Okay, maybe they can't actually hate, but they certainly do NOT care for having their pictures taken. They're skittish and shy and amazingly fast. Add the fact that I was still working with a manual-focus zoom, and you've got tough shooting. Since we don't have many lizards in Maryland, I was intrigued when I found that the Virgin Islands are literally crawling with the little buggers.
These five lucky shots were taken on St. Thomas at a friend's house in '85 & '86. In each case, the subject was stationary for a fraction of a second. (I have dozens of blurry pics of nothing but a tail, or in some cases, just a tree trunk.)
#5 is actually a young iguana, content to sun itself on the floating chlorine dispenser in the pool. Content, that is, until I showed an interest in photographing it. They don't so much run away, as simply vanish.
These adult iguanas were living in a giant cage at CoralWorld Ocean Park, Coki Point, St. Thomas and much more relaxed about being photographed than their little lizard cousins ever are.
This last shot comes from a 2007 visit to the Cape Lookout National Seashore, North Carolina. My wife and I were there to shoot the lighthouse, but I still love the challenge that lizards present.
Cute little buggers. I think you might find bigger and slower ones as models sometime:)
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