Hall of Mosses, Hoh Rain Forest on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington state, USA.I have just added a new gallery “American West Coast“ to display some of the photographs taken on a trip to this interesting and varied region back in 2008. Sorry it’s taken so long!
“What Reptile?”, a new book aimed at the beginner has just been published by Interpet. Its purpose is to advise on which species are suitable or unsuitable for the uninitiated. The aim is to point people towards those species that are most likely to adapt well to captivity and to avoid species that require specialist care or which fare badly under captive conditions, and to promote responsible reptile and amphibian keeping. Captive-bred reptiles and amphibians are recommended over wild-caught ones.
For more details please see the “Publications” page.
A white-tailed sea eagle soars over the photographer, Mull
Nick Garbutt and I are pleased to confirm that the annual one-week workshop on the Isle of Mull is guaranteed to run now that we have the minimum number of participants. This will be the tenth year we have visited Mull to photograph its spectacular scenery and wildlife and Nick and I are both looking forward to another productive week.
Please visit the Events page for full details.
Gravel road between Aussenkehr and Rosh Pinah, southern Namibia.
It may sound like something out of one of Edward Lear’s nonsense poems, but there really is a place called Rosh Pinah. It’s a small mining town in southern Namibia, along the C13, a road that runs from near the South African border at Noordoewer to the small town of Aus. For about 100km, between the wine-growing settlement of Aussenkehr and Rosh Pinah, the C13 is a gravel road, but good enough to drive in a normal saloon car with care. This section of the road follows the north bank of the Orange River, and for virtually the whole of this stretch, the view across the river is of the Richtersveld, perhaps the most remote region of South Africa.
Gravel road and mountains between Aussenkehr and Rosh Pinah
Driving the gravel section of the C13 can take anything from one hour to all day, depending on how often you stop to admire the view, take photographs or look at the plants, animals and rock formations. Travelling west the road arrives at the border post that serves the (very) occasional crossing at Sendelingsdrift, which consists of a small pontoon ferry attached to a wire crossing the river to prevent it from being swept downstream. The border post itself is an old caravan, incongruous in its remote desert setting. From here the road turns north-west and you will shortly arrive at Rosh Pinah. After this the road north is tarred all the way to Aus, 165km away, and the journey is more comfortable, but less interesting, and takes about one and a half hours without stops.
Border post between South Africa at Sendelingsdrift and Namibia at Rosh Pinah
Quiver tree, Aloe dichotoma, along the C13 road near Aussenkehr
Aloe gariepensis growing along the northern bank of the Orange River, southern Namibia.
Red-eyed tree frog, Agalychnis callidryas, Costa Rica
Our second photography workshop at Manchester Museum on November 24 and 25th, had 10 participants, all of whom had an opportunity to photograph a selection of the frogs from the museum’s collection and, as a bonus, a brightly coloured panther chameleon. The weekend appeared to go well and everybody went home with some excellent images as well as some tips to help improve their photography. In addition to the sessions on exposure, depth of field, flash and so on, we discussed relatively inexpensive items of equipment that can have a dramatic effect on results, such as a grey card, off-camera flash cord, cable release, reflectors and right-angle finders, as well as exploring ways of getting closer using macro lenses, extension tubes and close-up lens that fit onto the front of a normal lens. We also briefly mentioned a few less common techniques such as focus-stacking, “Orton” images and the use of tilt and shift lenses in nature photography all of which can be researched further on the internet.
Panther Chameleon, Furcifer pardalis, Madagascar
Thanks to Andrew Gray who provided the animals and explained the museum’s role in education and conservation, and to the University for giving us an excellent seminar room with good projection facilities, as well as refreshments. Andrew’s able assistant, Adam, helped to build the sets and control the animals and my wife Gretchen gave invaluable practical help with the photography.
White's tree frog, Litoria caerulea, Australia
Thanks also to all the members of group. Photographing lively creatures as a group can be frustrating unless everyone shows consideration to others and it was good to see how well everyone worked together in this respect. We hope to see some of you again for future events we have in mind.
Lemur leaf frog, Phyllomedusa lemur, aka Hylomantis lemur, Costa Rica
Splendid leaf frog, Cruziohyla calcarifer, Costa Rica
Bell's horned frog, Ceratophrys ornata, South America
A short piece to get some new photos on the front page. Three lizards from different parts of the world that demonstrate exceptional camouflage. Photographing camouflaged subjects is always a balancing act – on the one hand, the image should show how effective the camouflage is but, on the other hand, if it shows it too well, it may be difficult or impossible for the viewer to find the subject.
First is the so-called satanic leaf-tailed gecko from Madagascar. This species often sleeps during the day curled up among dead leaves in a low-growing shrub, and forages on the ground at night.
Next is a Weber’s gecko, a small species from the dry, rocky habitat of Namaqualand, in the northwest region of South Africa.
And finally a desert horned lizard, a ground-living species from the American Southwest. This species is active during the day but “freezes” when it detects danger, relying on its camouflage to escape notice.
