Red-Eyed Tree Frog (the west coast variety)

Karen and I arrived home from Costa Rica yesterday. We spent six nights in a single location within the Piedras Blancas National Park. A few weeks back, I posted a red-eyed tree frog that I photographed in Costa Rica back in 2007. That shot was taken in Tortuguero National Park, which is on the eastern, Caribbean coast. Piedras Blancas is in the southwest on a gulf of the Pacific. And although there’s only one species of red-eyed tree frog, there are two slightly different color morphs. Both have the classic and iconic red eyes, of course, but the eastern frogs have blue stripes on their sides and bright orange feet. The western frogs are a bit less colorful and have purple stripes on their sides and just a bit of teal on their toes. Either way they are one of my favorite subjects to photograph and I had a great time checking in on them nightly at around 6:15, just after it gets dark. The males come down to sing for the females, hoping to meet their match. If they’re unsuccessful, they retreat back higher into the trees around 8:00 and wait for another day. I didn’t always find them, but when I did, I used several lighting techniques, always being mindful of getting the quick shot and leaving them be to do their thing. This was one of my favorite poses and clean backgrounds. I also captured some video, which I will share in a future post. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, Kenko extension tubes, Godox V860iii flash with LumiQuest soft box.