Polkadot treefrog on water hyacynth in Peruvian Amazon

This little fellow was carefully placed on the water hyacinth several yards from the place where he was found. This environment is a natural one for him (or her), so the question is: Is this a captive specimen?
I think you could make valid arguments in either direction.
I was pleased with the aesthetics of the image, and was not overly concerned. The frog was free to travel and eventually hunkered around to the bottom of the leaf for the remainder of the day without any additional encouragement.
Technically, I was also pleased--fill flash was used to bring out some of the fine detail, but its effects are unobtrusive, as they should be.

Any comments?

Welcome Back!!!

Variable Clown Treefrog (Hyla triangulum) on water hyacinth


Well, I'm back (and so are you, if you're reading this...). I'm back from a wonderful week in that paradise for macro photographers, the Amazon Rainforest located along the portion of the Amazon river that runs through Peru.

Those of you who know me are aware that I have been down there many times in the past, but each trip is different, each trip reaps a harvest of varied experiences and photographs.

Over the next several weeks/months, I would like to share some of the things I learned and saw over that magical period. Equipment and ideas that worked, some that didn't. Images that I felt were successful, ones that disappointed...

If you click on the title line ("WELCOME BACK"), you will be transported to my archive from the trip. As usual, comments and questions are welcomed, and in fact, eagerly anticipated!

Thought I would try something a bit different this time. Click on the link

Photography on the Peruvian Amazon

to go to a pdf about my favorite photographic place. Please let me know if it works.
Thanks.

"A DIFFERENT DRUMMER..."

"this way and that

this frog’s cousins

and second cousins"

Issa

translation © 2006 William J. Higginson


In the 1960s and 70s, the underside of every palmetto leaf in the Florida Everglades seemed to host its own resident family of green tree frogs (Hyla cinerea). Sadly, in many areas, this is no longer the case. If the frog is indeed our “canary in the coal mine”, we are in deep trouble.

The lighting here is a bit harsh, (see the shadows under the leaf rib, for instance), as this image was shot long before the days of TTL fill flash with a manual Sunpack 444 on 1/8 power. (In those days, I was using a 105mm Noflexar on the Novoflex Auto Bellows). The manual flash caused the “hot spot” on the hind leg of the larger frog, a common problem when shooting wet subjects. If I were to re-shoot this today, I would use either fill flash, polarized flash, a diffuser or some combination of the preceding techniques.

Silhouettes