Cane Toad Portraits

[Stagecoach]

I have been after getting some decent shots of these fellows at night when they come out for a while so tonight set up with the SB-600 off camera on a small gorilla-pod, a torch, 105mm and right angle viewfinder adapter on 2x magnification.

There were a couple on the lawn and the fun started, they would not pose for long but I got a number of good sharp shots. On looking at these on the monitor, technically good but the lighting from the SB-600 fitted with a plastic diffuser had given far too harsh shadows.

Changed the rig with the SB-600 fitted to the side of the camera with a right angle bracket and fitted my 50c cardboard snoot and diffuser. What a difference and the lighting of the background well surprised me.

All taken at 1/60s f13 ISO200 flash in TTL mode.







Comments and suggestions welcome as always.

Grahame

[Shadowman]

Nice images.

[AB26]

Grahame, thank you for the little lesson in using flash.

Good shots,no. Very good, no. SUPERB! The effort and dedication really paid off.
#3 is my favorite. Although there is a little "branch" sticking out from his right cheek.

[FrankMi]

Sharp and clear!

[flashback]

I like #3 the best. Hypno-toad!

[NorthernFocus]

That's awesome. No.3 is the best IMO. I'd crop it tighter.

[IzzieK]

I like #3 too! It will be nice to put a caption on that one...

[Sergio M.]

Very clear and sharp. A great incentive to use flash.

Sergio

[deetheturk]

Grahame,superb,i love them,same as most other comments #3 is also my favorite! Angry Toad

[Wavelength]

Grahame, thank you for the little lesson in using flash.

Good shots,no. Very good, no. SUPERB! The effort and dedication really paid off.
#3 is my favorite. Although there is a little "branch" sticking out from his right cheek.

Ditto

[Kaye Leggett]

Beautiful shots - fab colour. Well worth the effort.

[Bobobird]

3, 1, 2 in that order but all are superb shots.

[Stagecoach]

John, Andre, Frank, Jack, Dan, Isobel, Sergio, David, Nandakumar, Kaye and last but not least Bobo.

Thank you all for your comments on these images they are very much appreciated. There was a fair amount of effort put into these ensuring that they were captured well in camera and also getting positioned so low and it's always satisfying when that effort pays off.

Andre, I will see if I'm able to clone out the branch successfully. This was the one shot, straight on, that I wanted to achieve and it was the only chance I had but it's one I'll try and get again as I want to see what a shallower DoF looks like.

Dan, I will try a tighter crop.

Sergio, I undertake a lot of bug macro flash indoors where I'm used to and fully accept dark black backgrounds and It's quite surprised me that this lighting rig has provided not only decent lighting of the subject but reasonable light in the background.

For general information, some lessons learnt from this session;

a) If using the right angle viewfinder at 2x magnification remember you are not seeing the full frame. Forgetting this caused just about all images except No 3 here to be wanting for more space to the left or right.

b) Laying a torch on the ground pointing at the subject provides good lighting for focussing.

Grahame

[Stagecoach]

And here's a mod to No 3 based on comment from Andre and Dan...............................



Grahame

[ShaneS]

Very cool shots Grahame and I think that the crop of the third, while a very different shot from the original, is just great! Nice work.

[Stagecoach]

Very cool shots Grahame and I think that the crop of the third, while a very different shot from the original, is just great! Nice work.

Thank you Shane. I just have to learn how to get these fellas to cooperate better then I can have some great fun with them

Grahame

[FrankMi]

And here's a mod to No 3 based on comment from Andre and Dan...............................



Grahame

Great crop Grahame! It may be a toad but it reminds me of the song 'Frog Kissin'.

[Brownbear]

Wonderful!, 3 and 1 for me. (2 - beautifully photographed but the angle/pose not as appealing) And yes, 3 is WOW! (as is the cropped version) Truly amazing. I can't imagine how you coaxed the toads to stay still and get close.

[GeorgeM]

Wonderful!, 3 and 1 for me. (2 - beautifully photographed but the angle/pose not as appealing) And yes, 3 is WOW! (as is the cropped version) Truly amazing. I can't imagine how you coaxed the toads to stay still and get close.

Their skin is poisonous if ingested, so they probably aren't too skittish.

Grahame: Stellar work! #3 is really nice.

[Stagecoach]

Wonderful!, 3 and 1 for me. (2 - beautifully photographed but the angle/pose not as appealing) And yes, 3 is WOW! (as is the cropped version) Truly amazing. I can't imagine how you coaxed the toads to stay still and get close.

Hi Christina,

Thanks for commenting.

Coaxing them consists of talking quietly and explaining what you require and then pushing them around with the torch when they don't listen and move elsewhere. Once they are in a position where you can lie down full length with enough space to get the angle you want for a good 75% of attempts they disappear whilst you are getting your eye over the viewfinder. This results in a bit of swearing, getting up off the ground once again and starting from scratch. It's great exercise !

From my latest experience I have found that the smaller ones are more amenable to being picked up but have not yet learnt to remain where I place them

I'm busy thinking of different ways to pose them.

Grahame