American Crocodile 0ver-under 1-29-18-6952
American crocodile in the mangroves of Jardinas de la Reina in Cuba mouth open barring teeth.
American crocodile in the mangroves of Jardinas de la Reina in Cuba mouth open barring teeth.
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Feb, 2018Views
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Awards
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Contest Finalist in World Photography Day Photo Contest 2018
Contest Finalist in Wildlife And Water Photo Contest
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Magnificent Capture
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Outstanding Creativity
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Robonline
February 02, 2020
This shot is amazing. I have so many questions. Are you free swimming with them? Whats stopping you getting eaten.
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Dhruthi369
October 07, 2021
i just love its teeth... probably it uses colgate... amazing. Brave shot!
Dhruthi369
October 07, 2021
What i like about these crocodiles is the texture and amazing patterns ... Its eyes especially
Platinum
ron7cal
August 06, 2022
Amazing image! That croc has a very good dentist who keeps his pearly whites extremely pearly.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photograph was taken while in the water with this American Crocodile, in Jardinas de la Reina, Cuba. While this is a protected area, that means protected from fishing, this is still a very wild animal in it's natural habitat. In order to photograph, you must approach silently and not making any sudden movements, because crocs and alligators snap at anything that moves with a bite pressure able to crush bones. For some reason, this croc was quite infatuated with my dome port.This of course means that he was touching my port of my underwater housing. Excellent buoyancy is required as well so as to not be bobbing up and down.Time
High noon.Lighting
I did use strobes set on low to fill in shadows. The strobes are underwater. The lighting is tricky due to the bright sun.Equipment
Photographed with housed DSLR using a Tokina 10-17 lens in a Nauticam housing, Nikon D7100Inspiration
I am quite fascinated by prehistoric type creatures. I was given this opportunity to photograph this animal on an expedition with Ocean Geographic Magazine, and simply couldn't resist.. although it was a bit heart-stopping initially entering the water with this animal.Editing
Very little post processing, pretty much straight out of the camera.In my camera bag
I spend a good deal of time doing macro underwater photography-so my kit for that is a 105mm + a 10x subsee diopter. My favorite macro recently has been Black water diving- which is with a 60mm + a 10x diopter. However, this past six months, I've been "diving" back into wide angle underwater. Subsequently I've been diving with a Tokina 10-17, a Nikon D7100 and an 8" custom dome port.Feedback
Only go out with a reputable dive operator. To best of my knowledge there are very few places in the world where you can encounter wild crocodiles that have encountered humans. This makes them a bit more approachable and it must be in protected areas, where their own fear of being killed by mankind is not an issue. However they are wild animals with a lot of teeth and highly unpredictable. They do snap at anything that moves close by, and its swift and powerful. They must only be approached with utmost care to not startle or scare the animal. There is only 1 dive operator in Jardinas de la Reina and diving there is restricted to no more than 4,000 divers per year to prevent damage to the reefs. It is not recommended to just go out into the wild and hope for the best. Photographing crocs and alligators in the wild involves a high element of danger. I've been a marine wildlife photographer for well over 15 years, and have a good deal of familiarity with their behaviors before I enter the water. All of that means nothing if the animal suddenly feels threatened- which could be caused by something as simple as an approaching boat. You must be on your toes at all times. To prepare for this dive, I dove with an alligator handler in Florida, as my "training" to learn about their behaviors and nuances.
