With camera in hand and keen eyes on the lookout, Kevin Hill, aka Jimmy Scaboo has made a name for himself capturing images of coastal creatures that inhabit the region.
While he may cast a lone shadow when he walks along the foreshore at dawn, his photos capture the waking world of Bargara.
For the past few years Jimmy Scaboo has spent time documenting the animals, sea life and people of Bargara and has become just as famous as the photos he takes.
“I do a lot of nature photography in the Bargara region. And I’d like to go elsewhere, but there’s so much to do in Bargara,” Jimmy told the Bundaberg Now podcast this week.
“What we do have in our region is a subtropical paradise and it’s seasonal of course, so that’s what makes it so interesting.
“I never know what I’m going to get and I’ll head out to get a sunrise and there’ll be dolphins or there’ll be a very large kangaroo showing his muscles, and then birds galore.”
Jimmy spends most of his mornings and afternoons exploring the area and has come across some interesting animals along the way.
Every time he captures a new sea creature or animal it goes on Facebook for his followers to identify.
The whale whisperer
From eagle rays to whales, birds, and sea snakes, Jimmy’s photos have become as iconic as the man himself.
His whale photos are particularly emotive and has led to him being described as a whale whisperer.
“It’s not whispering, it’s observing,” he said.
“I think it only boils down to not being a whale whisperer, or a dolphin whisperer but being in tune with them.
“Knowing that I can go to the beach and say to my friend this is a dolphin day, and along comes the dolphin family, which come at about 7.02 every morning.
“It’s an acquired skill and I’ve still got so much to learn.”
Eyes on the horizon
It’s Jimmy’s keen eye, patience, and an appreciation for the natural world that has led to many of his more notable photos.
It’s a skill that he said anyone could develop and urged people was to remain more observant and stop to smell the roses.
“I’m a marathon runner so I’ve got the energy to do this every morning, but rather than just run past it all, now I’ve got time to smell the roses,” he said.
“I see people walking and looking at the concrete on the ground and that’s it, that’s their walk.
“When I see people doing that, I say ‘eyes to the ocean’.
“The more you’re out there, the more you’re attuned to nature.”
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I think we need permanent speed cameras in all streets of Bundaberg to make it safe for our kids.
If you lived in Anderson Street Avenel Heights you would see the need for speed cameras.