Western Spadefoot (Pelobates cultripes)
Tejo Internacional, Portugal

I always enjoyed including human elements in nature photos, especially when they belong to the habitats of the subjects or when they implicit express the message I want to impart. This photo, taken in the beginning of last June, had been planned over a year previously. Although I had visited this granite shed, in Salvaterra do Extremo, on several full moon nights, I either did not get the cloudless sky I was looking for or else I failed to find these toads, although they are abundant in the region.

Nikon D3s + Nikon 10.5mm f2.8 VR + 5x Nikon SB-26 + Strobist flash filters (converting 5500K to 3200K)
iso 800, 91seg, f8

Common Toad (Bufo bufo)

Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês 

In several western cultures, toads are seen as symbols of ugliness and evil incarnation, being the protagonists in numerous superstitions related to the night, death and witchcraft. This has won them a widespread loathing throughout their vast area of European distribution. In other cultural and geographic contexts, however, toads appear linked to the gift of rain and hence of renovation and abundance. Unmindful of both blessings and curses, toads come out of their shelters every night and wander long and wide in their slow stepping.

Nikon D3s + Nikon 14-24mm(14mm) f2.8 + 2x Nikon SB-26 + 2x Nikon SB-28

iso 1600, 1/125, f11

Note: This text was written by my friend Renato Neves – to whom thanks – who kindly accepted my challenge to prepare a caption for this photo.

Common Toad (Bufo bufo)

Castro Laboreiro, Peneda-Gerês NP, Portugal

Yesterday afternoon the sky was overcast with dense black clouds. A fog set on, leaving no more than ten to twenty metres visibility in some places. No rain, though. These were the weather conditions I needed – besides being on adequate grounds – to make a photo I had pondered for long. I wished to photograph a Common Toad walking, expressing the feeling of movement. For that purpose, I had to find a willing Toad, not an easy thing to do, since it is a nocturnal animal, although it may come out of its hiding place in damp dark evenings, such the present one.

Nikon D3s + Nikon 60mm f2.8 AFS + 2x Nikon SB-26 + Lee Neutral 0.6 ND (soft)

iso 3200, 1/8, f11, -0.7 Ev