Photo Critique Forum

Please post no more than five images a day and respond to as many images as you post. Critics, please be constructive, specific, and nice! Moderated by gahspidy and mtbbrian.
Featured Photo
Photo by hminx

Photo by hminx
Featured Photo Archive >>
By posting on the Photo Critique forum you agree to post only your own photos, be respectful, and give back as much as you receive. This is a moderated forum and anything abusive or off-topic will be removed.
Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Frog Face

  1. #1
    Sitting in a Leaky Dingy Michael Fanelli's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Perryville, MD
    Posts
    926

    Frog Face

    Very loud bass voice for such a small creature. Longwood Gardens, PA.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Frog Face-frog.jpg  
    "Every great decision creates ripples--like a huge boulder dropped in a lake. The ripples merge and rebound off the banks in unforseeable ways.

  2. #2
    Just a Member Chunk's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Jefferson, WI, USA
    Posts
    3,351

    Re: Frog Face

    What great lighting with good detail well into the shadows (any secrets to that?). The shallow dof with tack sharp eyes make this a real grabber. At first I was going to suggest elimination of the leaves hanging down into the right side of the frame but I think they enhance the feeling of him being in a secluded hole under the vegetation.
    ----------------------------


  3. #3
    Sitting in a Leaky Dingy Michael Fanelli's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Perryville, MD
    Posts
    926

    Re: Frog Face

    Quote Originally Posted by Chunk
    What great lighting with good detail well into the shadows (any secrets to that?). The shallow dof with tack sharp eyes make this a real grabber. At first I was going to suggest elimination of the leaves hanging down into the right side of the frame but I think they enhance the feeling of him being in a secluded hole under the vegetation.
    I shot this at f/6.3 at 135mm (28-135 IS, still my favorite lens!). This gives it the somewhat shallow DOF. Also, the deep shade and water makes a big difference. I have about a dozen shots at all different settings but this is the one I liked the best. The sharp focus was deliberate. I learned a long time ago "from the masters" that animal shots should focus on the eyes. As I always use the center-spot focus of the digiRebel, this was easy to do.

    Oh yeah, shot at 800 ISO and cropped. Not bad at all, the digiRebel does an excellent job!
    "Every great decision creates ripples--like a huge boulder dropped in a lake. The ripples merge and rebound off the banks in unforseeable ways.

  4. #4
    FujiFilm S5100 joelw135's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    New Jersey USA
    Posts
    28

    Re: Frog Face

    Very nice composition, I too thought the leaves were a distraction so I used my hand to block them. But found that they were a very important part of the composition.

  5. #5
    Opinionated Newbie
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Portsmouth, NH
    Posts
    424

    Re: Frog Face

    I would have liked to see a closer crop. I agree that the leaves are distracting. Also, for me the color and contrast is a little flat. What makes photo's like this that are found in the nature magazines so beautiful are the colors and contrast. It simply needs more "pop".

  6. #6
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Posts
    446

    Re: Frog Face

    Very good work on this shot. I like the leaves as they make the shot a bit more interesting for me. The frog almost appears to be sitting under an umbrella. I am impressed that you could get so close since you only had a 135mm lens!

    Greg

  7. #7
    Sitting in a Leaky Dingy Michael Fanelli's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Perryville, MD
    Posts
    926

    Re: Frog Face

    Very good work on this shot. I like the leaves as they make the shot a bit more interesting for me. The frog almost appears to be sitting under an umbrella. I am impressed that you could get so close since you only had a 135mm lens!
    The lake was filled with tadpoles and a few grown frogs. This frog was the only one that allowed me to get this close. I guess it felt safe or maybe it was just lazy. I like the leaves also for the same reason, I wanted more than just a frog.

    Also, for me the color and contrast is a little flat. What makes photo's like this that are found in the nature magazines so beautiful are the colors and contrast. It simply needs more "pop".
    This is always a problem. Many people are used to seeing (and most love it!) the over-the-top colors and contrast of Velvia film. Outdoor photographers have been using it for decades and try to duplicate the effect with digital. Unfortunately, I have always strongly disliked that super-saturated high contrast look. Frogs don't really come close to glowing in the dark! I deliberately set the RAW conversion parameters to very low saturation and contrast and then juiced them up a bit in Picture Window. The colors are pretty close to what I saw and the scene was, indeed, lower contrast. I tried various higher settings for each but discarded them as too far over-the-top. I realize I am in a minority but hey! It's my photo :-)

    Thanks for the comments y'all!
    "Every great decision creates ripples--like a huge boulder dropped in a lake. The ripples merge and rebound off the banks in unforseeable ways.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Taking on Goliath face to face...
    By schrackman in forum ViewFinder
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 03-21-2005, 12:40 PM
  2. Playing with Sun light on Face
    By villenadecorte in forum Photo Critique
    Replies: 17
    Last Post: 09-26-2004, 11:31 AM
  3. ..and finally the MACROak Frog !
    By Dave L in forum Photo Critique
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 05-14-2004, 09:43 AM
  4. A face
    By walterick in forum ViewFinder
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 03-29-2004, 07:00 AM
  5. Frog Face
    By Paul Wolf in forum Photo Critique
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 02-01-2004, 03:30 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •