In the Shade of a Water Lily
Mar, 2015Views
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Contest Finalist in 1000 Blooming Flowers Photo Contest
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davidstrozdas
June 10, 2016
Outstanding capture! The ability to view the frog below water level and through double reflections, combined with the color, make this eye catching.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I have been doing a lot of travelling for my photography over the years, but, believe it or not, this photo was taken right in my own back yard, of all places. We live in a rural area, and our house is located on a hill overlooking a huge field and natural wetland area. So, we have plenty of frogs coming up from the wetland to stay in our pond garden.Time
I took this photo around 3:30 p.m., on July 1st, 2011. A beautiful, sunny afternoon which created beautiful reflections.Lighting
The afternoon sun is high in the sky at that time of day in July, and it lit the water lily perfectly, giving the flower and its reflection a beautiful glow and creating interesting shadows. There is so much detail around the frog, with different shadows and reflections, that it took some time before I even realized that the frog's feet could be seen on the lily pad, beneath the surface of the water!Equipment
In 2011, I was shooting with a Nikon D300, with my 70-200 lens. It was shot at f8, 1/640 sec., at ISO 200. I was lying down on the gravel beside the pond, so no tripod was used.Inspiration
A pond garden attracts so much life and so much variety, and it changes every day. I remember, a few years ago, I took the time to count the frogs sitting on the rocks and lily pads in the pond, and came up with a total of 45! We often have toads, snakes, and turtles visiting the pond and staying for varying periods of time. I like to just wander around the garden with my camera ready, never knowing what I might find.Editing
This was shot in Raw, so, yes, post-processing was done. I just made minor adjustments in Lightroom, such as highlights, shadows, and whites. Then, I put it through the Detail Extractor in ColourEfex Pro, which is part of the Nik Software Suite, to bring out more of the detail. Generally, my post-processing takes me just a couple of minutes for each photo.In my camera bag
I have moved on from the D300 (which has recently been converted to infra-red) to a Nikon D750 ... a wonderful camera! My "go-to" lens is a 24 - 70, because it is versatile, relatively light-weight, and does a superb job! My other lenses include a newer version of the 70 - 200, an 80 - 400, and a 105 micro lens. All of them are Nikon lenses. Also, I recently acquired a Lensbaby Velvet 56 for special effects macro.Feedback
Photographing any kind of wild creature takes patience, silence, more patience, and stealth. I actually do not take many shots of wildlife, because I do not usually have enough patience, but this particular frog was enjoying itself so much that it tolerated my intrusion.
