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Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Gippsland Water Dragon (P. l. howittii)

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Voting period is over. Please don't add any new votes. Voting period ends on 20 Mar 2012 at 13:21:40 (UTC)

Original – Gippsland Water Dragon, Physignathus lesueurii howittii, a subspecies of the Australian water dragon, Physignathus lesueurii. Specimen was approx. 50-60cm long.
Edit (levels adjusted, shadow decreased)
Reason
Good quality capture of this shy species in its natural environment. Shows the full beastie, including the full laterally-compressed tail used for swimming, the nuchal and vertebral crests along its length, and the extended toes and claws used for climbing, making it high-EV. Also unlike other images of it taken elsewhere, this one clearly shows how the colouration provides camouflage against the grey lichen covered rocks along the waterways where it lives. Reptiles seem to be becoming few and far between at FPC.
Articles in which this image appears
Australian water dragon
FP category for this image
Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Animals/Reptiles
Creator
jjron
  • Oppose Dull lighting and insufficient background contrast IMO. (This means, for example, that the under-chin coloured area has insufficient detail.) I prefer both File:Physignathus lesueurii howittii.jpg and (COI disclosure) File:Eastern_Water_Dragon_Clontarf.jpg, although yours is the best full-body shot. The camouflage issue is a tricky one, but I think it can be demonstrated without making the picture visually difficult, for example in File:Eastern_Water_Dragon_Clontarf.jpg the rock and skin colour are both clearly shown, but they do not blend into one another. --99of9 (talk) 04:55, 12 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    • Well the natural habitat is shady waterways. I guess we could drag in some heavy duty external lighting in the hope of catching one with it unaware, or else just settle for cut-off images taken in suburbia or wildlife parks where it will be out in the open, and sans that pesky camouflage (possibly a pure white b/g would go well). And when you actually open the image up to bigger sizes the camouflage doesn't make it 'visually difficult' at all, but it does work well at smaller sizes, a reflection of how camouflage works in nature. --jjron (talk) 15:15, 13 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Weak Support My criticism is that quite a bit of the front, including the front is in partial shadow. JJ Harrison (talk) 08:38, 14 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Promoted File:Aust Gippsland Water Dragon, Physignathus lesueurii howittii, MRNP, jjron, 13.02.2012.jpg --Papa Lima Whiskey 2 (talk) 10:29, 26 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]