How to get a good salamander shot?

[Natalie]

I went hiking on a local mountain today looking for salamanders to photograph, but I didn't have much luck besides the ubiquitous California Slender Salamanders, which are basically impossible to get a good shot of. Eventually I did find one Arboreal Salamander, which is a larger species, but I'm still not satisfied with any of the shots I got. The least horrible one is posted below. For those of you who have photographed salamanders, what techniques do you use? I think my lighting needs to be softer, but right now I don't have any means of doing that. The problem with salamanders is that they're small, extremely shiny, and don't really do anything. So I'm struggling with how to make them look interesting in a photograph.