Hope you don't mind, I want to see how these look on the web before I post them into my gallery as a WIP.

About a month back I was here asking for advice on how to get rid of the flash without loosing color.

Here's the thumb.

I raised these North American Bullfrogs from tadpoles I purchased as bait. It seems that with Frogs quickly disappearing, the Congress was quite concerned about world demand for these guys as pets, and feared the additional strain on the environment might lead to their extinction.

I raised these guys as a study of water quality for some lab experiments I am doing.

They no longer croak and one of them became deformed shortly after emerging from the water. I found that Las Vegas Municipal Water was the culprit. Our water is recycled through an expensive process called Reverse Osmosis which does not address emerging contaminates that are too small for the membranes to catch. Emerging contaminates are substances such as fuel additives and pharmaceuticals such as Viagra and Estrogen (birth control pills).

Think of it, one and a half million people will use the toilet today in Las Vegas, and by this time next month, we'll be getting it out of our tap again.

now that's a fantastic entry to the challenge!!! wonder how this is affecting human beings. have you seen any studies? ...speaking of fuel additives, well have you heard of percholate (rocket fuel)? it's in our milk...in our food. Do a quick google search and you'll learn a lot about it. US government just dumps rocket fuel on the soil. it's gets in our soil & water. we eat and drink it. sigh It causes health problems in humans. i'm sure it's affecting these bullfrogs too. Have you ever wondered why the governmnet just keeps dumping rocket fuel onto our land? they're the big bad government. they can get away with it!!! Pretty soon I'm afraid human beings are gonna start quickly disappearing right along with these poor bullfrogs. Joe, PLEASE forgive me for digressing here!!!!!!!!! You bring up such an important issue...contaminants...and our government needs to address this. Wonder if other countries have the same problems????? How will this affect humans, Joe? any idea? I mean, if reverse osmosis is affecting frogs, it's gotta be affecting other animals, right? we eat the animals. Aren't we in just as much danger as these bullfrogs? Is reverse osmosis the process that most cities use? I'll have to read more about this! thanks again for a fabulous entry! are you a scientist?

oh, was this an entry to the monthly challenge? if not, i hope you'll permit it to be entered as one. sorry, joe...just woke up...i realize now you posted this as a WIP. duh...sorry. poor little froggie!

Hey, I don't mind at all! The image is not all that great, but I'm used to loosing.

LOL!!!

I don't mind the digression at all. I was reading an article in CE (Civil Engineers) about the fight between the EPA and NASA (we have perchlorate in out water in Vegas and thats why they had to switch over to the Reverse Osmosis in an attempt to get rid of it).

I don't recall the actual figures for PPM but if I recall correctly the EPA and FDA said .0002 PM was safe, whereas NASA argued for 0.011, which is like three hundred times higher.

We faced the problem that over 14% of our major cities would have contaminated drinking water and they would have to shut them down.

Congress caught wind and stepped in with a Bi-Polar Political Agreement and set the standard at the level NASA wanted instead.

Last fall, trout in the Delaware River ( in one of the most pristine places back east) were reporting hundreds of dead fish floating on the surface. When the fish were checked out it was found that the males had eggs inside them. Of course, the drug cartel doesn't want to take responsibility either. They claim that the ingredients in Viagra and the human hormone Estrogen are naturally occurring in the water supply.

Is it effecting us? Go figure, violent crimes are up, people are going insane at a drastic rate. Gen X kids when they got upset at the world or depressed used to blow their heads off, now they commit mass murders.

Sure congress could offer some more public tit money for research to find out if emerging contaminates are the cause but, three quarters of them Democrat and Republican alike are on the take to the drug cartels, both legal and illegal. So, what do you think? Congresscritters are liars Lawyers on the most expensive welfare program the world has to offer.

Anyway, stay tuned, if you are interested in the subject, check my homepage here, I've got a solution for both energy production, water purification, and the end to use of carbon based fuels and garbage dumps all rolled into one.

I'll be giving a a presentation before several house, senate and other dignitaries as well as the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and Society of Automotive Engineers on June 15th in Vegas.

If you think I should enter the competition, please inform me as to how. Rhino forum doesn't do official challenges or competitions any more.

Joe - Rhino Coordinator

Attached Link: http://market.renderosity.com/%7Ephoto/newweb/contests/cnt_004.htm

joe...it's pretty easy to submit this to the challenge.

here's the link that tells about it.
i guess you should make a subject line saying you wanna add this to the challenge?????
and your thumb should be no bigger than 150 by 150.
your images isn't THAT bad! you should see some of mine! and besides, you said it's a WIP anyway.
no time to reply to what you said...gotta scoot to work. But I'll come back and i'll check out your homepage later!!! can't wait to see it!

LOL about "congresscritters...lawyers...liars...etc. haha!!!

Thanks again for this FABULOUS info & HOPEFULLY challenge entry, Joe!!!!!!!! :)

i really hope you enter this cause this is one fantastic challenge entry!!! You're gonna be giving a MAJOR presentation i see!!! whoo-hoo!!! high 5s so glad YOU are out there as an advocate!!!! yippppeee!!!

Message edited on: 03/29/2005 09:16

Thanx for the support. I'll see if I can get it in on time.

what was the question? was there a question? :] interesting info... could certainly be a challenge entry if you were so inclined the challenge is just for fun, not a competition, everyone is a winner have you thought about taking a pic of him out of the tank? like in a box where he can't escape... the glare & condensation does make it a bit difficult to see :]

Thats the problem Cindy, and the reason why it is a WIP. I wish to use these subjects in a portion of my presentation on the 15th of June. The reason for not removing them for photographing is because they are in a Vivarium, that is, an aquarium that measures 72"X18"X21" (85 US gal), drained to about the halfway mark, which has fish below and plenty of space above for the frogs when they come out and one Hermit Crab (who, incidentally they say is not supposed to be in a tank with running water)

The condensation on the glass is caused by the fogger, which had just turned off and the air had cleared. I've tried wiping the glass using this magnetic cleaner/wiper thingie, but it scares the frogs off and the refuse to come out afterward until the next night.

These guys, the smallest of which measures approximately 7" long with a 2.5-3.25" girth, are very shy and only come out after dark. I raised them to be as wild as possible for testing, considering they are tank raised. Out of four tadpoles, these are the only two I had success in raising to maturity.

Posted as a WIP I am hoping for some suggestions from the kind people here, that maybe someone with experience might have some better idea's. I'll have a Blue Moon LCD to place in the reflector before the middle of next month. By then the disk in the fogger should be sufficiently worn so that it gives off much less fog that is lower clinging, just barely above the surface. Using some ventilation techniques, I expect the effect to be similar to a natural pond of brackish water lake.

I keep a constant temperature at about 82*F with the specific gravity (salt) at roughly 1.008 and a PH level of 7.8-8.2 which is perfect for the chiclids and catfish below (plus top minows, and goldies, platies. guppies etc...).

Oh yes, Cindy, sorry, Scattered Brained me: The question is about lighting, and maybe someone has more experience with it can offer a inexpensicve solution for someone who has no aspirations of becomeing a professional or an efficiano of Photography?

Here we can see, the smaller frog in his hiding place during the day, I wiped the glass to clear the image, then he gives me his best side for a shot! That is back-side!

I have difficulties with glare and reflection as you can imagine as well.

hmmm... interesting predicament on photographing... understanding the need to not handle them or scare them with flash... wish i could help you but right now i can't think of anything that we didn't talk about in your last thread... sorry... i don't know :]

And, of course back to that front view where I was taking pictures in the wee hours... ...maybe when those moon lights come in?

I appreciate all the support and sugestions.

now that looks pretty good :] the moon lights might just work :] here frogie, frogie, frogie... ribet

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/homepage.ez?Who=escafeld

For shooting towards glass. Angle the camera so that it faces the glass at about 45 degrees, this way the flash bounces back away from the camera. To get rid of the problem with condensation. Apply a small amount of liquid soap to a cloth and clean the glass and it will not condensate so quickly. Another point, raise or lower the temperature of the room to suit.

Wow escafeld !!! Thank You so much! When I first started on this photo project I came over from the Rhino community for help, one of the mods kept saying to angle the camera and I wasn't sure what he meant, I kept thinking that I'd not be able to get the subject square on the way I'd like.

However, the way you explained it makes it perfectly clear what I am doing wrong. So I will try that.

The condensation I can prevent by opening the top of the Vivarium. The fogger causes the condensation. By opening the lid and putting a small fan blowing inward at a low speed should give the effect I'm after.

Frogs don't see well and hunt using their olfactory gland. These guys eat about a thousand crickets a month. To be able to hunt, I have to use a fogger or the crickets can see them coming.

See? I knew someone would have the answers I was looking for!

I'm posting an image with the fogger on so you can gain a better idea of where I'm going with this.

I am so pleased that I have been able to help. A 1,000 crickets a MONTH!!! That's some appetite! You have a very interesting research/hobby there, very commendable, I just wish I had the room. I think you are going to get the photos you want now. Take care and thanks for the image Joe. Best wishes with the project, we could do with a lot more people like you!