Australian Images coming to life again in Aperture 2…long forgotten but now restored in Aperture. Photography from some 25 years ago…the Galloping Freshwater Crocodiles from the remote Northern Territory...
These slides had been scanned very rough but in high resolution some years ago to protect them from further deterioration, accumulation of fungus and color shift. Photoshop used to be the only way to restore these images…but since the arrival of Aperture 2 in most cases I can now bypass Photoshop. This is particular useful since I can re- catalogue them at the same time or leave them in their current location on my external hard drives.
In the past I neglected like many of us the proper caption…metadata? But then what was this Metadata and IPTC stuff in those days.
©
Gunther Deichmann - Galloping Australian Freshwater
Crocodile
(Crocodylus
johnsoni)
For
more restored and unique images you can visit
my
PhotoShelter
Archive
click on the image above
or
here.
The
images…these must have been the very first image
taken of Freshwater Crocodiles showing a true
Gallop…yes Crocs do Gallop just like a horse, I bet
you didn’t know that, well me neither until I went
out with Dr. Graham Webb and his research team some
25 years ago. They studied Crocodiles in various
parts of the Northern Territory in Australia…catching
and tagging these amazing “prehistoric” animals for a
major research project...it was during this research
that they discoverd the gallop of the Crocodiles.
I spend month’s with the research team in remote
parts of the NT and managed to get these shots with
my old X700 Minolta, yes long before my Nikon days.
Recently I came across these images again, but they
needed some restoration work, big color shifts (heavy
magenta cast) and some fungus had taken its toll over
the years.
Not only did I managed to bring them back to life
again in Aperture
2.1 but I thought I share a rare moment of the
past with you.
Read below some scientific facts about the Australian
freshwater crocodile
GD
© Gunther Deichmann
- Galloping Australian Freshwater Crocodile
(Crocodylus
johnsoni)
For
more restored and unique images you can visit
my
PhotoShelter
Archive
click on the image above
or
here.
Genus &
Species: Crocodylus johnstoni (Crocodylus
johnsoni)
The Australian freshwater
crocodile is a small cousin of the Australian
saltwater crocodile. Although there are no
subspecies, smaller, darker- coloured populations can
be found farther upstream, perhaps due to food
availability. They reach lengths of 5 ft (1.5 m).
Australian freshwater crocodiles grow very slowly,
and may not reach full lengths for 20 years.
Australian freshwater crocodiles have strong legs
with clawed, webbed feet. The tail is very powerful.
The skin is light brown in colour, with dark bands on
the body and tail and sometimes on the snout. The
scales are large, with wide plates on the back and
ventral osteoderms (bony plates) on the belly. The
flanks and outside of the legs are covered in pebbly
scales.
Australian
freshwater crocodiles are one of the few species that
can gallop on land, reaching speeds of 18 km/h. They
have a life span of 50 years.
HABITAT
Australian freshwater crocodiles are found only in
the provinces of Queensland, Northern Territory, and
Western Australia in Australia. They are found
predominately in freshwater lakes, billabongs,
swamps, rivers, creeks, and wetlands, although not by
choice. The Australian saltwater crocodile keeps them
out of more saline (salty) areas by outcompeting
them. However, when this species was near extinction
Australian freshwater crocodiles could be found in
saltwater. Today, they are found mainly in freshwater
and brackish areas. They are not fussy over water,
and will live in muddy, clear, fast, still, deep, or
shallow water. After the rainy season they move to
more permanent areas of water that will not dry up in
the dry season, and will rarely eat and hardly grow
until they return at the start of the next rainy
season.
