The Terrible One

[Andrew McLachlan]

This is a captive-bred Golden Dart Frog (aka The Terrible One). Why is this little frog called the Terrible One...because it is the deadliest. If they touch you it may be fatal...I have read that one frog can kill 3 elephants. Fortunately in captivity they lose their deadly toxins due to a diet of fruit flies. They are native to Colombia. I photographed this one at a frog breeder's facilities near my home in Ontario by placing it on some dried sea grape leaves.

Flash generated highlights cleaned up as was a funky reflection in the eye.

Nikon D800
Nikon 105mm Micro Lens
ISO 100
f16 @ 1/60 sec
Nikon SB400 Speedlight on a Wimberely F-2 Macro Bracket

Look forward to comments.

[Diane Miller]

Handsome fella, very nicely lighted! I hope you got a certified record of his diet.

For me, it's weighted a little too much toward the bottom of the frame -- I would crop a little off the top and/or include a little more at the bottom. I might also include a little more on the left or touch up the details on the leaf right at the left edge of the frame.

[Linda Dulak]

Andrew: I really like this! Lighting is nice and detail in the face is terrific. I'm always amazed at how small these frogs are.

Linda

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Andrew,
love this, great IQ, wonderful use of flash, i think extraordinary…….Did you use a reflector from RHS?
Very difficult to get that detail into those eyes !!!!!!!
The only issue i see is the comp , as stated above.I do feel it is a bit tight on bottom and LHS as viewed.

Well done ; Andreas

Ps: you should post this in Wildlife forum , too if it is allowed.

[Sandy Witvoet]

Amazing! Love the great focus on face here! Those are some HUGE eyes! I'd be a "bit" (e.g. "a LOT") nervous about being within jumping distance of this guy! What size are they?

[Mitch Haimov]

This is a fine image, Andrew! Extremely interesting subject, excellent use of DOF, love the angled position of this little critter. Very sharp w/i DOF, especially for 1/60 sec. The leaf works very well, though would have been nice if your subject had moved a little to our right so the left edge of the frame could have been cleaner--models can be so difficult to work with! Ideally, would be tighter up top and have more room at the bottom.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Amazing colour on this deadly-but-so-beautiful Dart Frog! Love the pose you captured and great detail, I also appreciate the information provided, thank you for sharing this!

Kind regards,

[Andrew McLachlan]

Thanks folks for the comments...much appreciated. Since I had initially cropped a little off of the left side and bottom, I added it back on...thanks for suggestions.

This frog would have been about 1 inch in length and no reflectors were used but the lightly colored sea grape leaf may have helped bounce some light up and under the frog.

[Angad Achappa]

Wow, i think this guy is very handsome. Great color representation here and nice detail captured on the face/head. Having just started shooting frogs, i had no clue about the Wimberly flash arm, i will surely look into picking up one of those.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Angad, much thanks and the Wimberley F-2 Macro Flash Bracket is the most user friendly flash bracket that I have used so far. Due its multi-jointed design you can literally position the flash anywhere you choose.

[Jonathan Ashton]

A top shot, love the light and exposure, the leaf was carefully chosen all making for an exceptional image. The DOF is acceptable, ideally I think I would like to have seen one or both front legs in better focus but this is almost carping. I understand he would be tiny and you went in close, the alternative being to move back a little i.e. reduce magnification, and crop the image to give a little more DOF.

[shane shacaluga]

Wow. lovely image and very good detail on the yellows. I have seen a few of these at exotic fairs and you captured the colour very nicely. The vine leaf works great too

I was looking at a macro flash setup and the wimberley arm sounds like a great option. Any reason for choosing the SB400 over the SB200 as the SB200 was the one I was planning to get

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Andrew. What a beautiful frog! (Interesting that the bright colors we see as "beautiful" actually function as warning colors to alert other animals of this critter's toxicity.) Very nicely posed and excellent sharpness within your DOF. Also, an excellent job of cleaning up the flash-generated highlights. I also like the eye-level shooting angle. Very nicely done!

[Andrew McLachlan]

Thanks for the additional comments Jonathan, Shane & Steve...they are much appreciated.

Shane...either the SB400 or SB200 would work well here...I chose the SB400 because I do not own an SB200

[shane shacaluga]

hahaha good answer ;)