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Praying Mantis
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Praying Mantis

by Carolyn Derstine

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted August 10, 2013119 views6 comments
Found this mantis in my flower beds so I did a photo shoot with him. I gently moved him from the grasses he was on to one of my hosta flowers. I attached the flower with a plamp on an extra tripod and then moved it around until I got the background I liked, which was fairly shaded. After many shots, I gently placed him back onto his grass home. Love these interesting critters! :smile:

Canon 60D. 180mm macro lens. F/16 for 1/50 sec. ISO 800. Tripod mounted, natural lighting.

Comments

6 comments
Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on August 10, 2013 at 12:57 PM
Excellent!! He even posed for you!
Beautiful flower, perfect colours, great BG, and tack-sharp.
Sandy
Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments
Comment posted by John Tobias on August 10, 2013 at 8:51 PM
Good one Carolyn :smile: Sandy's comments are right on. But, would you believe I just came in from photographing a mantis on some roses, then opened up NPN and saw your photo which is outstanding. Thanks for sharing.
Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments
Comment posted by scott lanz on August 10, 2013 at 8:52 PM
Outstanding, Carolyn. Everything about this is terrific. Great job of setting this up for the base, light, bg, pose, colors, etc., etc. :toast: :jump:
Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments
Comment posted by Ellen deBoer on August 11, 2013 at 5:18 AM
Wow, I didn't know you could work with mantises that way, Carolyn! You placed it in a perfect spot to shoot it. Beautiful image! One minor nit are the spiderweb/threads. I think they are easy to clone out of the image.
:toast:
Registered on March 16, 2006, 419 Posts, 2076 Comments
Comment posted by Lorna Taylor on August 11, 2013 at 11:32 AM
Outstanding comp and detail Carolyn. Beautiful work ! :toast:
Registered on November 12, 2010, 254 Posts, 3083 Comments
Comment posted by Kathy Barnhart on August 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Sounds like you had lots of fun with this guy. And what a superb image you got! Love the pose and colors, wonderful lines and dark background, making the flower and mantis really stand out.
Registered on November 11, 2011, 404 Posts, 1639 Comments