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| Wheeel Hellooo tooo You, too! |
Another picture post... I think there may be more of these!!
we are really quite busy here with trying to recover as much as possible from the garden...
before winter sets in.
However, this mantis dropped in... or was on the Ficus when I brought it indoors...
it really seemed too good an opportunity to pass up.
It gave me the chance to try out part of my retirement present to myself...
a 100mm macro lens.
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| One for Halloween, just past.... The Vampire Mantis! |
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| Hey, you followin' me....? |
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| Mantis on the prowl! |
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| La Mante fecund.... now is the time you see the pregnant females.... their husbands tucked safely away... inside! |
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| Sly Mantis... a portrait I feel that these are the real aliens... look at the apparatus under her chin... the pipes for cleaning this planet's atmosphere!! They just don't want to let us know that they are so small... (As with all images, this is clickable, so you can see that plumbing up close.) |
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| Her head suddenly snapped round and stared straight into the lens... I think she might have seen her reflection... and reacted! This is the same shot as the first... as is this next shot... |
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| Which shows the individual facets... only visible when you look straight down the tubes! |
But, this last is perhaps my favourite from all those I took....
Conducting the Dawn Chorus
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| Caught in the act when I went downstairs... |
probably the next will be on moths...
or perhaps...
spiders.
Published by Tim
10 comments:
Stunning, Tim. She is like a fashion model who knows just what pose
to strike. I do like the way you have framed the photos, too.
Looking forward to seeing what else your talents and that macro
lens can reveal.
I never realised that a Mantis could be so photogenic! I predict a happy winter with more Macro subjects. Great photographs. Amelia
Great photographs. They do make great subjects... I think they just like posing...
INCROYABLE! VERY wonderful! The mantis, the camera, the colours, ... also your patience and ability to present such beautiful worldly scientific magic for all to see... Amazing!
Thanks for the comments...
I like mantises... they do tend to make very "good" subjects...
they stand still a lot... or move slowly through the vegetation...
the only problem I have with them is that...
they are the ultimate Amazons...
they scoff hubby once he's served his purpose!!
Excellent images Tim. Especially like how you've managed to maintain the depth of field when so close. Must admit macro photography is a real challenge, but great fun. Like you I treated myself to one of these toys a little while ago and they are well worth the investment. Keep them coming.
Fantastic set of photos. I've never seen these here, but look out for them.
Fantastic photos. We see mantises only rarely. Maybe we're just not paying enough attention.
Ken, they should be up your way...
they occur in number as far north as Normandy.
That said, they are usually only easily visible once they reach the full adult size in late September...
they are very stationary once in position...
the conducting dawn picture pose was held for long enough for me to fetch the camera, take a few pix, put the camera back on the shelf....
then make a cuppa and sit and watch her...
she moved off very slowly, too...
taking around ten minutes to glide over the top of the leaf and position herself just underneath.
The shape and camo-colouring [there is a brown version of the same species]...
as well as the "leaf" veins on the wing covers...
don't make them easy to spot, either!
I usually se them most if I am out in the meadow with the big Allen-Scythe type mower...
then they usually fly out of the way pretty smartish.
Kerry, they should be down your way too....
read my answer to Ken as to why you might miss them!
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