Friday, January 20, 2012

frogger

When at Netitishi Point in August, I took a ribbit-load of frog photos. Turns out, most of them were terrible.

I went through the lot, and pulled out a few of the better ones. I feel like it was more of a learning experience than anything, so next time I'm in a position to get some frog shots, they'll turn out better. But for now, here's the haul:


Northern Leopard Frog:





Spring Peeper:


Wood Frog:



American Toad. Affectionately known as the "Hudson Bay Toad" in those climes:






Any herp-photographers-extraordinaire out there want to comment on why it's hard to get good shots? I got the above with my point and shoot, so the options are obviously limited, but I was surprised at how bad many of the shots I took turned out.. Is artificial light the way to go here?


2 comments:

  1. Brandon,
    Those toads are pretty cool! I think at one point some authorities considered it a seperate subspecies (Bufo americanus copei I believe).

    Herp photography can be a challenge! Some quick points:
    -Get down on their level (as you did with some of the shots).
    -depth of field....you need to use a macro lens to get that nice bokeh! With my macro lens I typically shoot between f/8 and f/13 or so if I want a shallow depth of field. As you know, when you are at the minimum focusing distance that number increases to about f/18 or higher...
    -flash is pretty much a must. I use an external flash with diffuser most of the time unless there is soft diffuse natural lighting.
    -some distracting elements in some of the photos (leaves, twigs etc). If you're so inclined, move the animal to a more photogenic location...a lot of herp photographers do this all the time
    -I really like the Mink Frog photos you posted from the summer.

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