Red-backed Salamander (Lead-backed Morph)

[Daniel Cadieux]

I must have found at least a dozen of these guys hiding under fallen logs in a local forest. It seemed that every other logged I (carefully) flipped over had one underneath it! Always a favorite sighting and learning opportunity about wildlife for the kids. Here's a full-frame image of the most cooperative subject of the lot. I used a small twig to raise the head up by lifting it under the chin (after few tries they often remain up like this).

Canon 7D + 100mm f/2.8 macro lens, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/50s., f/6.3, ISO 800, flash @ -2 FEC, a few specular highlights on the body cloned out, and darkened the fg in lower right corner.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Good to see you here again Dan! You obviously went for a comparatively wide aperture (wide by macro forum standards that is), I think it works well, the head is beautifully isolated and the DOF is maintained along the full extent of the head and also importantly the front right foot..
I think a smaller aperture to try for the other eye would almost certainly not worked, it is too far away and you may have ended up with a less satisfactory background.
The eye looks good but I wonder if it would be possible to get a little more detail at 3 o'clock and six o'clock - perhaps not.

[Markus Jais]

Great shot. I like the shallow depth of field and the composition.

Markus

[Mitch Haimov]

This is a sweet image. Nice detail in the skin, BG works very well, interesting subject nicely posed, DOF covers everything it needs to. Very cool that your subject was so cooperative.

[Allen Sparks]

Hi Dan, a very fine image here. Very nice critical focus on the eye and head. Pleasing background too. well done. - Allen