Praying Mantis Macro

This is my first bug Macro. This guy was stuck to the outside of my kitchen window and wasn't picture shy. I darkened the background and that was it. What do ya think?

Attachment 72264

Darin

Congratulations ! You've successfully made me tilt my head all the way to the right to look at it :(

If this were mine, I would sharpen it - especially the eyes - in post-processing. As is, it would have been better if the forelegs are in focus, too, i.e., more depth of field would be nice.

And, yes, I would like to see this photo rotated 90 degree counter-clockwise :D

Thanks for the input. Funny thing is as soon as I looked at the picture I tilted my head to the right. I have a lot to learn about macro. Sure is a ugly little dude.

I find that the whole body doesn't always need to be in focus with insects, but the very front of it is the most important. As such the forelegs on this otherwise great shot are a bummer. I agree also with the sharpening, to some extent; though it looks like there are some hard edge coast-lines around the outer edges, perhaps already went through a sharpening filter that wasn't applied the best. Is this out of camera?

Focusing in handheld macro is painfully difficult, its not easy for anybody.