Salamander Photoshoot

As part of the process of preparing the rewards for my SciFund donators, I'm trying to figure out a good way to get pictures of the salamanders in our lab. I decided to build a small photo studio, inspired by the designs here, and put it in the lab.

 

Not pictured: the work I should probably be doing.

I put this setup together this morning and got some of the animals out to try it out, and the results ended up being better than expected. I am going to try and get profile shots for all of the captive animals in this style before the end of the summer. Check these photos out at full size to get that up-close-and-personal feeling.

A large unisexual Ambystoma salamander

Same big girl as above

A beautiful streamside salamander (Ambystoma barbouri)

One of our tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum). They are especially tame and can often be found biting the sides of their cages when we walk in the room, expecting crickets.

Awesome!