Long overdue update to projects!
The Year of the Salamander is well under way and I'm planning another trip to Appalachia in hopes to find a number of salamander species. I went to the lower stretch of the Appalachians in Tennessee and North Carolina in mid March in hopes to find a number of salamander species. I did find quite a few species, but not as many as I would have hoped. I did find some very neat species such as this Spring Salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus) pictured here, however. Consequently, I decided to make another trip to lower Appalachia to try to get more salamander species now that it is warmer.
You may ask why Appalachia? Well, the southeastern U.S. is home to the greatest salamander diversity in the world. No where else on the planet can I find so many different species so closely packed together. A number of species such as the Pigeon Mountain Salamander (Plethodon petraeus), Cheoah Bald Salamander (Plethodon cheoah), and Peaks of Otter Salamander (Plethodon hubrichti) are confined to single mountain peaks. In this trip, I hope to find some of these endemics. It's something that cannot easily be done anywhere else.
It would not surprise me if I visited at least once more this year. I also plan on hitting the Ozarks and Ouachitas when are another center of salamander diversity in the U.S. The Year of the Salamander is moving along!
I have been pursuing options on how to display my photos and have always thought that canvas gives it that Je ne sais quoi quality to a photo to make it very artistic. There have been a number of options for pursuing canvas prints, and the company I've decided to go with is impressive, professional quality.
If I was to offer my photos to the general public for canvas, I wanted to test them out, first. I got three photos in three different sizes (12" x 36", 16" x 16", and 20" x 16") of the leatherback sunset photo, the green violet-ear hummingbird, and this strawberry poison frog photo, respectively. This printer offers very good detail retention (as you can see on this photo), and I'm to understand that the ink used is automotive ink, which means these are very water resistant (that said, I still wouldn't recommend testing that!). The edges are wrapped, which give the photo a very nice 3D look. Further, these prints come ready to hang, no additional equipment necessary. The back is covered with a solid, what I'm guessing, is very thick card stock, which is better than paper backgrounds many printer services use. I could go on and on about how impressive these prints are. So with that, in the near future, I will be offering these prints for sale. Stay tuned!
I am late to the game, it would seem, when it comes to setting up a website for myself. It is far past time to set up a website not only to provide a nice platform for my own photography, but also to let my audience know more about me as a scientist.
So here is the first try. I'm going to be keeping up with this and trying to keep it up to date. I've never been a big blog poster, but I will do my best to at least update with my projects over time. Stay tuned for news coming up!
