# What's wrong with this frog?



## HeavenHell (Apr 6, 2015)

I'm having a hard time putting my finger on what is wrong with this photo. It was shot with a Canon 100mm L using the following settings: ISO 400, f/16, 1/100 sec. Is it the lighting, sharpness or perhaps the aperture used doesn't allow the eye to focus on the subject properly. Any thoughts?



MJD_4740_1024_finalSRGB2 by heavensherps, on Flickr


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## Marsu42 (Apr 6, 2015)

HeavenHell said:


> Any thoughts?



Sure the lighting is a bit flat (probably cloudy weather) and the composition is neither here (center) or there (thirds), but is not necessary at all times. The one thing I can think of is that the position of the frog points to the sw, but there's too little space there so the framing appears "cut off" and a bit awkward. 

But I think it's a great demonstration of camouflage, after all the frog has no interest in being focused on ... I really like these subjects that don't stand out and nowadays appreciate them as "real" wildlife.


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## old-pr-pix (Apr 6, 2015)

IMHO the shot shows nature working as intended--the frog's coloration is designed to confuse the eye/brain of any predator when it is in its natural surroundings. For me, the bright spot behind the frog draws my eye there and then it goes to the dark rock in the background over the frog's right shoulder (do frogs have shoulders?). Then I bounce between those two spots. I think it could help the shot if you re-cropped it such that the frog's left eye was at the lower 1/3 point and cut out some of the bright spot behind. Whether a wider aperture to throw the background further out of focus would have helped is tough to say.


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## takesome1 (Apr 6, 2015)

Composition?

The frogs back forms this line ------
and the rear legs form this >

And together they lead your eyes to the upper right corner ----->


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## chauncey (Apr 6, 2015)

You're wondering why the eye isn't drawn to the frog, a creature that's life depends on camouflage...daah.
Ya might want to improve your PP skills and...select the frog and enhance it while doing the opposite with the background.


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## benique (Apr 6, 2015)

I think it's a bit distracting that the frogs head is facing down. I would use a bigger aperture of say F2.8-F4. This way you could separate it more from the background make it stand out. I would also try to move the camera to the eye level of the frog. That usually looks best for people and animals.

Check out how other people photograph frogs.
https://prime.500px.com/search/keywords=frog


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## HeavenHell (Apr 6, 2015)

Thanks for the great feedback. I think f2.8-f4 would not provide the depth of field I was looking for. My goal would be for the majority of the frog to be in focus, but for it to stand out more from the background.


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## knkedlaya (Apr 6, 2015)

First thing strikes to me is, the background - its over cluttered to my taste. Probably I would have moved couple of inches to the right and few inches down so that the body of the frog is parallel to the sensor.
Second is, there are other bright areas in the frame compared to the frog itself. Since the frog is dark and camouflaged body, my eyes searches all over the frog to find the eye of the frog. Probably taking a step back would have shown the frog in its environment or getting more closer would have avoided the cluttered background.
If the intent was to collect the frog portrait for studies, probably it serves the purpose as it shows lot of the structure IMO. 
My .02 cents!!!


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## Famateur (Apr 6, 2015)

I agree with comments about busy textures, camouflage and getting down on "frog level". 

As nature designed the frog's eye blends in with its body. If you want it to be easier to focus on the eye, you have to get down on its level so the eyes protrude upward from the profile of the frog. You can also _subtly _brighten just the eye with a local adjustment brush in Lightroom.

Another advantage to getting down on the frog's level is that the background will be farther away, allowing it to blur out more and be less busy. If you compose with less of that lumpy foreground (looks kind of like a pale frog), and have more blurred background above, the frog should stand out a bit better.

One last thing. My eye always goes to the highlights in an image first. Any time you have a dark subject on a lighter and/or busy background, it's harder for the subject to stand out to the eye.

Anyway...hope you've gotten some good ideas for next time.


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## dcschooley (Apr 6, 2015)

HeavenHell said:


> I'm having a hard time putting my finger on what is wrong with this photo. It was shot with a Canon 100mm L using the following settings: ISO 400, f/16, 1/100 sec. Is it the lighting, sharpness or perhaps the aperture used doesn't allow the eye to focus on the subject properly. Any thoughts?



This image is very fixable. Crop in from the top, about 2/3 of the way between the existing upper edge of the photograph and the frog. This will stick the frog close to the top, but not too close. If the top part of the white rock is cropped out, then you have done it right. You will be left with a small bright spot in the upper left that needs to be darkened. Crop in from the right, 1/2 of the distance between the frog and the right edge. The crops leave the frog in one corner getting ready to jump through the opposite corner. The cropping does several things. It gets rid of much of the annoying part of the background, the frog encompasses more of the image, and the image becomes more dynamic. The white stuff on the rock in the upper right looks a bit hot, so I would try darkening it just a bit to bring out the texture. Brushing in some localized contrast on the frog wouldn't hurt, with some extra added to the eye. Perhaps clone out the bit of dark stuff (frog poo?) near the left hind foot. As a final touch, try a little vignetting, perhaps -5 or -10 if you are using Lightroom or ACR. It would have been nice not to have the rear leg sticking over the edge where it blends in with the background, but it's a frog, and they never do what you want. I think f/16 is fine. The right hind foot is starting to go out of focus, so I don't think you want to reduce the depth of field any more.


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## HeavenHell (Apr 6, 2015)

Excellent suggestions. I'm a novice at photoshop, but I'll give your ideas a try and post the resultant photo. As things begin to warm up here in Wisconsin, I should have ample chances to apply your tips to future subjects. Really appreciate all the feedback!


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## wsheldon (Apr 6, 2015)

Very good advice from dcschooley. I agree you would improve this (already decent) image with those changes. Frogs are indeed tough subjects, and your DOF is good for a natural history image. The only way to blur the background in this type of scene more than you did is to use a much longer focal length lens and lower your shooting angle (or get aggressive in Photoshop with the blur tool).


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## HeavenHell (Apr 7, 2015)

I made a few quick alterations and I already find the image to be more pleasing. I will try some of the other suggestions tonight. Thanks again for all the thoughtful comments. You guys rock.



MJD_4740_1024_finalfixedSRGB by heavensherps, on Flickr


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## Besisika (Apr 7, 2015)

It is the dark background that causes it, it simply competes with the frog. Remove it and your frog would win your heart.

The color of the frog is a pattern of some sort and is broken by the leading lines, which would draw your attention to the eye if the dark part of the background wasn't there.
1 - clone stamp the the bright background to cover up the dark part
2 - retake the photo from the other side so that you would have only bright background, provided that birds didn't eat it up yet.


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## TeT (Apr 7, 2015)

a very nice frog. that was puzzling, you adjustment worked much better..


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## Hillsilly (Apr 7, 2015)

My eyes are naturally attracted to the brighter parts of the image - in particular the top right hand corner. A heavy vignette might help.


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## HeavenHell (Apr 7, 2015)

I agree, I'm going to try and darken that area behind the frog this evening. Thanks.


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## HeavenHell (Apr 8, 2015)

OK, I was able to apply shadows to the area behind the frog. I think I'm pretty satisfied now.



MJD_4740_1024_finalfixed2 by heavensherps, on Flickr


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