A Quest for Frogs
To set the framework for this entry, note we have a bathroom that is decorated with frogs. We have ceramic frogs, glass frogs, metal frogs, wooden frogs -- all kinds of frogs (except the real kind). The one thing we don't have is an actual photo of a frog framed and hung in a prominent spot over the toilet.
Much as a fisherman will first wet a line to get dinner long before hitting the fish market to buy dinner, a self-proclaimed photographer such as myself would rather shoot my own frog photo rather than just go and buy one. Thus, this is my chronicle of my quest for a frog photo for the bathroom.
I checked the zoo website to see if they had frogs and if they were at the zoo or the wild animal park. I figured they’d be at the zoo, if they had any, but I had never seen frogs there before. I was happy to find they did have an assortment of frogs at the zoo. So, grabbing camera, camera bag, and monopod, I was off to the zoo to gather said quarry.
I arrived at the zoo parking lot around 1:00 to 1:30 and figured why not give close-up a shot. I mean why just assume I’d never find a close spot. I got lucky – real lucky. As I rounded the corner in the very first row next to the entrance, someone was just pulling out. I got a spot right next to the entrance. Luck was on my side today. Was God Himself blessing my quest? Why else could I have found such a spot? With joy in my heart, I donned my camera backpack and headed into the zoo.
From the website I knew the frogs were supposed to be in the reptile and amphibian area. I’d been to the reptile house before, but didn’t remember seeing frogs there. Still, that’s what the guide said, so off I went, without even picking up a map – since I was well aware of the location of the reptile house.
After making my rounds to every display in the reptile house I found not one frog. “Perhaps this isn’t Frog season,” I thought. I wandered back further into the “reptile” area and only found the children’s petting zoo. I came across a zoo worker and she said if they had any frogs they would be in the reptile house – where I had just searched. Still maybe I missed something so I made another pass. Nothing. Maybe God was not blessing my quest. I found another zoo worker and they weren’t sure but told me to ask at information, near the entrance.
I walked back to the entrance and only had to wait a few minutes to talk to the lady there. She looked it up and listed several species of frogs and said they were in the reptile / amphibian area. In looking at the map, there was an area I was unaware of between the amphitheatre and the reptile house that may be what I was looking for. I went there and only found some tortoises and lizards – no frogs. I found another zoo worker – this guy looked more like one of the keepers than one of the ground crew – and I asked him. He directed me to a place I ddn’t even know existed at the zoo, but lo and behold, there be frogs.
There were actually three buildings with aquariums. One had more lizards than anything else, one had more turtles than anything else, and the last one had the frogs. I had finally found what I was looking for.
Now came the difficult part – get the photo. These buildings were definitely old. The double plate glass I had to shoot through was dirty on the inside, making any shot difficult. Also the enclosures were basically dark. I really had to jack up the ISO and it was a good thing the frogs weren’t really active. The bad part was the one I could see were just hanging out in hard to see places and not facing my direction anyway. One green and black poison dart frog was facing my direction but when he saw me and my camera, he hopped to the back of the enclosure, out of site. This was the only time I actually saw a frog move. After not really getting anything good, I left and came back an hour later only to find everyone still in the same places and no new or different frogs available and posing for a photo.
These are the “best” of the contenders, but none worthy of framing – even for the bathroom wall. I’ll have to pursue another venue or method. I’m not giving up shooting my own photo just yet – but I’m getting close.
After the frog fiasco, I figured I might as well check out the new baby panda – well not real new – she’s 6 months old. Now there I got lucky. She had been sleeping up in a tree most of the day, but I actually got to watch her climb down and go up another branch to another part of the set of trees in the enclosure.
There is always an animal behavior person there who will answer any question asked and if no one is asking questions, she’s giving general facts about the pandas. Sometimes these facts relate to their current activity if something they are doing triggers a fact function fallout in her brain. As we watched the cub try to climb up a difficult part of the branches, she said that the cub was still clumsy and if it looks like it might fall – it actually might. Supposedly they can fall up to 70 feet and be fine. Perhaps because they are all padded with fur. Anyway, the cub slipped a couple times but did not tumble from the tree. It was cute though.
Well, I didn’t get my frog shot, but I did enjoy the quest and my time at the zoo. I’m already trying to come up with a way to get my elusive frog photo. If anyone has any good ideas, I’m up for suggestions.
Much as a fisherman will first wet a line to get dinner long before hitting the fish market to buy dinner, a self-proclaimed photographer such as myself would rather shoot my own frog photo rather than just go and buy one. Thus, this is my chronicle of my quest for a frog photo for the bathroom.
I checked the zoo website to see if they had frogs and if they were at the zoo or the wild animal park. I figured they’d be at the zoo, if they had any, but I had never seen frogs there before. I was happy to find they did have an assortment of frogs at the zoo. So, grabbing camera, camera bag, and monopod, I was off to the zoo to gather said quarry.
I arrived at the zoo parking lot around 1:00 to 1:30 and figured why not give close-up a shot. I mean why just assume I’d never find a close spot. I got lucky – real lucky. As I rounded the corner in the very first row next to the entrance, someone was just pulling out. I got a spot right next to the entrance. Luck was on my side today. Was God Himself blessing my quest? Why else could I have found such a spot? With joy in my heart, I donned my camera backpack and headed into the zoo.
From the website I knew the frogs were supposed to be in the reptile and amphibian area. I’d been to the reptile house before, but didn’t remember seeing frogs there. Still, that’s what the guide said, so off I went, without even picking up a map – since I was well aware of the location of the reptile house.
After making my rounds to every display in the reptile house I found not one frog. “Perhaps this isn’t Frog season,” I thought. I wandered back further into the “reptile” area and only found the children’s petting zoo. I came across a zoo worker and she said if they had any frogs they would be in the reptile house – where I had just searched. Still maybe I missed something so I made another pass. Nothing. Maybe God was not blessing my quest. I found another zoo worker and they weren’t sure but told me to ask at information, near the entrance.
I walked back to the entrance and only had to wait a few minutes to talk to the lady there. She looked it up and listed several species of frogs and said they were in the reptile / amphibian area. In looking at the map, there was an area I was unaware of between the amphitheatre and the reptile house that may be what I was looking for. I went there and only found some tortoises and lizards – no frogs. I found another zoo worker – this guy looked more like one of the keepers than one of the ground crew – and I asked him. He directed me to a place I ddn’t even know existed at the zoo, but lo and behold, there be frogs.
There were actually three buildings with aquariums. One had more lizards than anything else, one had more turtles than anything else, and the last one had the frogs. I had finally found what I was looking for.
Now came the difficult part – get the photo. These buildings were definitely old. The double plate glass I had to shoot through was dirty on the inside, making any shot difficult. Also the enclosures were basically dark. I really had to jack up the ISO and it was a good thing the frogs weren’t really active. The bad part was the one I could see were just hanging out in hard to see places and not facing my direction anyway. One green and black poison dart frog was facing my direction but when he saw me and my camera, he hopped to the back of the enclosure, out of site. This was the only time I actually saw a frog move. After not really getting anything good, I left and came back an hour later only to find everyone still in the same places and no new or different frogs available and posing for a photo.
These are the “best” of the contenders, but none worthy of framing – even for the bathroom wall. I’ll have to pursue another venue or method. I’m not giving up shooting my own photo just yet – but I’m getting close.
After the frog fiasco, I figured I might as well check out the new baby panda – well not real new – she’s 6 months old. Now there I got lucky. She had been sleeping up in a tree most of the day, but I actually got to watch her climb down and go up another branch to another part of the set of trees in the enclosure.
There is always an animal behavior person there who will answer any question asked and if no one is asking questions, she’s giving general facts about the pandas. Sometimes these facts relate to their current activity if something they are doing triggers a fact function fallout in her brain. As we watched the cub try to climb up a difficult part of the branches, she said that the cub was still clumsy and if it looks like it might fall – it actually might. Supposedly they can fall up to 70 feet and be fine. Perhaps because they are all padded with fur. Anyway, the cub slipped a couple times but did not tumble from the tree. It was cute though.
Well, I didn’t get my frog shot, but I did enjoy the quest and my time at the zoo. I’m already trying to come up with a way to get my elusive frog photo. If anyone has any good ideas, I’m up for suggestions.
posted by Harvey at 6:15 PM
1 Comments:
Harvey,
That blue frog looks plastic. I know that you said that you took these at the SD Zoo. Maybe you will have a change to shoot another this weekend at the Wild Animal Park.
Anyway - I was browsing through www.photosig.com (gotta be careful with this site - not work-safe) and came across a couple of frogs that were done well. You might take a look to get ideas.
Clark
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