Found this Praying Mantis on our Black-Eyed Susans while watering the flowers the other day, so ran and got my camera. It wasn’t until I brought the photo up on the computer screen that I realized he was eating an ant or something.
Does the vignette work? I was trying to draw attention to him, and eliminate some of the greenery around him.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
5D II, 100 mm L macro lens, KX-800 twin flash with milk jug for diffuser. Handheld, f16, 1/125, ISO 160. Edited in LR and Topaz.
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Mantis are fun to shoot, Shirley, partly because of how visual they are as the clearly turn and watch you, but often won’t move away. It looks like you’ve added a vignette (or is that flash fall off??), which focuses attention on it’s head and eyes nicely. The “lunch” is an good extra.
Shirley: Praying Mantis can be pretty ferocious - I once saw a video of one taking down a hummingbird! - so whenever I encounter one and it looks at me I wonder if it’s just sizing me up for its next meal. Great capture of the moment and I like your presentation. Most excellent.>=))>
