My best Caudate photos of 2017

[sde]

With 2017 coming to an end, i thought i'd share my best Caudate photos of this year.

EDIT: Sorry for linking the photos to my album, posting them directly didn't work as they were blow wayyy up. No idea why or how to fix it. My apologies.

Some of the photos might be distorted, and the quality is reduced when uploaded to this website. Not sure why that happens. Also, some of you may have seen some of these photos on other threads or on Facebook, so i hope you don't mind seeing them again
I'll go in order from when the photo was taken.

First off, here's a larval Dicamptodon tenebrosus collage, showing various views of the animal. This was a very small larvae, about 1.5-2 inches, and you can see his heart in the belly shot.
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41196.jpg

Next, both adult and juvenile Plethodon vehiculum, in a "whiteout" collage.
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41197.jpg

Here are two shots of an adult female Ambystoma macrodactylum macrodactylum. I really like these shots and are probably my favorite of my photos of this species.
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41198.jpg
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41199.jpg

This is a female Ensatina eschscholtzii oregonensis. She was actually gravid! You can't see in the photo, but this female was carrying eggs, something i'd never seen in person with this species before.
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41200.jpg

Here's another Ensatina subspecies, the beautiful Ensatina eschscholtzii xanthoptica. This male was found in the bay area of California with my friend Advyth (AdvythAF on here).
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41208.jpg

This was a first for me - a Taricha granulosa mating ball! I've always wanted to see one and thanks to the help of a friend i was able to.
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41209.jpg

Here's another Taricha granulosa, this time a single, probably gravid, female. One of the many i was lucky enough to find this year.
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41210.jpg

This female Ambystoma gracile wasn't too happy to see me, as you can tell by the toxin she's secreted on her tail. She settled down for the photo, though. This was also one of the biggest gracile I've seen, she was huge.
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41211.jpg

And another Ensatina ssp! This time its my male Ensatina eschscholtzii picta
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41212.jpg

Here's a whiteout photo of my female Tylototriton yangi. I'll be taking some shots of her offspring soon
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41214.jpg

Yet another whiteout shot, this one of my male Taricha granulosa. Here he's in his terrestrial phase, but as i type this he's starting to come into breeding dress. Fingers crossed for eggs (it's about time!).
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41215.jpg

My male Ensatina e. picta stars in another photo, this time a little closer up
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41217.jpg

This is one of my personal favorites, one of my larval Tylototriton yangi. This one i believe has morphed out now, along with 11 others.
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41218.jpg

The first photo of this style I've taken with this natural black background (no editing or artificial backgrounds), of a Plethodon vehiculum.
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41219.jpg

And lastly, taken yesterday, a subadult Ambystoma gracile closeup, probably my best of this species.
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41220.jpg

2017 has been a great year for my Caudate hobby, both in herping, photography, and keeping. Here's hoping 2018 will be even better!

I hope you all enjoyed the photos. If anyone would be interested in buying prints, let me know. I've never sold any before but i'm open to the idea of it.

Happy new year everyone,
Seth

 

[Chinadog]

Awesome pics Seth, I like the Taricha and Tylo ones best.

 

[Otterwoman]

I like the plethodon and the larva photos best, and the gracile photos bestest. They are such beautiful animals!!

 

[Sith the turtle]

Beautiful! I love Taricha species, so that male Taricha was probably my favorite, but the Tylos and Ensatinas are fabulous looking as well!

 

[sde]

Thanks for the compliments everyone!

 

[juraj]

[QUOTE
The first photo of this style I've taken with this natural black background (no editing or artificial backgrounds), of a Plethodon vehiculum.
[/QUOTE]

This is really annoying stuff sometimes. But given light conditions there's often no choice . If one doesn't want tu lug photo studio outside.
j.

 

[AuSu]

These pictures are wonderful, thanks!

 

[supergrappler]

Great photos bud! Thanks for sharing.

 

[John]

Thanks for sharing your lovely photos!!! You live in a pretty awesome place for caudates!

 

[sde]

[QUOTE
The first photo of this style I've taken with this natural black background (no editing or artificial backgrounds), of a Plethodon vehiculum.

This is really annoying stuff sometimes. But given light conditions there's often no choice . If one doesn't want tu lug photo studio outside.
j.[/QUOTE]

I actually don’t mind it, It can make for an interesting photo style and contrast. I’d really like to have the habitat in the background on some future shots, though.

Thanks for sharing your lovely photos!!! You live in a pretty awesome place for caudates!

My pleasure John, glad you liked them. I’m lucky to live where I am, but at the same time I get pretty jealous of the number of Caudate species you have over closer to where you’re at! There’s only 6 species in my area, unless I drive a few hours south.

 

[dea]

Wow, some amazing photos! Definitely the first is the best - love the transparent belly. I have a similar photo, but of a frog - need to dig those up...

 

[mr cyclone]

Quality photos ,especially the Yangi of course

 

[JM29]

Thanks so much for sharing this beautiful photos.
I would do well to take photo lessons.

 

[Flixi]

Hi these are great photos and beautiful animals

I am especially stunned at how natural your enclosures look!! May I ask what substrate is used for the roughskins tank in this photo: http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/sde-albums4941-picture41209.jpg ?

It looks so much like the bottom of a pond, it is great! I would love to achieve similar look for my paludarium, but I am not sure what soil would be safe to use, and how to mix it....

 

[Otterwoman]

I am pretty sure that is the actual bottom of an actual pond, picture taken in the wild.

 

[MaryAbrams]

Very original photos!

 

[PhilbertCoffee]

all of these links say file not found, what am I doing wrong???