Reptiles & Amphibians
Through these images and descriptions, I hope to show you how beautiful reptiles and amphibians can be; endear you toward their myriad forms, expressions, and intricacies; and instill in you a greater appreciation for them than you had before you arrived.
I encourage you to pay special attention to their faces and the details of their eyes, as well as their patterns, iridescence, and unexpected flashes of color, for these traits are often only noticed only up-close.
Lizards
From green iguanas several feet long, lazily luncheoning beside a resort pool, to the pygmy short horned lizard, a tiny, rotund, curmudgeonous creature found along the grassy hillsides of Washington’s shrub-steppe, lizards come in an astounding array of shapes, sizes, and personalities. They often exhibit fascinating behaviors, such as dewlap displays and other mating rituals, and some species can be a challenge to photograph up-close due to their arboreal habits or skittish nature.
Species of anole—small tropical lizards found from the southeastern U.S. through much of the Caribbean, Central, and South America—are especially intriguing to me. Some are the brown or green color of the vegetation they scurry amongst; others are bright and boldly patterned in shades of blue, ochre, white, and black. Many are endemic to (only found on) certain islands; as such, they are precious, particolored emblems of place. At the same time, several species have established populations outside their native ranges.
A Green Iguana eats mangrove leaves beside a hotel pool in the Florida Keys.
Pygmy Short-Horned Lizard from the shrub-steppe of central Washington. I saw this tiny lizard, only two inches long, making its way through dry grass near the top of a mountain.
A side-eying Green Anole posed atop a boardwalk railing, ready to disappear into the palmetto fronds a short scurry away.
Salamanders
Salamanders are some of my favorite animals to photograph. They exhibit such a wonderful diversity of patterns and forms and colors. Some bear spots, others have stripes; some are slender, others robust; some are dark, others are vibrant—and there are many, many more variations in between. Salamanders live in a wide range of habitats. Looking for them has taken me to protected old-growth woodlands, seasonal vernal pools, and even a patch of trash-strewn forest stuck between a golf course and a highway.
Some of these photos are crisp. Others have a slightly blurred, film-like quality, in part due to the low forest floor light in which the subjects were photographed. In a way, the spirit of a place has made its way into several of these images; a photo is grainy because it was captured in the shade of ancient California Redwood trees, for instance.
I hope something of these salamanders’ personalities, momentary expressions, or visual forms draws you in. Each one is unique and beautiful to me—and I hope, to you, too.
Snakes
Snakes are such misunderstood animals.
I think snakes are beautiful.
I love their ventral (or “belly”) scales, since so few people ever see them, and they often reveal colors and patterns completely distinct from the rest of the body.
I love their heads and backs and sides and tails, the whole sleek and slender form singing with bands, bars, stripes, speckles and solids, sometimes earthy and unassuming, sometimes imbued by subtle yet mesmerizing iridescence.
I love their dispositions; while snakes can be defensive—especially in front of the camera, and some species more than others—I have encountered many snakes that were very gentle.
I love their unblinking and ever expressive eyes.
I have been fortunate enough to witness many of these traits in the snakes I have photographed.
