to quote Arnold in the movie The Predator..."you are one ugly Mother......!"
Sep 3, 2019 12:18:37 #
Handheld and in natural light of a live female Grizzled Mantis (Gonatista grisea) using a Sony DSC H5 and VCL-M3358.
Other Common Names: Lichen Mimic Mantid, Florida Bark Mantis
While doing yard work one day, I ran across this mantis on an old birdcage that was going to be thrown out. Because it was late in the day and the sun was low on the horizon, I carefully picked up the cage and went to an area of the yard that still had some direct sunlight. I took about 25 to 30 photos, but most of them had parts of the cage in each frame. I decided to pick the mantis up in my hand and move to the part of the yard with the remaining direct sunlight.
In my opinion the coloration,especially of the spikes on the forelegs, gives it an even more sinister/killing machine appearance. I was born and raised in North Florida and spent a good deal of my youth outside. I never ran across one of these until this moment. The next day, I did see another one, maybe the same one, on the trunk of a massive Live Oak tree next to our house. It blended in so well with the color and texture of the bark that, if I had not taken photos of this one and in return know what to look for, I would have overlooked it. As I'm sure I had done many times in my life.
I think I am more proud of the photos in this series than almost anything insect I have photographed to this point. Not only were the photos taken handheld, but using only one hand while the mantis was being held in the other hand. I love the natural light and the dark background. To me, the last four photos almost look like studio shots, but this is as natural as it gets. I did very little PP....just a little (very little) sharpening and maybe a tad lightening and contrast adjustments because I tend to shoot most things a bit underexposed.
The last two are my favorites. I especially like the look of the last one due to the pseudo pupils.
Please click Download to view the images better.
As always, thanks for viewing and all comments.
Ken
Other Common Names: Lichen Mimic Mantid, Florida Bark Mantis
While doing yard work one day, I ran across this mantis on an old birdcage that was going to be thrown out. Because it was late in the day and the sun was low on the horizon, I carefully picked up the cage and went to an area of the yard that still had some direct sunlight. I took about 25 to 30 photos, but most of them had parts of the cage in each frame. I decided to pick the mantis up in my hand and move to the part of the yard with the remaining direct sunlight.
In my opinion the coloration,especially of the spikes on the forelegs, gives it an even more sinister/killing machine appearance. I was born and raised in North Florida and spent a good deal of my youth outside. I never ran across one of these until this moment. The next day, I did see another one, maybe the same one, on the trunk of a massive Live Oak tree next to our house. It blended in so well with the color and texture of the bark that, if I had not taken photos of this one and in return know what to look for, I would have overlooked it. As I'm sure I had done many times in my life.
I think I am more proud of the photos in this series than almost anything insect I have photographed to this point. Not only were the photos taken handheld, but using only one hand while the mantis was being held in the other hand. I love the natural light and the dark background. To me, the last four photos almost look like studio shots, but this is as natural as it gets. I did very little PP....just a little (very little) sharpening and maybe a tad lightening and contrast adjustments because I tend to shoot most things a bit underexposed.
The last two are my favorites. I especially like the look of the last one due to the pseudo pupils.
Please click Download to view the images better.
As always, thanks for viewing and all comments.
Ken
Sep 3, 2019 13:03:09 #
Sep 3, 2019 19:00:26 #
Sep 3, 2019 20:02:56 #
Those are great! The combined colors and textures are very interesting.
Sep 4, 2019 10:56:43 #
Yup, audition worthy for a horror movie! Great pics tho! 👍👍👍
Sep 4, 2019 23:48:17 #
Sep 7, 2019 16:57:31 #
This is quite amazing and I've never see on marked like this before so thanks for sharing yours.
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