Allan_Vasquez
FollowThis is a caiman I think. We call them Guajipal in Costa Rica. It was lurking in a small pond and emerged to grab some food. I was able to snap this photo. It s...
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This is a caiman I think. We call them Guajipal in Costa Rica. It was lurking in a small pond and emerged to grab some food. I was able to snap this photo. It scared the crap out of my eight year old niece who jumped backwards and grabbed my arm XD
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jackiegoodwin
December 08, 2019
great feedback for photo you have written - thank you for entering your lovely photo into my challenge "animals of any kind" - good luck
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in a wildlife rescue centre (forgot the name) located in La Fortuna, Alajuela, Costa Rica. They take care of injured or endangered animals including this powerful looking caiman.Time
It was the afternoon, around 1pm. It was very sunny and hot. After looking around the place we sat down to rest next to this pond. There were many birds and other animals around.Lighting
Not much. It was a pretty sunny day.Equipment
I used my Canon 70D with a 18-135mm stock lens, handheld.Inspiration
We were inside an open building resting from the sun and the heat. There was a pond right next to the building. The pond sat like one meter bellow the floor level of the building. It was an artificial pond so there was a cement ramp that came out of the water. We were talking to the owner of the rescue centre and he told us there was a caiman in the water. He then threw a piece of fruit onto the cement ramp to try and trick the caiman into coming out and getting the food. My 8 year old niece was standing next to me looking through the lens of a small camera I had lent her, trying to get a shot of the caiman. In a matter of seconds, we went from the caiman showing it's head above the water (like in this photo) to it coming out completely and resting it's whole body on the ramp. This all happened so fast and suddenly, that my niece jumped backwards while letting out a shriek. She then grabbed my arm, clearly spooked by the caiman. Needless to say she didn't get the shot and got a good scare instead. Thankfully, I was able to get this shot which I really like.Editing
I always shoot RAW so I always do color correction and some light tweaking. In this case I also cropped the image a small amount.In my camera bag
I normally have my Canon 70D and a 18-135mm stock lens, a 50mm (nifty fifty) lens and a 24mm pancake lens. I also carry one extra battery, the charger for said battery and a cleaning kit. Depending on the situation I will also have my tripod with me.Feedback
This was a very specific situation where I was super close to the caiman but out of danger. It was also very fast and surprising. Normally for wildlife you'd be using a long lens and you'd be aware that something like this could suddenly happen.In this case it was a very sporadic moment so all I can say is be ready.