Cuban Tree Frog

[Steve Maxson]

I found this image in the archives from 2004 and decided to reprocess it. This Cuban Tree Frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis) was photographed on Sanibel Is., Florida. This relatively large and photogenic frog is an invasive exotic species in the U.S. and is a problem because it eats at least 5 species of native frogs. 10D, 90 mm tilt/shift (not tilted), 1/45, f/8, ISO 400, tripod. RAW file processed in CS5 with additional adjustments in NIK Viveza 2 and Color Efex Pro 4. NR on the background. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

[Julie Kenward]

Steve, I love the almost bronze touches of the processing. What filters did you use in Nik? Whatever it was it did a great job of blending the BG to the frog and really brought out the details of both.

Fabulous textures and love that frog eye! Only negative would be if you could somehow lighten or clean up that ULC a bit (although I realize this is outdoors and it really doesn't detract that much from the image.)

[Steve Maxson]

Thanks for your comment Jules. In CEP4 I used the Brilliance/Warmth filter to warm up the color tones a little and the Darken/Lighten Center filter to add a subtle vignette. I used Viveza primarily to try to even out the colors and textures of the background.

[Julie Kenward]

I never would have guessed it was the brilliance/warmth that did the trick...thanks for letting me know. I'm going to have to give that one another try...

[Brendan Dozier]

Very nice, Steve. Love the detail and texture to frog, and how it blends in with habitat. Nice job with processing.

[Ken Childs]

Nice environmental shot and good work with the filters, Steve! I love everything about the frog but as Jules mentioned, the ULC could use some work....my eye goes right to the frog's eye and then gets pulled to that corner. A few seconds with a soft brush should fix that. Overall a great shot!

[Steve Maxson]

Thanks for the comments Brendan and Ken!

Looks like I need to revisit that dark area in the background. :S3:

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Details and sharpness within dof is excellent! Also great texture! I like that it shows the environment. The overall look of this image is fantastic imo, great job in PP!