# New "Southern" Ranitomeya variabilis



## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Received 4 of these from Adam last week. They're 10 months oow. I'm very happy with them because of their boldness and the sheer vibrance of the colors. I purposefully designed their terrarium to have a low amount of bright green so that they are easily spotted. I had the pleasure of seeing (and feeding) Ray/Stemcellular's "Highland" variabilis in late 2009 and by comparison the "Southern" race is definitely larger and very bold (and prettier in my opinion).














































Notice how the first frog could pass for a CV imitator!


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

You're THE MAN when it comes to taking pics of their frogs. NICE!!!


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

great shots John!! they were certainly one of my favs that we got to see in Peru


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## gosaspursm (Mar 12, 2011)

Gorgeous animals. I'm jealous!


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## Azurel (Aug 5, 2010)

Beautiful pics John......R. variabilis of both varieties are my fav.......Not sure how you get them to sit still for you to take pictures.....You the frog whisperer?


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## randommind (Sep 14, 2010)

Very nice...any chance we can get a FTS, your description of it has me very interested.


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## Baltimore Bryan (Sep 6, 2006)

Great pictures, thanks for sharing. They look really nice.
Bryan


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Amazing pics as always John. Let's see that tank.


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## josh_r (Feb 4, 2005)

Those are some really good looking frogs!


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## thedude (Nov 28, 2007)

oh man, it really isnt fair to take such great pictures of the frogs i just sent you  im interested in seeing a picture of the "striped" one, if you get the chance!

and as others said, im interested in seeing their tank.


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Azurel said:


> Beautiful pics John......R. variabilis of both varieties are my fav.......Not sure how you get them to sit still for you to take pictures.....You the frog whisperer?


Oh, they move alright. Patience and experience help though. Mind you, these are easy to photograph when compared to wild salamanders (what i spend most of my free time photographing).



randommind said:


> Very nice...any chance we can get a FTS, your description of it has me very interested.


I'll try. I'm a little ashamed that the tank isn't very big but it's all I have to hand right now.



thedude said:


> im interested in seeing a picture of the "striped" one, if you get the chance!


Stripy is a very jumpy frog. I only photographed it once or twice but I'll put one up. Thanks for these great frogs Adam.


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## jbherpin (Oct 16, 2009)

Congrats on the beautiful frogs, John! As always, amazing photography! I really NEED to learn how to use my camera! I loved the contrast of colors between the leaf and the target(frog)! Very nice!!!

JBear


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks Justin!


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## jbherpin (Oct 16, 2009)

John, thank you soo much for your generousity! It was a pleasure meeting you!

JBear


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

No worries!


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## btcope (Jan 7, 2009)

wow! those legs are BRIGHT compared to my old school tor line variabilis. beautiful frogs john!


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

These frogs really are brilliantly colored. Distinctly different from Highland variabilis.


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## ryan10517 (Oct 23, 2010)

thanks for my new laptop background! incredible frogs and incredible shots man. Good luck with those little jewels!


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

Dang, John. They are gorgeous. And, I must add that your photography makes every frog look great. You're not photo-shopping a little extra color touch up here and there, are you?  JK You could make prints on canvas and offer them for sale. I bet there'd be a lot of takers.


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## Paul (Nov 15, 2007)

wow, so vibrant! great pictures too!


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## arielelf (May 23, 2007)

Amazing pics and frogs!!!


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

johnc said:


> I purposefully designed their terrarium to have a low amount of bright green so that they are easily spotted.


Any pics of the tank? =]


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## ZookeeperDoug (Jun 5, 2011)

Would you mind sharing a little info on your camera setup. Right now I can take a better picture with my damn iPhone (of my frogs) than I can with my ?Nikon D70. I know for sure I need a better lense for close ups.

Also definitely very interested in a FTS as well. I always like to see pictures of members vivariums.


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Here's "Stripy" and a full tank shot.










Just set this up so it has a lot of growing in to do:










Doug - I shoot Nikon. The frog shots were taken with a 105 mm macro lens and the full tank shot is with an ultrawide angle lens.


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## thedude (Nov 28, 2007)

very nice shot! let me know if they use the white canisters for breeding, mine have only used the black ones.


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

thedude said:


> very nice shot! let me know if they use the white canisters for breeding, mine have only used the black ones.


Have you tried them with white only in the absence of black?


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## thedude (Nov 28, 2007)

johnc said:


> Have you tried them with white only in the absence of black?


i didnt, i had both all around the tank and they never used them.


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## ryan10517 (Oct 23, 2010)

john would you happen to have a really high res picture of one of your frogs? like oh maybe... 1366x768 pixels?? mr. stripey is a little fuzzy and pixelated on my computer screen  if you did, that would make my day!


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Which photo do you prefer Ryan?


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

thedude said:


> very nice shot! let me know if they use the white canisters for breeding, mine have only used the black ones.


Well these 4 frogs turned out to be females. After that tank shot was taken I added several black film canisters, so that there are 50/50 black/white in there. 

On Tuesday this week I received a male Southern Variabilis in trade from Austin at InnoEcto for a male standard lamasi. 24 hours later I had somewhere round 18-20 eggs in two different film canisters. A black canister and a white canister. So when offered both, they used both. At least 12 of the eggs are developing well.


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## Zoomie (Jul 3, 2011)

John, your photos are absolutely remarkable. You could do a fecal calendar and it would sell out in hours.

How about talking a little bit about how you're pulling these shots off for all of us lowly photo hacks. 

Are you using a light box, or prime/slave flashes and diffusers?


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks for the compliments.



Zoomie said:


> How about talking a little bit about how you're pulling these shots off for all of us lowly photo hacks.
> 
> Are you using a light box, or prime/slave flashes and diffusers?


Haha, you know what they say about magicians and their secrets, right? . 

I will say that what I do is very much a fluid system, depending on the situation, the frog, if I'm going for a look, etc.

I often use multiple flashes, and I don't like light boxes. There's a huge market for LB photos, and they often look great, but to me they generally appear terribly artificial. If you have this year's Reptiles annual, or get to see one in Petsmart or where ever, the mouth open grinning tiger salamander photo was taken in a lightbox. This was only because that particular individual tiger is a performer and looks very silky in very soft omnidirectional light.

Take a look at some of the photos over at Dendrobates.org or some of Devin Edmond's photos on Amphibia Web. When I photograph dart frogs I try to get that "this could be Peru" feel. I love natural light, and I make as much use of ambient light whenever possible.


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## ExoticPocket (Dec 23, 2010)

Dibs on some of your morphs!!! Great shots!! Has the tank grown in some more, could we get a FTS please?


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

I don't have an updated pic, but it hasn't changed hugely in 2 months. Everything has grown a little though.


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## gnod (Sep 12, 2011)

wow...incredible shots. canon mk2? hehe


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

gnod said:


> wow...incredible shots. canon mk2? hehe


I shoot Nikon, not Canon. Tougher cameras.


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## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

johnc said:


> I shoot Nikon, not Canon. Tougher cameras.


Looks like Mumsy made a good choice with my wee Nikon.

Cracking frogs mate!


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## tclipse (Sep 19, 2009)

Incredible photos John.. if you haven't done these for all of your frogs (I've at least seen the Flavovittata), you should


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## BYHGAB (Jun 13, 2011)

Write those are some incredible pictures, it makes me want a tank full of variablis even more. Any plans for offspring? I'm in the process of building a 20 vert.


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Teddy - thanks. I have taken a lot of photos like this but they're on frogforum.

BYHGAB - I'm not going to count my chickens (froglets) just yet. Not all of the eggs are developing. I think 14 months might still be a bit young for successful breeding of the females of this species, going on what Adam and others have experienced.


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## botanyboy03 (Apr 18, 2009)

johnc said:


> Well these 4 frogs turned out to be females. After that tank shot was taken I added several black film canisters, so that there are 50/50 black/white in there.
> 
> On Tuesday this week I received a male Southern Variabilis in trade from Austin at InnoEcto for a male standard lamasi. 24 hours later I had somewhere round 18-20 eggs in two different film canisters. A black canister and a white canister. So when offered both, they used both. At least 12 of the eggs are developing well.


Lucky you! My INIBICO vari's haven't done anything. I have both colors of cannisters and oriented in several ways, and the male has been calling for months and courting the 2 probable gals and nothing at all.


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## Gnarly (Mar 3, 2011)

Those are some great looking frogs


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## ZookeeperDoug (Jun 5, 2011)

Loved these frogs so much that when I saw Adam offering up some more for sale I put a down payment on them. Now I just have to wait for the temps to come down!


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## BethInAK (Jul 12, 2011)

wow. those are SOME PHOTOS. When people talk about the frogs being metallic in appearance, these photos really show it.


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Got my first hatchlings today. Waiting for dad to pick them up.


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## Brian317 (Feb 11, 2011)

AMAZING photos ! I'll be getting a trio at the end of the month, cannot wait


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## Zoomie (Jul 3, 2011)

johnc said:


> Thanks for the compliments.
> 
> 
> Haha, you know what they say about magicians and their secrets, right? .
> ...


John, I completely understand. I'll go over and take a look.

The pics are fantastic. Further, I don't see any indications of material PP manipulation. You are clearly doing it the old school way. Get the shot taken properly on the front side and you don't have to tweak it excessively in PP. 

I'll grind through the process and see what I can do to improve. If my frogs get retna burn because I'm over-cooking off camera flash, their attorney (yes, my frogs have council) will be filing a lawsuit against you for failing to aid during the commission of a crime!


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Zoomie said:


> The pics are fantastic. Further, I don't see any indications of material PP manipulation. You are clearly doing it the old school way. Get the shot taken properly on the front side and you don't have to tweak it excessively in PP.


I can't speak for what John does, but I expect he does _plenty_ of post work to his images. The fact that you can't tell is part of what makes him such a good photographer


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Jason, you believe what you want to believe . About 18 months ago people asked that same question and I posted two images to the forum - one "processed" and one straight out of the camera. Aside from a crop and a slightly different overall color tint, there was no noticeable difference.


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

Then that's pretty impressive. Do you have a link to that thread?

I just assumed you shot in RAW, since most do. If nothing else I almost always have to make a white balance adjustment, then adjust levels/contrast, yadda yadda yadda.

It wasn't meant as a criticism so I hope it wasn't taken that way.


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Haha, don't worry, I'm not offended. I'm from Europe - we were raised to take it on the chin .

Here's what I do. I shoot RAW only. I have everything turned off in the camera too aside from saturation, so the raw preview is pretty faithful in every way. I take a few test shots in the conditions I'm going to use. Once I get the right look and feel (and especially the right exposure range), I take a ton of shots. Then I sort through them on the computer for the better ones. I make sure overall exposure is just right (thanks to RAW). Then I correct for White Balance (which you should always have to do unless you are shooting with a 50% gray card at the beginning). Then I tweak overall saturation and overall sharpness. Typically I'm done now and for the first photo of that session it might have taken 2 minutes. Every other photo from that session gets a copy/paste of the settings and then a quick glance to make sure it doesn't need an exposure tweak.

After that you might crop it if necessary. On rare occasions when I wasn't careful, I might have to clone out a dust spot or a piece of poop.

To me that's not elaborate development because I haven't gone around modifying parts of the image individually.


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## VicSkimmr (Jan 24, 2006)

That's what I would consider the bare minimum, yeah.


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