Bullfrog

[Christopher Miller]

Took this at the same vernal pond as the wood frog image I had posted previously. The wood frogs are no longer around, but the bullfrogs are breeding now. Unfortunately the mosquitoes are out in force at the pond which naturally makes it sheer torture to go there :eek:! As you can see, even the frogs were getting bitten by the mosquitoes. Does anyone know what the tiny gray creatures are on the frog? They look like they might be ticks or mites of some sort. Any C&C are welcome!

Olympus SP-550 UZ
f4.5 @ 1/100, ISO 100, -1 EV
Aperture priority mode, pattern metering, cloudy WB
Processed in PS CS2: cropped, reverse S-curve adjustment, selective color adjustment, S/H, noise reduction and a bit of gaussian blur on the BG, cloned out some debris in the water, and toned down the highlights

[Ed Cordes]

Cool image. I like the "smile" in the face and the way the eyes pop. The mosquito biting a frog is an unusual touch. I never thought they would do that. I might consider a bit of CCW rotation to level the "smile".

[Arthur Morris]

Though it is not my department I think that using a polarizer here would have cut down on the glare and greatly improved a somewhat contrasty image. Another tack might have been to shade froggie.

[Steve Canuel]

Looks like a big flying saucer. The gray things are mites of some sort.

[Christopher Miller]

Thanks for the comments and thanks Steve for the id on the gray creatures. I find shooting at this pond is rather difficult because it's in the woods so only during the middle of the day is there enough light to avoid camera shake and then I have to deal with harsh lighting.

[Steve Canuel]

Thanks for the comments and thanks Steve for the id on the gray creatures. I find shooting at this pond is rather difficult because it's in the woods so only during the middle of the day is there enough light to avoid camera shake and then I have to deal with harsh lighting.

With such still, cooperative subjects, I think you could get some shots with the pond in the shade by using a tripod, upping your ISO, and/or using mirror lock up and a cable/remote release. I'm not familiar with your camera though so everything except the tripod could be off base.

[Christopher Miller]

Steve, my camera is an ultra zoom so unfortunately upping the ISO over 200 results in significantly less quality. A tripod would probably help except I don't have a tripod. I might see though if there's a natural support I could use.