Finally the herps are moving in chicago!

I'll spare you the trip report, these were taken in Cook County, IL. That's practically Chicago's backyard. Or perhaps outhouse is a better word. In any case, it was REALLY good to see a. maculatum holding on in cook county. And, finally getting the hang of the DSLR - still miss the heck out of my sony h5's EVF live histogram, so much more useful than a light meter. I did figure out how to set and use the DoF preview today, which certainly helps.

Also, does anyone else host at flickr? I've only recently stopped hosting on my website, but it seems like the flickr site changes the photos slightly from what I upload. Hmmm.

Brown snake, in situ. I've stopped posing the common stuff, instead I just look for better poses offered naturally. Cuts down on the time spent in the field wrangling.

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garter snakes. in situ

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Chorus frog. Got very wet and dirty getting this shot, and now being home I wish I had taken more.

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Chorus frog eggs. This is shot perpendicular to the ground, standing in 12 inches of water. Rubber boots are a necessity for frogging!

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Blue spotted salamander. I hate shooting these. They are so pretty, and so tough to shoot. I think I need to use flash, despite doing my best to stay away from it.

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Spotted salamander. A real treat to find in heavily used cook county.

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And I'm not much of a landscape person, but here is the area and habitat where I was.

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Nice shots, i still really want to find a blue somewhere. and your maculatums look different than the ones from central PA. not sure i have a good shot of them though. i like the chorus frog pic, except for the light highlights in the background.

Nice work! You'd have a lot of fun here in Florida!