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!
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!
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.
Spined Assassin Bug.
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