I found this 6 inch long green colored mantis yesterday in the grassland prairie on a giant ragweed plant. This is cropped, but I was still able to get fairly close for a photo of the face which has always been a curiosity to me. Made with D80 Nikkor AF 105/2.8D on a tripod. ISO 200 f 11 @ 1/500 sec. Processed with NX 2.
Jim, I've always loved the expression on the face of a mantis. They look so 'superior'. :D
I know you already cropped some but if you have the pixels to make it work, I'd try taking more off the top and left. Doing this would get the face closer to a ROT position. The BG looks good but the left side of this guy looks overexposed. I don't know if NX 2 has anything like Photoshop's Shadow/Highlight tool but it would be nice if you could find some way to bring down the bug without affecting the BG. There's a small black spot about a third of the way up near the left border. If you use my suggested crop, it will be gone but as it is now, you should clone it away.
Hi Jim. I, too, am fascinated by mantises and the way they can turn their heads to look at you. This one appears to be checking you out. (It's a good thing they aren't any bigger.) :) Nice sharpness where it matters most and a clean background - though I'm noticing the noise in the darker areas as pointed out by Kaushik. I think Ken has some suggestions above that are worth considering and that would make the image even stronger. :)
Regarding Ken's comments................NX2 has a highlight protection feature, that I don't use alot, as tends to reduce contrast overall. The same effect can be achieved by U-point selection on the bright green area (you may need to do a reverse (minus) selection on the bordering green BG to mask that off from adjustments and, do either a reverse s-curve in Lines and Curves, or in Brightness and Contrast, reduce the brightness and balance that with contrast adjustments...............of course, you may have way more NX2 expertise than I do, but that's what I would do. Great expression on the beast, there is no fear in those eyes. Good image. Ken's suggestions sound good to me.
Thanks so much for the suggestions and I have them noted and will try them. I can't believe I didn't see that spot on the left side...my old eyes failed me again :o