Phone Home
A praying mantis, impersonating ET and his desire to "phone home"
A praying mantis, impersonating ET and his desire to "phone home"
Read less
Read less
Oct, 2013Views
1514
Likes
Awards
Featured
Staff Favorite
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Exceptional Contrast
Superior Skill
Jaw Dropping
Love it
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 30 rankTop 20 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rank
PRO+
Ultimate
PRO+
PRO
PRO+
PRO+
BrianBasson
May 31, 2016
These are not easy critters to photograph. So you have done well to capture this one.
Harrison_
June 09, 2017
What a spectacular shot! You should enter it in this bug challenge!: https://viewbug.com/challenge/creepy-crawlies-photo-challenge-by-harrison-
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
-
Share to Facebook
-
Share to X
-
Share to WhatsApp
-
Share via Email
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo on our back porch, believe it or not. This green little fellow was basically settling in on one of our chairs while we were having lunch outside.Time
It was shot pretty much at noon or thereabouts.Lighting
It's all ambient lighting, just grabbing the camera as he (or she!) hung out on the chair back.Equipment
It was shot with a Nikon D4 and a Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens, just handheld at 1/640s, f/6.3 at ISO 100.Inspiration
This was totally opportunistic and he wasn't that impressive to look at at first but if you don't take the shot, you're 100% sure nothing will come out of it so I thought it would be worth a try. For some reason he decided to try to stare me down, so it became quite a captivating, cool portrait. I can't help but think of E.T. so I am calling the image "Phone Home" from E.T.'s famous line in the movie.Editing
I processed it using Nik Software's Color Efex Pro. I had to crop it quite a bit to get the closeup of the bug as I wanted. I bumped up the saturation and clarity, and added a bit of structure, too.In my camera bag
I very rarely shoot bugs, critters or flowers so this is a very unusual shot for me but otherwise I typically have a Nikon D810 for portraits and landscapes and a Nikon D4 for sports and music, with my favorite portrait lens which is a Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G and an assortment of zooms. For location shooting I also pack a Profoto Pro-7B batt pack, a couple of strobes, a reflector screen, the modifiers I think I need and PocketWizard triggers.Feedback
Even if you typically shoot landscapes, or portraits, or sports, or... sometimes a different subject comes up so just have fun and give it a whirl. Keep an open mind and you can always learn something by trying something new or different!
