Early spring in the UK is the time when the Common Frog (Rana temporaria) gets down to creating the next generation and as such its a great time to find and photograph them whilst they are pre-occupied.
If you are lucky enough to have a pond go and have a a look, or if not do any of your neighbours have one?, failing that get out to a local wetland nature reserve. Frogs are generally very easy to spot right now and therefore photographic opportunities are abundant.

When you first approach the pond you may hear a series of ‘plopping‘ sounds as you near it, this is the frogs disappearing underwater for safety. So set yourself down and sit still and quiet – no sudden movements – and you will find that after a short while they will begin to reappear. Photographically it is best to get down close to the ground where you can shoot along the surface of the water, this produces the most pleasing shots. You will probably need a lens in the region of 200-400mm in focal length so that you can stay far enough away so as not to spook them – I use a Canon 100-400 fairly regularly for this kind of project. Sunny days seem to bring the frogs out in greater numbers although they won’t let the weather get in the way of business.

Once you have the standard shots start looking for something a little different or maybe taking a more artistic view, the possibilities are only limited by your own creativity. Below are a few shots from a productive couple of days…