Herbert the Praying Mantis
This is Herbert my Praying Mantis! When I first found him he was tiny, and about to be a feast to a troop of ants! He has slowly been shedding his skins, and gr...
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This is Herbert my Praying Mantis! When I first found him he was tiny, and about to be a feast to a troop of ants! He has slowly been shedding his skins, and growing. He loves posing for photos and eating flies!
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Oct, 2014Views
1416
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Dodho Volume 3 Photo Contest
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Emotions
Impressed
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo at my house in Victoria, Australia. I set up a backdrop on my dining room table, and carefully placed Herb on a stick in front of the backdrop. I used a small LED light for a little bit of extra light. The rest was done by Herb, he was quite the poser! :)Time
It was late afternoon, about 4pm-ish. The sunlight was strong and golden, a good Spring day! I had just arrived home from picking my son up at school and I was keen to get behind the lens of my camera and capture some great images! (I just hadn't realised it was going to be Herb at that point!)Lighting
There is a couple of windows close to my dining room table, which provided a nice natural afternoon light, but it wasn't quite enough! I avoided using the flash so I didn't startle the Praying Mantis, instead I set up a small LED light from about 25cm away (these lamps can throw out some heat!)to high light Herb's angles and detail. The coolness of the LED light helped to balance out the warmth of the natural window light as well.Equipment
I used a Nikon D3200, 18-55mm Nikkor lens, +1 and +2 Hoya magnifying filters and a small single bulb LED light. That was it!Inspiration
I'm a soft-hearted, passionate Nature lover, so when I found Herb the Praying Mantis as a tiny Nymph being attacked by a troop of ants, I had to save him! He lives in a large glass tank in the kitchen, I feed him flies and mist the tank with water. He has grown so much! I love the way Praying Mantis disguise themselves as sticks and twigs, the way they can swivel their head 360° to keep an eye on their prey without moving their body. I love the detail in the small things that are quite often missed by the busy human eye. I also love capturing these fascinating details behind the lens! I wanted to get some close-up photos of this Praying Mantis, showing his character, detail and instinctual stance.Editing
Yes. In Photoshop I sharpened the image a touch and adjusted the light using the curve tool. Although I used a dark backdrop, I wanted it darker to really make Herb stand out. I filled in the background using the paint bucket then blended the edges around Herb using a soft paint brush on a low opacity black.In my camera bag
Nikon D3200 DSLR camera, 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 Nikkor lens, 70-300mm 1:4 -5.6 Sigma lens, 60mm F/2 1:1 Tamron Macro lens. Set of Hoya Magnifier filters, Gray card, lens cleaners and tripod.Feedback
As an amateur, I enjoy the challenge of trying something different and the photos I can achieve, and knowledge gained by just "giving it a go". In this situation and given the circumstance I was lucky enough to have a Praying Mantis on hand, but I don't recommend removing insects and animals from their natural habitat(I will return Herb to the wild soon). Explore your garden, surrounding bushland and forests. Look closely, be patient and pay attention to what lives in these areas! You will be amazed at all the tiny critters you can find, their feeding habits, how they catch their prey, how they scare off predators and attract a mate! You can learn so much about natures smallest creatures while capturing some pretty amazing photos. It takes time, and persistent hunting but there's an amazing world of creepy crawlies out there! I didn't own a Macro lens at the time of this shot, I used my standard 18-55mm lens with a couple of magnifying filters. Don't be put off by what equipment you may not have. I used to use that excuse all the time! It just takes enthusiasm, a keen eye for detail and patience :)
