STORY

This frog had no intention of hiding. Perched atop a vivid, beaded vine deep in the Ecuadorian rainforest, it looked more like royalty surveying its jungle kingdom than a creature on the move. The vine itself, draped in what looked like hundreds of tiny scarlet fruits, arched in a perfect bow, framing the frog as if it knew the spotlight was his. I’d been tracking smaller amphibians through the undergrowth when I looked up and saw this, balanced, bold, and oddly human in expression. The eyes said everything: calm, focused, unbothered by my presence. The rainforest can be chaotic, but sometimes you find a moment composed entirely by nature itself. I didn’t have to wait for him to move. He was already the shot.