Northern Two-lined Salamander, Washington Crossing State Park
Northern Two-lined Salamanders, such as this one, can be found alongside creeks and streams, usually hiding under rocks right near the water’s edge. They are quite common and I found many of these critters on my trip to Washington Crossing State Park in Titusville, New Jersey yesterday. Despite how common they are, they can be quite difficult to catch, as they move quickly and wriggle like crazy. Fortunately, if you lose one its pretty easy to flip another rock and find another.
Here’s one of the two-lineds I found early on while searching yesterday. I placed him on a mossy log for this photograph. As you can see, salamanders can be quite shiny, as their wet skin reflects light. Using a circular polarizing filter generally helps cut down the glare a little bit, but still allows the wetness to show through. For this photograph, I did not use a filter, and by the time I got one out, this salamander had changed its pose a bit and I didn’t like the resulting shots as much.
Techs: Canon 1D Mark II N, 70-200mm f/4L IS USM, 25mm extension tube. To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.
In: Recent and Random Photos, Tips and Techniques