The Way We See It: Frog

Showing posts with label Frog. Show all posts

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Costa Rica 2013 - Painting with Light

Light Painting with Frogs (Agalychnis callidryas) - Selva Verde, Costa Rica
Canon 7D + Canon 100-400L IS @ 400mm
Exposure: ISO 200 : 6 seconds : f5.6

Used as a way to illuminate foregrounds without flash, light painting adds texture and dimension to star photography and nighttime portraiture. Less commonly applied to wildlife subjects, nocturnal animals are typically photographed with flash traps. While this technique can freeze the motion of an animal on the prowl, subjects caught in a trap often appear startled and unnatural. Additionally, because camera traps are challenging to focus, it’s important use small apertures that will increase the depth of field. The reliance on this technique results in pictures that seem to be littered by branches that reflect the cold and sterile light produced by a flash.

While traveling through the tropics this July, we had the opportunity to do some light painting. Unlike the millisecond pop of a flash-trap, light painting relies on long exposures to soft light. To paint with light, you’ll need a friend or two to illuminate your nocturnal subject. To emulate the appearance of candle or firelight, we covered the bulbs of our dying flashlights with our hands and slowly moved the light near and around the frog. This type of light painting requires you to prefocus, and bump your iso to 400 or 800. I suggest that you use a stable tripod, mirror lock-up and a cable release in order to minimize camera movement. You’ll need to be prepared to experiment with duration of your shutter, take many pictures and stay up late!

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Costa Rica 2013 : Oophaga pumilio

I'll Take a Half Cup - Selva Verde, Costa Rica
Canon 5D Mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + Canon 2x Mark iii Converter

What’s in a name?

Known as the “strawberry, blue jeans, blastimentos, or la gruta” poison arrow frog, Oophaga pumilio is a frog with many names. Diminutive at about 20mm, Oophaga pumilio appear in 15-30 color morphs that vary according to their geographic distribution. Once considered members of the larger Dendrobates genus, the strawberry poison dart frog is classified in a single clade, Oophaga, whose evolution coincides with the formation of the Panamanian land bridge.

Found from Nicaragua to Panama, each subpopulation is morphologically distinct. Some groups are bright red (strawberry) while others are yellow with black spots (la gruta). The frog pictured here is the “blue jeans” morph, and they are found throughout the Caribbean slope near the La Selva Biological Reserve in Costa Rica.

The name “poison arrow” or “poison dart” is a generic reference to the poisonous neurotoxins that are secreted dorsally. Historically, pre-Columbian aboriginal populations used the secretions from living and dead frogs to produce poison darts that could be used to hunt monkeys and birds living throughout the forest canopy. In general, poison arrow frogs are unaggressive yet fearless. Dressed in neon and Day-Glo, this genus is famous for its aposomatic or “warning color” patterns. While there are a few bird species that can tolerate the toxins or modify frogs by scraping the glands on rocky surfaces, most birds use the outrageous colors as a way to recognize these frogs as non-food items. Observed in everything from insects to snakes, there is strong selective pressure for aposomatic warning patterns throughout tropical communities. So prevalent is this strategy, some non-poisonous species will mimic toxic ones by evolving aposomatic-like color patterns.

The genus Oophaga is fitting, as the prefix “Oo,” egg, and suffix “phaga,” to eat, aptly describes the nutrition of the developing frog larvae. Female frogs carry eggs into the canopy and deposit them near a watery vessel. Often laid on the leaves of bromeliads, male frogs will make multiple visits to water the eggs and prevent desiccation. Once the tadpoles emerge, females will retrieve the larvae and carry the embryonic frogs to pools formed at the base of epiphytic bromeliads or tree cavity. Here, the larvae will grow until they develop legs and can leave their aquatic homes. The maternal ecological investment is high because the strawberry tadpole is a finicky eater. Beginning with the deposition of one to two larvae and every three days until final development, the adult female will return to the aquatic nest to lay unfertilized eggs. These eggs represent the entire diet of the Oophaga larvae until they can leave their watery home. The diversity and range of this species seems all the more incredible when you consider that less than 12% of all fertilized eggs the survive through metamorphosis.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Tip #100: Eat that Frog

Poison Dart (Dendrobates auratus) - Selva Verde, Costa Rica
Canon 40D + Canon 100 f2.8 Macro USM

It’s your mountain of homework, bills that need to be paid or taxes you’ve neglected to file. Your frog is the ugly task you avoid each day, week, month and year. It is your anchor; a weight that drags you into the abyss. Your frog saps your creativity. It sits on your desk and croaks in your general direction. That frog needs to be eaten!

First Snow - Stillwater, MN
Canon 5D Mark ii + Canon 40mm f2.8 STM

Based on a book by Brian Tracy and introduced to me via a podcast by Martin Bailey, the analogy really resonated with me. We all need to eat that frog now, because there will be two tomorrow and three the next day. It is important to recognize that we do the things we need to do so that we can do the things we want to do. If you eat that frog today, you’ll have more time for your craft tomorrow.

Before First Snow - William Obrien State Park, MN
Canon 5D Mark ii + Canon 40mm f2.8 STM

Want to learn more about Brian Tracy’s book? Check out the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W7GB5Fh2XM

Cope's Gray Tree Frog (Hyla chrysoscelis) - In the Garden, MN
Canon 5D Mark ii + Canon 100mm f2.8L IS Macro

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Great News... and many Thanks!

Link To The Nature Conservancy Photo Contest Site

We would like to thank all of our friends, family and blog followers who cast a vote in the Nature Conservancy Photography Contest. Our image of two Red-eyed Tree Frogs (Agalychnis callidryas) climbing an Easter heliconia (Heliconia wagneriana) received the most votes. Because of you, the picture will be featured on the cover of the Conservancy's 2013 Calendar. Tamy and I have been long-time supporters of the Nature Conservancy and the work they do to protect threatened habitats. We'd like to encourage you to consider the plight of vanishing ecosystems as our human population continues to expand. By supporting non-profit organizations like the Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, World Wildlife Foundation, Audubon Society and the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), you are protecting our biological history and the biodiversity that defines our tiny blue marble in this vast universe.

One More Frog
Tight Rope Walker - Caribbean Slope, Costa Rica
Canon 5D markII + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS @ f3.5

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Tip #37: Live the Moment

Red-Eye Tree Frog - Caribbean Slope, Costa Rica
Canon 5D Mark II + Canon 180mm MacroL

What follows is a retelling of the Zen view of Past - Present - Future...

Strolling through a bamboo forest, a zen monk is consumed by the beauty and harmony in nature. He banks left through a narrow wood and sees a tiger in the distance. Fearful of his fate, the monk begins to run. Instinct, adrenaline and hunger makes the tiger give chase. The tiger bounds through the forest with ease and begins to approach the monk who now labors with every step.

Fleeing with all of his speed, the monk discovers that it is all about to end. You see, the forest terminates at a cliff.

Giving little thought to the ramifications of his actions, the monk hurls himself over the edge. As gravity pulls him down he spots a tree snag emerging from a rocky shelf. Reaching out, the monk catches the snag and rejoices in his good fortune.

The tiger, frustrated, now sniffs at the monk from above, while the monk ponders a way to descend the remaining 15 feet. Looking down, the monk now observes that another tiger has arrived and waits from below.

Thinking he will wait them out, the monk secures his body to the branch that now hangs precariously between the two hungry tigers. It is at this point that two mice scurry out of a crevice in the mountain and begin to gnaw away at the branch.

From the corner of his eye, the monk spots a ripe, red, and luscious strawberry growing on a nearby vine. He Grasps a the tendrils of the plant in one hand, and plucks the strawberry with the other. Tossing the ripe fruit into his mouth, the monk thinks to himself.... delicious.

Zen teaches us that we can’t run from our past nor fear our future, rather, we must embrace and savor the now.

The way I see it, photography is about the experience. We need to learn how to silence the peripheral noise that clutters our minds, unlock the shackles of our past, and worry less about the future. Grab a camera, find some light, and live the moment.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Juxtaposition (I)

...an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast.

Compulsion for a compulsive,

...a play on words or “clever” juxtaposition between a noun that describes an obsessive state of being with the adjective that describes one who can’t stop. Much like my dog who is compelled to chew her bully-stick to the bitter end, I (the compulsive) am compelled to experience the nature of nature through a lens.

A lifetime of conflict between my left brain (the empiricist) and my right (the whimsical imp), has forced an uneasy truce. Though anatomically similar, these two halves connected by the fibrous corpus callosum respond to the world in very different ways. The right brain feeds on the abstractions in life, the color of nature and the risk in adventure. In contrast, the left seeks order, calculates outcomes and clings to rules.

Two adjacent halves cooperating to meet the needs of the one, while competing to define the identity. The brain is the ultimate juxtaposition, ...pair of a kind but of a different suit.

Henri Cartier-Bresson (HCB) is a master of juxtaposition. Single images with multiple elements tell a story about a moment in time. Famous for capturing the decisive moment, HCB juxtaposed action with geometry, and emotion with time. Far be it for me to emulate Cartier-Bresson’s style, as his genre is very different from my own. Yet, the goal of seeking a juxtaposition within and between images is a compelling idea. Throughout the week, I will share some juxtapositions, these images will appear as triplets, pairs, or isolated pictures. In some cases the stories will be painfully obvious, while in others, they will be obtuse. Nonetheless, my goal is to challenge myself and stimulate you to see the juxtapositions in photography and life.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

A Life Cycle in the Rainforest

Dendrobates auratus - Canon 5D markII + 180 f3.5L

Organisms adapt to the environment as a result of selective pressures. Here the phrase, selective pressure, refers to the sum of ecological factors that influence the survival of an individual. These individuals exist within a finite niche. Ecologically, a niche includes an organism’s conspecifics (members of the same species), competitors, predators, mates, food, space, and so on. These factors define the “n-dimensional space (niche)” of the organism and influences the way a population adapts and evolves through time.

Green and Black Poison Dart Frog - Canon 5D markII + 180 f3.5L

The green and black poison dart frog, Dendrobates auratus, is uniquely adapted to its rainforest habitat. Skin secretions contain a potent venom, pumiliotoxin-C, which cause unsuspecting predators to regurgitate the distasteful meal. Rather than wearing a cryptic camouflage, this frog announces its presence with bodacious color. Like the monarch butterfly whose bright orange and black patterns are impossible to ignore, the neon green frog with black stripes hops unencumbered throughout the forest understory. Ubiquitous within the leaf litter, once you find your first green and black frog, you begin to see them everywhere.

How can this be?

Montane Forest - Canon 40D + 300 f2.8IS

Unlike most frog species, this frog is diurnal. Ever present during the daylight hours, the bright colors are a key adaptation. Known in evolutionary biology as aposematic coloration, high visibility acts as a warning. The neon green yells, “Don’t mess with me ...I’m poisonous!” Yet, the eggs and tadpoles of this species are quite tasty. Given the opportunity, fish, turtles, snakes and birds will snack on the protein-rich larvae and thus reduce the overall fitness of egg-laying adults. Unlike their parents, the pre-frog progeny lack the poisonous trademark of mom and dad. In biology, Biological success is defined by fertility, and those who have babies that have babies are considered to be evolutionarily fit.

What is the poison dart frog to do about its tasty eggs?

Flowering Bromeliad - Canon 7D + 300 f2.8IS

In a world where role-reversal is rare, the male poison dart frog bucks the trend. Male frogs call out to females and induce the ladies to lay a tiny clutch of eggs in an ephemeral pool of water. With each new day, there is a new female and new eggs. The male tends to each clutch waiting for the tadpoles to emerge. As eggs hatch, the tadpoles climb onto the back of their father where they will hitch a ride. One by one the male ascends a tree and transports the froglets to a place where no fish, turtle, or bird will hunt. He seeks a pool of water within the leaves of a bromeliad. These epiphytic relatives of the pineapple attach to branches of trees and are repositories of the daily precipitation. It is here that the tadpoles emerge and feed, hidden from the eyes of hungry predators.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Rant: On Art, Nature and Photography

Baru Beach at Dawn
Canon 5DII + 50mm f1.4

Can photographs of nature become something more than a frozen moment ...more than a data point?

Let’s face it, anyone can pick up a camera, put it on auto, and frame a subject. Today’s tools are so sophisticated that vision has replaced knowledge. It’s not that technical knowledge ever made the photographer, it’s just that it was once an obstacle between the artist and the art. Our sophisticated tools now allow everyone to express their vision.

Bamboo Orchid - Hacienda Baru, Costa Rica
Canon 7D + 300mm f2.8L IS

Consider the following: iPhoneography. According to the “urbaN DICTIONARY” it is ...the act or practice of snapping quick digital pictures and performing post-processing and sharing from within the mobile phone itself,...

My take, ...art for the masses; a powerful tool in a portable box that says, “Vision first, knowledge later (or never).”

Some people just get it. They see the light, isolate the details, and convey a feeling with their images. The iPhoneography movement mirrors my observations of the American society at large. It’s all about the quick fix. We have no tolerance for the hard work or the thinking required to solve our problems. As such, we are in need of some serious help, and have chosen, instead, to erect a giant “help wanted ad” on every stoop, wall, and bulletin board. The ad reads: “Help Wanted, ...No Knowledge Required.”

Mantled Howler Monkey - Selva Verde, Costa Rica
Canon 7D + 300mm f2.8L IS

Some other current ads might be summarized as...

Help Wanted, Biology Teacher ...No Knowledge Required.

Help Wanted, Environmental Reformer ...No Knowledge Required.

Help Wanted, Politician to F#$%-up Reputation of Admired Country ...No Knowledge Required.

Frog on a Wire - Selva Verde, Costa Rica
Canon 5D MarkII + 180mm f3.5L

Really, ...Is this what the the future has to offer? No Knowledge Required?!

Before the digital era, we all shot film. There were no histograms, variable ISO’s or memory cards. This was an unforgiving discipline because it required knowledge about light and how it interacted with particles of silver on sheets of cellulose. In the “Dark Ages of Photography,” art was created with knowledge, not in spite of it. The pioneers of environmental photography, Ansel Adams, Eliot Porter, and Clyde Butcher (still alive and working with film), are more than just visionaries, they are artists. Their success followed a simple formula:

Technical Knowledge + Subject Knowledge + Unique Vision = Art

So there’s my rant, inspired by a simple question. When do pictures of of nature transcend photojournalism and become art? We live in a world of quick fixes, mindless solutions, and dreams that everyone can do everything at any time. While, I don’t wish to denigrate those who have discovered a vision without experience, I need to believe that experience matters. In an age when automation is a substitute for knowledge, how do we distinguish the litany data points from the unique vision that makes art?

The Trap - Selva Verde, Costa Rica
Canon 5D MarkII + 300mm f2.8L IS

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Fifteen Years Later

Red-eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callidryas) on Heliconia Flower - Selva Verde Lodge, Costa Rica
Canon 5D MarkII + 180 f3.5L - June 2011

Tamy and I made our first trip to Costa Rica in June 1996. A photo excursion to the tropics had been among our many travel dreams, and memories of this first visit continue to linger today. In preparation for this adventure to the rainforest, we viewed endless National Geographic videos, books about the Amazon, and watched the movie Medicine Man. If you've since forgotten or are too young to know, Sean Connery was the Medicine Man. He was the ecologist who famously propelled himself through the canopy in search of yet to be discovered drugs. Hoping to emulate his research methods, we spent a week in Rara Avis. This deep jungle eco-lodge is continuous with Braulio Carrillo National Park and only accessible by tractor. Rara Avis is the research facility and lodge where the "real" medicine man, Donald Perry, did his pioneering research on tree-top ecology. After four nights at Rara Avis, "the tractor from hell" dragged us down the mountain, and we headed towards the Selva Verde Lodge near the Sarapiqui River...

Hognose Viper (Porthidium nasutum) - Selva Verde Lodge, Costa Rica
Canon 5D MarkII + 180 f3.5L - June 2011

So here I am, fifteen years later recalling our first adventure to the tropics. Since that time, we've returned to Rara Avis, been to Costa Rica on six occasions, traveled to Africa twice, camped throughout Alaska, and road-tripped across the Californian and Washington Coasts. In all of our travels, we never planned a return trip to Selva Verde... that is, until Tamy said, " hey let's go back..." So we did.

Blue Jeans (Dendrobates pumilio) Poison Dart Frog - Selva Verde Lodge, Costa Rica
Canon 5D MarkII + 180 f3.5L - June 2011

The images displayed are ones that we've always hoped to make. They are some of Costa Rica's signature species in soft light. All of these herps were found throughout the primary and secondary forests that are contiguous with the Selva Verde Lodge. During our most recent visit, I've rediscovered the beauty of the Caribbean Slope and realized the amazing insect, amphibian, and reptilian treasures waiting to be discovered.

Red-eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callidryas) on a Wire - Selva Verde, Costa Rica
Canon 5D MarkII + 180 f3.5L - June 2011

Green & Black (Dendrobates auratus) in a Banana Flower - Selva Verde Lodge, Costa Rica
Canon 5D MarkII + 180 f3.5L, June 2011

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Greetings from Costa Rica

We are currently traipsing around the Costa Rican country side. Every time I visit this lovely tropical paradise, I can't help but think... "Must Never Leave!" While Costa Rica continues to develop economically as industry and tourism expands, the people seem as warm and friendly as ever. More about the people, the photography, and the environment when we get stateside.
Pura Vida!