Description: Magicicada septemdecim spend most of their 17 year life beneath the ground where they dig through the soil and feed on tree roots. As the soil warms to 64 degrees, the immatures dig their way out and climb onto nearby vegetation for their final molt to adulthood. I caught this one as it began to emerge from the larval skin, photographed the process, and then returned later to get the posted image. The mass emergence resembles something from the X files and what better event to capture is the emergence of Brood X. Washtenaw Co., Michigan June 3, 2020.
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Pertinent technical details or techniques:
D500 200mm f4 micro (1/50 sec at f11, ISO 500, polarizer, Diffused fill flash at -2.0 EV. Full frame Topaz DeNoise, Levels, slight tweaks with shadows and highlights and brightness and contrast.
Is this a composite? no
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Very interesting, Jim, and an excellent presentation. That nice smooth green background just makes for the old shell and the new Cicada to stand out so nicely. You did a fabulous job capturing the details throughout. I like how you placed the limb in the upper left diagonally, and with a the vertical frame, allow the Cicada to have room below. Well done.
An excellent image Jim, it is perfectly executed from a composition and technical perspective. That is a creamy, OOF background to die for. Combine that with an outstanding nature story, and you have a winning image here. I love this image as presentedā¦
Jim, the details in this freshly emergent cicada, itās husk and itās perch are outstanding. I couldnāt find one with a clean background or that had just successfully emerged. All of my āemergentā shots turned out later to be failed attempts as the cicada was still there āemergingā 24 hours later.
