06 Wednesday Apr 2016
Posted in Photography, Wild Photography
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While on one of my numerous walks around the wonderful nature paths around where I live, I happened to spot this Kookaburra sitting on the rail to the track. Initially I took a lot of photos at quite a distance, but then when I noticed it wasn’t paying me that much heed, I decided to get close. How close?
Pretty close.
23 Wednesday Mar 2016
Posted in Photography, Wild Photography
Being from New Zealand, I’m not one to be overly worried by things like snakes or other reptiles, having never been instilled with any kind of fear of them. Naturally, when I came across a snake on my daily travels here in Australia, which was both exposed and easily photographed I was delighted.
Of course, at the time I just thought this was a very cute snake and an excellent photography subject. What I didn’t realize at the time and possibly should of, is that this snake is incredibly dangerous. What you’re looking at above is a Tiger Snake, which has an incredibly fearsome reputation and is one of the most venomous snakes in the entire world. This specimen in particular is the Eastern Tiger Snake, which helped in some ways to ensure that I didn’t quite realize what I was looking at. Most Tiger Snakes I had seen – in a zoo that is – were a black color with bright yellow stripes, but apparently that’s one of a variety of different variations in coloration. So here I was happily taking photos from a reasonable distance of a snake, which has venom with a mortality rate between 40-60% untreated.
I have to say, this snake was one of the most compliant photography subjects I’ve had in terms of snakes. Most snakes I’ve encountered, like the more numerous tree snakes and red-bellied black snakes (another venomous snake) tend to run away from me (figuratively) when I encounter them. So one that sat around begging for photos? Well that was an opportunity I wasn’t going to miss out on!
30 Wednesday Sep 2015
Posted in Wild Photography
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When I first saw one of these monitor lizards (Goanna’s) for the first time, I was quite taken back by how blaze most of the locals treated them. This lizard, which is around 3′ or so in length and my understanding is they get bigger, was wandering around a BBQ/Camping ground. People had their kids running around and were happily cooking sausages, while these animals were wandering around the vicinity. Naturally other than the confusing and somewhat concerning feeling it gave me, I decided to get close enough to take some photos:
17 Thursday Sep 2015
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If there is one thing I love about Australia, it’s the abundant and vibrant array of wild animals that can be commonly encountered in your own backyard. In this particular case while bringing out the laundry, a hiss from underneath the house drew my attention instantly. Naturally I packed my dacks* initially, thinking it to be a brown snake (it’s highly angry and extremely venomous) but my initial fear turned into delight when I saw this fellow:
This is a Blue Tongue Lizard! Aside from being incredibly cute and not likely to send me to hospital, it immediately demanded a photo session!
