Archive for May 31, 2009

Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum) on Wet Leaves, Francis Marion National Forest, South Carolina

This beautiful little guy was found, again, in South Carolina near a Carolina Bay where, presumably, it was going to breed. I thought that the salamander looked really good on the dark, tannin stained leaves of the swamp.

Adult Marbled Salamander (Amybystoma opacum) on Wet Leaves, Francis Marion National Forest, South Carolina, United States.

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Adult Corn Snake (Elaphe guttata) Portrait, Francis Marion National Forest, South Carolina

Continuing still with my South Carolina herping trip, here is a portrait of my favorite find of the trip. This is an adult Corn Snake, and it sure was brightly colored! Beautiful snake. It was found crossing the road as I was driving around one evening. It froze as it saw me, allowing me to set up my camera and obtain several portraits.

Corn Snake (Elaphe guttata) portrait on sand, Francis Marion National Forest, South Carolina, USA.

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

To view more wildlife photos of Corn Snakes please click here.

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Barking Treefrog (Hyla gratiosa) on a Lichen – covered Branch

Well, I came back from the Delaware Water Gap a bit early. I managed to get a few images, but overall the creative juices just weren’t flowing, and I decided to cut the trip short and head back in the same day so I could sleep in my nice bed and get some photography work done today!

Continuing with my herp images from Francis Marion National Forest, this is a Barking Treefrog. These guys are easily one of my favorite Treefrogs that I’ve been lucky enough to experience. Not only are they very big, but they have awesome patterns and colors, are very calm and docile, and just love to cling onto anything, so if you put them in your hand they will wrap their large sticky footpads around your fingers and just hang out. Very cool experience!

As far as the image goes – it was a set up! Just as in many bird photographs, this branch was specifically selected for its characteristics, and was then moved around often in order to obtain the background that I wanted.

Barking Treefrog (Hyla gratiosa) on a Lichen - covered Branch against a brown and green background, Francis Marion National Forest, South Carolina, USA.

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

To view more wildlife photos of Barking Treefrogs please click here.

To view more wildlife photos of tree frogs please click here.

Green Anole (Anolis carolinenensis) Portrait on a Palmetto

This will be the first of many species from my very successful trip to South Carolina. I managed to get poision ivy, get lost in a swamp for 4 hours at night, and get eaten alive by bugs, but it was a ton of fun being out there alone for a full week straight. I photographed 14 new reptile / amphibian species in total!

This particular image is one of my favorites from the trip, and also what I consider to be one of my only artistic looking photographs of a herp. Most of that latter attribute was thanks to being in the right spot at the right time and the luck of having the Green Anole selecting a very good Palmetto perch with the colorful, dappled waters of a swamp directly behind him.

I’ll be heading to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Pennsylvania to photograph a multitude of waterfalls in the predicted rainy weather tomorrow and Thursday, but will be back to posting more images shortly after.

Green Anole (Anolis carolinenensis) portrait on a Palmetto with a pastel colorful background in Francis Marion National Forest, South Carolina, SC, United States.

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

To view more wildlife photos of Green Anoles please click here.

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Nothern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans) Standing in Water

I photographed this beautiful little guy at a local State Forest near me in a small pool of water. There were several of them there, and most likely they will be breeding soon.

On a similar subject of reptiles and amphibians, I will be heading down to South Carolina tomorrow to look for and photograph snakes / frogs / salamanders / turtles etc. I will return Friday or Saturday and will hopefully have many new images to share.

Northern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans) Standing in Water, Virginia, United States.

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

To view more wildlife photos of Northern Cricket Frogs please click here.

To view more wildlife photos of tree frogs please click here.

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Cathedral Falls in Spring, West Virginia

All of my new camera gear is here! It’s been a joy to use – a real upgrade over my past equipment. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise?

This image is from a trip to the New River Gorge area of West Virginia on a nice misty day. This particular waterfall is Cathedral Falls, and was easily my favorite of the entire trip. Very photogenic! The conditions under which I photographed it were also ideal with the high flow of water and fresh spring greens.

Cathedral Falls in Spring, West Virginia, United States.

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

To view more landscape photos of West Virginia (Other) please click here.

To view more landscape photos of waterfalls please click here.