My younger brother found this amazing praying mantis - measured at least 11cm no including the reach it could get out of it's front legs (I guess it's not called a Large Brown mantid for nothing!). Shot in studio the background was not made in PS but a result of the background I chose for dramatic effect. Yes a focus bracket would have been nice, but this thing was live and moving!
Support. Guesome but amazing, especially the eye. Two questions though, is the white mark in the eye a reflection from a flash/lighting? Second, is the v-shaped hair between the attenae part of the animal or something on the lens? Pstuart84Talk13:08, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
I think Fir was playing with it and that the hair is his. Or maybe the Mantid lives in fir's hair. :-D --Arad23:47, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
Umm, no that is just sick. The hair is almost certainly from the mantid since it is evident in all other photos of the mantid I took, and that if it were on the lens it would appear as a very OOF line --Fir000201:40, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
That was a joke. No offence. lol. If you find playing with this insects sick, then how do take all these good close up pics from them? I can't stand many of them, but you take studio picture of them. Good job on that. --Arad01:46, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
The "V" is almost certainly a piece of non-mantid dust. Insect bristles grow from bilaterally symmetrical base points, and this one has no counterpart on the right side.Debivort07:44, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
support alt 1 I'm pretty sure the V-thing is a hair. So here is an edit with it cloned out. Fir - would you please please resume indicating what articles are being illustrated by the photos? Also, how did you get that nice dark gradient background? Debivort19:12, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
I used a white piece of paper flat on the surface, and got my sister to hold up a black paper a little above the surface of the white paper. Since this is way OOF due to the extreme macro, it makes a pleasing gradient. --Fir000222:59, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
Strong Support alt1 in my opinion this is an excellent image which really stands out. I especially like the gradient on the background. --Newton212:49, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
Support eitherOh eww. Excellent picture though- I'll support whichever one according to whether the black 'hair' belongs to the mantis or not :) Ishaana21:42, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
Support What a looker. I like how the background fades to grey on the out of focus part. Interesting subject, and slick presentation. bobanny02:20, 22 April 2007 (UTC)
Strong support alt1 As an Entomologist, I have to support this one... :) But on a more serious note, They're both great pictures that capture the life and quasi-intelligence of one of the most interesting orders of insects. Great pics! --Entoaggie0906:47, 24 April 2007 (UTC)