The Frog

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“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” wrote Laozi. But sometimes, after those first thousand steps, there's a need to pause—catch your breath, take stock of your surroundings, recalibrate, maybe even change course. You might stumble upon a side path that feels just right and decide to follow it for a while, launching a little side quest before returning to your main journey.

My retreat ended up lasting a couple of months, but now it’s time to step back onto the main road. The journey continues—in the vivid light of HDR photography.

At my father’s summer house, just beyond his plot of land, a small, marshy pond has formed. It’s home to a community of frogs. Olya, is a cheerful and sociable woman with a real gift for creating a sense of home wherever she goes—even if she’s only been there a day. For example, the neat flower beds and vegetable patches rising from the freshly mown lawn in front of their cottage are adorned with solar lights that come on at dusk, casting a magical glow over the garden. And the frogs in the pond? They’ve received a royal gift from her—an artificial water lily that will never wilt or close.

It was a hot, bright day when Olya pointed out a frog lounging on that lily, basking in the sun and hunting inattentive gnats. I snapped a few photos, though I was a bit disappointed with the composition—the fairy tale character was turned away from me, facing the woods instead. Fitting, in a way—the little swamp really is surrounded by tall trees and thick bushes, like a miniature forest. Unfortunately, there was no way to circle around and shoot from the other side.

For quite a while, I wasn’t sure how to edit the photo. The scene was compelling, but nothing seemed to work. I tried lightening it, darkening it, adding contrast, removing it, using built-in Lightroom filters—none of it felt right. Then, on a whim, I hit the HDR button—and the image came to life. The white of the lily became more vibrant, and the frog suddenly had depth. The dark, murky blue of the water grew richer, and the green grasses around the pond lit up with new shades. I’d experimented with HDR in Lightroom before, but had never gotten results like this. The dramatic contrast between light and shadow in this photo made all the difference.

Unfortunately, HDR magic only really works on special monitors that support extended dynamic range—like the screen on my MacBook. On standard displays, the image will look flatter and less impressive.

And since not every browser supports HDR either, I used the regular version of the photo for the post’s cover image. The HDR version wraps things up at the end.

P.S. Translated from Russian with ChatGPT.