this? The fact that your shot did not do as well as you would have liked? I have never made a correlation as you suggest for the name orangutan and just asked about 20 people here at work and none of them did either. What is the basis for your statement?
10/12/2005 10:58:26 AM · #45
Originally posted by Cutter:
I am agreeing with you about the etymology of the word orangutan, but in English speaking countries, they see the word like orange in the name and then correlations and conclusions begun to be subtley drawn.


I've always pronounced it o-RANG-u-tan - I've never made the connection to 'orange'.

Whenever I see the word I actually think of Clyde out of 'Every Which Way But Loose' .... !
 10/12/2005 11:01:43 AM · #46
I also have never connected orangutans with the color orange.
 10/12/2005 11:02:08 AM · #47
I certainly don't see it or pronounce it "orange" atan, but many people do. This is common. Ask any zookeeper.

Here is one quote to the Brookfield Zoo, which briefly tries to squash the idea that some people do exactly this....

Orangutans are orange
Orangutans are colorful mammals, but they were not named for their distinctive orange-ish color, as it may sound. Anyway, not all orangutans are orange. Some are reddish-orange and some are maroon. In fact, "orangutan" is the Malay word for "forest people" or "man of the forest."

This proves many of you are just being hard headed. And not trying to see the fairly basic and meaningless point here.
 10/12/2005 11:04:06 AM · #48
Most redheads (human or otherwise) don't actually have red hair. It usually appears some shade of orange (even if you think of orange as reddish), and this one is no exception. Compare the "reds" in your orangutan to this honeybee:



I certainly don't think of the honeybee as red, and the color is similar. Regardless, I suspect that much of the low score is simply because it's not one of your most appealing shots.
 10/12/2005 11:04:09 AM · #49
Originally posted by Cutter:

fairly basic and meaningless point here.

I agree.
 10/12/2005 11:07:37 AM · #50
sensible point there scalvert, at least for the most part. Except that no one will admit that orangutans have red-brown fur and insist it is orange. That is why it dnmc and scored low.
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