<< Previous Next >>

Eastern Water Dragon


Eastern Water Dragon
Photo Information
Copyright: Richard Cridland (rcrick) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 717 W: 38 N: 1560] (5019)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-10-14
Categories: Reptiles
Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark III, Canon EF100-400 F4.5-5.6L IS USM, SanDisk Extr. IV 2Gb, Hoya 77mm Pro1 DMC UV LPF
Exposure: f/11, 1/80 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Theme(s): Reptiles - Monitors, monsters, & dragons 1, Brisbane Botanic Gardens at Mt Coot-tha [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-10-15 5:23
Viewed: 779
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 24
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
It’s been a while since my last visit to the Brisbane Botanic Gardens at Mt Coot-tha so my wife and I popped down the other day for a visit.

As we were strolling around the gardens I spotted this Eastern Water Dragon hiding in the grass, and as I approached it, it dropped its head.

Really wanting to get a decent shot of this I thought the best thing to do was to think like a Water Dragon, so I dropped to the ground and lay in wait.

Needless to say my wife is used to my strange behaviour that sometimes happens when were out walking, and she kept on walking ;0) After a couple of minutes of laying on the grass it decided to pop up have a look around, and I managed to get of a couple of shots.

The eastern water dragon grows to around 80-90cm in length, much of which is tail. The colour consists of shades of grey or brown with a series of black bands on the back and tail and a black stripe on the side of the head behind the eye.

The underside is creamy-white, although males may have a vivid red on some or most of the belly and chest. There are enlarged scales forming a crest down the middle of the head, back and tail. The legs are relatively long and powerful and the strong tail is flattened on the sides to assist with swimming.

Male water dragons will sometimes fight each other for territories. Such battles can become quite severe with the two combatants standing on their hind legs in an attempt to push the other over on to its back.

It is a good tree climber and likes to laze on branches overhanging the water. If disturbed it will drop into the water and swim to the bottom to wait for the danger to pass, staying under for up to 30 minutes if necessary.

The diet mainly comprises small reptiles, worms, frogs, insects, vegetation, fruit, small mammals and molluscs.

The males defend a territory and a harem of females, carrying out an impressive series of head bobs and arm waves to discourage other intruding males. The females lay around a dozen eggs in an excavated hole in sandy soil above the floodline. These will hatch in approximately three months. The young are miniature replicas of the adults and are able to fend for themselves as soon as they hatch.

Ref:- www.reptilepark.com.au/animals

Details; Shot Raw converted to Jpeg, cropped slightly and resized, re-sharpened for posting.

Camera Model Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Shooting Date/Time 14/10/2008 11:41:12 AM
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/80
Av( Aperture Value ) 11.0
Metering Mode Partial Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 400
Lens EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Focal Length 400.0 mm
Image Size 666x800
Image Quality Jpeg
Flash Off
White Balance Mode Auto
White balance compensation A1 G1
AF Mode AI Servo AF
Picture Style Neutral
Sharpness 5
Contrast 2
Saturation 1
Color tone 1
Color Space sRGB
Long exposure noise reduction 2:Enable
High ISO speed noise reduction 1:Enable
Highlight tone priority 0:Disable
File Size 221 KB
Drive Mode High-speed continuous shooting
MMM, Argus, vanderschelden, jaycee, eqshannon, iris, uleko, matatur, jpdenk, SelenE has marked this note useful
Only registered TrekNature members may rate photo notes.
Add Critique [Critiquing Guidelines] 
Only registered TrekNature members may write critiques.
Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To iris: Eastern Water Dragonrcrick 1 10-15 21:35
To eqshannon: A Dangerous place to livercrick 2 10-15 17:11
You must be logged in to start a discussion.

Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • MMM Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 926 W: 0 N: 1998] (8963)
  • [2008-10-15 6:36]

Hi Richard
Nice closed up.Sharp image with good detail.I also like your subject pose and the text.
TFS Michel

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3833 W: 190 N: 11412] (35173)
  • [2008-10-15 6:49]

Well worth waiting for Rick!
A great close-up of an adult Eastern Water Dragon taken from a great POV with fine sharpness and ligting to show him so well against the BG.
A fine head and neck portrait and TFS it!
Cheers,
Ivan

Hello Richard,
The note is fun and through your Eastern Water Dragon you were able to generate a good Eastern Water Dragon portrait.
It's well composed. Very good focus and depth of field. A lot of details. Guess Ivan is right...a fine 'head and neck portrait'.
TFS
Annick

  • Great 
  • jaycee Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2493 W: 11 N: 6885] (21912)
  • [2008-10-15 10:05]

Hi Rick,

I can understand acting strangley to get this shot. Your antics worked. I can just picture your wife standing their laughing. I've not seen a Water Dragon before and he is a beauty. Wonderful pose showing off that marvelous face and eye and the intricate designs of his skin. Colors, details, setting and composition are all excellent.

Jane

My good friend Peter Warner, was from Oz...He has now been the Sheriff of Ferry County WA for some 16 years....The Wilderness Sheriff...with a heck of an accent..He and a friend took a sloop from Oz to Hawaii to go to college..Pete roomed with the brother of the guy who plays C Dundee..and Pete acts the part when he is on a walkabout eh? Love him...ya gotta or he'll lock ya up..

So Pete tells me Oz has like 900 zillion poisonous things...as in spiders that will kill in seconds after biting and snakes that will make you wish you were dead due to venom...I worry so much...and yet my favorite group is Midnight Oil absolutely hands down Favorite..

Oh yeah...good shot guy! :-) You want stories? i got Stories..all of them painfully true! I shall look for Petes image as Sheriff and post it to your workshop!
Bob

Hello Richard

This is awesome.
It is stretching up to see what it can see,and in doing so allows all of us to see it in such amazing detail.
Excellent sharpness,focus and colours.
Well done.
TFS

Wolf

  • Great 
  • iris Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 469 W: 60 N: 947] (3016)
  • [2008-10-15 21:13]
  • [+]

Ha ha Rick, i can only imagine the idiosyncracies exhibited by photobugged lot like us and the way spouses have to put up with these strange behaviours that happen at the least likliest of times!!!!But I'm glad your wonderful wife didnt bother and left you 'on the ground' ...the result and the wait was worth it..the image is sharp and in excellent focus..it looks attentive and i 'm sure it was watching your movements....the natural light has been able to highlight the texture of the dragon and despite the presence of a busy BG, your subjects stands out very well.
Well done.
TFS and for the effort
Cheers
Silpa

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3005 W: 162 N: 1005] (2941)
  • [2008-10-16 0:51]

Hello Rick,
Well done to get a close shot of this Water Dragon that I was thrilled to see and capture at Lane Cove Park in Sydney. It was very shy though so you did very well lying low in the grass!:-) Brilliant close-up showing sharp details of its skin and colours. A very fine background too.
TFS and best wishes, Ulla

A statuesque capture of that proud looking Water Dragon Richard, your exposure and focus are so fine even the smallest scales were defined clearly my friend, thank you indeed for this beautiful composition.
Cheers,
Mehmet

Hi Rick,

Nice shot, glad you waited it out. The background is blurred sufficiently to isolate the subject nicely, yet sharp enough to give a feel for the surroundings, very nice. Good note too.

John

  • Great 
  • SelenE Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2405 W: 63 N: 4227] (13822)
  • [2008-10-17 4:05]

Hi Rick,
That's a crisp sharp, well focused image of this dragon. Expression you captured, eye contact, lighting and the setting are very nice. TFS
Have a nice weekend,
Selen

  • Great 
  • EOSF1 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1381 W: 126 N: 5246] (23469)
  • [2008-10-18 10:15]

Hello Richard, wow, it can't be better than that! So sharp and clear, so much details, a masterpiece my friend, well done!

Calibration Check
















0123456789ABCDEF