Approaching a Small Toad /
How do you approach a small animal, like this little toad?
Approaching a small, skittish animal requires patience. I start photographing further away just to assure I get a shot. And don’t forget creating wide angle images of wildlife in the landscape can be just as appealing as close-up portraits. But today we’re talking about trying to get closer for that nice portrait shot.
First you have to assess whether it’s even safe to consider moving closer. You don’t want to risk the welfare of either the wildlife or yourself. In the example today, of this small toad, there weren’t any major concerns.
Approaching wildlife is most often a very slow process.
Small subjects can easily be frightened by us as we’re so much larger than they. So it can sometimes help to get as close to eye-level with them as possible. Granted, you’ll never be able to be at the same level as this little toad, but you can get down on the ground, lying flat if you can, to lessen your profile and appear smaller than you are.
It’s often recommended you don’t make eye contact with wildlife as that can spook them or cause them to become aggressive, seeing it as a challenge. I don’t know if that applies to small amphibians. 😃
Make small moves and move slowly and quietly.
The key to getting close is to move slowly and quietly. The hope is the animal will almost get used to us, seeing us as just another part of the background, not a threat. You can see in the sequence of images of the toad I very slowly moved closer, and each time I repositioned I created an image. I was using a fixed focal length lens (105mm) so there was no zooming with the lens. If I wanted a closer portrait I needed to get physically closer to the toad.
Pause every so often to help let the creature get used to you.
And you will discover there’s always a hidden line the subject will consider too close. If you cross that line the subject will move away (or worse if it’s a predator, which I wouldn’t recommend approaching anyway). Where that line is will vary from species to species and even animal to animal. I try very hard not to cross that line as that most often means the end of my opportunity to photograph that subject. But in the case of this little toad I knew it was very likely at some point it would begin hopping away. So until then I did the best I could to capture closeups.
With a little luck, patience and practice you’ll get close enough for a nice close-up portrait.
Eventually, the toad had enough of me and began hopping away. I was able to capture one more image of it after the first hop. I liked how it had landed with its rear leg and foot raised just a bit sitting on a leaf. After creating this image I slowly backed off and left the little toad in peace.
One final view of the toad before leaving it in peace.
Just a quick technical note, for those interested. This was early enough in the morning and under enough tree cover to be fairly dark. I was hand holding the camera, helping me stay nimble and presenting less visible bulk in view of the toad. To get a shutter speed fast enough to avoid most blur I had to boost the ISO to 4000. This means there is some level of noise in these photos, especially in the darker portions. But I thought getting the shots was worth the potential noise, and it was also a fun exercise in approaching a small animal.
Do you enjoy these posts?
Sign up to receive periodic emails with updates and thoughts. Don’t worry, I won’t spam you. And please consider purchasing artwork or products from my online store, and using my affiliate links in the sidebar to the right when shopping online.
I appreciate your support!
Creekside in Autumn Redux /
Creekside in Autumn Redux
Today we return to a location I’d recently photographed. I wanted to view the scene through a different lens. And I brought along some waterproof boots, letting me walk out into the shallower parts of the creek looking for a slightly different perspective.
When we arrived at the scene, a small stretch of shoreline along a shallow, slow-moving creek, there was still a very small amount of mist hovering over the water near the rocks. It was diffuse enough you really couldn’t see it directly as mist, but more for how it gave that slight foggy look to anything beyond it. It was fading quickly, so I waded out into the water looking for a location to setup my tripod.
I focused on the same bit of scenery I had during the previous visit, but by using a wider angle lens, a 16-35mm, I was able to take in a bit more of the surroundings. The leaves had continued slowly changing colors, with a touch of yellow and orange mixed in with the pale greens. I wanted that to be a focus of the photo, along with the great patterns of the trees and rocks and their reflections.
Seeing the fading mist and the yellows of the foliage brought to mind my Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue polarizing filter, so I put it on the lens and turned the polarizer to find the right mix of gold and blue. This is not a filter I use every day but I love having it around. It can add an almost magical shift to the colors of the photo, and I think it worked really well with this one, giving the fading mist along with the rocks a slight blue tint and enhancing the yellows of the foliage.
It was still early enough the scene was a bit dark for the camera. That combined with the polarizer gave me an exposure time of 3 seconds, long enough to see some of the movement of foam on the water. I’m often surprised in situations like this. I expect the water will flow in one direction but find it flowing in directions and patterns I’d not seen without the aid of the camera and the long exposure.
I will likely return again to this spot, perhaps in the coming days or later in the year. I’d also like to spend more time exploring the areas just beyond this scene. Perhaps there are other little portraits of nature just waiting to be seen.
Do you enjoy these posts?
Sign up to receive periodic emails with updates and thoughts. Don’t worry, I won’t spam you. And please consider purchasing artwork or products from my online store, and using my affiliate links in the sidebar to the right when shopping online.
I appreciate your support!
