Swamp Denizen

[Randy Stout]

For some pictures we walk for miles through fetid swamps, dodging alligators and snakes. This one, not so much! It was taken in our backyard pond about 10 feet from where I am setting now.

D700 Sigma 180 f/9 1/125 ISO 640 hand held, lying on my belly like a reptile ( or should I say amphibian in this case :t3)

Post: 30% crop for comp, selective sharpening, cleaned up a few spots. The leaves in front of him look like there is noise, but it seems to be just the slightly fuzzy texture of this plant.

Advice and comments always appreciated.

My daughter, Elizabeth has named this frog Jim. Not quite sure why, but Jim it is.

Cheers

Randy

[Diane Miller]

Wonderful shot! I love the angle and colors. But if you are on a first name basis with a critter, is it wildlife?? (Just curious...) :w3

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like the image composition Jim looks pretty impressive to me. I like the colours and his pose, I have no critique to offer really I think it is very well presented.
If I was being a little picky I would say a slightly smaller aperture may have been beneficial, the front of his jaw is just a little soft but much more importantly the eyes are perfectly in focus and this is the important issue, and this makes the point about the jaw barely worth mentioning.

[Randy Stout]

Thanks Diane and Jon:

Appreciate your comments. Jon, I do agree about the dof. I quickly switched to f/11 as I went along. Always the trade off of subject isolation vs dof vs available light. Thats one of the things that keeps photography interesting!

Cheers

Randy

[OvidiuCavasdan]

I like the low angle. Good sharpness on the eyes. The head and eyes stands out well against the rather busy surroundings, so this is wery well done.

[Arthur Morris]

Love the frog's expression. Agree on the slightly soft (and slightly glossy) snout. Try some Surface Blur on the font leaves to smooth them out. Anywhere from 2/3 to 4/8 or so should do the trick. Thanks to Denise Ippolito for that great tip.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Randy. Frogs make great photo subjects - especially when you can get them to pose like this and also get an eye-level shooting position! Nice even light, good comp, and you nailed the focus on those eyes. Yup, it would be even better if the tip of the "nose" was sharper - but this is pretty impressive already!