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My House Mate


My House Mate
Photo Information
Copyright: Ram Thakur (ramthakur) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2980 W: 108 N: 7759] (25133)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-06-14
Categories: Reptiles
Camera: Nikon D200, Sigma 70-300 4-5.6 APO DG MACRO, 58mm UV
Exposure: f/22, 1/250 seconds
Details: (Fill) Flash: Yes
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): jmp *1, Reptiles - Geckos 1, In Tandem With My Muses: Photography [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-06-14 5:52
Viewed: 1004
Points: 62
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
GECKO LIZARD

Friends, this is my resident Gecko. I rarely see it except late at night when it is on the prowl within the house to look for food. Only God knows what it feeds on. One thing is certain though; it certainly ate the moth I had brought home from a KFC outlet last month. Though I had let the moth out after taking its pictures, it still came back. I saw it in my kitchen the next morning, but by the time I came back from work, it was gone. Maybe it was destined to have come packaged for my house lizard!

Geckos are small to average sized lizards belonging to the family Gekkonidae which are found in warm climates throughout the world. Geckos are unique among lizards in their vocalizations, making chirping sounds in social interactions with other geckos. Geckos are unusual in other respects as well. Most geckos have no eyelids and instead have a transparent membrane which they lick to clean. Many species will, in defense, expel a foul-smelling material and feces onto their molester. Many species have specialized toe pads that enable them to climb smooth vertical surfaces and even cross indoor ceilings with ease. These antics are well-known to people who live in warm regions of the world where several species of geckos make their home inside human habitations. These species (for example the house gecko) become part of the indoor menagerie and are seldom really discouraged because they feed on insect pests.
Geckos come in various colors and subtle patterns and are somewhat rubbery looking. Some species can change color to blend in with their surroundings or with temperature differences.
Some species are parthenogenic, the females capable of reproducing without copulating with a male. This improves the geckos' ability to spread to new islands.
The toes of the gecko have attracted a lot of attention, as they adhere to a wide variety of surfaces, without the use of liquids or surface tension. Recent studies of the spatula tipped setae on gecko footpads demonstrates that the attractive forces that hold geckos to surfaces are van der Waals interactions between the finely divided setae (almost 500,000 Setae on each foot, and each of these tipped with between 100 and 1,000 spatulae) and the surfaces themselves. These kinds of interactions involve no fluids; in theory, a boot made of synthetic setae would adhere as easily to the surface of the International Space Station as it would to a living room wall. Geckos' toes seem to be "double jointed," but this is a misnomer. Their toes actually bend in the opposite direction from our fingers and toes. This allows them to overcome the van der Waals force by peeling their toes off surfaces from the tips inward. In essence, this peeling action alters the angle of incidence between millions of individual setae and the surface, reducing the van der Waals force. Geckos' toes operate well below their full attractive capabilities for most of the time. This is because there is a great margin for error depending upon the roughness of the surface, and therefore the number of spatulae in contact with that surface. If a gecko had every one of its spatulae in contact with a surface, it would be capable of holding aloft a weight of 133 kg. The family Gekkonidae is divided into five subfamilies, containing numerous genera of gecko species. Many geckos are kept as pets and will eat various kinds of insects and sometimes fruit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gecko

TFL
cicindela, Jamesp, claudine, pablominto, JORAPAVI, eqshannon, garyfudge, jaycee, gannu, cataclysta, jcoowanitwong, dew77, saguzar, scottevers7, marjan, anel, mikou, horia, meyerd, uleko has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To jmp: Why notramthakur 2 06-17 03:59
To OzBY: Hiramthakur 1 06-15 06:40
To Maite: Hiramthakur 1 06-15 05:59
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Critiques [Translate]

Dear Ram!
What a great portrait and close-up in one picture! Fantastic DOF and colours. I like especially gecko's legs :)
Bravo also for the very informative note!
Greetings,
Radomir

  • Great 
  • Jamesp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1252 W: 0 N: 4842] (14380)
  • [2007-06-14 6:08]

Hi Ram

This is a great portrait. In this case I think the bright BG helps bring out the detail in the gecko very well. The colours are lovely and the eye wonderful.

James

  • Great 
  • joey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1697 W: 242 N: 5609] (19923)
  • [2007-06-14 6:10]

Hi Ram,
a great shot.
Sharp and well composed.
And the main thing is that it's original.
Well done,
Joey

Great close-up Ram
Well lexposed with teh flash, great sharpness. I especially like the detail in the eye which is often hard to get the right exposure for.
Well composed.

Chris

Hello Ram,
You almost have a little zoo home now :) I like your friends! This is a superb capture of this cute fellow that we don't have here. The only time I see lizards was in the tropics and I must say that I always like them :) Details, pale BG and colors are beautiful and your notes, much interesting. Thanks,
Claudine

Hello Ram,
Those are funny creatures indeed!
The ones I have seen were probably more shy, since I never was able to get as close as this... But then I didn't think of bribing them with food, hehehe!
Well framed presentation, very good details in the reptile!
Greetings,
Pablo -

Hola Ram,
Es curioso que publiquemos desde sitios tan lejanos, y coincidamos tan a menudo.
La imagen que nos presentas es de gran calidad por su nitidez, luz y detalle, TFS, como siempre la nota muy simpàtica, siento que te haya comido la polilla, :)) me ha hecho sonreir. Un cordial saludo, amigo
José Ramón

very nice. TFS Ori

Gee....our KFC carries only chicken. You lucky folks living in Saudi Territory can get anything at your KFC....how intriguing.

...and yes I was going to ask if you were a single man, but now know as you say you have a room mate. Well taking pics of him seems to be a passion which shows clearly and I mean that literally.

This is a super capture my good friend...

Bob Pacific NW ...being the Buddhist today

  • Great 
  • Mana Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1714 W: 24 N: 4988] (16346)
  • [2007-06-14 9:03]

Hi Ram,
You are a master of creating extraordinary shots from the most ordinary subjects. We all live with these geckos in our homes and have our own experiences with them but hardly have we thought of them being our subject. Fabulous close-up shot with amazing sharpness and details. The patterned colours on its body, the eyes and the legs are awesome. It is such a joy to watch this presentation. Kudos.
TFS.
Sumon

Wow, Ram, that's quite a portrait.
He's quite a nice room mate.

Excellent details.

Gary

her yönüyle çokçok güzel bir çalışma
bravo
perfect

  • Great 
  • Maite Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 982 W: 64 N: 1200] (4936)
  • [2007-06-14 10:42]
  • [+]

WOW!!
What a marvellous capture, Ram!! Magnificent close-up. I like a lot those fingers.
No time for more.
Best wishes
Maite

hello mr.thakur,
very sharp image with good details of the texture of the skin, looks like you and me are going in the same direction: choosing reptiles as the models :-). i like the eyes quite a lot,
tfs & regards
pankaj

  • Great 
  • jaycee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1791 W: 8 N: 4653] (15039)
  • [2007-06-14 10:55]

Hi Ram,

I love the notes and I love the gecko. To say the least, a very unusual pov. I find it amusing. Marvelous details - those hands are something. I like his eye too. A wonderful post.

Jane

  •      
  • OzBY Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 182 W: 2 N: 310] (1069)
  • [2007-06-14 11:12]
  • [+]

Hello Ram,

Great picture of this Gecko.
Great color, sharpness, DOF and background.

Oz

Hello Ram
Interesting presentation of interesting animal. I think that the light was a little bit to strong and buckground is overexposed. It is great that all the impoertant details (including legs) of the gecko are clearly wisible
Best wishes
Krzysztof

Hi Ram,
This is very nice close up. Skin texture are clearly captured and well presented. TFS this impressive picture.
JC

bonjour ram
belles couleurs et bonne netteté,ce que j'apprecie le plus sur cette photo c'est le detail des pattes qui nous montre bien les ventouses.
bravo.
laurent

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5171 W: 297 N: 4050] (13069)
  • [2007-06-14 14:06]

Hello Ram,
I'd never seen this before.Colors,sharpness and framing are wonderful.Eyes are amazing.
TFS..:-)

  • Great 
  • demeve Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 514 W: 8 N: 1099] (4072)
  • [2007-06-14 15:02]

Hello Ram, wonderful gecko with stunning collors and details, I've never seem a house gecko with such beautiful collors and patterns, the ones that I see are pale pink or pale grey. Great BG, excellent POV, and composition..Well done!.

Olá Ram,
Temos muitas destas amiguinhas aqui no brasil,
( a mulherada aqui morre de medo ... rs ).
òtima macro imagem muito bem capturada ...
Parabéns, até mais..
HenriqueººBrasil

Hi Ram,
What a beautiful mate, ha, ha. Incredible colours it has. Details are simply superb. A very nice close up.
Regards
Hernán

Hi Ram,
An excellent shot on this Gecko. Nice colors, and you have really brought out the detail and textures of his skin. You gotta love those feet. Nice shot!
Scott

hi Ram, exceletnshot with good POV and useful notice,
Marjan

  • Great 
  • anel Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1175 W: 0 N: 1980] (8407)
  • [2007-06-15 2:54]

Hello Ram,
This is quite a charming fellow you have in your house.They really look like alien. I didn't know that Gekos live also in houses. I love its feet! Thank's also for the very interesting note.
Have a nice day
Anne

  • Great 
  • gannu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 929 W: 4 N: 2322] (10812)
  • [2007-06-15 4:44]

Sir, May be it is just want to spend the balance left days with yu. nice info sharing sir. Tku Ganesh

  • Great 
  • ridvan Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 556 W: 0 N: 1138] (5140)
  • [2007-06-15 12:11]

selam ram; really excellent close up shot of this lizard , very good details presented ,nice BG and POV well captured with nice colours TFS
regards
ridvan

  • Great 
  • mikou Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 863 W: 73 N: 1348] (5265)
  • [2007-06-15 17:16]

Hi Ram.
This is great detailed capture and very impressive close-up.Well focused with superb sharp details.Well composed with great POV.Colors are very nice and good exposure white color on BG.I like his wonderful eye and amazing legs.Great your macro work.My compliments,thanks for sharing this superb picture with exotic animal for me and thanks for very informative note too.
Best greetings Milos.

  • Great 
  • jmp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1836 W: 94 N: 2338] (8400)
  • [2007-06-15 17:28]
  • [+]

Wow Ram!
One can't ask more in details! Veins in eyes can be seen clearly!
Absolutely interesting note about van der Waals forces! I'll use this information when teaching this subject to my studient!
Best regards, José M.
PS. Can I use your photo as an example? I'll just use it in my own classes, not in any printed or public materials.

  • Great 
  • horia Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2084 W: 216 N: 3767] (12502)
  • [2007-06-19 16:57]

Hi Ram

I know i missed some of your last posts - with getting ready to leave and being gone - but my eyes really stopped at this one. (you know i'm a big reptile lover :) )
I would be very happy to have such a cute flat-mate :)) I wouldn't have any mosqito problem for sure :))

This is a terrific close-up and one with charming details and lovely colors.
I particularly like that amazing eye with that very niely visible vertical pupil.

Bravo and TFS
Horia

  • Great 
  • meyerd Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 388 W: 63 N: 1146] (3527)
  • [2007-06-20 14:42]

Wow, Ram,
talking about a master piece. I knew already that you are the guy who can do portraits from behind and gets away with it. But here it is a technique that really worked wonders. The beauty of the toes, the eye, the head. My congratulations!
Best regards
Dietrich

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2470 W: 168 N: 7478] (23630)
  • [2007-06-21 12:56]

Hello Ram,
I've missed this splendid close-up of this interesting Gecko. You've captured amazing details of the feet and the eye! Most impressive! The texture of the skin also shows up very well. Well done!
Many thanks, Ulla

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