Perfectly hidden froggie taking a snooze.

....when shooting close-up with a flash, you set the aperture to give you ample or desired depth of field (I'm usually shooting at f/16 or even smaller for these types of close-up shots) and enough flash strength to expose your subject. when there is nothing in the near background to reflect back the light from the flash, the background will be way underexposed and rendered black. if you want to learn more detail about how to do this, including which types of diffusers to consider buying, which type of on-camera flash I prefer, and how to set everything up in manual mode on the camera, PM me and I'll walk you thru everything.

I'm so glad you are recovering and getting back into shooting!

I noticed I don't get much engagement on my posts here anymore. I'm wondering if people are getting tired of monkey, frog, and snake shots. or maybe I need to go back to click-bait titles on my posts. or maybe I need to improve my photos.

I always enjoy seeing your work! Losing Andy was a huge thing. I think we lost a lot at that time. He was pivotal and important.

nice captures!

...I'll do my best to keep providing some decent shots.