Species observed include: Fowler’s Toad, Southern Leopard Frog, Northern Green Frog, Northern Cricket Frog*, Common Bull Frog, Green Treefrog*, Cope’s Gray Treefrog, Eastern Narrowmouth Toad*, Spring Peeper, Wood Frog, American Toad, Northern Redback Salamander, Southern Two Lined Salamander, Spotted Salamander, Eastern Painted Turtle, Eastern Box Turtle, Northern Redbellied Turtles, Spotted Turtle*, Common Snapping Turtle (DOR), Northern Fence Lizard, Five-lined Skink, Ground Skink*, Southern Ringneck Snakes, Northern Black Racer, Northern Water Snake, Eastern Worm Snake, Eastern Black Rat Snake, Northern Rough Green Snake*, Eastern Smooth Earth Snake*, Southern Copperhead (DOR)*, Eastern Kingsnake, Eastern Garter Snake (DOR), Eastern Hognose Snake (DOR)*.  Here (DOR) indicates the only specimen found was roadkill and * indicates lifer.

While not a photography trip, I was able to get some record shots of some of the animals we found, including species I did not already have in my stock gallery.  The trip did remind me of how much fun field herping can be though, as well as how tricky photographing little quick reptiles and amphibians can be.  I’m out of practice and hope to do a bit more herp photography this month and next.

Here are a few photos of some of the new species I was able to add to my stock list:

Eastern Narrowmouth Toad*

Eastern Box Turtle

Rough Green Snake*

Fowler’s Toad

More to come!

Saturday is “the big day” for the Fotofest, and it was a long one for me indeed.  Greg and Scott ran another raptor workshop in the morning, and as we were setting up our perches, the sky lit up in a stunning pink sunrise.  Once the perches were set, I rushed to the beach to photograph it, but I was about 10 minutes too late for the great color.  I did get some nice shots, but was (and still am) kicking myself for missing the brilliant color.

After the raptor workshop, we headed back to the exhibition hall for a long 9-5 day in the NatureScapes booth.  Fortunately, the festival reception at 3:45 brought a lot of warm bodies and food, and afterward, from 5:30-6:30, I got to see Chas Glatzer’s keynote on photographing Common Loons, which are one of my favorite birds.  Chas made me want to get out in my kayak, and hopefully I’ll get the chance to do a little kayak exploring and photography while working in and around upstate New York this summer.  Then came dinner with some of the speakers and event staff, and it was a nice opportunity to sit down and catch up with some of the photographers I hadn’t seen throughout the rest of the festival, including Roy Toft, Kevin Karlson, Lewis Kemper, and Deb Sandidge.

Today was significantly more laid back, as the festival winded down and people began to say their goodbyes.  Greg and I got up early in hopes of photographing sunset at the beach, and although we didn’t get the dramatic color of yesterday, we did have some nice clouds and were able to get some good shots.  The storms Florida had this year dramatically changed the landscape of the beach from how I remembered it last year, and there were many limestone boulders around the shoreline that provided plenty of opportunities for creative and dynamic compositions.  I could probably stay another week and photograph sunrise every morning without getting bored.

After breakfast, we headed caught a bit of a presentation on quick masks by Maxis Gamez before heading into the exhibitor’s hall for our final day at the booth.  At 2PM, we broke down our booth and said our goodbyes, then headed back to the hotel.  While it was sad to say goodbye to all of the great photographers, presenters, speakers, exhibitors, event staff, and participants, it will be a relief to fly home tomorrow.  It’s been a long weekend and I have to admit I’m a bit excited to get back to my own bed and my nice monitor at home so I can process some images.

Three captive educational subjects were provided by the Florida Audubon Center for Birds of Prey for the field session.  Elvis, a 15 year old male American Kestrel, and Bogey, a 18 year old male Great Horned Owl, modeled first, followed by Paige, a 15 year old female Bald Eagle.  The calm, nearly cloudless morning provided awesome light for the birds, and they made cooperative subjects as usual.  I spent the majority of the morning assisting participants, getting in a few shots of Elvis and Bogey, who I had already photographed last year, and a bit more of Paige, since last year’s bald eagle subject was Francis, a much smaller and browner male eagle.  Paige is a very vocal bird, and I was able to capture a few shots of her screaming, which was pretty cool.  We had a great group of participants, and I really enjoying mingling with the crowd.

Afterward, it was off to the exhibit hall, where I manned the NSN booth from 10AM-5PM, then had dinner with Erin Masters, Tim Grey, and Greg at the Sunset Grille, a fantastic seafood restaurant on the A1A strip.  Tomorrow, my schedule is pretty much the same, with the raptor workshop at sunrise, followed by the exhibit hall from 9AM-5PM, and then the reception and keynote by Chas Glatzer.  It will be another long day, so I hope I get some good sleep tonight!

This morning, Greg had a field session on Bird Flight Photography for Beginners at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm at 7AM, so we got up early and headed straight over to the zoo, which is pretty close to our hotel.  The session started with a short slide show in the classroom at the Alligator Farm and then we headed over to the rookery to do some shooting.  The rookery was pretty quiet at first, with only a few flybys, but as the morning wore on the action increased, and there were many opportunities for flight shots as well as portraits and images of the birds interacting at their nests.  The alligators were quite active too, and there was a lot of loud rumbling from some of the larger beasts.

I managed to get quite a few shots I’m happy with from the morning’s session.  All in all, I shot just under 350 images, and managed to get better shots of Roseate Spoonbills and White Ibis, as well as some nice Great Egret and Wood Stork shots.  I even played around with photographing the alligators some, although, unlike the birds, they are not wild, so they don’t interest me as much.  I tried out my new 7D and was very impressed with the speed and accuracy of the autofocus for birds in flight.  I still have a LOT of playing around to do with the camera, as it was only my second day of shooting with it, but so far I like it quite a bit.  The photos are sharp on my monitor, and although noise is prominent (probably on par or a bit worse than my 1D2N) it is not generally objectionable.

Here are some photos from the morning, quick processed on my laptop to share.

After spending the morning at the Alligator Farm, we headed over to the Whitney Classroom at Marineland to set up the NatureScapes booth in the exhibitor hall.  I manned the booth throughout the afternoon while Greg and Scott Elowitz collected perches for their raptor workshop tomorrow at Washington Oaks State Park.  The workshop uses educational subjects from the Florida Audubon Center for Birds of Prey.  This year the models will be Elvis, an American Kestrel; Bogey, a Great Horned Owl; and Paige, a very vocal 15 year old female Bald Eagle.  At 5PM, we wrapped up at the exhibitor’s hall and headed back to our hotel.

I’m currently debating between attempting to shoot sunset on the beach or going to bed early, as I got maybe five hours of sleep last night, and about the same the night before and the night before that as well.  Tomorrow we have to leave the hotel by 6AM to get to Washington Oaks by 6:30 to prep for the birds and workshop participants, followed by all day in the exhibitors hall.  As much as I would love to enjoy some time on the beach this evening, I think catching up on sleep might be mandatory in order for me to make the most out of the rest of my time here at the festival.

A lot of times I just enjoy being out in nature, well all the time really.  Sometimes, it’s really a hassle for me to lug around my camera gear and stop and compose photos everytime I find something interesting.  Sometimes I just want to experience being outdoors, with no interruptions and no distractions.  Sometimes, when it comes to photography anyway, I get lazy.

This was one of those days.  It wasn’t particularly nice out, and nothing looks particularly pretty this time of year in New Jersey, at least when it comes to woodland landscapes.  I still don’t have a lightweight tripod for landscapes, and the thought of lugging my five pound all purpose Gitzo around the woods with me was very unappealing, especially when I was unlikely to find anything really worth photographing.  So I decided whatever trails I went on, I’d bring my trusty G10 (which I try to have with me 24/7 just in case) and nothing else, save my Camelbak, a trail map, and my ID and car keys.

I did want to do some photography though.  I’m one of those people who firmly believe there is natural beauty just about everywhere.  Sometimes its obvious, sometimes its discrete, but its always there, you just have to look for it.  Stokes is a very pretty place and I had all day until the sun set, so I was determined to do at least a little shooting, even if only because it had been a while since I picked up my 5D Mark II and I was beginning to feel a bit like a failure.

I drove around, G10 pointed out the window, doing a little of what I like to call “drive-by shooting” even though autumn was well past its peak and the foliage wasn’t particularly interesting to look at.  I like drive-by shooting because it produces some really unique, creative, and abstract images with minimal effort, and you can incorporate it into any trip without having to create special chunks of time to allow for the process that is making a photograph.  As it turns out, drive-by shooting is much more difficult when you yourself are driving and shooting at the same time.  You can’t really compose anything if you are looking at the road, and holding the camera and pressing the shutter with one hand while steering with the other is a recipe for disaster.  You’re likely to drop the camera out the window, drive off the road, or both.  Fortunately, the backroads at Stokes have stretches with good visibility, and my G10 is small enough that I can hold it in one hand, but the lack of a chauffeur really reduced both the safety and productivity of using the drive-by technique, so I soon changed my approach to getting shots for the day.

I began to stop the car at spots that had visual interest and shot from a stationary position, still inside the car, with the engine turned off.  I used the car window frame as a brace, leaning against it to get sharp shots without the extra effort of getting a tripod and setting it up for shots that would mostly end up in my Recycle Bin anyway.  Sometimes, the time it takes to repeatedly set up, manuever into position, and then break down a tripod for a couple quick photos of something you aren’t really “feeling” to begin with seems like a waste to me.  It’s not the physical effort I’m opposed to, and its the time factor.  Time is money.  Light is aways changing, animals are constantly on the move, and as a photographer who chooses subjects largely based on an emotional attraction to them, its not always worth it to me to invest a lot of time in something that only mildly excites me, especially when there is the possibility that something better is lurking around the corner.  In this case, I had a hike I wanted to complete before dark.  However, shooting from a car window isn’t particularly desirable and actually greatly limits your angles and composition, and therefore your creativity.  The truth is, whenever you can get out of the car (because you won’t damage the surrounding environment, flee your subject, or put yourself or your subject in danger), you probably should.  You’ll nearly always get better photos that way.

But who needs a sharp shot anyway?  One thing I really enjoy doing is all sorts of blurs and photos that imply movement by using slow shutter speeds and moving the camera during the exposure.  This is great for times when you are too lazy to set up the tripod, and using motion-exposure techniques can really inspire your creativity.  By eliminating the appearance of hard edges and concrete shapes, you begin to focus on different aspects of the photo like color, general form, and contrast.  Shooting this way is very much hit or miss, and the majority of your shots will immediately end up being deleted, but the process is fun and the results can be very interesting when everything comes together.

So, I took advantage of the dull, overcast light and set my camera for slow shutter speeds.  Then I played.  I walked around with my G10 a bit, whirling and shaking it during the longer exposures.  I got out my 5D Mark II, which gave me even more control, and did some vertical pan blurs and other funky shots.   I left my tripod in the car.  I didn’t need it.  This was about having fun.

Because I was hand holding my camera, I got pretty varied results.  With hand holding, no composition is ever exactly the same, and when moving the camera during the exposure, you will move it at different speeds and in different directions each time, even if you try to do the same thing twice.  That’s okay with me though, as I like the suprise of seeing what each shot holds on the camera LCD.

Here is an example of one of my vertical pan blur compositions.  These shot were taken one after the other, but as you can see they are very different.  When doing creative motion shots, it pays to take a lot of photos, as you never know which you’ll like best.  I’m curious, what do you think?  #1 or #2?

My last serious photo session was a couple of weeks ago, when I visited the Delaware Water Gap with a fellow photographer to shoot autumn color around several waterfalls in Pennsylvania.  I have since sent my BH-55 ballhead to Really Right Stuff for servicing, and have had scheduled classes or work for six out of seven days for the past couple weeks, so I haven’t done any recent shooting.  I did get around to processing a couple more images from my Pennsylvania trip to share.  Both are more abstract and intimate views of waterfalls than my previous post of Factory Falls (which I included for comparison).  I hope you enjoy them.

You can click on each thumbnail to view the images larger.  I’m experimenting with different posting styles, so feel free to let me know what you think of the multiple images/thumbnails.  To order prints, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

Many of the falls in this area of the Gap are surrounded by hemlock and pine trees, so it can sometimes be difficult to include a lot of fall color in the photograph to give a sense of the season.  Here I used a slow shutter speed, made possible by combining a polarizing filter and neutral density filter, to capture the pattern of the fallen leaves swirling in the water next to the falls.  By including the leaves in the frame, it becomes obvious to the viewer that this shot was made sometime in autumn.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 17-40mm f/4L USM, warming polarizing filter, neutral density filter, tripod.  To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

Here’s my favorite shot from today, again processed on my laptop.  Here, an adult Common Redpoll perched on the top of a spruce branch we set up over the black sunflower seed spread on the ground.

To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

We woke up early this morning to drive to Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge in northern New Hampshire in hopes of seeing some moose.  We found some fresh tracks in the area but didn’t see any moose, so we drove into nearby Maine to continue our search.  There, we found a flock of Common Redpoll, Pine Grosbeaks, and Evening Grosbeaks feeding on some sunflower seed left on the ground near a couple of feeders.  We parked the car nearby, using it as a blind, and photographed the birds from the vehicle as they perched in a nearby spruce tree.  After shooting for about an hour or so, when the birds were used to our presence, we set up a perch for the birds to land on so we could get some different shots.  All in all, Chris and I both got some awesome shots of Pine Grosbeaks and Common Redpoll, a new species for me.

This shot, of a female Pine Grosbeak, is probably one of my best from today.  I processed it quickly from my laptop, so please forgive me if it looks a little off.  Last winter, I was able to photograph Pine Grosbeaks feeding on crab apple trees in upstate New York, but it was very difficult to compose a clean shot of them in the tangled branches.  All of my shots of the females from last year had very busy backgrounds, so I’m more than happy to get a shot of one in these ideal conditions. 

After shooting at the feeder, we drove north up Route 16 past Errol, NH to search for moose, Boreal Chickadee, and whatever other cool species we could find before heading back to the motel.  As we we driving, Chris spotted a bobcat about 10 feet off the road trotting belly deep through the snow in a boggy meadow.  We quickly pulled over and Chris made a mouse squeaking noise to get the cat’s attention.  The bobcat stopped for a second and looked straight at us before continuing to the edge of the woods and vanishing in a tangle of spruce trees.  I have never seen a wild bobcat before.  We were pretty close and although the interaction lasted only a couple of seconds, the experience was just awesome!

To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

We got up early on Sunday morning to head to Plymouth, Massachussetts in hopes of seeing the Ivory Gull, an extremely rare visitor from Northern Canada, that had been hanging out in the area for over a week.  Unfortunately, the gull had not been spotted on Saturday and when we showed up on Sunday morning, despite offerings of raw chicken, a roadkilled rabbit, and even a dead Common Loon, the gull was nowhere to be seen.  It looks like the gull has moved on, and with the recent warm spell in New England, it is doubtful that it will be seen again.

We then drove to Center Harbor, New Hampshire, where a Northern Hawk Owl has been observed this year.  When we arrived, finding the owl was easy, as he was perched high in the top of a tree, and several other photographers and birders has already congregated on the road nearby.  The owl was not particularly cooperative, although Chris did manage some decent high key shots, so after several hours there, we decided to move on.

We headed north towards the White Mountains and our hotel in Gorham.  Along the drive, Chris and I marveled at the beautiful landscapes all around us, from the pretty stands of white birch alongside the road to the grand mountains, their peaks shrouded in clouds, and we witnessed a beautiful sunset that turned the sky orange, pink, and purple.  Shortly after the sun dipped below the mountains on the horizon, we found the motel we were staying at and settled in for the night.

This morning, we met up with a local birder David Govatski, in hopes of seeing some northern birds.  At his home, we observed Blue Jays, Evening Grosbeaks, Black-capped Chickadees, Common Redpolls, Tree Sparrows, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, a Dark-eyed Junco, and two Red Squirrels at his awesome backyard feeder setup with an incredible view of the Presidential Range.  We then set off on a 2.6 mile hike (5.2 miles round trip) up Mount Pierce hoping to find Boreal Chickadees, Gray Jays, and other boreal species.  A few hours later, we had only seen five Boreal Chickadees and a raven, but heard both Gray Jay and Black-backed Woodpecker, and also found plenty of American Marten tracks, mouse tracks, Snowshoe Hare tracks, and even some very fresh Spruce Grouse scat.  Despite not seeing many birds, we were in the prettiest woods I have ever seen, with birch, spruce, and fir trees drenched in thick white snow, and I had a wonderful time.  Tomorrow, we plan to meet up with David again, and explore some other places.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos to share of our adventures yet, because while trying to clean my camera sensor on Saturday night, I destroyed the shutter of my camera.  Thankfully, a very kind friend is loaning me his cameras for the trip and express shipped them to me today.  They should arrive sometime tomorrow and allow me to shoot for the rest of my time here.

The main attraction of Blackwater is its numerous waterfalls, which we had hoped to photograph surrounded by fresh white snow.  When we arrived though, we found most of the falls completely frozen from the extreme cold temperatures of the week before.  The main falls however, was only partially frozen and still consisted mostly of flowing water.  Chris and I carefully kept an eye on the weather, waiting for the wind to calm and snow to subside in order to photograph the falls.  Blackwater Falls is located in a gorge that forces air pressure upward and outward, so even the slightest breeze gets magnified and blows falling snow directly into your face and lens.  The snow, when it gets on your lens, can cause nasty water spots and ruin your shots.  As it turns out, the snow never stopped, making for difficult shooting conditions even though the falling snow, dancing down through the gorge and around the falls, was breathtakingly beautiful in person.

Despite the weather, Chris and I were able to get some really nice shots from our trip.  The one below, of Blackwater Falls, is one of my favorite and exactly the type of shot I was hoping for when we planned the trip. 

Composing this shot was difficult, as there is a manmade viewing platform to the immediate left of the falls from this angle, and access to the falls was limited to the walkways at the park.  Rock hopping, bushwacking, and cliff scrambling were mostly out of the question since leaving the walkways is prohibited in certain areas near the falls and the heavy snow made finding secure footing quite difficult.  I had to clone a small bit in the bottom left corner, where the snow covered railing protruded into the frame, but the end result, I feel, is well worth it.  I used a polarizing filter to help slow down my shutter speed and render the falls as silky smooth water, but decided not to use a neutral density filter so as not to have too many filters protruding out from the safety of the lens hood and into the path of falling snowflakes.  I hope you like it.

Techs: Canon 1D Mark II N, 17-40mm f/4, 0.3 seconds, f/20, ISO 50, polarizer, tripod, processed on my laptop.  To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

The past three years, I’ve gone there in November to meet other nature photographers from the online nature photography forum, Naturescapes.net, for our annual Mid-Atlantic group gathering.  Highlights of our November trips usually include good numbers of Snow Geese, several species of waders including Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets, cooperative Cormorants, shorebirds, and plenty of gulls.  Unfortunately, in the past three years that I have been on the NSN outing, we’ve also had some pretty bad weather.  This weekend was no exception!  We experienced thick fog, plenty of rain, dark skies, and sustained 20-30 mph winds for much of the trip.  This combination of weather made photography pretty difficult (and camping on the island overnight quite interesting).  Even so, Chris and I spent many hours at the refuge searching for good subjects and suitable settings, determined to get some usable shots from the trip.

In the past, trips to Chincoteague have nearly always resulted in portfolio worthy photographs for me.  Even in bad weather, I’ve usually managed to create some unique image that stands out enough to become a favorite of mine.  Browsing through shots from my recent trip, I can’t say any quite make the mark this time.  Even so, I’m pretty happy with several of my pictures, and will be glad to add some new images to my ever growing stock gallery.

I’m back in New Jersey now, working the last few days of the fall season at Wildcat Mountain Wilderness Center before we shut down for the winter.  As I process my photos from Chincoteague, I’ll post them on my blog, so be sure to check back later this week to see my newest shots.

From the start, it appeared as if I’d be lucky to get worthwhile shots, as the morning’s conditions were less than ideal for waterfowl photography.  A fairly regular autumn wind tore across the water, creating ripples of uneven color.  From my perch atop the culvert, I was forced to shoot at a higher angle than I wanted, which made the ripples even more obvious.  To make matters worse, the batteries in my flash, which I had mounted atop my camera to balance out any uneven lighting and add dramatic bold colors to the water, were quickly dying, and the two sets of backups in my bag were dead as well.

Regardless, I stayed, prone on the asphalt, photographing the Mallards when they came into range.  I became more careful with each shot I took, waiting for the angle of the head of the bird to catch the light just right, and keeping an eye on the background, refusing to press the shutter unless the area around the bird was clean, fairly calm, and clear of debris.  I aimed for the perfect shot, straight from the camera, with as minimal cropping, cloning, and adjusting as possible, and focused on my nemesis, the male Mallards in their brilliant green bonnets.

Despite the fact that the ponds in my area have tame Mallards year round, I have had yet to get a nice photograph of a male in full breeding plumage.  Somehow, I have always ended up with better images of the females, probably due to their duller color, which is a bit easier to expose for and allows the details of the bird to show up well even in harsher light.  This morning, I managed to get at least a couple decent shots of the males in full color, despite the conditions.

One of my new species, the Spring Salamander, is a rather large salamander that lives in or near cool, clear streams and springs.  Larvae take a couple of years to develop into adults, and as adults, the salamanders never stray far from water, unlike some other species of salamanders that can become rather terrestrial.  Spring Salamanders eat insects, crustaceans, earthworms, and other invertibrates, like many other salamanders.  However, Spring Salamanders will also consume other salamanders as part of their diet, including salamanders of their own species.

Here is one rather comical photograph I took of an adult Spring Salamander one of my friends discovered in a mountain stream.  This photo shows the characteristic light stripe that goes from the tip of the eye to the nostril on either side of the Spring Salamander’s face.  This photo reminds me of when, in evolutionary theory, the first aquatic creatures ventured onto land millions and millions of years ago.

To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

My favorite find of the day was definately the adult Milk Snake our friend Jeff flipped.  It was the first wild Milk I had ever seen and it was gorgeous!  Usually, smaller younger Milks have more vibrant colors than adults, but this one was rather pretty.  Unfortunately, snakes are often difficult to photograph because they are rarely cooperative.  This one wasn’t exactly the exception, and it didn’t stay still for very long.  I only managed a few portraits of it before we released it, but I’m still happy with my first shots of the species.

To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

Techs: Canon 1D Mark II N, 70-200mm f/4L IS USM, 12mm + 25mm Extenders.  To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

My favorite shots though, are the ones I captured of the babies interacting with one another.  While I didn’t get nearly as many photos of the kits together as I had hoped, I did take some photos capturing the moment when one kit came over to its sibling and cuddled up to it.  I snapped away hoping I would get a usable shot, and I think I got what I was looking for in this intimate image.  I hope you like it!

Techs: Canon 1D Mark II N, 500mm f/4L IS USM, 1/500s, f/9, ISO 400.  To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

I didn’t take many photographs, but did manage this one decent shot of a Northern Dusky Salamander, a species I previously had not captured, either in hand or on film (or in this case, a digital sensor).  I tried for a lower more intimate angle on this shot, opting for a head-on view as opposed to the more overhead angle of my other sally shots to date.  I wish this image had more DOF (depth-of-field) and that the moss covered rock I used as a perch was a little bit cleaner, but overall I’m pretty happy with my first shot of this species.  The light was mixed sun and dappled shade, so I used my shadow to create softer lighting and used a circular polarizer to help cut glare.  Even with such tricks, it can often be difficult to photograph amphibians because of their wet skin, but I’ll be sure to keep trying different techniques and learning as I go.

Techs: Canon 1D Mark II N, 70-200mm f/4L IS USM, 25mm extension tube, 1.3 sec, f/14, ISO 800.  To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.

This is a lead-backed version of the Redback Salamander.  Redbacks actually have quite a bit of variation.  The most common ones you’ll find either have a red back, like their name implies they should, or have a steel blue gray back, called a lead back.  However, they can be marbled red and gray, or have a back that varies from pale, almost white, to yellow, orange, or dark maroon.  They also have little gray and white flecks all over their bodies, as you can see from this photo.

Techs: Canon 1D Mark II N, 70-200mm f/4L IS USM, 25mm Extension Tube, 1/20s, f/16, ISO 500.  To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.