Most new Floridians find alligators fascinating.

I have lived in Florida for over twelve years and I still love to see them in the wild. When the night time temperatures dip, and the gators need to warm up, there are many opportunities to take photos of the critters.

I do have a pretty long telephoto lens for my camera; I’m not quite crazy enough to get super close to one of these big guys. I was about 15 feet away from this alligator when I made this image.

I didn’t just rush up on him and start taking photos; it took several minutes of slowly and quietly approaching him. There was a large tree behind me, keeping me in the shade. Since he was in bright sun, I figured he may not notice me.

Click on any photo to see a larger version.




As I mentioned in a previous article, photographers sometimes get too caught up in the moment and put themselves in harms way. Another photographer was taking some photos of a bird while it appears that the gator is sneaking up on him.

The photo is a bit deceiving, the gator is asleep in the sun and the photographer had one eye on him and the other on his subject. This gator was about 6 feet long.


On average, only five alligator attacks on humans are reported each year.

If you decide to photograph an alligator, use the longest zoom lens you have and stay alert.

 

 

FOG sez:

I must be part alligator, I also like to sleep in the sun.