Meditating Mantis

[Rafael]

Hey all,

I recently met Jim while doing a last minute sunset chase with my friend. Anyways, I'm excited to join here! I haven't posted pictures online much, as they're usually shared in person - but, I'm liking this community and I see myself sharing here. Very cool photos I've been browsing through, too - I love it.

I mostly bring my camera when outdoors, so I enjoy capturing astrophotography, landscapes, and other things related to nature. I've finally been able to take a break from other projects, so I'd like to share this recent capture of a praying mantis. It was about 1.5 cm in length - very small, as you can see how it fits on a blade of grass.

It was such great timing looking into the grass when I spotted the young mantis meditating in the sunlight, before it continued on its way into the miniature forest. I like how the green color theme turned out. Although, the focusing on the mantis could have been more accurate, or maybe my hand moved so slightly enough that it didn't come out as super crisp sharp.

Anyways, I'm open to any constructive feedback here, or anything you find interesting about it. I also find it helpful in the "whys," so I understand seeing other perspectives better, you know? Otherwise, I just like sharing cool stuff.

Thanks all!

 

[AlanLichty]

Cute - and at an age when the guys can still keep their heads

If you can dial back the highlights a bit it might help to bring out a few more details in your subject here. The reflective blade of grass the mantis is standing on tends to overwhelm the subject a bit.

Glad you decided to post - we can always use more participants.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Good first post and welcome to the forum, I think you will enjoy it here. Alan gave some good advice, and I will add that this subject is so small a tighter crop would help make it stand out more.

 

[JimFox]

It’s great to see you here Raf! It was fun running into you and your friend at the beach, I am sure we will get more chances to shoot together in the future.

I think I have only ever seen bigger praying mantis, so it’s cool seeing this.

The main thing I see where this could be improved is the highlights being blown. 2 thoughts for you on that.

1st, using a polarizer is a great benefit to helping control reflections on vegetation. The reflections have a tendency to blow out, so perhaps using a polarizer could help you here.

2nd, it’s best in general to underexpose a scene rather then over expose. By default I will underexpose my shots by 2/3rds of a stop. I normally shoot Aperture priority so it’s easy to keep that dialed in. If you overexpose a photo in most cases the detail is just flat out lost, that’s why it’s white. There is very little that can be recovered. But if you underexpose it just means the shadows are darker and you usually can recover several stops of dark shadows without any loss of detail.

Anyway, it’s great to see you on here and part of this really fun community.

 

[Eric Nelson]

Welcome to FocalWorld!

I sure like this, the grass sure provides scaling.

 

[Rafael]

Awesome. Different things to try out from all of your advice!

I want to remember to get that exposure dialed in better, amidst the excitement. It's tricky when I realize the scene on the viewfinder is slightly different compared to when I upload on the computer.

Good idea on trying different crops for a different feel, like having the subject stand out more.

Did a rework, and I see adjustments are helping. I think the sense of scale is still retained with the different crop - that's cool. I also paid more attention to how my laptop screen is showing the image depending on the screen angle.

 

[Ben Egbert]

This is much improved.

 

[AlanLichty]

Much much better with the highlights tamed in this version. I like the new crop as well.

 

[Leslie Hunter]

Welcome to FocalWorld. I like your new version a lot, that is a cute bug.

 

[JimFox]

Now this is so much improved! This really looks great.

 

[Mike Mancil]

The second image is much improved. Welcome to FW... Mike

 

[Bob Denton]

Welcome to FocalWorld! Wonderful work on the edit.

 

[Darcy Grizzle]

Welcome to Focal World, it's a great place to hang out! I love the second attempt, such a cute little mantis!

 

[Rafael]

Thanks all! It was fun to do this one and get my creativity going. I find the rework much more enjoyable and pleasant on the eyes. Awesome!

 

[Douglas Sherman]

Welcome to Focal World, Rafael. It is nice to see you take constructive criticism to heart. That is a sign of a good photographer. Good job on the edited version.