Scarface

[Andrew McLachlan]

I don't get over to the macro forum that often, but will try to stop by more often. This past spring and summer I shot thousands of frog images for a project I am working on and here is one such image of a Bullfrog on Horseshoe Lake near Parry Sound, Ontario. I spent most of the summer looking for these guys and only found 3 adults a few weeks ago - lots of juveniles though. They used to be numerous in the wetlands bordering the lake, but now are much harder to find. This guy was big, don't know what caused the scars on his head though. I was going to clone them out, but thought they give this old guy some character.

Handheld while leaning over the side of the canoe.

Worked large to remove the flash generated spectral highlights.

Nikon D200
Nikon 105mm macro
ISO 100
f22 @ 1/60 second
SB400 flash on homemade flash bracket

Look forward to comments.

101369

[Ron Sprunger]

It would be a shame to lose the scars. The image is very nearly perfect, but the black BG causes the eyes to leak out a little. Not much to be done about that, and the hint of the surrounding tissue makes it work anyway. The image is so very symmetrical that a touch of CCW rotation might work, thogh I can certainly love it as is. He's a very imposing fellow, beautifully presented.

[Jason Stander]

Excellent shot Andrew... he looks mean... valid points Ron mentioned... but I like as is... VVWD!:w3

[denise ippolito]

Andrew, I love the right in your face comp. I also think that the center comp works well here. You did a nice job with the sharpness.:S3: Love the title.

[Ken Childs]

Andrew, I love these in-your-face shots and this guy definitely has attitude! :bg3: The center comp works well on this type of image. It needs a slight CCW rotation to become level....easy to be accurate if you use the Ruler Tool rotation method. If you're not familiar with this, let me know and I'll go into detail. It's too bad the tip of the nose is just a bit blurry but I bet some selective sharpening could go a long way in fixing that minor problem. I'm glad you left the scars....they tell a story but I guess in this case, the story is a mystery. :S3:

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Andrew. I, too, really like these head-on shots of frogs which accentuate those bulging eyes! Nice job of removing spectral highlights - always a problem with frogs. Ron makes a good point about the black eyes against the black background. You might try carefully lightening the bright rim around the pupil at the back of the eye to get better separation from the background. Ken's suggestion of trying some additional sharpening on the tip of the nose is also worth considering. I'm wondering if the scars are from fighting with other males (unless this is a female? :t3) during the breeding season? This is a strong image and a couple tweaks will make it even better!

[Andrew McLachlan]

Thanks folks for the comments, most appreciated! Ken love the flip you did of it and posted in OOTB.