Praying Mantis Portrait

Image Critiques Macro/Close-up Critiques
1

I found this Mantis on the house on Friday and let her chill out in the refrigerator overnight to slow her down for a photography session yesterday morning. She posed pretty nicely, but by this point at the end of the session she wouldn’t keep her left antenna still and with the slow shutter speed i was using, it was blurred from about 1/4 of the way up in all the images of the stack. I stole the rest from an earlier stack and added it in.

It wasn’t until I processed this image that I noticed she had something attached under her left forearm-I suspect a parasite of some sort. I caught one earlier that seemed to have two r three similar things attached and it was very slow and lethargic even in warm weather.

This one, despite being an invasive here, was released unharmed as a reward for posing so nicely.

2020-08-29 19-09-38 (B,Radius8,Smoothing4)-Edit
2020-08-29 19-09-38 (B,Radius8,Smoothing4)-Edit1172×1200 334 KB

What technical feedback would you like if any?

Anything

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Anything

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

Canon 5DIII, EOS 180mm f3/5 + 1.4 TC, tripod, 18 images at f/22 (probably overkill), 1/40 sec, iso 1600, manual exposure. Stacked in Helicon Focus, further processing in LR & PS CC. I had to add a touch of canvas on the right for the antenna addition and composition. Final image size was 4464x4572. Images taken Saturday morning under heavily overcast conditions hence the slow shutter speed.

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2 Likes
2

Dennis, this is quite the head (and leg) shot. Getting both antennae fully sharp is an accomplishment. I do think this could use a bit more contrast, to bring out the details in her face more, but that’s an artistic choice.

3

This made me smile when I saw it. Even more so reading your commentary. I like the way the mantis seems to be peeking up over the edge.

4

Mantis with a personality! A fun shot, Dennis. A bit of a stark background (IMHO), but still a fine capture.

5

Yeah, the background didn’t work out very well. By the time I got to this shot, it was perking up and had moved around so to get the profile I ended up with the heat pump for a background instead of distant grass.

1 Like
6

Small detail. Still a great shot.

7

Hi Dennis,

All this mantis needs is to bump up the contrast slightly. An excellent mugshot by the way. Well done…Jim