To Be Hunted

[Loupey]

Interested to hear your thoughts.

[Atheomerase]

The shadows on the mantis give it that "stalking the prey" sort of feel. Your focus on the eyes/head is very nice.

Is there enough contrast for it to look even more ominous in black & white?

[markg740]

i like it a lot, but the blurry thing to the right of this guy is just too distracting for me. it would be simple to clone out though. nice job.

[Atheomerase]

i like it a lot, but the blurry thing to the right of this guy is just too distracting for me. it would be simple to clone out though. nice job.

What I get from the blurred stem in the foreground is that sense of being hunted. As if I was sitting on the other side, focused intently on the stalking mantid, the stem before me out of focus and really, out of mind as the meeting of the maker is soon at hand.

[Loupey]

Thanks, both of you, for the input. That's exactly the two sides of the coin that felt when I was shooting this.

I took many images (no foreground, simpler foreground, foreground closer/farther to the mantis, etc). This one gave me that "intimacy" that I was looking for. Hoping to elicit that heeby-jeeby factor

As for the B&W conversion, nice timing as there is currently that same discussion going on in the Nature and Wildlife Forum. Here is my rendition of it. Probably too contrasty/dark for many - but I typically like a lot of space/emptiness in my shots.

[Atheomerase]

I like the direction of the black and white version, but I think you are right. There isn't enough contrast between the greys and the darker area. If the shadow cast across the thorax was darker, it may look a bit more intense.