iErin
Erin Thomsen / Nature Photographer
Nature photography is one of the best ways to see wildlife while not disturbing them or removing them from their natural habitat.
You get pictures and they get left alone. It’s a win win scenario.
For use of these images, please contact us via the iContact page. All these images are ©copyrighted and not for reuse or distribution in any way, unless expressly consented to by iFrog and the Erin Thomsen. Thank you for respecting her hard work.
Now, sit back and enjoy !!
Here is her story:
My name is Erin and I have been in love with frogs as far back as I can remember! As a child growing up in the Pacific Northwest, there was nothing finer to me than the smell of a rainstorm after a dry spell and the nighttime croaking’s of the resident pond frogs! Oh how I loved that sound! I grew up out in the country and our neighbor had several ponds on their 20 acres, the closest one not too far from our border. I would leave my windows open at night and fall asleep to the cacophony of croaks that would play on seemingly for hours. My friend and I would wander the pond shores looking for pollywogs, and tadpoles. I was a dedicated source of exasperation for my Mom as I constantly brought frogs home in my pockets and looked for containers to keep them in. She would indulge me for a little while, but eventually always made me release them back into the wild. If I wasn’t collecting frogs it was ladybugs, potato bugs, caterpillars or whatever I could get my hands on. Our ‘Tupperware’ lids were always full of holes, and most summer days found my friend and me on some new adventure!
Fast forward 30+ years and I have not lost my love for Anuran’s or their sweet, soulful croaking. I am lucky enough to live on a lake outside of Seattle, and have the constant calling of the American Bullfrog not more than 20 feet away. On land I stalk and stalk, but they have always managed to elude me, feeling my footsteps before I ever get close…and when I do, they leap away with a high pitched squeak that makes me giggle once again like a little girl. I have figured out how to outsmart them though! Kayaking! I have this wonderful spot that I take my kayak to every Friday during the summer. It is chocker block full of bullfrogs! You can start to see them really come out around June and stay into late September. If you look real close you can just make out a pair of eyes sitting above the Duckweed. Sometimes if you are lucky, they will be sitting up higher and some of their body is exposed as well, but most of the time…just the eyes! And what magnificent eyes they are. If you quietly let your kayak drift up to the outer edge of the Duckweed, and look out across the grain, you just may see one sitting there ever so quietly. They pretend that if they don’t look at you, you can’t see them. But be warned, if you drift up too close, they will still let out a high pitched squeak and go skipping across the water in an attempt to get away. Either way, by land or by water, it never fails to put a huge smile on my face!
All photographs are taken while in my kayak. I have only been shooting for 2 years using a Canon T1i and my favorite lens is the 55-250 ISM. I have tried to give a cross section of the wildlife that shares the same space with these wonderful creatures, heavy on the frogs though. I’m a nature photographer by heart and hobby. I hope one day to turn it into more of a livelihood, but for now I am having the time of my life, doing something that makes me..Well me! I hope you enjoy viewing through my eyes, this little piece of what Mother Nature has to offer in the great ol’ Pacific Northwest. If you would like to see more of my photographs you can go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/etphotos2009/ or contact me ucanbyet@gmail.com.
Thank you
Erin aka ‘byet’
Here is some of my work:
Herpetology
Entomology
Ornithology
Mammology
Miscellaneous Nature
