Iguanas in a bird park?? Anyone help ID?

[ChrISdWonG]

My gf spied this chap at Jurong Bird Park... It wasn't in any enclosure, it was just basking at the edge of the jungle under the monorail track near the scarlet ibis enclosure. It posed for photos for awhile before lumbering into the undergrowth and off into the jungle. I wonder if it escaped from somewhere? There turned out to be a pair of them, but the other one was a bit shy and left as I started to approach. Green iguanas, I think... can anyone confirm?

Close up...


#2


Off into the bushes...

[night86mare]

images all look pretty dark to me
underexposed?

[ChrISdWonG]

Yup they're a little dark ... cloudy at about 5:30pm, was trying to get a higher shutter speed so they were already deliberately underexposed, and I'm not too good with post-processing.

[elmzarcega]

why not pumping up ISO...???

[night86mare]

There, hope you don't mind! =D

[ChrISdWonG]

Hahaha thanks!! Care to share what you did? I desparately need to learn... I keep playing with all those sliders and can never seem to get the right balance between saturation, brightness etc etc

[night86mare]

[ChrISdWonG]

Originally Posted by elmzarcega why not pumping up ISO...???

Usually it's 'coz I don't like the grainy look, but this time, to be honest....

I didn't think of it

Thanks for the tip/reminder!

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by ChrISdWonG Hahaha thanks!! Care to share what you did? I desparately need to learn... I keep playing with all those sliders and can never seem to get the right balance between saturation, brightness etc etc

Used Photoshop
Did curve adjustment and levels adjustment, that's about it =D

Prefer not to use contrast/brightness sliders.. How do you put it.. It's just not so good, haha.

[airforce1]

Yes, Iguana could be release by the members of the public.

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by ChrISdWonG Usually it's 'coz I don't like the grainy look, but this time, to be honest.... I didn't think of it Thanks for the tip/reminder!

Hehe, what camera are you using? =D
Nice detail, I think if P&S you use higher ISO some detail will be lost.. Pity it would be, especially on the first photo, I like that one a lot

[night86mare]

weird, wonder if my monitor calibration yesterday was screwed up
my brother's computer views your iguanas as pretty ok. HRMPH

[ChrISdWonG]

Originally Posted by night86mare Used Photoshop Did curve adjustment and levels adjustment, that's about it =D Prefer not to use contrast/brightness sliders.. How do you put it.. It's just not so good, haha.

Ahhh.. I keep hearing "curves" but I really have no idea how to use that... I'm just only starting to figure out what "levels" do, but I guess I need to read up and experiment more.

Originally Posted by night86mare Hehe, what camera are you using? =D Nice detail, I think if P&S you use higher ISO some detail will be lost.. Pity it would be, especially on the first photo, I like that one a lot

Haha I was actually using a 20D with a 100-400L . I could have bumped up the ISO a bit, but I didn't think of it at the time ... for some reason I seem to instinctively lower the exposure rather than up the ISO. Still... I do find that even on the 20D it does get a bit grainy past ISO400.

Thanks again!

[ChrISdWonG]

Originally Posted by airforce1 Yes, Iguana could be release by the members of the public.

I did think of that, as these were two rather beautiful specimens.. the other one that I missed (a female) was a brilliant lime green! Both were about four feet long.

However, if I've gotten the species right, some internet snooping pointed out to me that these are native to South America, and I think having them as pets here would be rather illegal (I have a pet python in Australia that I wanted to bring home, but local laws are pretty tough against exotic pets). Hence, if they were in someone's illegal collection, someone probably paid a high price for them, and it would seem like quite a waste to let them loose in the jungle like that.

I was thinking they might have escaped from the reptile park next door...

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by ChrISdWonG Ahhh.. I keep hearing "curves" but I really have no idea how to use that... I'm just only starting to figure out what "levels" do, but I guess I need to read up and experiment more.

borrow books from library!

i just read this one, pretty good and basic and easy to understand -

adobe photoshop Cs2 for photographers by marlin evening; big red and thick, should be a good start! =)

there's a lot of sites who also give online tutorials for CS2 too!

[ChrISdWonG]

Originally Posted by night86mare borrow books from library! i just read this one, pretty good and basic and easy to understand - adobe photoshop Cs2 for photographers by marlin evening; big red and thick, should be a good start! =) there's a lot of sites who also give online tutorials for CS2 too!

Thanks heaps!
It's off to national library tomorrow!

I'm don't have CS2 though, I'm using Aperture... but I do need to understand how this curves thing works, so I'm sure the book will help. I've actually tried looking online, but nothing helpful so far... maybe I've been searching for the wrong stuff. Any sites you can recommend? I'm quite clueless when it comes to post processing....

[cityofangels]

It is known as a Common Green Iguana and you are right in saying that it is not a native species in SG. It may have been released by an irresponsible petowner. Or maybe it was introduced by JBP to add some 'atmosphere' to the park. They are harmless and strict herbivores.