Spined Assassin Bug.

[Daniel Cadieux]

What a cool looking insect, first time I've seen one too. Related to the ambush bugs (which there were MANY of at this location), but much bigger at about 1.5 inches long. Makes you want to be more careful when smelling wildflowers!

Canon 7D + 100mm f/2.8 macro lens + 20mm extention tube, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/640s., f/8, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, about 85% FF.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Daniel. This is very cool-looking with all those spikes! I haven't seen this species either, but it looks like a great macro subject. It's good to be cautious about handling these as they can inflict a very painful bite. Excellent sharpness for hh in natural light. For my tastes, a little more DOF might have been nice to get the front legs sharper - it looks like you had some wiggle room with ss to up the f/stop a bit. Of course, (and I'm sure you already know this) another option to increase DOF is to back a farther away from your subject and then crop more in post. Nice IQ at ISO 800 though you might do a little nr on the background. Overall, this is very nicely done!

[PhilCook]

Only ever seen one of these locally, awesome looking beastie...kinda makes one glad they are not the size of animals

Nice detail Daniel, a bit sharper here and there would be better but showing well the body protuberances

[Jonathan Ashton]

My first impression was great detail on the head/mouth parts but I really longed to see a little bit more of the insect. I suspect you went in close becasue the picture may have looked complicated or over fussy with petals and legs going in different directions. You did well to manage to get a clear background.

[Jason Stander]

Beautiful critter... great detail and angle... superb exposure... agree with about the front legs though... otherwise lovely image... WD!