12/14/11

2011 Frogs Are Green Kids' Art and Photo Contests Update

We were thrilled to receive an unprecedented number of entries for our 2011 contests. For our children’s art contest, we received 520 entries from 20 countries around the world! We’ve been so inspired by the imagination and creativity of the paintings, drawings, sculptures, and photographs we’ve received. Our photo contests also received 60+ images and amazing shots!

Right before the deadline we received several hundred more entries. We downloaded, sized, and labeled each piece of art. We did get all the entries into the galleries, but we feel we need more time to go carefully through each piece of art and photograph.

To that end, we have postponed announcing the winners of both contests until January 5th, 2012.

In the meantime, please check that your child’s artwork or your photographs are in the galleries. If you don’t see your entry there, let us know right away. By clicking on the left and right arrows, you will easily see all the entries or can pop a slideshow. The artwork and photography will be permanent “exhibits” on our site.

Also, if you would like to receive a free Frogs Are Green wristband for entering the contest, please be sure we have your address and verify the exact number of wristbands you need (if, for example, you are a teacher and sent in multiple entries from a school). Please put “wristband” in the subject line. (Note: we will use your address for this purpose only and won’t save it.)

2012 Kids Art Calendar by Frogs Are Green

We have created a 2012 Kids’ Art Calendar from the winning artwork from last year and would like to create one for 2013 during next year, so also let us know if we have permission use your child’s artwork. If you’d like to purchase the calendar or any of our Frogs Are Green products, that would sure help us pay for all those wristbands and postage! Proceeds go to environmental and amphibian conservation organizations. Thank you so much for making this year’s contests so exciting, we’re so happy to know you care.

Also, if you’d like to get involved, let us know what interests you and how you wish to help. Feel free to email us with your ideas! Sign up for our monthly email in the sidebar to the right and receive our FREE poster download of a red-eyed tree frog!

10/23/11

Contest Update: Frogs Are Green Kids Art Contest 2011

We’ve been so excited to receive entries for our kids’ art contest from children all over the United States, as well as entries from Canada, Scotland, Ireland, India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Hong Kong.

You can view the entries by either selecting the “galleries” link in the top navigation or by holding the cursor over the gallery thumbnails in the right sidebar, where you will see the Kids’ Art Contest 2011 among others. Once you click on the first piece of art, just click the forward and back arrows and you can view each piece of art in a slide show.

We’re so impressed by the variety of the art: from crayon, colored pencil, watercolors, and paintings to 3D sculptures, collage, and mixed media.

Honorable mention from our 2010 contest, by Li Hing Fung, Hong Kong

Honorable mention from our 2010 contest, by Li Hing Fung, Hong Kong

If you haven’t entered your artwork and would still like to, please click on the contest rules at the top of the blog. The age groups are 3-6, 7-9, and 10-12 and there will be a winner in each group. The winners will be featured in a post.

Also, if you’ve entered the contest, please don’t forget to send your address so we can send you a Frogs Are Green wristband after the contest is over. These wristbands are really nice—they’re smaller than the usual wristbands (youth size) so are good for kids. Susan and I wear our wristbands 24/7!*

Anyway, we’re so happy to see so many creative kids out there creating and expressing themselves for our favorite animal!

*Note: Our use of your address is a one-time thing. It won’t be saved or used for any purpose other than for sending the wristbands.

05/22/11

Frog Paparazzi – Photographing Amphibians this Summer

This summer we’d like to encourage you to get out and photograph amphibians while on vacation or near home, even in your own backyard! The beauty of photographing frogs and other amphibians is that you don’t have to go on a safari or travel to someplace exotic to photograph them.

Here are a few tips from the book Frogs: A Chorus of Colors by John and Deborah Behler, which has a chapter on photographing these well-camouflaged creatures:

• Try to learn about the animal first. What is its habitat? When are they active?
• Walk slowly and stop frequently [it helps to have someone with you who is less than 3 feet tall and has sharp eyes]. Frogs and toads blend in so well that they are hard to find. Be alert for subtle movements.
• In summer, you might find the sit-and-wait frog predators hanging out on the edges of ponds and lakes.
• Be aware of the position of the sun. Avoid taking pictures at midday on bright sunny days. In the morning, face east and it will keep sunlight from coming into your lens and washing out your photos.
• Don’t necessarily put the subject in the middle of the photo. Keep the whole animal in the photo, but compose the picture so the background tells a story.
• Bracket your photos, i.e., take the same shot with different settings. Also, try taking a flash photo. Without a flash, animals in photos may look lifeless and poorly lighted.
• Try to be on the same level as your subject.
• State parks, bird sanctuaries, and wildlife refuges are good places to find amphibians.

You don’t need a fancy camera to get interesting shots. I took this photo of a  spring peeper in low light with a Kodak EasyShare camera on the Flower Setting (might be called “close up” on your camera). When we were traveling in Virginia, my husband stopped the car so that we could listen to the peepers. Although peepers are often heard with their distinct high-pitched “peeps,” they are seldom seen. My son spotted the peeper below, but it took my husband and I about five minutes before we were able to see the inch-long and extremely well-camouflaged frog. Once we spotted it, the frog sat stock still for a few minutes to allow all three of us to behave like amphibian paparazzi (we took a dozen pictures before the frog had had enough and hopped off).

I think this is one of the reasons I enjoy photographing frogs: they have a survival behavior that causes them to freeze when they sense danger, in order to avoid detection from predators (unlike mammals like rabbits, deer etc, which will hop or run off long before you’ve even focused) so that it’s possible to get some great pictures of them.

spring peeper, photo by Mary Jo Rhodes

For inspiration, we recommend taking a look at the book Frog: A Photographic Portrait, a gorgeous collection of photographs by wildlife photographer Thomas Marent, who traveled to rainforests all over the world to photograph unusual amphibians. As he says, “The variety of colors, shapes, and sounds of frogs is truly spectacular, and a wildlife photographer’s dream….!”

Don’t forget to submit your best amphibian photograph to our 3rd Annual Photo Contest!

FROG: A PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT by Thomas Marent

04/22/11

Earth Day 2011 – The Earth is Calling

April 22, 2011 marks the 41st celebration of Earth Day!

© Frogs Are Green | Photograph by Richard D. Bartlett

We’d also like to point you toward our contest page. We just started receiving entries for our 2011 Kids’ art contest and the 2011 photo contest. So check out the rules and be sure to enter as many times as you’d like throughout the Summer.

Happy Earth Day everyone!

Susan and Mary Jo

12/15/10

Announcing the Winners of the Frogs Are Green Kids Art Contest 2010

We’re excited to announce the winners of our first FROGS ARE GREEN art contest for kids. We received entries from around the world—each piece of art was special and we are so grateful to the kids, parents, and teachers who sent in the art. We were thrilled to see so many creative, whimsical, and thoughtful drawing and paintings of frogs and visions of a green planet. It was difficult to pick winners. Because we had so much lovely art to choose from, we had to come up with criteria for choosing our winners. Here’s how we chose the winners:

We gave preference to artwork that reflected the contest theme: It Is Easy Being Green. We also liked artwork that captured some aspect of “frogginess,” whether it was frog behavior, habitat, and so on. We also took into account the originality of the artist’s vision. That said, we were stunned by the beauty of so many pieces that didn’t necessarily fit any of these criteria.

Ages 3-6

Winner: Reagan Schwartz, 6 years old, Olney, Maryland

Winner of Frogs Are Green kids art contest 2010 - age group 3-6

Artwork by Reagan Schwartz, age 6, from Olney, Maryland, USA. Winner - age group 3-6.

We liked this drawing of a happy frog on a lily pad.

Ages 7-9

Winner: Chung Chin Hang, 9 years old, Hong Kong

Winner of the Frogs Are Green kids art contest 2010 - age group 7-9

Artwork by Chung Chin Hang, 9 yrs old, Hong Kong. Winner age group 7-9.

We liked Chung Chin Hang’s vision of how to make the world greener—clean the water and plant trees.

Honorable mention: Li Hing Fung, 8 years old, Hong Kong

Honorable mention, Frogs Are Green kids art contest 2010, Age group 7-9

Artwork by Li Hing Fung, 8 yrs old, Hong Kong, Honorable Mention, Age group 7-9.

This a beautiful painting of frogs in the rainforest.

Ages 10-12

Winner: Jason Zhu, 10 years old, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Winner of the Frogs Are Green kids art contest 2010, Michigan, USA, Age group 10-12

Artwork by Jason Zhu, 10 yrs old, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, Winner - age group 10-12

We liked Jason’s interpretation of our contest theme. On one side the frog is sad, the world is grey, trees are cut down, and factories are spewing pollution. The other side reflects a happier, greener world.

Honorable mention: Chan Ho Kong, 11 years old, Hong Kong

Honorable mention frogs are green kids art contest age group 10-12

Artwork by Chan Ho Kong, 11 yrs old, Hong Kong, Honorable Mention, age group 10-12

We liked how this painting encourages global cooperation to help frogs and clean up the planet.

Honorable mention: Cheng Ho Fung, 11 years old, Hong Kong

Artwork by Cheng Ho Fung, 11 yrs old, Hong Kong, Honorable Mention

Artwork by Cheng Ho Fung, 11 yrs old, Hong Kong, Honorable Mention, Age group 10-12

This painting has a sophisticated design and a strong message.

THANKS TO ALL THE KIDS WHO ENTERED OUR CONTEST!

YOUR ARTWORK IS AMAZING!!!

The winners artwork will be used to create new posters for the It Is Easy Being Green campaign. The winners will also receive 2 copies of this new poster.

All other kids who entered will receive a FROGS ARE GREEN (eco-friendly) wristband (to be sent early in 2011).

12/15/10

Announcing the Winners of the 2010 Frogs Are Green Photo Contest

First off, we would like to thank all the photographers who entered the 2010 FROGS ARE GREEN photo contest. We were thrilled to receive your entries, and it was difficult to pick a winner. We hope you will continue your adventures as amphibian photographers and enter next year’s photo contest!

This year we accepted photos in two categories: frogs in the wild and backyard frogs.

FROGS IN THE WILD
WINNER: Adam Paine

Mourning Frogs in South Carolina by Adam Paine

Photo of Mourning Frogs in South Carolina by Adam Paine

We chose this photo because it is unusual and compelling.

Adam writes of the photo, “These frogs were found along the Pocotaligo River in South Carolina. It seems as if the mother frog had recently passed away from unknown causes. I had never seen this deep of an emotion showed in the Reptilian Kingdom before.”

HONORABLE MENTION: Christine Murphy

Camouflaged Toad in Josephine County, Oregon.

Photo of Camouflaged Toad in Josephine County, Oregon by Christine Murphy

We liked this well-composed photo of a handsome toad camouflaged on tree bark.

BACKYARD FROGS

WINNER: Christine Murphy

Winner of the Frogs Are Green 2010 Backyard Frogs Photo Contest

Photo by Christine Murphy in Josephine County, Oregon.

We chose this photo of a frog on a fence because of its strong composition.

HONORABLE MENTION: Theresa Walters

Singing Toad photo by Theresa Walters, Tionesta, PA. USA

Singing Toad photo by Theresa Walters, Tionesta, PA. USA - Honorable Mention

We liked this photo of a male toad serenading a female toad in a backyard pond.

Theresa writes, “I found this singing toad in my backyard pond, in Tionesta, PA, standing on an artificial water lily. He was so involved in “singing” for a female, he didn’t even know I was there!”

PRIZES:
The winners will receive a Frogs Are Green t-shirt or poster of his/her choice or we can design a special t-shirt and/or poster with your winning photo. Honorable mention photographers will receive our small Red-Eyed Tree Frog poster.