Wednesday, November 16, 2011

PHOTOGRAPHING THE VARIETY OF LIFE: LARGE AND SMALL

Readers of our blog know that we love photographing pretty much everything. Weddings, engagements, portraits, landscape, wildlife or insects, we enjoy photographing them all!! The other day when I was out in my garden enjoying another great day in Florida, I saw something move quickly on one of the plants. I thought it was one of the chameleons you see all the time here, one of these guys.




But when I looked a little closer I saw it was not a chameleon, it was something smaller!! At first all I saw was a pair of tiny eyes looking up at me.



A very tiny frog was sitting on a leaf. Later I found out they are Florida greenhouse frogs. Naturally I went into my house and grabbed my Nikon D300s and started shooting. 


Later as I uploaded them into Lightroom I started thinking about how much there is to photograph and all the different things, large and small we have had the pleasure of shooting!! These frogs are 1/4" to 1 3/4 " small with the ones I saw in the garden being closer to the 1/2" size. I started thinking about the largest subject we have photographed and it didn't take long to think about the Grand Canyon in Arizona. This amazing wonder is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and at some locations it is over a mile deep!! 




So different yet the frog and the canyon are both so interesting and beautiful to photograph!! Variety really is the key to life and at least for me variety fuels my photography. I just enjoy photographing all the wonders of nature including humans!!
How could you not be interested in photographing the extremes of  these tiny little life forms or the grandeur of the Grand Canyon!









To think that one is better than the other is so unfair to ourselves. We miss the enjoyment of so much if we dismiss parts of our world out of hand. To think one is inherently better than the other is weak minded and limiting. You may not like the taste of Italian food or Soul food but you cannot really call either inferior. 


All of nature is worthwhile and equal in importance to a photographer and hopefully to everyone else! All of our world and everything in it needs to be respected and enjoyed.








To give you an idea how small these frogs were I took a picture of some berries on a tree that I found a frog sitting. I measured a berry and it was 1/4" wide.






As you can see the frog is a little larger, not quite a half an inch.

To give some scale as to how large the Grand Canyon is I included this picture. If you look carefully at the bottom left, you will see some hikers on their way down into the canyon!!




If you click on this next image to enlarge it and look on the stairs you will see a person looking very small next to the expanse of the canyon!!




It is a great and beautiful world with much to give us if we take advantage of all that lives in it!! Size, color or place of origin do not make one better than the other. Enjoy it all and partake of it all!!!


                                      From the tiny!!






                             To the large in all its grandeur!! 




21 comments:

Roy Durham said...

Jim you do great, enjoying your photos is a great pleasure god bless

Roy Durham said...

Jim you do great, enjoying your photos is a great pleasure god bless

Rimly said...

I have always believed in Variety being the spice of life and what a variety your pictures bring. I loved each of those pictures with that frog sitting so comfortably on that leaf. Somehow it took me back to my fairy tale stories.

http://rimlybezbaruah.blogspot.com/2011/02/journey-from-ashes.html

Tameka said...

I love how you've contrasted the large and small beauties of life in this post Jim. That little frog is a cutie and those berries looked scrumptious. Not sure if they were edible though. I still haven't been to the Grand Canyon yet, but hope to soon in the future. Another enjoyable piece!

http://lyricfire.typepad.com/lyric-fire/2011/11/lyric-fire-a-poets-sigh.html

Sogyel said...

wonderful job....i am enjoying your photography........):

Ann said...

I love macro photography & these are wonderful! And the Grand Canyon is just so majestic.

Alpana Jaiswal said...

Jim,its such a pleasure to see your pictures and even read the information you give...I do hope you are keeping well now.

Alfandi said...

Love it..the macro world to the outer world..each having its own beauty and color..love the chameleon and the frog..beautiful..

Martha Jane Orlando said...

I loved your contrast of the tiny frog with the vast Grand Canyon. We need to be reminded, sometimes, to see the stunning beauty in all of creation, large and small. You have captured that here with your amazing photos!
Well done, Jim!

Blessings!

Papercut Doll said...

That frog is just the cutest and what a beautiful capture. Stunning pictures but I still prefer to look at the frog it's cuter :) one last thing - you have amazing eye sight to have spied that :D

JIM said...

Thank You everyone.. Those frogs are really cute!!!

Alpana>>> Yes I am keeping well, Feeling great and looking forward to more photography lol

photos by jan said...

Such beautiful photos and you know I agree wholeheartedly with what you say. I love the nature all around us, I am glad I have the time to see it and capture some of it. Hope you are well Jim. <3<3<3 Jan

Manisha Bhatia said...

O! I am here fter a break...Jim this one s deep photograpohy fr me...when u were deep in nature...loved it!!

Hope u r in d pink f health now!

Love
Mani

Mary Hudak-Collins livingthescripture.com said...

Awhhh Jim, I want one :) That is one of the cutest little frogs I have ever seen and you captured it perfectly! Superb job!

Jewells said...

I do love this post. This is a theme that I try to incorporate in one fashion or another in my blog posts for my photography site.

That frog is too cute for words. I had a baby tree frog hanging about our patio this year. He never perched himself on anything photogenic enough for many pictures, but he was too cute to not snap at least once. It became a bit of a game to see each day where he chose to indulge in his siesta.

Beautiful post and beautiful pictures as always! =)

Hope you are feeling better!

Nelieta said...

You made me think Jim....most of the times we focus on the big things, the big picture but so often we forget the smaller things in life. I like the contrast between the Grand Canyon and the tiny frog. Great blog!

Teamgsquare said...

Great photography .

sulekkha said...

Jim, your picture prove that every photograph is special and so is every subject. The frog on the leaf is equally wonderfully captured as the Grand Canyon. Great work.

Melissa Tandoc said...

Oh Jim, you have the 'eye' of an artist. What most people fail to see and notice, you have actually taken to the open. I loved every image you got. I remember one was an entry to a Macrophoto contest, right? I thought it was a chameleon too.

Thanks for juxtaposing the image of the frog and berry, as well as the people in the Canyon~ I was able to contrast the sizes. I could imagine them very well :)...

I love that creativity abounds in you... you're truly an inspiration :)

Mari Sterling Wilbur said...

What a great concept for a post! Love the little tree frogs.

Simran said...

Just beautiful! :)