Image of the Month: November 2014

[Sabyasachi Patra]

The honour for the Image of the Month goes to the Image of Small Tree frog titled "Hangman" by Abhishek Jamalabad

I loved the unique as well as comical pose. It also appears to be comfortable in the pose and it gives us an idea about the strength of its limbs-vis-a-vis its body weight. Congratulations Abhishek!

The original text by Abhishek is shared below:

Small Tree Frog (Rhacophorus lateralis) | July 2014; Near Somwarpet, Kodagu, Karnataka

I found this frog lying on a path in a coffee plantation I was surveying for amphibians. Fearing he would get trampled, I wanted to put him up on a shrub. However, when I approached, he leaped to a nearby reed, missed his footing, and narrowly escaped another fall by clinging on with two limbs. Curiously, he stayed in that position for quite some time.

I found this pose so amusing, it was hard to believe my eyes till I had a closer look. It was reminiscent of a Bollywood hero's pose on a film poster.

Canon 500D, Canon 100mm Macro USM
SS 1/200
Av 8.0
ISO 100
Minor crop
The reason I used Av 8 is to isolate the BG reeds from the frog. Undoubtedly the frog required more DoF, but narrower aperture settings made the BG distracting, rendering the frog hard to discern.