crowned tree frog

[Gato Moteado]

nikon D850 + 105 micro nikkor
2 speedlights in softboxes

[soothsayer]

1. What a beauty!

Do you ever get to touch these cool frogs or are they poisonous?

That eye! What an unexpected color.

[Gato Moteado]

3. yes, you can handle them if you're careful, because...

...you can do more harm to them than they can do to you. these tree frogs are not dangerous to humans. and, you can even handle the poison dart frogs in costa rica (as long as you wash your hands afterwards before touching your eyes) because they are not nearly as toxic as the amazonian ones.

[tblue37]

2. Gorgeous!

[Gato Moteado]

4. thank you!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. Gorgeous photo, my dear Gato! Love it. n/t

[Gato Moteado]

8. thank you!

[RainCaster]

6. Thank you for sharing all these great photos

You live in an amazing part of the world that most of us can only dream about.

[Gato Moteado]

9. con mucho gusto.....

....costa rica is really accessible to anyone in the US.....round trip airfare from most US cities can usually be found for $500 or less (i've paid as little as $199 to and from miami). if you want to experience beautiful rain forests, beaches, cloud forests and volcanoes and meet friendly people, you should spend a week or two here for vacation.

[flamin lib]

7. Are your wildlife portraits in studio or in the wild?

I'd be curious to see what the two flash set up looks like. It sure gives great results.

[Gato Moteado]

10. i do both.....studio lights and natural light....depends on the situation

the flash set up is simple.....one on each side.....both low power (1/16 to 1/64 range), with one being about half the power of the primary. get the diffusers as close to the subject as possible to avoid hot spots. once i have a repeatable process that i'm fully happy with, i'll share it with you.

i use yongnuo and godox speedlights but i'm going to grab a couple of these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QM6RWPY?

and i'm gonna get a couple of these to try as diffusers:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1342034-REG/godox_sb_nbm_octa95_sb_nbm_octa_95cm_softbox.html

[Gato Moteado]

11. believe it or not....no flash was used for any of these....