This photo was taken of a pair of highly secretive Ringed Salamanders as they made their way through a rain event accompanying a significant cold front in the middle of the night. The goal is to reach temporary ponds filled by the rain where they will hopefully produce the next generation of ringed salamanders. This was one of my biggest lifelong salamander goals to photograph and these breeding migrations may only occur less than once per year.

To achieve this photo, I arranged the different colors of fall leaves and then gently guided the salamanders into this momentary pose for the photo. After which, they continued their march to complete their life cycle. The gear and settings were as follows:

Gear Used:
Canon EOS R5
Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM
Canon 580 EX Flash mounted on the hot shoe
A custom-made diffuser affixed to the flash that wraps completely around the barrel of the lens to diffuse the light as evenly as possible.

EXIF: 1/100s, f/11, ISO 250 @ 70mm