A Costa Rican Tree Frog

This cute little frog lived in the Ranario in Santa Elana, Costa Rica. Catherine and I visited the Ranario after a very long taxi, water taxi, taxi ride from La Fortuna. We had seen the most amazing landscape from Lake Arenal over the patchwork fields and by tiny little farm houses. The rural areas of Costa Rica are indeed my favorite. I love everything about it; the living fences, the lone trees watching over fields of brown and white cows, the winding roads, the hills of coffee trees with bright red coffee beans clinging to the branches, the huge hydrangea bushes that seem like something out of Alice and Wonderland, and the slow moving tractor trailers with loads of sugar cane, mangoes, or something else just as wonderful.

Once in Santa Elana we found a place to stay and then ventured out for food and excitement. We walked to the Ranario on the other side of the valley. We took a tour with a wonderful guide. I found him to be both knowledgeable and hilarious. He bordered on highly inappropriate with most of his jokes but the language barrier was just strong enough to make it endearing and not creepy. Once the tour was over we went back armed with flashlight. Since the frogs are sensitive to the light flashes are not allowed. Luckily, Catherine is a good sport and has quite a steady hand with a flashlight so she gamely held the flashlight for several hours as I happily clicked away. She also took some stunning pictures that night when my hands got to shaky to be useful.

I used Lightroom 3 to lighten the shadow under his eye and add a watermark.
The etsy listing is here.

Eureka!

This little guy was found at the Rotary Youth Camp. He was wandering across the sidewalk so someone picked him up and was returning him to the wild. Before he made it back to his tree I was able to snap a few pictures. I love his wild hair! I realize it's a defense strategy so that when birds try to eat him they will be intimidated by his size or just get a beak-ful of fluff. However, I think he is utterly adorable! He makes me laugh every time I see him.

This photo was taken on a Canon DSLR with a macro lens. The background was darkened using Adobe Lightroom 3.

If you are interested in this or any other print. Here is the link to my etsy store. Pepper Tree Prints

Koi in the River

For my dad's birthday I gave him a canvas with any photo he wanted printed on it. Of all the wonderful insects, spiders, flowers, and other things he could have chosen he chose this one. This was taken in Memphis at the Botanical Gardens. However, it reminded him of one family vacation we took. We went through Omaha in the dead of winter and were the only tourists who visited the Henry Doorly Zoo. The zoo is amazing in any weather but was particularly fascinating because it was in the middle of a snow storm, my mom is pretty hardcore about staying on the AAA vacation guide plan. The zebras and giraffes were shockingly colorful next to the bright white of newly fallen snow. We walked over the Missouri river on a suspension bridge. There was a fish food dispenser and so we promptly began feeding the koi that lived in the river. As soon as the fish food hit the water the few docile fish we could see were swarmed by hundreds of koi all eager to get the tasty little fish pellets. The fish were so aggressive they were finning over each other in such a way that it made a huge swell of wriggling and writhing fish. It was like the sparkle and shine of gold, yellow, red, orange, silver, white, and black wasn't made of individuals but rather one large body splashing and swimming. It was amazing to watch and whenever I see koi in a pond I think of that cold day in Nebraska that our family shared with a few chilly zoo animals and a river full of fish.

This was taken with a Canon DSLR with a macro lens. The black fill and contrast was increased slightly in Adobe Lightroom 3.

If you are interested in this print, check out my etsy store. Pepper Tree Prints