White Bennett's Wallaby

Gallery: WildlifePosted March 7, 20171,677 views5 comments

Last year I visited Bruny Island, located south of Tasmania. A friend who is a keen birder wanted to photograph some of the endemics on the island, while I was more interested in finding this animal.

Bruny is famous as the home of a colony of white phase Bennett's wallabies. Though some locals insist they're not albino (comparing them instead to Canada's spirit bear), the white individuals I saw did appear to have many of the same characteristics as albinos, right down to the pink eyes and poor vision. Regardless, it's a gorgeous animal that's only really seen in this one spot. This female was the lone white member of a colony found in the island interior, while a much larger population is found near the coast.

Canon 1DX
Canon 100-400mm
ISO 3200
1/400th
f/5.6

Max

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Jim Gavin on March 7, 2017 at 8:05 PM

Thank you for the information about a mammal (?) of which I had no knowledge until you provided this wonderful (not even a nit) photo and commentary. Thanks.

Registered on August 14, 2008, 293 Posts, 1250 Comments

Comment posted by Hisham Atallah on March 7, 2017 at 9:55 PM

Love the pose, Max. I like how you cropped the subject. Also like the bit of habitat to the left and the soft BG. It could use a bit of noise reduction on the BG. ISO 3200 should not show noise at that image size. Is this a large crop or originally underexposed?

Cheers,

Hisham.

Registered on November 5, 2014, 121 Posts, 352 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on March 8, 2017 at 10:01 AM

Hisham, this seems to be about an average amount of noise for 3200 on my body. It's not a major crop or vastly underexposed either. You're correct that it is apparent, and I'm sure I could have applied heavier noise reduction (say, using Nik's NR tool, which is a bit heavy-handed), which I'd consider doing for print.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on March 8, 2017 at 4:56 PM

Beautiful animal in a great pose. Sure looks like an albino to me.
Love the moodiness of the BG and habitat.
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on March 12, 2017 at 9:28 AM

Hi Max,

I like this one a lot. I especially like how you used and balanced the in-focus and out-of-focus zones. I'm not sure I'm in love with the crop...I am wondering if taking a sliver more from the right (make that side a little "less heavy") might strengthen this shot even more?

I did a quick online search and most reputable sources do seem to suggest these are albinos. But regardless...neat animal and a very pleasing shot.

Cheers...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments