Assassin Bug

[Don Jacobs]

Shot this today using the 7D, 150mm, flash, ISO 200, 1/100, f/16.0, HH. I know I didn't totally get the focus right but was amazed at this bugs incredible camo. C&C greatly appreciated.
http://i710.photobucket.com/albums/ww103/deerlvr_2009/be5ece8d-a398-45d5-8e4e-dba1e4c59053_zpsf76d709b.jpg (http://s710.photobucket.com/user/deerlvr_2009/media/be5ece8d-a398-45d5-8e4e-dba1e4c59053_zpsf76d709b.jpg.html)

[Jonathan Ashton]

Amazing camouflage and a very tricky subject. Exposure looks fine, though I have reservations over the black background. Easy to comment but not an easy subject to photograph. I would have focused on the eye and then recomposed accordingly.

[Nancy Bell]

One of my favorite insect subjects but with so many edges and a bulging eye difficult to get the focus just right. I really like the coppery color of both the insect and the dried vegetation, with a bit of a glow. This does show the camouflage ability quite well, and I like the long curved line of the main stem along the bottom. In a perfect world, this critter would have let you selectively remove some of the interfering and OOF dried bits :bg3:.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Pretty cool bug and quit ewell camouflaged. Pity about the focus off the eye...can be tough to keep dof where you want to while handheld for macro...I like to ever so slightly rock back and forth until the desired part is in perfect focus then hit the shutter.

[Mitch Haimov]

Very interesting subject with quite impressive camp! As you noted, would have been nice for the eye to be sharp, but a very interesting image regardless. Very cool colors and textures to this one.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Don. This is one of the better examples of insect camo that I've seen! I agree about the focus - it looks like you missed the focus on the eye by a mm or less - pretty easy to do when HH. :S3: I like the rich mix of browns in the image and the black background gives it a studio look.