If you hadn't have guessed by all the herpetological photos everywhere, I am quite the avid photographer! My current camera setup is a Pentax K-50 body with 18-55 mm or 55-300 mm lens, although I shall be buying a macro lens soon! The camera is completely weather sealed and has seen some rather wet times at my side, especially when visiting Sabah, Malaysia. My back-up camera is a Pentax K-x which is an earlier model in the K lineup but is just as dependable as the K-50 despite the fact that it takes AA batteries.
I'm lucky enough now that a couple of times my photography has been featured on the cover of The Herpetological Bulletin alongside my articles on the same topic within that issue. It's always a great feeling when you're asked to supply a photo for the cover. My golden rule is, make sure you photograph everything as you never know when it's going to come in handy.
You may recognise the amphibian on the cover of The Herpetological Bulletin Issue 140 as the common midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans) of which I have have been studying here in the UK since 2015. Those of you with keen eyes will recognise the Mwanza rock agama (Agama mwanzae) from Issue 145 is the same photo as the one used in the banner at the top of this page!
My previous camera was a Sony α-200 which was a great introduction to DSLR cameras, I was sad to see the camera go but it was time for a change. It was a great entry-level camera and taught me quite a bit about DSLR photography which was new to me at the time. Below are some photos I've taken as well as links to my Flickr and Instagram feeds that you may like to follow.
Below are a small number of photos I took whilst exploring Malaysian Borneo in 2016, these are some of my favourite photos I've ever taken.
The subject of this photo is the banded bullfrog (Kaloula pulchra) photographed in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in the car park of the Hotel Shangri-La. I'd seen them here the year before and after a deluge the frogs males could be heard calling from all around.
The lizard in this photo is the Balu bow-fingered gecko (Cyrtodactylus baluensis), a species of gecko endemic to Borneo. This individual was photographed whilst conducting amphibian surveys on Mount Kinabalu, Sabah.
The snake photographed here is the Sabah bamboo pitviper (Trimeresurus sabahi), a species of snake endemic to Borneo. This individual is a large female and was photographed whilst conducting amphibian surveys on Mount Kinabalu, Sabah.
The frog photographed here is a male four-lined tree frog (Polypedates leucomystax), calling for a mate within a tree where there were already a number of foam nests. The tree overhang a ditch where the tadpoles could drop into once developed, a number of unidentified tadpoles were seen swimming around below.
Finally this frog is probably one of the most variable species found in south-east Asia, Kuhl's creek frog (Limnonectes kuhlii). Research has shown that a number of populations are indeed different species and there are bound to be more just waiting to be discovered. This individual was photographed whilst conducting amphibian surveys on Mount Kinabalu, Sabah.