And now for something a little different...ish
I'm just back from another week in Florida and whilst trying to get over the jetlag thought I'd proccess an image or two. Didn't take many shots this time round as I've had a trapped nerve giving me grief in my shoulder but still got a few shots here and there.
This alligator was sitting in some pretty ugly looking water (read as dull, reflecting grey skies and very choppy from the wind) near some fishermen at Loxahatchee Reserve which is part of the Everglades. I took a few shots but the water just looked awful and distracting so I decided to experiement a little to make the most of the situation. I went for a slow shutter to try and smooth it out a little, lose some of the light reflections it was creating in the waves and give a slightly more surreal feel with that misty look where he meets the water - rather than defined lines. Took loads of shots as the gator was moving in the water a little so had many attempts to get him sharp! ...oh and that's a Red Tailed Pennant on its head I believe.
D3 with 200-400 VR, 1/5 second, 340mm, ISO 200, f25, resting on the edge of the concrete path about 3 foot above water level (the fishermen assured me it was safe
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Comments
21 commentsShane
Sorry to hear about your shoulder. I hope it's better now.
Billy
you realise the fisherman just wanted some extra "burley", ie fish bait, in the water to attract more fish
Great shot and very unique.
Cheers,
André
Nice one, James
I like the "outside the box" thinking you used to solve your photographic problem and, more importantly, I really like the unique result that came of it. Artistic and unusual - a great combination. In terms of the image itself - what I find most appealing is the monochromatic nature of most of the image and how that makes the gold-coloured skin surrounding the eyes "pop". At this size the Red Tailed Pennant doesn't do much for me, but I suspect it would work well if the image were presented larger or printed.
Very well done - and thanks for sharing the details and result of your experiment...
Brad
One thing shooting at f25 did was show me how dirty my sensor was
What a creative way to deal with the problems you saw in photographing the critter's environment. The results are certainly worth all the shots you took. Congratulations on your persistence as well as your creativity.
By the way, the insect on the gator's head is not a red tailed pennant. In fact, it is not a dragonfly at all. I can see that it is a damselfly, but an ID beyond that is difficult with an image this size. (Just looking at the color pattern, if the color was more of a rusty hue than a brilliant scarlet, it might be a female Ischnura kellicotti (Lilypad Forktail - family Coenagrionidae). You migth like to compare what you saw to illustrations at these Web sites: http://www.macromia.com/Downloads/Zygop_Florida_WebR.pdf ; and http://odonatacentral.org/index.php/GalleryAction.getTaxaImages/taxon_id/43078