Fibre optic bum

[Vida van der Walt]

A tiny nymph of a leafhopper. I've encountered different shapes and colours of these little insects before. This little guy almost glowed and the tail was almost blindingly white. They can jump quite far and are quite skittish. I darkened the whites slightly to recover some of the detail at the beginning of the tail. I also crpd, shrpnd, adjusted levels, reduced the yellows, noise and changed the curve of the leaf in the LLC.
Canon 5D Mark11; MP E 65mm; MT 24EX
apert f16; ss 1/200; iso 200

[Peter Farrell]

Wow that is a vibrant bug. Excellent detail, nice BG and overall compositon

[Julie Brown]

Vida, wonderful image. I like how you have positioned the perch through the frame. Do you know what the tail is used for?

[DanielTMiller]

Wow what an incredible little insect, never seen anything like it, great shot of it, background is perfect and it's really sharp.

[Ken Childs]

You can't fool me! That bug's made out of plastic! ;)

Another incredible macro, Vida. The colors, BG and comp are all outstanding!

[Mike Moats]

Hey Vida, this is one awesome critter :eek: Great details and cool looking brite color. Good comp and BG. Congrats!

[Christopher Miller]

Wow Vida, I've seen leafhoppers before, but never one like this! :D Nice BG, details, and comp. Well done.

[Charles Wesley]

Vida,

I've photographed leafhoppers before so I can only imagine getting a photo of the nymph would be much harder. Like the BG as Mike stated and the detail on the subject and cilia on the leaf undersurface.

Thanks for sharing...
___________________
Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

[Julie Kenward]

Another winner, Vida! My goodness but you do find the most interesting insects! I have never seen a leafhopper like this one. Outstanding leaf details as well - I am so envious of that lens and your skill with these little insects!

[Don Lacy]

Hi Vida, I just got a new imac 27 and that tiny little guy just glows on the screen the colors are vibrant and he pops against the BG, well done again.

[Vida van der Walt]

Hi Peter, Julie, Daniel, Ken, Mike, Christopher, Charles, Jules and Don. Thank you all very much for the comments.:) Julie, I have no idea what the use of that tail is and it is interesting that it is not present in the adults.:) Jules, I've found many weird little creatures the last couple of years since I've been searching. Most of these are in my garden and I think there are probably similar weird insects in your and everybody else's gardens. I think they go unnoticed because of their size and because people are not actively searching. Btw, I'm envious of your great skills with flower images.:) Don, I wish that imac 27 was mine!:)

[Allen Sparks]

Amazing image Vida. Outstanding details and color. Love the background and that leaf edge too.

[Declan Troy]

I think I saw a tail like that in Avatar. Wonder what this looks like with the 3D glasses? The bird folk would nit about the head angle but compensating for that would diminish the angle on the tail. Overall, another stunning image. You have me googling that lens in envy Vida.

[Steve Maxson]

This is an amazing critter, Vida, and you've done an outstanding job of capturing it! The lighting is very striking on this one. I agree that there are incredible small creatures right under everyone's nose - if you only look for them. I've been looking for some 50 years and I still find new species all the time. :)

[Vida van der Walt]

Allen, Declan and Steve, thank you for the great feedback. I'm glad you like it. What is not so clear from the image is that the body of this insect is triangular in shape, almost like a little arrowhead.:)

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Vida, I can see the triangular shape of this little guy, and what a vibrant lime green colour. The tail resembles a shooting firework, and you have captured your usual high standard of sharpness.

[Vida van der Walt]

Hi Stu. Thank you for the comments. Always appreciated.:)

[Harshad Barve]

Hey Vida, this is spectacular species and outstanding image
TFS

[Vida van der Walt]

Hi Harshad. Thank you and I'm glad you like it.:)