The Batblog by Photobat | Portrait and Wedding

She’s 7. Can you believe it? I took some photos of her Humans too, will post them soon.

When I first read that there were Turtles in Vanuatu I was excited, I really wanted to get as close as possible to an animal I hadn’t seen before. I like turtles, but it’s been at a distance. That all changed on Moso Island.

We read that there was s Turtle Rookery on Tranquility Island (also known as Moso). We wanted to get there but really didn’t want to do the half day tour and see things that didn’t really interest us before we got to the rookery. After mentioning this to the guys at Havannah (the best place we have ever stayed) they arranged a trip for us on their little speed boat across the harbour to have our own look at the rookery.

I didn’t know what to expect, and after trekking through the jungle from the jetty we emerged into the rookery. Essentially it’s a heap of big white plastic tubs filled with turtles. The turtles are collected by local villages when they hatch and are bought to the rookery where they are paid for and then looked after until they are big enough to have a better chance of surviving in the wild.

The Hawksbill Turtle is critically endangered meaning that the species numbers have decreased, or will decrease, by 80% within three generations. So that means there isn’t that many about. To be in a little area with over a hundred of this amazing and beautiful reptile was fantastic.

The little ones are fragile and not able to be handled, but as you go down the tubs they get bigger and bigger until you get to the 2 year old turtles in the final cement tanks. These larger turtles are ready for release. The rookery relies on tourists coming by and sponsoring the turtles and releasing them. Of course, we had to do this. We picked up, measured it up and Vikashni walked it down beach and released it. TM (As we called it) was tagged and each time it is seen thy researchers will send us an email to let us know how it’s going. Very cool.

I hope TM is out there having a great time in the sea eating lots of jellyfish

If you can’t tell, this dog is half dog half GIANT

This is a first for me, photographing 2 horses. And could i get them to look at the camera and smile? Well, looking at the camera kinda succeeded but I have no idea what a horse smile looks like…

A few moths ago I was lucky to spend some time with the animals out at the RSPCA. They were all excited and being nice to me as they knew that I was going to be photographing them for the main month images for the 2010 RSPCA Calendar. Now the calendar is all ready and waiting for people to buy it. If you like animals, you will love this. Each day of the year features a different pet and there are some very cute ones there.
If you are interested we have 3 to give away right here in the gallery, just give us a call on 63348789 and the first three people to say “I want a calendar” will get one. **** UPDATE – All calendars have gone! Congrats to Ashlee, Marcus, Brooke and Keeley. Yes I caved and gave away my copy! have to get another one now!)

Everyone else has to ring 6332 8200 and talk to the RSPCA to find where to buy their copy.

Ok, a quick little post becaue i’m so behind in blogging. There will be more focus on posting a heap of images over writing heaps of words for the next couple of weeks… That said lets jump into Mandy and James’s shoot.

This was fun. Remember back when it was stinking hot a few weeks ago, that is when I caught up with James and Mandy for this shoot. Mandy’s nice bosslady Susan from Jim Hughes and Sons gave her a voucher that she received at a charity auction, she’s a very nice boss! 4 dogs is always a challenge, but I’ve never backed down from shooting lots of doggies and it was another win. These guys seem to like their animals, lots of dogs some sheep, I think there was a horse, or that may have been on the way, anyway, lots of animals (and comers too for you grammar nuts!).

I also managed to get lost finding their house, but getting lost is always fun when you find an awesome location to take photos at (and get splinters)

I love magazines; there are a few piles of them at home. I’m always excited when a new one arrives in the post office box. Today’s delivery was doubly exciting. Capture is a great read for photographers, covers a lot of interesting and important things relating to the industry of shooting everything in Australia. The current issue is their inaugural Annual filled with what Editor Marc Gaffen describes as “a selection of the finest work produced in the last 12 months.”
Heaps of good photos, including the one above taken at Brad and Elisha’s wedding. There were 5 wedding photos chosen for the annual and I got one of them. Quite exciting to get an image in there, I can’t imagine how many were submitted.
I’m off to buy these doggies some treats…

I caught up with Susie and Adrian a few weeks ago, had a great time exploring all the photo opportunities in the house. Also Theodore was very good to us, these guys really really love Theo and it was important to get a great shot of him. He certainly had heaps of character!

Today is your last chance to get in on our animal portrait mini session to help raise some money for the RSPCA.

There are a very limited amount of sessions available for the shoot tomorrow afternoon. What you need to know is

Shoot Fee – $55 which includes:

- $55 worth of credit towards any photo’s purchased from the 20 minute shoot

- Position in RSPCA 2010 All Creatures Calendar for your pet

- Free RSPCA 2010 All Creatures Calendar

We are doing all the sessions in the Civic Square in Launceston tomorrow!

To reserve your spot speak to the RSPCA on 6332 8200

We are donating the $55 shoot fee straight to the RSPCA.

I’m looking forward to it, going to be great to meet some dogs and their owners