A devil with a thorny attitude

By AG STAFF May 12, 2015
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This classic Australian lizard, the thorny devil, was captured in its desert habitat in this week’s reader photo

Says Jules, a wildlife photographer from Victoria: 

“I am a wildlife photographer from Victoria with a particular interest in Australian reptiles. I enjoy nothing more than traveling around Australia in search of new reptiles to photograph.

Early January this year I set out on a trip across Australia with the hope of finding a variety reptiles I had not yet encountered. Of course no Australian adventure is complete without visiting the red sands of central Australia.

My main intention was not to see Uluru whilst in central Australia. It was to find and photograph a thorny devil (Moloch horridus). The thorny devil is one of the most iconic Australian reptiles and i wanted to capture the true elegance of this unique lizard.

I woke up early one morning to drive down an outback road, south of Alice Springs. Before too long I encountered a thorny devil right in the middle of the road. I was driving at the decent speed and couldn’t slow down in time. Luckily I managed to maneuver the car right over the top of the lizard. I stopped the car, ran back with my camera and moved him off the road to safety. The lizard was quite compliant to let me take a few photos considering I just saved its life!

I used two external flashes either side of the lizard with a 100mm macro lens. This combination seemed to work well and the macro lens helped isolate the thorns from the surroundings,” he says.

 

This pic appeared in the Australian Geographic Flickr group. Share your own photography and it could be featured on Australian Geographic online!

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