Stagbeetle

[OvidiuCavasdan]

40D, EF100mm Macro
F14, 1/30sec, ISO400
Manual mode, tripod, cloudy day, slightly croped.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Spectacular species, Ovidiu! I like the diagonal pose and the great natural colors. You got some good DOF here, although it does make me wish that the back end would be fully in focus as well.

[Diane Miller]

Love the colors and great detail! Only small issue for me is that I'd lighten the dark area in the UR. It's interesting enough to pull my eye away from the beetle.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Very good shot and extremely difficult to get the whole subject in focus whilst retaining an interesting viewpoint. Lovely detail on the chitinous body.

[Steve Maxson]

This is a striking image, Ovidiu! Excellent sharpness and I like how the soft light really brings out the shape and contours of those impressive mandibles! The diagonal comp also works well. I'm not familiar with this species or how it moves about, but the way the ends of the legs are curled around makes it appear that the beetle is not fully alert (?) Overall, this is very well done!

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Steve, you might be right about the beetle not being fully alert. Found it during daytime, It also was smaller than I expected and slow moving. I dont know why, maybe because of the unusual cold and rainy spring we had here. As you can see the left side mandible tip is broken. Sunday I found another one in my garden, much bigger and although not fast moving, (as they dont) it looked to me being in a better shape. Managed to get some images too.
Thamks for comments.

[Steve Maxson]

Steve, you might be right about the beetle not being fully alert. Found it during daytime, It also was smaller than I expected and slow moving. I dont know why, maybe because of the unusual cold and rainy spring we had here. As you can see the left side mandible tip is broken. Sunday I found another one in my garden, much bigger and although not fast moving, (as they dont) it looked to me being in a better shape. Managed to get some images too.
Thamks for comments.

Thanks for the followup, Ovidiu. Seems like cold, wet springs are common this year - we're at least 3 weeks behind the normal phenological schedule here in northern Minnesota. I hope to see more of your shots of these very interesting beetles.