Would not have noticed this pair in a pond near Hetch Hetchy if not for (1) the bright sky reflected in the water (2) the male singing during mating. I had to wait for him to resume again to get this shot of the surface vibrations. Otherwise, it’s just another frog photo!
Feedback Requests
I did brighten the frogs a bit and the water surface as well to make sure there is enough contrast to show the vibrations. Maybe that reduces the shot to a novelty? If so, I think it still was worth sharing for the nature lovers out there.
Pertinent Technical Details
1/400th was fast enough to capture the tiny ripples. F8. 300MM.
James: What a cool find and neat conditions. On one hand I wish the blade of grass wasn’t intersecting the face but OTOH that’s part of the natural environment so it fits. Just for fun I played with some AI remove in PS and came up with this. It’s kind of amazing/scary what AI can do. I do think your version has more natural character. >=))>
Pretty Cool !!! The ripples are great and I really like the Tone and Vibe of your image. Great composition and it is so cool you got this shot. Really Nice !!!
Great capture!! The ripples put it over the top! And it doesn’t look overdone in the slightest. After all, the initial interpretation of a raw capture is done with a choice of various parameters and none is completely accurate to the scene.
James, catching the ripples as a frog calls is a challenge. You’ve done that well. It looks like it’s his pouch expanding between the two frogs, yet the ripples seem to originate at his belly (which is normal for many frogs). Personally, I’d reduce the contrast somewhat to better see the details in both frogs. While that will lessen the drama of the ripples, they will still be clear.
Hi James,
What a great capture! This is something that not many of us would see. I do like what @Bill_Fach did with the removal of that blade of grass and those ripples make for another engaging element in the scene. You did not mention what your ISO was, but I could see a little more noise reduction used as it looks a little noisy. Thanks for sharing this.
