OOPS!!!

It would seem that I suffered a braincramp while writing the previous blog post and forgot to post the image from Killbear Provincial Park. You can view the image on my Facebook page. Just click on the link in the sidebar.

It has been very hot and humid here. here in Parry Sound and today a nasty thunderstorm rolled through the area. Hoping for a nice sunrise tomorrow as the storm system moves on.

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Gotta Go Hang-out With the Bullfrogs

Male Bullfrog Among Water Lily Leaves, Horseshoe Lake, Parry Sound, Ontario

Alas, the time of year has come where I head north to the family cottage on Horseshoe Lake in Ontario’s Parry Sound region. As a result the blog will be quiet for about one week. I hope to return with a new batch of froggie pics and even a few new images from one of Ontario’s premier photographic locations – Killbear Provincial Park. Below you will see a Black & White conversion of an image created at Killbear Provincial Park during one of my numerous visits last year.

In the bullfrog image above, if you click on it to see the larger, sharper version you will see the clear translucent skin floating beside the frog. Did you know that frog’s shed their skin and eat it too?

See ya all soon 🙂

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Wild & Wicked Weather

Storm Clouds Rolling Over Farmland, Bradford, Ontario

 

Today’s image is a repost of an image that was featured last summer. The approaching storm clouds that were rolling over this Bradford area farm last summer were from a storm system that ended up causing widespread flooding in the city of Toronto.

On Tuesday evening I found myself smack-dab in the middle of another wild and wicked storm system, but was unable to create any images of the storm due to its violent nature. As it turned out my daughter was to be in Angus, Ontario for a rehearsal for an up coming dance recital. Once I had picked her up from school we arrived home for a quick dinner, then got dressed for the dance rehearsal, and on our way. As we headed west along our sideroad I could see ominous black clouds looming on the horizon. It was not too long into our drive before gale force winds were blowing a significant amount of rain across the roadways and reducing visibility quite drastically. In fact driving through this rain storm was probably some of the worst weather conditions I have ever driven in, including winter storms. I can say that my trusty Subaru never faltered, even though the roadways were like flowing rivers.

We arrived at the theatre for the rehearsal on time and the storm had dissipated by the time we arrived as well. What I did not know, but became aware of afterwards was that only a few kilometres away from our rehearsal location, a tornado touched down and destroyed roughly 100 homes. The winds of this storm were estimated to be in excess of 200 km per hour. Fortunately no lives were lost.

Please do remember to click on the image to see the larger, sharper version.

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Now That’s Loud!!!

Male Gray Treefrog with vocal sac fully inflated while chorusing

Have you ever wondered how loud a frog’s can sing? Well the loudest frog call in the world is that of the Coqui Frog of Puerto Rico, which has been measured at a booming 108 decibels, and that is almost as loud as some jackhammers! The Gray Treefrog of North America has been measured at a range of 88 to 95 decibels. Whenever I have been fortunate enough to be sitting in a wetland at peak chorus with numerous individuals calling all at the same time, the sound can be deafening. In fact the sound level and subsequent ringing in my ears afterwards reminds me of my younger days when I would attend RAMONES concerts 🙂

In these two photos do note the variation in coloration. The frog in the first image is in a shallow pond with a sandy / clay-like bottom and minimal new growth of cattails, hence the drab colors. While in the photo below the pond is much deeper with a dark, mucky bottom and there was significant new growth of cattails, which is why this fella has a brilliant green coloration.

 

Male Gray Treefrog at rest between calls – note vocal sac stays partially inflated

Please click on each of the photos to see the larger, sharper version.

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The Ripple Effect

The two images presented here were created a few seconds apart. Often I will take several images from various angles and perspectives when photographing frogs and toads at night, especially when I see the ripple effect. The ripple effect is created when the toad’s vocal sac touches the water’s surface while it is chorusing. The vibration of the vocal sac creates the ripples. In each of these images I was immediately drawn to the way the dead cattail leaves were framing the toad along the bottom portion of the composition and while composing I made certain not to cut-off the ‘V’ created by the break in the leaf at the bottom edge.

Please remember to click on each of the images to see the larger, sharper versions. Which do you prefer?

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Green Frog and Fish Fry

It always amazes me when I am editing my images of frogs photographed at night the number of other critters that show up in the frame. More often than not these are waterbugs, but tonight when going through photos created several nights ago I was pleasantly surprised to see a tiny fish fry resting in front of the frog. I am uncertain of the actual species of fish, which are inhabiting this new pond I discovered due to the itty-bitty size of the fish but I am going to assume that it may be a baby stickleback. Once you click on the image to view the larger, sharper version the fish will be more visible as will be the two tiny insects on the frog’s left cheek.

When frogs are posed such as this within the pond I will always assume a low perspective, often submerging my arms in the pond to get the camera down low and then place the frog dead center within the composition. As long as there is symmetrical balance within the frame a bulls-eyed subject can be pleasing.

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Gray Treefrogs

 

A few nights ago I ventured out into a new pond that I had discovered where Gray Treefrogs are chorusing very loudly. The pond already has a dense growth of cattails so working my way out to the area of the pond where the frogs were located was tricky at best, but I was able to create a few new images that ended up in the keeper file 🙂 Gray Treefrogs are the chameleons of the amphibian world, able to change their colors to blend in to their surrounding environment. Photographing them in the spring when they are at their breeding pools among the green cattails typically produces images of them in their splendid greens.

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Singing in the Rain

Green Frog With Vocal Sac Inflated

By far the most productive nights for photographing frogs and toads tend to be those which are humid, rainy, or drizzly. Above is a recent Green Frog photographed with its vocal sac inflated that was created on a wet evening after the rain stopped. Using a Nikon D800 and a Nikon 105mm Micro lens, I knelt down in the shallow pond with my chest waders on and assumed a low and steady perspective  by resting my elbows on the pond’s substrate. Green Frog’s vocal sacs are only inflated for a brief period while they are making their loose banjo string-like song, but closely watching their movements you can easily learn when to press the shutter to capture a fully inflated vocal sac.

Please click on the image to see the larger, sharper version.

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Horses

White Horse in fog, Milton, Ontario, Canada

Today’s post features a few images that were created over the last couple of years. Living in a rural region of Ontario I often stop to photograph horses when the conditions are optimum or when neighbors ask me if I have time to take a few photographs of their horses. The above image of the horse in the fog was created last fall after I spent the better part of my morning photographing rusty old wrecks with Denise Ippolito and the Toronto Digital Photography Club – who can resist a white horse in fog 🙂

Horses in fog, Milton, Ontario, Canada

The foggy conditions of that morning were quite special and in the above image I liked the contrast between these two horses and the fog. A touch of Nik’s Detail Extractor was used to bring out a little detail in the trees behind the horses.

Above and below are some portraits of a neighbor’s horses. In the images below I could resist the temptation to apply an artistic rendering to them.

Foal – Topaz Simplify

Horse Portrait – Fractalius

Please remember to click on each of the images to see the larger, sharper versions.

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