In the past year or so I have had two disappointing attempts at photographing common cuttlefish. In the first case the tank was dark and rather drab (but that Aquarium has been renovated since my visit, so I will return). The second one had two cuttlefish, so it was really interesting to watch their interactions, but there was so much fake seaweed in the tank that I got quite frustrated trying to take photos However I heard that Chester had put a cuttlefish on show in the Aquarium, so I made a bee-line for it, and a follow-up two days later. I find cephalopods quite fascinating and cuttlefish are best of all, because they change their colours, patterns and skin textures in the blink of an eye (a human eye, of course, cuttlefish can't blink). I tried to choose quiet days and times, and I took care to step back from the tank when other visitors were watching, but I spent a long time by that tank. I confess that I took far too many photos of the cuttle showing off and taking various poses. I enjoyed myself thoroughly, and I felt that the cuttle was aware of me - in so far as such an alien creature can be. I have posted a small selection of the photos here, and others will go on Facebook. I paired up these two images to show the cuttlefish watching me in a plain outfit and flashy one. Cuttlefish head-on in different colours by gentle lemur posted 29 Sep 2019 at 8:13 PM
Realy great photos gentle lemur ! I also alway have the "problem" that I can't stop taking photos of them when I come along them !
Fish and aquariums are very difficult to photograph (though better with modern cameras and their high ISO capacity). Congrats on some very fine shots.
On second thoughts, I should have written another favourite subject in the title to this thread. Cuttlefish have joined gorillas, lories, day geckos, poison dart frogs and Tanganyikan cichlids in the ever-lengthening list of my favourites
I've really enjoyed reading your post! It's always great to find new subject which provide such a joy. Great shots above! I'm interested in "day geckos" theme - do you photograph only Phelsuma genus or all day geckos in varied genus? It's also one of my favourite subjects, so I'm glad that I meet someone who share this interest .
On a calm day, cuttlefish can be seen and photographed, in the wild, from the pier on Lord Howe Island. Very interesting to watch.
I'm sorry I missed your post before. Thank you for the compliment. Phelsuma are wonderful of course, but Lygodactylus are splendid too and I'd love to try to photograph a Gonatodes species. Electric blue geckos mating by gentle lemur posted 22 May 2018 at 10:59 PM
Wow! Really nice! It's not an easy task to photograph them, especially in other way than just a portrait . What Gonatodes species you have photographed yet? I feel a little bit proud of one shot of G.ocellatus from Leipzig - however it takes me some visits (and about 2 years) to catch him in good shot
I don't recall ever seeing a Gonatodes or indeed a Sphaerodactylus gecko, and I have never photographed one. But perhaps, one day . . .
Ah, so I misunderstood - well, fingers crossed that you will be manged to photograph one (and more!) soon Gonatodes are beautiful, however I have the impression that some Phelsuma species are anyway a little bit easier to observe and catch by the camera... Do you have favourite zoo/enclosure to photograph Lygodactylus williamsi?
Paignton is the nearest zoo to my home. The williamsi first went on show in the main reptile area ('Reptile Tropics') but they were relocated to a larger display in the so-called 'Reptile Nursery' two years ago - it's not a very good name now as it has three vivariums for adult blue monitors, blue poison dart frogs and the geckos, as @polarbear pointed out at the time, blue was the favourite colour of the zoo's founder, Herbert Whiteley. I have seen both eggs and hatchlings in this vivarium.
