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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Eighty-three: Impressions of the Galapagos – an extended photo-essay > Molting Land Iguana, South Plaza Island, The Galapagos, Ecuador, 2012
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21-JUN-2012

Molting Land Iguana, South Plaza Island, The Galapagos, Ecuador, 2012

This closeup of a Land Iguana speaks of the prehistoric past. This one is molting - I could see its skin peeling away from its back. I noticed many photographers making picture of these iguanas from a standing position, which diminishes them in scale and de-emphasizes expression. I moved my camera as low to the ground as possible, and framed the image in my fold-out LCD viewfinder, stressing the impassive expression and the effect of the peeling skin.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2
1/800s f/6.3 at 200.0mm iso160 full exif

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Phil Douglis18-Sep-2012 20:34
Thanks for pointing out the cyclical flow of nature itself here, Iris. The brilliant primary color and scaly prehistoric textures grab the eye, but it is the shedding skin that grabs the mind.
Iris Maybloom (irislm)18-Sep-2012 17:52
At first glance, I was taken with the brilliant color and amazing complexity of this creature's skin, but the molting process portrayed in your image speaks to me of renewal and the life cycle of nature.




Phil Douglis03-Aug-2012 18:29
When we look directly into the face of our subject, seeing eye to eye, it often seems as if we are also mind to mind. I know that these reptiles do not think and reason as human's do, but yet in a confrontational view such as this, we are almost convinced that they can. And you are right, Carol -- since there is very little predation in the Galapagos, many species have evolved and survived without the need of camouflage.
Carol E Sandgren03-Aug-2012 04:26
A face only a mother could love...but he really is beautiful! So very colorful, I guess he doesn't depend on camouflage to survive. And I do like your low angle point of view, to better capture, perhaps, what he might be thinking.
Phil Douglis24-Jul-2012 19:05
Thanks, Jenene, for noting the echoing grays in this picture. Nature gives us a contrast in camouflage here -- part of its body blends, while part calls much attention to itself.
JSWaters23-Jul-2012 23:32
Your image completely connects the iguana to his environment. His lower half is the same gray as the rock he appears to emerge from.
Jenene
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