Each year, in all the temperate regions of the world, there is a night in spring when amphibians migrate en masse to their breeding grounds. Here in Maine, it’s usually mid to late April, and conditions must be perfect: the ground must be thawed, it must be over 40 degrees, it must be raining, and it must be after dark. When all these things come together, we get a very Big Night. On this one night each year, wood frogs and salamanders of every spot and stripe, come out of their hiding places and migrate to their neighborhood vernal pools to mate. And if you miss Big Night, you miss the only chance each year to see fully mature, humungous, spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) like this one—they spend the rest of the year in their subterranean hidey-holes.
Amanda and I, as far back as I can remember, have gone out on each Big Night, slowly cruising the back roads looking for big spotters and helping them cross the road to safety. We aren’t the only ones who do this—it’s actually a big deal around here. Sometines the local police actually block the roads near vernal pools to help protect the amphibian population from being overly squished. But Amanda has moved away with her husband to the wilderness of Pennsylhio, so I had to go out alone last Monday night (insert sad emoji).
But what a night! Conditions were perfect and the huge spotters were everywhere. I captured a few and put them in a cooler to take back to my studio. (If anyone asked me why I was capturing them instead of helping them across the road, I was going to give them my best redneck glare and say, “I eat ’em!”).
Back in the studio I spent the better part of a frustrating hour trying to get these huge wet things to cooperate. They are so wiggly! Karen helped, but it was still a great struggle. I took a couple of hundred shots, and got about three good ones. This spotter is about the size of a hot dog, and was the only one who posed well. And yes, I took them all back to the local vernal pool so they could, well, you know…
Here’s the Flickr version.
Meta: Pentax K-3, 100mm f/2.8 macro @ f/10, ISO 100, 1/160th of a second, key light, fill light, reflector, nerves of steel, and Valium
