The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Truth in posting: I found this gal on one of the porch door frames and moved her to a handy milkweed plant-she chose the pose.
Specific Feedback
I suspect this could go brighter, but it was a gloomy, overcast evening, so this probably represents the way I saw it better than a brighter image.
Technical Details
Sony A7Riv, FE70-200 f/4 “macro” @ 169 mm, handheld, f/20, 1/400, iso 8000. Noise reduction in DxO PureRaw 4. Processed entirely in LrC with global adjustments before noise reduction and cropping and fine tuning adjustments afterwards (some adjustments to the head and upper thorax to emphasize them against the background).
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Dennis, I’m sure she is happier on a plant! This is a neat catch, and I hope she will stick around where you can find her when she lays her eggs in the egg case. You might even consider cutting the branch the egg case is on and incubating them inside in a safe enclosure , so when the babies (nymphs) hatch they aren’t immediately eaten by everything outside. And the tiny mantises are a hoot! Guaranteed great pictures. I’ve done this a couple times, and released them when they were over an inch long, and more likely to survive.
But I digress…
Excellent image, showing how they blend in so well and are so tough to find.
Good job getting parallel and choosing your DOF so the mantis and milkweed is sharp. Love those little feet and the raptorial “arms”.
Nice setting for this mantis Dennis. It is really good to have these natural predators around to keep the other bugs in check, and it looks like your going to have a bunch of them around soon. I love the way she blends in so well with her BG. Nice colors and nice patterns. I wonder if a diffused flash would have helped?
@Ed_Williams , @SandyR-B I should have mentioned that we don’t have any native mantids in this area. They are all introduced by gardeners, so I usually destroy the egg cases I find. However, it’s never all of them, so we still have plenty to photograph.
Hi Shirley. They are very wide spread. I don’t know why they weren’t native here, but most of the ones you see here now originated in China and came in on the garden trade. One of our prairie volunteer coordinators was death on them and most of us picked up the habit.
