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Papaya! Awesome, dude !!
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Papaya! Awesome, dude !!

by Alberto Patiño

Gallery: Man & FaunaPosted January 10, 2016295 views5 comments
Hawaiian Gold Dust Gecko - perhaps the cutest non-furry, non-feathery animal around? They are incredibly smart, for a reptile brain of that size anyway, and very friendly. They love papaya and banana, and we figure that, since they eat all sorts of fruit in the wild, there is little harm in giving them some treats. Usually one or two show up first - the most adventurous I guess - and then all their friends start showing up. An interesting observation is that they come in a wide range of sizes, from less than 2 cm long (yes, really tiny) to perhaps 12 cm or so. I guess that in the tropical climate they are born year round, and they grow more or less slowly, so you get the full spectrum of sizes. I wonder how small they are when they are born? I caught this fellow after a heavy downpour, I love how the droplet on its head magnifies the scales.

Zuiko Digital 50-200mm at 200mm, Olympus E-5, ISO 200, 1/60 sec at f/9, on-camera flash, about 50% of original frame.

Comments welcome - and better large!!

Comments

5 comments
Comment posted by Cay-Uwe Kulzer on January 11, 2016 at 12:12 AM
Alberto,

already the small version is very nice and as you said it is also the large. I like the rich colors, that tongue and the slight diagonal placement of the gecko. The eye contact is great and of course that water drops are a big bonus. From composition point of view I may crop about 25% of the left and top. That would emphasize the action and waterdrops even more.

Technically well done.
Registered on January 27, 2004, 494 Posts, 4021 Comments
Comment posted by Jerry Marella on January 11, 2016 at 10:37 AM
Awesome photo, Alberto! Great color. The tongue action keeps the focus forward, and the water drops add a lot of interest. I don't mind the negative space since all the color and action are up front. Fantastic sharpness!  The only thing I would probably do is to clone out the second catch light in the eye.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 142 Posts, 862 Comments
Comment posted by Roel Wijtmans on January 11, 2016 at 1:09 PM
A gecko, nice! Love those creatures, they are amazing. I love everything about this one, the tongue, the look, and of course those droplets! Maybe a slight crop from the left and top would work well. I don't know how you did it, but the dark background is great in enhancing the colors of the gecko.
Registered on September 30, 2012, 116 Posts, 2257 Comments
Comment posted by Dennis Plank on January 11, 2016 at 7:46 PM
Gorgeous, Alberto.  The color combinations are outstanding and the water droplets really make this image.  I might go with a 2x3 format for this as there seems to be a lot of negative space, particularly on the top.

devil
Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments
Comment posted by Luke Ormand on January 18, 2016 at 8:28 PM
Insane detail and beautiful colors.  Very well captured 
Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments