In our yard we have a very small fountain which has a small spillway tub. So, of course, last year a couple of toads decided it was the perfect place to spawn their litter. As time went on more and more of the tadpole vanished. However, in the fall in notice an incredibly small toad hopping around. Pretty much forgot about him until a month or so ago he re-appeared. He is still barley an 1" long. Amongst these small pebbles I almost didn’t even see him, that is until he started his mating calls just last week. He has been calling everyday to no avail, I was so sad! He had no mate. . . . however, last night he finally got an answer! Now hoping for the best. . . .mostly that he is able to survive being so small.
I wanted to use my macro but would have had to be way to close so instead choice my 28-300mm @300mm. Still cropped a bit. Did basic luminosity masks for the background and toad in ACR and a brightness/contrast adjustment layer in PS.
Is this too close to get a sense of his size? Would further away have been better? Any other ideas about how to capture something so small and camouflaged?
I wish for a lower angle, but this shows off the camo pretty well. I could do without that big OOF leaf, but removing it probably would have made it spring away in a hurry. Scale is harder, but clearly it’s not a big frog. And It is a frog actually. Not sure which kind yet, but if you have other views I can take a stab at an ID. Mostly I need to see the feet.
All good points, Kris. Yes, I did originally have my tripod flat on the ground, but it was impossible to get a sense of what I was seeing, so elected to elevate my perspective a bit. And yes, I really didn’t want that leaf there but, as you’ve said moving it was out of the question. Clearly not real clear on the difference between frogs/toads. He had himself semi-buried in the pebbles and debris, so no foot shots were available. Appreciate your thoughts.
This is a really cool image Linda. It looks like a tiny little tree frog in the wrong habitat. I like the way you’ve got it highlighted. It kind of takes away from that OOF leaf a bit.
Linda, fascinating that this post popped up after all this time. I missed it the first time around. Unless you own a true macro lens, your long zoom is as close as you can get (typically magnification of about 1/3 life size). The details in the frog look very good. One thought on this view is to wonder if you could have gotten to it’s other side, so the vertical leaf was behind it. BTW, you can probably ID the frog based on it’s call with some internet searching.
Thanks, Mark. I had also forgotten about this little guy until I saw @Ed_Williams comment. I do have a 105mm macro, however can’t quite remember the circumstances surrounding this particular shot and why I chose my 28-300mm lens. I do remember where he was located which was a very isolated area of our yard with virtually not much space to move. In addition, I was trying to not move and scare him away. Also remember how incredibly small he was!
