Soft Mantis - Female - D700
Experimented with some diffusers and reflectors yesterday to get a softer looking image…I kind of like this look. Could be the last of the mantis images…REALLY…time to move on to something else.
Here’s two more shots using the diffuser and reflectors again…click to view a little larger.
Soft Mantis 2 - Female - D700
Soft Mantis - Male - D700
Male Mantis Stare-Down - D700
Had enough mantis photos yet…thought soooo but here are some more anyway. They are starting to get pretty large now, eating REAL good. I usually get a LOOK or two while I’m photographing them, not for long, just checking me out.
Click images to view a little larger..
Here’s one of the females hanging out in the Russian sage, a favorite spot…
Female Manits in Russian Sage - D700
This male was wagging his abdomen at me, maybe that was a signal he was not too happy…
Male Mantis Tail Wag - D700
And for something a little different, a male mantis in sepia…
Male Mantis Sepia - D700
Female Mantis - D700, 85mm PC, f/6 @ 1/320
I was experimenting with some off camera flash today and this female mantis was very, very patient…here’s the setup:
D700, 85mm PC with polarizing filter (on a tripod), PocketWizard MiniTT1 with SU800 (on camera). SB900 (on light-stand) with LumiQuest Softbox and a piece of polarizing film over the flash-head, triggered with PocketWizard FlexTT5. So what’s extra piece of polarizing film over the flash head for? It allows me to dial out any glare on the subject caused by the flash by adjusting the polarizing filter on the camera. Trust me…IT WORKS. You may need to do some test shots adjusting the filter on the camera an 1/8 of a turn each time and checking the results on the LCD to get rid of all the glare or just a little.
Here’s a 100% view of the mantis head in the first image:
Female Mantis - 100% View
Here’s another shot of the same very, very patient female mantis using the same flash setup:
Female Mantis 2 - D700, 85mm PC, f/11 @ 1/40
Female Mantis 2 - 100% View
Male Mantis in Rain - D700, 70-200mm w/500D
This spring I watched a mantis egg sack hatch in the yard, they were very small then but they have been eating good since… I found five in the garden one day, three females and two males. Here are two recent shots of the males. Both were shot with a Nikon D700 at ISO 800 with a 70-200mm with a Canon 500D close-up filter, hand-held. Yes it’s HEAVY but it takes pretty good close-ups.
Click images to view a little larger…
Here’s a 100% view of the mantis head from the first image:
Male Mantis in Rain 100% View
Here’s the other male checking me out as I take his photo…
Male Mantis in Rain 2 - D700, 70-200 w/500D
and here’s a 100% view of his head…
Male Mantis in Rain 2 - 100% View
Baby Mantis 1 - D700, 85mm PC
Every year now for the last four years we have had a preying mantis lay an egg sack in the scotch broom and in almost the same spot. This year my wife was checking the egg sack to see if they hatched yet and there they were streaming out of the egg sack. Pure luck, I grabbed the camera and started trying to get some shots…well they are REALLY small, see the next shot for some scale. Trying to find these guys in the broom now is quite a task. They come out of the egg sack a bright yellow and change to a light brown in about an hour or so. I saw one the other day and it was about an inch long and green so they must be eating well.
Baby Mantis 2 - D700, 85mm PC
Baby Mantis 2, 100% - D700, 85mm PC
Here’s an overall shot of the shrub with mini mantis everywhere, all the slightly yellow blotches are baby mantis…shot with my Lensbaby Composer because it’s what was on the camera when the hatch started, I changed lenses later but they had already dissipated in the scotch broom by then.
Click to view a little larger…
Baby Mantis 3 - Lensbaby Composer, Sweet 35
Alien Mantis - D700, 70-200 w/extention tube
For the last couple of years we have almost always had a mantis or two in the garden. They lay an egg case in the same shrub (scotch broom) every year. This year I got to see the female lay the egg case. I was on my way out the door to get a haircut and took a quick for the mantis…WOW…there she was in the scotch broom laying the egg case.
Click on the continue reading post link for the rest of the story and more photos…
Backlit Butterfly - D700, 70-200 w/extention tube
As the sun was going down last night I spotted this nicely backlit yellow sulfur, turns out getting the image I saw was going to take some time. Must have spent an hour or so chasing this one little butterfly all around the bush of flowers. Maybe my big white shirt wasn’t helping…
Click on image for a larger view…
Butterfly Closeup - D700, 70-200mm w/500D
The butterfly’s were quite active in the garden this morning so I got out my 70-200mm and added a Canon 500D close up lens to get me a little closer. Here’s another shot of one coming in for a landing…click image to view a little larger.
Butterfly Closeup 2 - D700, 70-200mm w/500D
Mantis in Rose Bush - D200 Converted for IR
One more round of “The Great Mantis Shoot” IR this time. I was taking the IR converted D200 with me today because the sky was blue with puffy white clouds, an IR kind of day. I checked the garden on the way out and found the mantis are still here…so I shot them in IR of course.
Makes them look even more alien then normal…
Mantis in Scotch Broom - D200 Converted for IR
Female Mantis - D700, 70-200mm w/500D
The fascination with bugs continues…now officially called “The Great Mantis Shoot”. Got to shoot them while they are here, could be gone tomorrow. Here are two more shots of the large female. I was snapping away in the breeze and a fly landed on the leaf beside the mantis. Well, with lightning speed she snapped the fly up and began feasting on it. I snapped a few with the fly but not quick enough to get anything in focus or any good. Not that you would want to see a fly being decapitated by a mantis…or would you?
Female Mantis 2 - D700, 70-200mm w/500D
