January Reptiles

I visited the Columbus Zoo's reptiles a couple times in January.

Burton (Burt) the Magnificent! Grand Cayman iguana. Focus stack of two images.

Weber's sailfin lizard

smooth-fronted caiman

green basilisk

red-tailed rat snake. Focus stack of two images

scrub python

Malagasy leaf-tailed gecko

Columbus Reptiles

I went to the Columbus Zoo August 19 and visited the reptiles.

My pal Burt, a Grand Cayman iguana. The Zoo has acquired a female, and the hope is for happy marriage when she is older.

Note the flat, square head of this smooth-fronted caiman.

male green basilisk

northern copperhead

red-tailed rat snake

eastern Massasauga rattlesnake

Malagasy leaf-tailed gecko

Grand Cayman (blue) iguana

This is Burt, a Grand Cayman iguana. He's one of my favorite subjects because he's so interesting looking. His head looks like that of a dinosaur. Okay, we don't really know what dinosaurs looked like, so let's say his head looks like that of a movie dinosaur. He's got spines on its back and down his tail. Also, the lighting is good and he doesn't move much. Burt is about 2½ feet long.

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You might notice that Burt appears in different colors. As I (mis)understand it, the camera examines the scene and looks for white. Then it produces colors using the white reference. If there's not any true white in the scene, then the colors can be shifted.

In picture 5, the iguana looks blue all over, but he's not that blue; blue is most prominent on his head. Everything's green in picture 4. Photos 3 and 6 are fair representations of colors. There are settings on the camera that can be used to get more accurate colors, but I don't know how to use them yet. That and while I'm shooting I don't remember that they're available.

Reptiles

I've never been interested in reptiles, and I've rarely visited them in zoos. I've got nothing against them; it's just that mammals and birds are more appealing to me. However, after my first visit to the reptile building at the Columbus Zoo and a Grand Cayman iguana in particular, I'm happy to try to get compelling shots of reptiles.

This picture looks a little weird/interesting at the top because of reflections from the surface of the water.

Siebenrock's snake-necked turtle

sc

scrub python

Grand Cayman (blue) iguana

black-tailed rattlesnake

I had assumed that basilisks are magical beasts that show up in places like Harry Potter books, but here's a real one.

green basilisk

Aldabra giant tortoise

The lighting in the Komodo dragon exhibit is difficult for me to handle, mainly because of reflections off the glass, so here's a picture of a statue of one. 

Komodo dragon statue

I do my best to identify animals correctly, and I rely mostly on zoo signage. I have a bit of trouble when there are multiple snake or turtle species in the same enclosure.

My first choice for a link to more information about an animal is a page on the website of the zoo where I took the photo. If I can't find a page there, I choose a page on the site of a nonprofit organization such as the Smithsonian National Zoo, a university, or an international wildlife organization.