As frog lovers, we all take photos of our beloved animals. These days, the type of camera or lenses you use doesn’t make much difference since the quality ranges from very good to excellent. Most of us post our photos online—whether it’s on social media or websites—so image quality and resolution aren’t as crucial anymore.
For my website, Facebook, or Instagram, resolutions of up to 2600 x 1500 pixels are fine, and for screens, 72 dots per inch (dpi) is more than enough. But printing is a different game altogether—every pixel matters. For a printed poster of 40 x 50 cm, you’d need 4800 x 6000 pixels and a 300 dpi resolution. That’s where the pricier cameras and lenses really come into play.
So, if you don’t want to take your frogs out of their environment (their vivarium) for a photo, like I do, you’ve got to sit and wait with your camera and macro lens for the perfect moment. Or, you might catch an unexpected shot with just your iPhone if that’s all you’ve got handy!
Anyway, I’ve noticed there are basically two types of frog photos: ones that zoom in on the frog and show off its full body and colour pattern. I'd say 95% of Ranitomeya photos are taken like that.
I call these scientific correct pictures.
The other type, which is less common, shows our Ranitomeya frogs in a more artistic way or in the context of their habitat, giving the viewer a better sense of how they actually live.
Here’s an example with the following two photos.
I have learned these principles from a famous Costa Rican photographer Gregory Basco which sells nice ebooks amongst other things on his site explaining this type of photography in more detail. I'm still practising with this type of photography. He also made an excellent book on Costa Rica's national parks with beatifull frog pictures in it showing his principles in practise. See National Parks of Costa Rica on Amazon.
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