frog – Dutch goes the Photo!

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Round Up 132

To kiss or not to kiss?

Welcome to the 132nd round up of the Tuesday Photo Challenge!

Many of you went down some Slippery slopes this week, as there were some prominent glaciers; it was interesting to see that a number of you have visited the same locales and definitely makes me want to visit these wonderful places too! As always, you were creative and inventive in your posts, which gave me plenty of reason to smile and chuckle, particularly when I met Gus! Thank you all for your wonderful posts and taking the time to put them together!

Please enjoy each other’s posts and see which ones was the most slippery of all!

Sometimes a possible prince might give you the slip…

20080816-Simons-Rock-Frog_P2P5052 — *Future Prince?*

This was a wonderful frog that was sitting near a pond at the college that my daughter attended, Bard College at Simon’s Rock. It was a bit tricky to get exactly this angle on this lovely fellow, so I wound up hanging over the pond, while my wife held my feet down, so that I wouldn’t slip into it!

The following were this week’s participants in the challenge with links to their posts:

A stunning photo in theOnlyD800intheHameau shows beautiful contrast between the scallop and its shell, a slippery customer in a gorgeous environment.
Kammie provides something rather delicious in the Nut House, which is definitely slippery!
Jackie’s post in Junkboat Travels finds her in a rather slippery location, which makes me wonder who name it thus!
A particularly slippery situation occurred in Geriatri’X’ Fotogallery‘s post, but I wouldn’t want to be a stick in the mud 🙂
With another awesome photo, Chateaux des Fleurs brings us close to some rather slippery rocks…
The photo featured for this week’s theme by Land of Images is gorgeous! I’d love to visit that rather slippery location!
In Don’t Hold Your Breath, we encounter some gorgeous Himachali butterflies, some of which are pretty tough to catch on camera…
Some gorgeous snakes are featured in pensivity101‘s post, each of which seems rather content to be held, or are they the ones holding?
Maria caught some wonderful snakes in her excellent blog, KameraPromenader; they look rather comfortable in the sun!
The poem in Na’ama Yehuda‘s post is fantastic, as it captures the slippery slope that we’re on perfectly!
With a very appropriate entry in Heart to Heart‘s blog, we get to see who captured a slippery customer!
Yes, it looks rather slippery in Danny James Photography‘s post, and it might also be sticky in a peculiar manner!
In Proscenium we find out about a rather disturbing attribute of leaves…they can be rather slippery!
Susan brings us to a wonderful place in her post in Musin’ with Susan, which has many people returning very slippery!
In this week’s post in To See a World in a Grain of Sand… Ann-Christine captures a rather amazing display!
This week’s post in One letter UP – diary 2.0 examines the rather slippery sidewalk, one of Winter’s side effects!
Brian’s post in his very cool blog Bushboy’s World introduces us to Gus, who looks rather chill, as if he doesn’t have a care in the world!
Deb shares a rather interesting sight in her post in Twenty Four, which I have never seen before!
Sandy provides us with a great angle of view in Out of my Write Mind, as her photo brings us in close and personal!
Woolly makes the case for adequate padding in his Woolly Muses, as a traversal of the Athabasca ice field can be tricky!
Olga also ventured toward the Athabasca ice field, as we see in her post in Stuff and what if…; the waterfall image is nothing short of stunning!
Ju-Lyn’s post in her wonderful blog All Things Bright and Beautiful… made me chuckle, as it made me think of the Creature from the Black Lagoon, except this creature is much gentler!
Debbie shares the experience of falling out of bed in her post in ForgivingConnects; her reaction and self-forgivenss is priceless!
Yinglan’s post in This is Another Story takes us out to some rather spectacular glaciers, which are the pinnacle of slippery!
Debbie wonders why the floor in Trattoria La Lanterna is so slippery in Travel with Intent; it makes me wonder as well!
Ulli shares the story of the Growing Rock of Utterling in the wonderful blog Banactee; this rock looks pretty slippery!
Ilka may have done some sliding along the trail that got her to the river Lech, but as we see in A Thousand Miles, it was well worth it for this lovely photo!

I hope that you enjoy these posts and let the authors know!

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Round Up 112

Filled with promise!

Welcome to the 112th round up of the Tuesday Photo Challenge! Thank you for a wonderful week of posts!

This week’s posts are truly special, as many of them touched me in their approach to the theme of Promise, and I expect that many of you will feel the same way about them. It is truly amazing how sometimes we are lucky enough to capture a moment that can sadden us deeply, but ultimately lift us up with the promise of what lies ahead. Many of you shared very personal visions of the theme and I very much appreciate each of your posts.

Please enjoy these posts and share your thoughts on them!

Here’s a potential promise…

This potential prince sat patiently near a man-made pond, posing for me, as I was trying to get just the right angle for the shot by hanging out over the pond. Luckily, I didn’t lose my balance!

The following were this week’s participants in the challenge with links to their posts:

With a pair of beautiful photos in Une Photo, Un Poeme, Nicole highlights the promise of tightly wrapped buds: a stunning flower!
Deepa provides us with a wonderful bit of fiction in her response to the promise of this week’s theme in her blog SyncwithDeep.
In this week’s contribution by Take a Walk and Discover, we have an interesting take on the promise held by mannequins!
Xenia’s post in whippetwisdom helps us realize that Eivor and Pearl understand the promise of a walk in Nature! Xenia’s post is in her blog Tranature made me realize something: I had no clue that chive blossoms were so absolutely stunning!
In Don’t Hold Your Breath, we learn to appreciate the promise of lunch at altitude in Jalori Pass!
In another stunning photo in theonlyD800inthehameau, we are reminded of one of the most important promises that any of us can make in our lives!
In pensivity101‘s enjoyable post, we learn the interesting story of the promise of a rabbit pie made to an elderly gentleman and how this promise was kept!
Stella’s post in Giggles & Tales show us the promise of a Summer that lies ahead and all the wonderful things that are in store for us!
In a great post in MV Obsession, the self-professed Vineyard-o-holic brings us the promise of great taste of New York cheesecake…I want some now!!
Donna tells us of promises to keep in her blog No-Madder Nomadder with great photos of the good times that these promises bring!
Sarah post in By Sarah shows us a promise that is likely appreciated by many of us who tend our gardens or grow crops: the promise of rain!
Pranab’s post in Fleeting Muse reminds us of the promise that is held by Lady Liberty and that resonates in the Immigration Museum on Ellis Island.
Ron’s post in Progressing into Solitude really touched me, as he shares photographs of Chris Cornell that he took along with the lyrics to Chris’ song ‘The Promise’.
With another great post in Land of Images, we get to view the promise of some rather healthy morsels!
Klara brings us a wonderful photo in her blog Sliku svoju ljubim II, which really accentuates the promise that this moment holds!
In a lovely contribution in Out of my Write Mind, Sandy highlights a promise with a great photo and excellent haiku!
Olga’s fantastic post in Stuff and what if… showcases the promise that the Canada Goose makes.
Marie captures a great moment in her post in the New 3Rs: Retire, Recharge, Reconnect, as the young reader is taking in information.
Hammad brings us the promise held by clouds in The Blog of Hammad Rais, as the city looks towards the sky and hopes for rain!
From Na’ama Yehuda I learned the true shape of artichoke blossoms, which are surprisingly big!
Donna’s post in Wind Kisses provides a great set of promises that she made to herself; I think many of us would agree with them!
Debbie has a great idea in ForgivingConnects, which might be good for many of us: she is putting together a happiness journal and will be reporting on it!
Miriam post in the Shower of Blessings has both the promise of a harvest to come and struggles to protect mourning doves from a hungry cat…
Susan created a wonderful photo in her post in Musin’ with Susan, which highlights the promise of a life together!
This week, Nicole features the promise of paradise with wonderful flowers in Doar Nicole, which she highlights even further in her lovely poem!
In an awesome post in Sgeoil, we focus on the promise of rain, which is much needed by thirsty Saskatchewan.
Miriam really knows how to live, as proven by her post in Out an’ About, which features the promise of good wine and good times!
Ilka’s post in A Thousand Miles has a beautiful focus on the promise that we see around us in Nature and how it can inspire us!

I hope that you enjoy these posts and let the authors know!

Diversity of the Earth – pt. 7

This could be a prince!

This weeks WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge has the theme of Earth, which is appropriate, given that Saturday is Earth Day. So I figured that I would do a weeklong series of different views of the Earth that I have experienced. Feel free to join in with the fun!

In this seventh and final episode, I’d like to feature a group of animals that have adapted themselves perfectly to the water-rich planet that we call home: Amphibians. Their ability to make the best use of both water and land environment, has made them an evolutionary success story.

On top of that, they are often gorgeous to look at, such as this one….

This shot came about when I noticed this beautiful frog sitting next to a decorative pond; I decided to try and approach it, by crawling on my stomach to slowly get within shooting distance. As I got closer, I’d take another image or two, until I got myself hanging out over the pond to get this angle. After this shot, I put my camera down and gently pulled myself back on safe ground.

The frog never moved!

Technical Details

This images were captured with Canon EOS 1D MkII using an Canon EF 24-104mm f/4L lens. Exposure settings were 1/60 second at f/7.1 and 400 ISO.

Frog on Base!

A character from Aristophanes

Another cool WordPress DailyPost Prompt today with the theme of Base. Of course, I can understand the reasoning, given that the World Series just wrapped up 🙂

But from me, no Cubs, but, rather, an amphibian to get us ready for the weekend; just sitting on his home base!

I captured this beautiful frog while visiting my daughter’s college, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, 8 years ago. This lovely was sitting next to an artificial pond and was quite comfortable at the distance that I was (about 5 feet away). To get this angle, I extended myself out over the water, so I was almost eye-level.