Chris Kayler Photography

This is another photograph from my trip to Thompson Wildlife Management Area, Virginia several days ago. The fog was outstanding and this flowering dogwood was the perfect compliment to it. I had to wait around a bit as the fog was constantly changing from very dense fog to light fog. In this image, the foreground is less foggy than the background, thanks to the movement of the fog.

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During my trip to Thompson Wildlife Management Area yesterday, I came across this little guy walking across the Appalachian Trail. I grabbed him for a quick photo shoot and got many images in different settings. Just 2 days before finding this Newt, I was talking with a friend about how I needed to get some whole body shots of newts (I only had portraits). Funny how things work out! Now … I could really use some pictures of Black Bears.

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With the unexpected surprise of a low cloud base (600 ft above ground level), I decided to head out to the mountains to make my way up to higher elevations for some dense fog photography. The timing turned out to be perfect, as the Large-flowered Trilliums at Thompson Wildlife Management Area are in peak bloom, carpeting the forest floor. The bloom at Thompson WMA is thought to be the largest bloom of Large-flowered Trillium in the United States, with literally millions of flowers spouting to life during mid-Spring. While this event is amazing in person, it can be difficult to photograph due to the scraggly, dense underbrush throughout the woods. Thanks to the fog, the forest was simplified slightly and I was able to get several images that I like.

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I went out hunting for snakes with a friend yesterday and had some success. Previously, my only snake photos to speak of where of Black Rat Snakes and Northern Water Snakes. I really wanted to find some other species, so months ago I began the process of learning how to find various snakes. With the help of my friend, I was able to find two new species - the Ringneck Snake, and the Eastern Worm Snake. While the average length of Eastern Worm Snakes are anywhere from 7 to 11 inches, this little guy was tiny - the smallest my friend had ever seen. Surely a hatchling, his markings were still the same as a full grown adult, and I found him quite striking, especially the coral colored belly.

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P.S. - Sorry about the snake, Grandma!

This is another image from my latter trip to Shenandoah National Park last weekend. It had been raining off and on for days, and the entire scene was soaked in water. Because of this, the colors of the Redbud and spring foliage really intensified and set apart these images versus other ones I had taken earlier in dry conditions. Many times the slightest differences in conditions make the biggest differences in the final image.

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During my 300 miles of driving to and through Shenandoah National Park this past weekend, I was able to obtain many images of Eastern Redbud - a beautiful flowering tree here in Virginia. In this photograph, the sun was rising behind a mountain, leaving the tree in shade. Contrary to complete overcast light, this light provided a great directional quality as well as a slight blue cast. While it is likely I would have liked this image if taken in overcast light, I think the shadowed light provides a unique quality which I find really beautiful.

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With the recent days of heavy rain, all of the local waterways were extremely high or flooded. After waiting a day for waters to recede ever so slightly, yet still maintain a good volume of water, I figured today was the perfect day to check out a new location for me - Difficult Run. Difficult run is a tributary of the Potomac River and is located within a few miles of Great Falls National Park, Virginia. Once arriving at the stream, I discovered that the heavy flow of water and large boulders turned out to be a beautiful combination. So beautiful in fact, that the brown water didn’t even seem too bad! Add some freshly emerging spring foliage to the mix, and it turned out to be a great day. I’ll definitely be back to this park in the future.

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I went to Shenandoah yesterday with the goal of photographing flowering Eastern Redbud and Dogwoods along Skyline Drive and surrounding roads in Shenandoah National Park. The trip turned out to be well worth the drive, as the flowering trees were in peak condition along the lower elevations. In this photograph, I captured the emerging spring foliage among several large tree trunks, with one small Redbud included in the frame. I had photographed this scene at about 10am in the morning, when the sun shone brightly and backlit all the trees. I liked the look, but decided to head back to this location yet again when 3pm came about and clouds had moved in. It turns out that even overcast light made all the difference, and I greatly prefer this image over the one I had taken earlier.

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I decided to head out yet again this morning to Bull Run Regional Park. With several consecutive days of warm and sunny temperatures, the leaves have really begun to come out in force here. Freshly emerging leaves and buds in the spring time seem to be one of the most understated and under appreciated shows in nature. While they may not be as showy as the large swaths of color found in autumn, I find the colors to be breathtaking, especially after a long brown winter, and especially with the sun providing backlight and causing the the various hues of leaves, buds, and flowers to take on a glowing appearance. In this photograph, I utilized the harsh sunlight to backlight the leaves and showcase the array of colors.

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This image is from last week during a 6 mile hike up Bull Run. The flowers were out in force, including Virginia Bluebell, Carolina Springbeauty, Violets, Bloodroot, and more. However, my favorite of the bunch would have to be the small and understated Trout Lily. With leaves patterned like a trout’s belly, things only get better when you get a chance to see one in bloom. They are generally hard to photograph, as they droop down towards the ground, but if you lay down you are treated to quite a view. I always enjoy seeing them come up after a long winter!

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

During a trip last week to Bull Run Regional Park, I heard many calls coming from the surrounding swamps next to the trail. They seemed to come from some sort frog or toad, but I could not get a clear view of any of the organisms in question. Then, while crossing a small boardwalk on my way back to the car, I spotted a group of American Toads in a small pool attempting to mate with one another. There was a “ball” of 4 or 5 toads jumping on top of each other and swimming around in the heat of courtship. I immediately hopped down into the stagnant, muddy waters and began photographing them. I obtained images of two toads in amplexus (mating), and also got images of males calling on their own. While it was a muddy experience that no doubt ruined and smelled up my shoes, I’m glad I was able to experience this short-lived event, and am certainly happy with the photographs I got.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

I decided to go for yet another walk at Bull Run Regional Park yesterday, and was rewarding with this Spotted Salamander. Of all the species of salamander, this one is way, way up there on the list of ones I wanted to see. The Spotted Salamander is a mole salamander, meaning that it spends most of its life underground. One of the few times it does come above ground is during the night to hunt, and early in spring to mate in small temporary pools called vernal pools. Seeing as the mating season is already over, I figured that I wouldn’t get any more chances to photograph a Spotted Salamander until next spring. While walking the trail next to a swamp, however, I saw a rotten log near the edge of the water. It looked like a good log for something to be hiding under, but I never expected to find a gorgeous, huge, Spotted Salamander underneath it. It was my lucky day!

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

I met up with a friend yesterday to go looking for early spring snakes in the hot and sunny weather. While we struck out on snakes, we did find a couple of lizards - some Five-lined Skinks and this Eastern Fence Lizard. The Eastern Fence Lizard is a bit rare in my area of Virginia, and this was my first time seeing one. The males have bright blue or purple bellies, which was really great to see in person. Unfortunately, I really didn’t get any images that show the feature off. Hopefully I’ll be seeing more of these lizards in the future for another chance to photograph them.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

This is another image from my trip to Bull Run Regional Park yesterday morning. While the fog mostly cleared by the time I got to the area with bluebells, this swamp held onto the fog a bit longer. I really like the lush setting in this one - the mossy logs and the trees with bloated trunks at the base. I can see visiting this swamp again in the future, it was quite beautiful.

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I think it’s finally happened. I actually like this bluebell image!

I awoke this morning to a surprise of foggy conditions. Rushing out the door without any breakfast and heading to Bull Run Regional Park, I wanted to attempt to photograph the bluebells in the foggy conditions - I figured the fog would help decongest the messy woods. As luck would have it, the fog burned off by the time I got to the park, but I decided to try and photograph the bluebells in the sunlight anyways. I’m certainly glad I did. It turns out the intense light was just the special something I needed to bring the image to life.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

That time has come again. The time of spring wildflowers, the time of the Virginia Bluebell. Every winter I think of the forests filled with blue and long for the time when I can photograph these gorgeous flowers. Then, as spring rolls in I dutifully set out to photograph them. After doing so, however, I always get that familiar feeling that I can’t capture the beauty of these flowers as I experience them in person. This happens year after year! Much of this difficulty is due to the fact that Virginia Bluebells grow mostly in flood plains. These floods provide nutrients for the bluebells, but also ensure that countless small saplings will be growing in the same area, creating a tangled mess of a forest that is often not the easiest to photograph in. Regardless, for as long as I’m living in Virginia, I will keep going out to see the bluebells. They are just too beautiful to pass up. Maybe one day I’ll create an image that seems really special to me.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

I made another trip two days ago to my area outside of Shenandoah National Park. During my previous trip there I had found a Spring Salamander larvae. During this trip, I hoped to find an adult. I had no luck, but after flipping over hundreds of rocks I did find quite a few salamanders. This Northern Two-lined Salamander was perhaps my favorite of them all. He is certainly the prettiest of his species that I have ever seen.

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This little guy is a Red-backed Salamander. There are two forms of the Red-backed Salamander, the striped (seen here), and the unstriped (also known as “leadback”.) Normally, the striped form consists of darker sides with a red stripe running down the back. However, at the location where I found this Red-backed, the majority of them were actually yellow. At first this may stump people trying to identify the salamanders (such as myself, for example), but I eventually learned that the striped forms can come in a variety of colors such as red, orange, yellow and white. Good to know!

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This is a new species from my trip yesterday to an area near Shenandoah. The Seal Salamander. This feisty little guy is a type of dusky salamander, and is very hard to differentiate from the Northern Dusky Salamander (don’t be fooled by my previous post, they turn black and patternless with age, and that one is quite old - normally they are more brown and patterned.) Today I’ll be heading to the east near the Potomac River where a few more salamanders live - hopefully I’ll be able to find them.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com