The following article is from Beauty Science BOSS, author of Beauty Science
Over the past few years, we've photographed hundreds of species of amphibians and reptiles. For these materials, high-precision image quality is extremely important.
This time, we took the Fujifilm GFX100 camera to central Sichuan, southeastern Yunnan and Hainan Island to find and photograph interesting amphibians and reptiles in the area.
Miao Jingling
Beauty science photographer
Nature ecology photographer
Amphibian and reptile photographer
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="11" > Ya'an</h1>
In mid-to-late September, we came to the Ya'an region of Sichuan, located on the western edge of the Sichuan Basin, with a humid subtropical monsoon climate with extremely high rainfall and a rich diversity of flora and fauna. At this time, it was approaching the Mid-Autumn Festival, the temperature difference between day and night was getting larger, and most reptiles began to reduce their activity. There are countless streams of all sizes on the mountain, and this is the main area we explore.
When we first entered the stream, we saw a special bamboo leaf green, which was slightly different from what we had seen before, and it was also the largest one we had seen in many years, very domineering. The GFX100's medium format sensor has a smaller change in viewing angle at the same distance, which can better outline the lines of the snake's head.
Following the stream, we found some South River stink frogs at the water's edge. These frogs are part of the flower stink frog breed group, and we were surprised to see them here. Stink frogs get their name from secreting foul-smelling liquids to protect themselves, but they don't stink at all in appearance.
In the gentle areas of the lower reaches of the stream, we were able to observe many spiny frogs. This frog has large suction cups and streamlined bodies that help them wander freely in the rapids.
Along the path along the stream up to an altitude of about 1,000 meters, we encountered a female Emei toad that was foraging on rocks by the water's edge. Emei toad is a rare amphibian, they and the national treasure giant panda distribution, the environment requirements are extremely high, tadpole growth is slow. The toad takes its name from the black spines that grow on the lips during the male breeding season.
This is also the first time we have observed the male Emei toad during the non-breeding period, thanks to the GFX100's 100-megapixel sensor, we can zoom in to clearly see its growing lip spines, then we can know that the male toad's lip spines are growing continuously for a long time.
Left: Male Emei toad during breeding Right: Usually male Emei toad
Further up to where there was a waterfall, we stopped. Here we saw the suspected Chong'an turbulence frog (brown), and some Sichuan turbulence frog (green). Both species of frogs live at higher elevations and are relatively rare frogs.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="11" > southeast yunnan</h1>
In late September, we headed to the pristine rainforest of southeastern Yunnan. The main purpose of coming here is to find and photograph the two-color leather-skinned tree frog (see Master of Disguise - Two-color Leather-bark tree frog). In the video shooting process, there are a large number of shots using handheld shooting, in this scene, the GFX100's excellent stabilization ability to help us a lot.
There are countless pseudo-toads chirping by the stream, and when the leather tree frog came out late at night, we were lucky to see two Huashen pseudo-toads that were hugging each other, and they usually hid in deep soil holes and rarely came out.
In the puddles in the forest, we also encountered some Tsai warty salamanders. The lateral ridge ridges of the warty salamander are more prominent than those of other species in the same genus. Warty salamanders are very rhythmic, and it is generally difficult to find them in the water at this time. Our guess is that this year's unusual climate has prolonged their activity.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="11" > Hainan Island</h1>
Hainan Island is the second largest island in China and preserves the only "continental island"- tropical rainforest in the interlaced belt of Asian tropical rainforest and the world's monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest. Hainan Island is home to more than 100 species of amphibians and reptiles, and is rich in natural resources. Our trip coincided with the typhoon season.
When we came to Hainan Island, our main purpose was to supplement the high-definition image material of the three types of eyelid tigers in Hainan in their natural habitat. We are still accompanied by the GFX100, and the top picture quality is the best choice for recording these scenes. The first type we photographed was the Hainan eyelid tiger, which is the most widely distributed on the island.
During the search, a very beautiful venomous snake can be seen, with white lips and bamboo leaves. The white-lipped bamboo leaf green of Hainan Island is slightly special, and it has a stripe of zebra stripes on the body, which is good-looking.
Discolored tree lizards can be seen everywhere in the branches, and these little guys are active in foraging during the day and sleeping on branches or reed leaves at night.
Afterwards, we went to Bawangling National Nature Reserve to find and photograph bawangling eyelid tigers. This eyelid tiger has fascinating color variations, and the GFX100's high-quality sensors are able to receive more light, accurately recording these color changes.
A rare snake, the pink chain snake, can also be seen here. This large, non-venomous snake is only found in parts of Hainan Island.
This is the breeding season for the Hainan toad. The torrential rain brought by the typhoon is endless, and even the individuals who are hugging each other can be seen in the gutters on the side of the road. These toads are rare outside of this season.
The last thing we look for is the Zhou's eyelid tiger. This eyelid tiger color is biased towards cool colors, which is very beautiful. All of the Zhou's eyelid tigers we observed had a big fat tail, and it seemed that they ate well here. In comparison, most of the eyelid tigers seen in Guangxi are pitifully thin.
A common venomous snake on Hainan Island, the original spearhead pit viper. These guys were different from their relatives on the mainland, and the specks of gold tucked them out of the circle of the "ugliest venomous snakes" were set on them.
One of the things that impressed me in this shoot was that when I was photographing a passing Zhoushan cobra in Diaoluo Mountain, Hainan, I happened to meet a local youth playing in the mountain. These young people hurried to tell us not to fight the snakes, just drive them away, they will not bite at will.
This makes me feel very surprised and excited, to know that we have traveled to many areas in recent years, and our attitude towards poisonous snakes is the same, that is, it is a stick to death, and even a lot of non-toxic wrongdoers are involved. This shows the success of positive publicity on ecological protection by popular science and local governments, and the change in young people's attitudes towards these species.
We looked for the sequelae left by the leather bark tree frog, and when we saw the tree, we couldn't help but look at the tree hole, and then we found this beautiful Hainan Neixi crab.
We hope that all these good developments can continue, and we go deep into the mountains to photograph these species, just in the hope that people can understand them and then slowly change their attitudes towards them. Treat them with an objective and impartial attitude, rather than demonizing them and confronting these natural creatures with fear. Respect for nature, respect for life.
Hainan bird-catching spiders usually hide in deep crypts and rarely come out. Weeks of torrential rains flooded their nests, giving us the privilege of photographing them.
The GFX100 used this time has excellent three-proof performance, and almost all of the body is stained with mud when shooting the toad, but this does not have any impact on the shooting. This time the shooting coincided with the typhoon season, and the rainstorm continued every day, and with the excellent rainproof performance of this machine, it was able to shoot this time. Although this is excellent, there are still many areas that need to be improved, such as the unplugged card prompt, and the focus feel of some lenses. We look forward to better products in the future that can bring a better shooting experience." At the same time, I hope that more enterprises can pay attention to amphibians and reptiles, pay attention to the natural ecology and devote themselves to these work.
The ecological niche of the large snail unique to Hainan Island has been squeezed very well by the African snail (invasive species), and can only be seen at a few high altitudes.
Photography, text: Miao Jingling
Assistant: Wang Jiwei
Consultant: Hou Mian
Producer: Liang Yan
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="11" > about the "Chinese Animals" project</h1>
China is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, with many unique animals. Due to environmental changes and the lack of attention paid to animal protection in the past, the number of many endemic animals in China has decreased sharply. On the other hand, there are many beautiful animals all around us, but few people pay attention to them, and the relevant information is extremely scarce.
The "China Animals" project records and displays the beauty of China's endemic animals and their living environment with high-quality images, and hopes to strengthen the public's awareness of the protection of endangered animals and the natural environment.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="11" > about the "Beauty of Amphibians in China" project</h1>
China's amphibians are rich in species and morphological, but the relevant high-quality imaging data is poor. Amphibians are the "indicator" of the environment, and at present, the number of many amphibians in China is rapidly decreasing, and its habitat environment is also deteriorating. But compared to categories such as mammals, they are often overlooked.
"The Beauty of Chinese Amphibians" is a sub-project of "Chinese Animals", focusing on recording the special habits and habitats of Chinese amphibians that are not well known to the general public, capturing the details of amphibian morphology and behavior, and showing the characteristics of Chinese amphibians and their habitats with exquisite films and pictures, so that the public can feel their beauty and arouse the public's awareness of the protection of amphibians. We also hope to convey the unique charm of Chinese amphibians to the world, so that more people can pay attention to and understand China's amphibians.