Thread: The Lizards of Lumpini

Great photos!!!

Wonderful to see'em. Here in Chiang Mai, just about everything with legs has been eaten. Snakes too.
There's more wildlife in Ireland.

Originally Posted by fridgemagnet

Wonderful to see'em. Here in Chiang Mai, just about everything with legs has been eaten. Snakes too.
There's more wildlife in Ireland.

only in Belfast

Sunday I found myself again in Lumpini Park with my cameras. I didn't actually go to see the lizards, I was just meeting someone who wanted to borrow a camera and try with a view to purchasing his own.

When I met him a small water monitor was sitting close by and had no desire to move so he was an easy target.



He would have been about 3 feet long with about 50% of that being tail. He was just happy to sit there and pose from all angles.

This attentive little fella then wandered along the grass next to us.....



followed by this guy who was approx 5 foot long.....



It's difficult trying to get new angles to shoot them...... here's one looking directly at me which they don't usually do, not a great shot but I included it to show how he closed the eye that was looking into the sun and looked at me with the eye in shade.

Really good pics..

Not only do they use their tails for attacking but they've got one hell of a bite too..

^My eleven year old son just learned that - fortunately from a fairly small teacher.

I've had a couple of them try and whip me with their tails but generally they are scared of me and go the opposite direction.

The last two that I'll post (still got to process the pics) were big enough to not be bothered by me in any way, but I wouldn't have taken my eye off them when taking close ups, a metre or two separation is always best....

It's suprisingly difficult to get a decent tongue shot, they flick in and out very quickly on the smaller ones.

This is the original one that hadn't moved but was now deciding whether to climb a tree or not.



It got to the base of the tree and paused again, really was a good patient model and gave me time to try a few things with faster exposures, slower exposures and fill in flash.

This is the first one as he climbed up the tree, posed at eye level for some time giving me the chance to take some shots and then he was gone................



Then behind me from a small pond this fellow emerged, he was about 7 foot long, and as he came out of the water he paused and posed, before going off in search of food. I was able to walk with him, no more than 2 metres from him and take shot after shot.

not the greatest shot due to the high contrast, but it gives a perspective of the size of this one, and the next one was bigger.

They're massive, like mini Komodos. Seems mad how they're just living in the city. Cheers for the pics

Originally Posted by fridgemagnet

Great photos, seriously. You should be a wildlife photographer!

Kind words, however.....Not a chance, this is easy stuff in a park, Real nature Photography means time, patience and skill, guys wait hours, days, weeks for a shot.....a friend of mine won one of the biggest competitions in the world. He dived on that reef several times a day for weeks getting to know one particular shark before finally getting the shot that he dreamed of.

look fo r the threads of L. Bruce Kekule on this site to see the results of the hard work and dedication it needs. Travel photography is my genre and passion, got two new threads coming up from Malaysia over the next couple of weeks.

Anyway the final shots of the lizards..... I followed this big one for some time....





Quite an impressive set of claws....



It went down to the waters edge and walked along with me back pedalling.....My mate said "Be careful behind you", "I said Yeah I can see the edge Okay".....He said, "No, I mean there's an even bigger one behind you, but Ï think it's dead.

Well, it wasn't, it had some injuries but mainly looked shite because it was shedding it's skin....It was asleep, but did wake, it was probably a wee bit longer that the one I was taking pics of, but it would have been a fair bit heavier. The smaller one went close but then moved off quite quickly once it had a look.

This is a picture of me taking a picture of a lizard at Lumpini. The pic being taken was the last pic of the first batch.

Popped in here by accident but pleasantly surprised. Thought the thread had something to do with the nocturnal lizards selling their wares along the sidewalks bordering Lumpini.

Great pics.

BTW, You really should do something about the fungus infection. It could get out of hand.

Now that is a lizard with fashion sense!!!

Originally Posted by Bobcock

Actually I'm wearing that shirt now....

Nice hair-do. Are you a Scouser?

Some terrific pics in here, Bob. First time I've seen this thread.

Originally Posted by pescator

I have only come across these reptiles in the wild and they are none too willing to cooperate when it comes to posing for photographs.

Probably for your own good that you didn't get any photographs, I'm sure you would be arrested for doing that to them, I would have been scared they bit it off, getting so close.

A nice Canon lens and you sure know how to use them. Terrific photos.

You sure have better uses for your lenses thant this.