Before my husband mows the grass I walk all over and herd toads and frogs out of the way. This one (about 2 inches) retreated to the base of a tree where it happily caught a daddy long legs for lunch. At first it was just sitting, but this prowling pose was too good for me to pass up. Later it hopped down out of the frame and an hour later was a deep brown, almost black, to match the soil.
Looking back, I should have gone for my LCD panel to throw some light down that way. It was under a full canopy of leaves and quite shaded so a bit higher ISO than I would have liked. The light hasn’t become a habit yet and I forget I own it. Darn.
But I like this anyway.
Specific Feedback Requested
Any comments, ideas or impressions are welcome.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Handheld sitting on the lawn.
ON1 No Noise for nr and sharpening. Lightroom for a crop and white balance correction. General processing improvements including a radial filter to protect the toad from a little desaturation & lower exposure. Brush on the toad to bring up exposure and texture. Photoshop to remove a distraction or two.
What a wonderful camo job and pose! (Nice photograph, too!) I love the color and detail, with very pleasing DOF. Not sure the light would have made it any better. Minor nit – I’d clone over the UL corner to keep the eye firmly centered on the toad.
A great camouflage example and an excellent capture, Kristen! Nice clarity, color and detail on the toad. Glad you got a photo of it rather than stepping on it!
Thanks everyone! A humble toad. But has a right to live its fullest life the same as I do. I’ve believed that for a long time and can’t hardly bring myself to kill anything (like wasps building nests in inconvenient places). So when there have been casualties of the mower in the past, I was grieved. What gives us the right to be so ruthless even if it’s unintentional? So now I sweep, herd or rescue as necessary. My hubby is careful, too - he’s not a frog murderer, but it happens. The upside is shots like this one.
Plus I think amphibs have it rough enough. What with pesticides, heavy metals, herbicides and climate change there are a lot less of them around than there were just 5 years ago. Seriously, the yard was full of green and leopard frogs, peepers, woodies and tree frogs. Now? Hardly any. I have only seen two green frogs all year. Two. None of the of the others. None.
It sucks and I don’t know what to do about it except walk ahead of the mower and keep the few we have safe from the blade.
That’s sad. It must have been amazing to have so many different kinds of frogs and toads everywhere! And loud too! Maybe they’ll come out a little later in the summer. Hopefully. This is a cute frog, he has a look of determination on his face and in his walk!
