Let Us Prey

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  • 04-24-2014, 06:38 PM
    hminx
    1 Attachment(s)
    Let Us Prey
    Wasp as a guest at a Mantis's dinner ..... :)
  • 04-24-2014, 08:44 PM
    Lava Lamp
    Re: Let Us Prey
    I am envious. I have only seen a praying mantis in the wild once. And as luck would have it, I had no camera.

    The yellowjacket makes the photo special. I thought at first that I would have liked to see its head, but on reflection, I think the bright "tail" is better.

    Overall, the photo is missing just a touch of that "oh wow" factor that could have been there if zoomed in even more. I thought a crop could work, but you lose too much resolution and it becomes a touch noisy at that point.

    Nice work.
  • 04-24-2014, 09:10 PM
    hminx
    Re: Let Us Prey
    Thanks Lava, this mantis is I believe one of type that is an immigrant from South Africa and quite common around here, I had to put three back outside yesterday.
    The image quality is about as good as its going to get as I don't have a macro lens and have to make do with the sigma 17-70, which although isn't a true macro lens, gives a fair account for its self I feel.
  • 04-25-2014, 10:33 AM
    mattb
    Re: Let Us Prey
    Nice catch! (both you and the mantis)
  • 04-25-2014, 07:25 PM
    hminx
    Re: Let Us Prey
    Thanks Matt
  • 04-26-2014, 01:08 PM
    Erik_Olympus
    Re: Let Us Prey
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Lava Lamp View Post
    The yellowjacket makes the photo special. I thought at first that I would have liked to see its head, but on reflection, I think the bright "tail" is better.

    Yes, because the mantis prefers the head and we can't really see how it may be devouring it. It's rather sinister.
  • 04-26-2014, 05:06 PM
    hminx
    Re: Let Us Prey
    Thanks Eric, sinister looking or not these things will quite happily walk ( with the slightest of prompting ) onto your hand and stay there until rehoused on some shrubbery....:)
  • 05-01-2014, 06:53 PM
    Ptax
    Re: Let Us Prey
    Nice catch! Were you just right place, right time, or had you been seeking out insects on this particular shoot?
  • 05-01-2014, 10:55 PM
    hminx
    Re: Let Us Prey
    I was looking for stick insects, and happened across this. Though I had put a couple of mantis's back into this bush from inside the house.........:)
  • 05-10-2014, 09:21 AM
    GB1
    Re: Let Us Prey
    Like the others say Pete, wonderful catch. Well composed, can't ask for much more. Yeah it would have been good to capture a bunch of different angles, to tell more of a story, but w/ photography like this you have to take what you can get.

    Funny, but I always thought a wasp would beat a mantis in a fight. Maybe it was a bushwhacking / surprise attack..

    G
  • 05-11-2014, 07:51 AM
    armando_m
    Re: Let Us Prey
    Nice, did you have an off camera flash ? or ....

    did you get a shot from the front ? would love to see that perspective
  • 05-12-2014, 02:22 AM
    hminx
    Re: Let Us Prey
    Thanks Greg and Armando, appreciate the comments, this was taken using the on camera flash, I still don't own a speed light. the reason the lighting looks a little odd is because this was taken then inverted because the mantis is actually hanging under the leaf, on screen it looked a bit strange so I flipped it up the other way, but lets just keep that our little secret ....:)