Reptile & Amphibian Forums

taken with d 70, natural light, f16, 18mm as close as possible to subject, 1/80th of sec

ill add the photo for the above text

Its a Jacky Dragon Amphibolurus muricatus, n/m

Scott,

Nice series picturing animals or color mutations of animals I've never seen before. My favorite I think is the shot of the Jacky Dragon. Nice job capturing the snake with mouth open like that. How bad is its bite?

That skink would surely fetch a gajillion dollars or more over here.

Regards,
Wasil

Wasil,

Yeah I like the Jacky the best too....wide angle is great when you can pull its off....you need good habitat...a barbed wire fence or abit of rubbish can certainly ruin the shot!...also the Jacky is probably a little small for that style of pic.

As for bardicks.....well as you may of guessed my herp expertise is centred on Australian species and within that especially elapids....nothing like playing with Taipans first thing in the morning! Side tracked, back to the subject at hand...That little snake (its was about 600mm tl) was by far the nastiest snake I have ever photographed. From the moment I put it on the rock it was striking and gaping (unusual for an Australian elapid and not expected).
I had the camera mounted on a tripod. The snake was put under a small clear tub. The camera was roughly focused on the snake inside the tub. I had a friend lift the tub and with one hand I focused while the other hand acted as bait for the striking snake, this was one of about 30 shots taken that came out. The venom is currently being tested but its indicated that its quite toxic...quite capable of killing large dogs...so I don't want a bite as there is no A/V.

Regards,
Scott

....nothing like playing with Taipans first thing in the morning!

I imagine that is a better eye opener than my usual 4 cups of coffee but I don’t think I’ll try it.

Interesting stuff regarding the bardicks. Never heard of such a snake. You guys are blessed with a rich and fascinating fauna down there.

I’ve used the “cover with a bowl / tub” technique to photo snakes before too. It’s a great technique. Seems like using a dark bowl and letting it stay on them for a few minutes makes them stay still just a few moments longer when you pull off the cover. But I like the movement captured in the photo, and you managed to get it pretty sharp for a moving snake and a shutter speed of only 1/60. If I’ve got a flash on board I’ll dial the speed up to 1/200 to 1/500 to freeze the action, depending on focal length. This also allows me to usually hand hold the camera instead of using a tripod.

Cheers,
Wasil

Wasil,

Clear tub is better with flighty stuff i have found....the sudden shock of bright lights can cause the subject to shoot off too. as well as when to are playing with things that better not to be bitten by its nice to know where the head is.

Here's an Eastern Bearded Dragon (Pogona barbata) to illustrate about the wide angle shot with a larger subject to background ratio that I think comes up better image.

Regards,

Scott Eipper

Scott,

I’ll admit I’ve never put a bowl over anything with fangs to get a photo. I see your point about clear tub being safer.

Yes, larger subject in foreground looks better with that style of shot. I need to get a 20mm or so to try some of this myself as these are interesting photos. What lens did you use for this one?

Regards,
Wasil

Wk,

Sorry, should have posted the details...28 to 80 zoom nikkor, set on 28mm, came in as close to subject as possible....i was some 200mm from the subject, sunny f16 rule with
the supplied flash used as a fill flash.

The film used was Fuji Sensia 100 asa, on my old f60.

It gives a great effect, with some much of the habitat in clear focus as well!

Regards,

Scott

Yes Scott focus looks nice and sharp throughout. Have you tried that lens on the D70? I'm curious to know how it performs with the digital SLR.

Cheers,
Wasil