Back from Kentucky

[Dylan8i]

So i got my D200 and LOVE it. i ordered it with the 18-135 lense. And the day after i recieved it i had to go to Eastern Kentucky for 11 days to do some field work for my thesis. I ended up snapping about 700 pics in those days, including in flood creating rain (which soaked me clean through). I had a minimal learning curve (not that i'm an expert with it by any means) but i feel i have a good grip on the controls now.

so here are a few of the better shots from my trip. And remember this wasn't a photography trip, these are just shots i took while i was "working". none of these have any post processing, so they are straight out of the camera ( large jpeg)


So heres the only snake i saw the whole time, and he just happened to get caught in my trap. its a junvenial eastern milk snake.


heres an un-ided salamander i found in a puddle along the road


since its breeding season for 4 toed salamanders, and they are rare to see other wise, i took a trip to look for them. New species for me.


and a waterfall i had been meaning to stop and shoot (its right beside the road) but didn't get a chance until my jeep broke down and i had to walk back to camp. so no tripod.


and heres 2 specimens i found in one pitfall trap. Arn't they so cute?




i'll post up a few more later, including the test shots with my new (yeah i already got a new lense) 60 mm macro. my advisor ended up buying it for me since the 18-135 shots couldn't be used to id the salamanders.

[Loupey]

Nice series and congrats again on the D200! Looks like you definitely are a quick study :thumbsup:

The 2 babies are great! By chance did you place one on the tip of an index finger and get a shot of that?

[Dylan8i]

No, i tried placing one on a fingernail but they were to active and i could get one to stay there long enough to get a pic.
heres another of the two



and a few of a northern red i caught. some with a better background than my hand :-P

[Dylan8i]

heres a few more to




and a 5 line skink

[Dylan8i]

and here are a few with my 60mm macro lense.

one (sorry for non nature related) but it shows how close i can get.


and then a few from out in the lawn today

a bluette (very tiny flower)


american toad

[Loupey]

Thanks for the additional images, Dylan.

That northern red newt looks so sleepy

Looking forward to seeing what that D200 + 60mm will bring us in the future.

[Sushigaijin]

great shots from your new rig!

Those efts are cute, extremely vibrant colors!

this is the second time I've looked at it, and I think your milksnake is a juvinile racer. Milks tend to be more colorful as babies, and the head scalation seems wrong. Lampropelts have a large rostrol scale, and this one does not. you can find head shots of a milksnake and a racer in my recent snake post for reference. The pattern of baby racers changes to an almost uniform black, blue or grey color as they mature, depending on the locale.

[payn817]

nice images, the babies are too cute!:thumbsup:

[Dylan8i]

great shots from your new rig!

Those efts are cute, extremely vibrant colors!

this is the second time I've looked at it, and I think your milksnake is a juvinile racer. Milks tend to be more colorful as babies, and the head scalation seems wrong. Lampropelts have a large rostrol scale, and this one does not. you can find head shots of a milksnake and a racer in my recent snake post for reference. The pattern of baby racers changes to an almost uniform black, blue or grey color as they mature, depending on the locale.

humm you might be right, i didn't see the pattern of the young racers in my field guide until i looked again. And i was basing the milk off the light patch of v you can see on this picture, but i guess that really isn't the nape, more so the back of the head.