One of the highlights of my Indonesian photo tour was photographing Komodo dragons, the largest lizards in the world and a direct link to the age of the dinosaurs. They live primarily on three islands in the Indonesian archipelago, and they are prehistoric and definitely intimidating. The giant reptiles are low to the ground, and to really convey their power I had to shoot from as low an angle as possible. I wanted to capture their flickering tongue as well as their musculature as they moved over the ground, and I did that with a 100-400mm lens to compress perspective (as well as to keep a safe distance). I shot at 10 frames per second to capture the tongue at full extension. This picture shows a dragon on the beach, but they are also inland. As you hike on the trails, you have to be careful to watch for them at all times.
Komodo dragons are the largest, heaviest lizards in the world and one of the few with a venomous bite. The stealth and powerful hunters rely on their sense of smell to detect food, using their long, forked tongues to sample the air. They can spend hours waiting for a sizable meal to wander within range before launching a deadly attack with their large, curved and serrated teeth.