“Curious Dragon”- Komodo Island, Indonesia – Will & Matt Burrard – Lucas – Featured Photographers

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“Curious Dragon”- Komodo Island, Indonesia – Will & Matt Burrard – Lucas – Featured Photographers

When we saw this image by the Burrard-Lucas brothers the Photobotos brothers were blown away.  You don’t get inches away from 10 foot lizards with killer saliva so we had to know how they did it.  These guys as you will see are not only great photographers, but are very clever in how they obtain them.    You can find them at http://www.burrard-lucas.com/

After checking out their Komodo dragon photos, hop over to their Giant Panda Expedition at http://blog.burrard-lucas.com/2011/10/giant-panda-tracking/. The photos are incredible.

Also here are some links to keep up with them on Facebook and Twitter

http://www.facebook.com/BLphotography

https://twitter.com/#!/willbl

Take it away guys!

We recently spent three days traveling around the Indonesian islands of Komodo and Rinca, photographing the legendary Komodo dragons.

Preparation for the trip commenced several weeks earlier, as I attempted to devise an effective and safe way of getting wide-angle, close-up shots of these notoriously dangerous creatures.  I would not have time to set-up camera traps, and I didn’t have enough room to take BeetleCam, so I came up with something a little more basic!

I mounted my camera on top of two wheels (generously donated by my computer chair) and then attached this to a monopod so that I could push the rig up to the dragons. I figured this would give me a 2 meter head-start if one of them decided I looked like lunch! I named my new contraption “KomodoCam”!

Reaching Komodo Island was an epic undertaking… I had to fly to Singapore, then Bali, then the island of Flores, before taking a boat to Komodo Island and Rinca Island. Komodo dragons only live on a few isolated islands in this part of Indonesia.

It is hard to describe the excitement and trepidation I felt as the foreboding volcanic peaks of Komodo Island loomed up in front of me. The island was shrouded in ominous dark clouds and even the sea seemed to have turned black. It really felt like a land lost in time.

Towards the end of the second day of my trip, an opportunity to use KomodoCam at last presented itself; I came across a large dragon in a flat, open clearing in the forest. I nervously set up the rig and pushed it towards the dragon. The dragon treated the camera with curiosity and obligingly flicked its tongue in and out to investigate the unfamiliar object.  To my relief, the beast decided that there was nothing edible and I was spared seeing a Komodo dragon eat my Canon 1Ds mkIII!