The dragons of Queensland

Since I mentioned that Samson was a dragon chaser I thought I should show you what our dragons look like. Actually the dragons on our block of land are very timid - maybe that is Samson's fault - and I cannot get close to them so I have been to a wildlife park not far away where the dragons are very bold. They are wild creatures and are not in enclosures, they are exactly as our dragons are, they live in the bush near the waterways and run around freely.
These two photos are of the same handsome water dragon that I met on one of the walkways that meander around the wild life park.
One of the things I always advise people with a camera to do is to get down to the eye level of the subject. This works both for video and for still photography. If I had been standing upright and had the camera four feet from the ground this lizard would have looked very different - and you would have then seen him from above!
The trouble with getting older is that once you have bobbed down to get the shot you have to get up again without looking as if you are struggling (which is what you are doing!) Having a tripod handy is useful! Having a tree or a post beside you is even better! Fortunately for me this wildlife park is always empty of people - which is why I love it! So I could struggle up without worrying!
These days most tourists want to go on rides or see exotic animals such as white tigers (Dreamworld) or polar bears (Sea World) so Fleays Fauna Centre is off the tourist's list of places to go. I have taken many of my overseas and inter-state guests there and they have loved it. The animals are in large enclosures that look very natural so it is excellent for natural looking shots of Australian animals with backgrounds that look as if the shot was taken in the wild. Another plus is that the walkways are above the animal enclosures so there are no wires to get in the way of the shot - except for the more agile and possibly dangerous animals.
Some of the marsupials are impossible to get close to any other way than by visiting such a park. I know that I have never seen a tree kangaroo in the wild and probably never will but at Fleays I have taken some fantastic shots of one.
I did see one of these water dragons today though. It was resting on a branch of one of the trees over the water at the bottom of our block of land and it leapt into the water and disappeared when I pointed the camera at it! Grr!
AJ