Ameles assoi mantis

[shane shacaluga]

As soon as the grass starts to grow after the winter season, lots of species of mantis can be found. This Ameles assoi is one of my favourite due to its alien look

I took quite a number of these and cleared stuff in the background after each shot. Short of mowing the lawn around it i removed as much as I could to have as little distractions from the subject as possible

D800e
70-300 with raynox DCR 250
f29
1/250
ISO 80
Sb200 flash fired remotely placed on the floor a distance from the subject.
Hand Held

Cropped for composition but the original is 5000 pixels tall.
Tamed the highlights on the face using soft light layer and removed a highlight from the insects left eye
Toned down and desaturated background
Smart sharpen on the subject after resizing

Thanks for viewing

[Mitch Haimov]

"The better to see you with, my dear!"

Very cool, Shane! Interesting subject and the comp works well. You did a good job with the BG--not black, but dark enough not to be distracting. Apparently this mantis was a cooperative subject.

[Nancy Bell]

Very cool looking critter and the head-on view provides the perfect way to see the magnificent "alien" face! Great composition with the single leaf leaning one direction and the mantis leaning nearly equally in the other direction. Very good job with the bgkd giving just enough blurred subtle details so the mantis does not look like it was photographed in a black box. Actually, I think your bkgd pale swaths of lightness mimic & reinforce very nicely the shapes and directions of the leaf and mantis.

[John Robinson]

Wierd looking guy indeed !
I like the amount of detail in the back too, although I often use black or other coloured backdrops for effect.
Great stuff '
JohnR

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks a lot for your comments. I am now carrying a small pair of scissors in my camera bag to snip unwanted background objects without disturbing the subject

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like everything the pose is super, I like the quality also, a very well composed and processed image indeed.

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks a lot ;)

[Gabriela Plesea]

Superb shot, Shane! I love these guys, often present in my garden and they love cacti and succulents, especially when flowering - I once captured one devouring a fly but not a good image because I had no support, had to shoot in hand and movement (my movement:tinysmile_shy_t:) affected the IQ tremendously. This is one cool pose and I love the stance - kind of defiant and arrogant...congratulations, Shane!

Kind regards,

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks, they are pretty cool and can jump very similar to grasshoppers when they feel threatened which makes them tricky to photograph

Hope I find a few more over the next few weeks

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Shane. What a cool face - should be in a horror movie somewhere! :S3: Great pose plus good comp, lighting, and background. If this was mine, I'd probably clone the tiny bright specs of debris on the leaf - but a very minor point on a fine image!