Shooting frogs in the dead of night

Mark Kirkland · Issue 115, Jul/Aug 2020 · pp. 48–53

Products mentioned: Olympus OMD EM5 MKii, Olympus PT-ETP13 housing, Sea and Sea YS-110a strobe, Panasonic 8mm fisheye, Olympus 14-42mm lens, OI Share App

It’s 2am on a chilly Wednesday morning in March. I’m covered head to toe in mud, lying on the edge of a pond in complete darkness. I’m waiting for the perfect moment to press the trigger of my camera which is sitting in a foot of water. I’ve been here for over 5 hours, my flask is now only half full of tea and my bones are starting to shiver. It’s my fifth consecutive night here and my patience remains intact….just. In a few hours the industrial estate behind me will become a bustle of noise as the working day starts. Above, the stars peek out from behind the clouds and in front of me, the glow of the tower block reflects in the black water. The water is still, apart from the intermittent movement of life — sometimes a gentle splash then a lengthy silence; sometimes a crescendo of vocal noise culminating in a frenzy of activity before suddenly pausing in unison. The silence returns, some…