Scales
Dec, 2015Views
538
Likes
Awards
Action Award
Top Shot Award 21
Fall Award 2020
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
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Behind The Lens
Location
Zurich Zoo in Switzerland has a fantastic 'rainforest walk' section, where you can take a stroll amongst free running animals. I have always loved reptiles, so this cute little guy caught my attention and with his vibrant green scales creating a perfect contrast with the tree branch, it would have been rude not to snap a photo or two!Time
It was early afternoon on a hot May day. The midday sun, usually a hinderance in photography, proved to be my ally in getting this shot, as it made the reptilian subject calm and still in the middle of his sunbathing session.Lighting
The light was high in contrast, as the Sun was high in the sky - not ideal shooting conditions. I lent into the high contrast by going in close to the subject to keep shadows to a minimum and make the beautiful colours of the lizard's scales pop against the dark background.Equipment
Just my little Sony DSC HX-60 bridge camera for this shot. A reliable little workhorse.Inspiration
I love reptiles - and take any chance I can get to be up close and personal with them. I also love macro photography, especially for shooting animal portraits and with his beautiful scale details, this lizard proved to be the perfect subject.Editing
I was on a 5 week trip around Europe when I took this picture, so had minimal post processing programmes available. I upped the contrast to bring out the details on the lizard's body and cropped the photo in tight to his face.In my camera bag
I am a bit of a fanatic (aka. a tenuous bore) about Sony Bridge cameras. I recently upgraded to a SONY DSC-RX10M4, which I am obsessed with and is a fantastic camera for travelling with and can handle pretty much anything I throw at it. I have a small army of tripods in every conceivable size (an essential tremor in my hands dictates that I need a little help holding the camera steady) and almost always shoot using one or other of them. I also always carry lens cleaning clothes - I learned the hard way that there's nothing more frustrating than a great shot being spoilt by a great big smudge!Feedback
Calmness and patience is all that's really needed for a shot like this. Animals are notoriously fickle subjects, but with a little patience and a lot of luck, they can give you fantastic opportunities for great photographs.
