Praying Mantis photos

Jeff120

Jeff120

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Found this guy hanging out on my deck a few weeks ago. Smallest praying mantis I have ever seen. It was only have 2" long. A week later I saw his grandaddy when mowing, about 8", didnt get any photos of him though.

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The eyes follow you!
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I see you!
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There are a few more on my site if you are interested, hit the link in my signature.
 
Those are excellent! That last one especially.

I have looked at buying some Praying Mantids to put out on my property several times, as they are supposed to help with Mosquito control. They are one of the only predators of mosquito's alongside bats. Only reason I haven't is because I don't want to over populate them around my house.

Very cool photos. Thanks.

DLB
 
Great pictures Jeff ... do you like your 100mm 2.8 Macro lens?

I have been looking at getting a 85 or 100mm Macro in the near future.

There are Praying Mantis all over the place right now, I saw one at lunch that was HUGE!
 
DLB said:
I have looked at buying some Praying Mantids to put out on my property several times, as they are supposed to help with Mosquito control. Only reason I haven't is because I don't want to over populate them around my house.
Click to expand...

What would be the downside of overpopulating them? Besides, if you hatch 1000 of them you will only get a few adults, they are very small and vulnerable when they hatch.
 
LegacyGT said:
Great pictures Jeff ... do you like your 100mm 2.8 Macro lens?

I have been looking at getting a 85 or 100mm Macro in the near future.

There are Praying Mantis all over the place right now, I saw one at lunch that was HUGE!
Click to expand...


Thank you everyone! Appreciate the feedback!

Bill,
Its a great lens, my second most used. I sometimes use it as a portrait lens as well. A few of these photos I also had extension tubes attached as well.

As far as which to get it really depends on what you plan on shooting. Im not familiar with a Canon 85mm, do you mean 60mm? If you are shooting larger macro shots you would want the 60, for small stuff like bugs, and I shoot a lot of stuff in my aquariums as well the 100mm is great. Let me know if I can be of any more help getting you to spend some money!
 
Jeff,

Those are some great shots especially the one where it's looking right at you...:dblthumb2:
 
very cool

my buddy gave me his old Nikon D70S setup with a 28-300mm sigma lens but I can't get shots like those. Is it the lens, the camera, or me? If I get too close, the camera won't focus (I'm at max zoom with lense about 12 inches long).

I'm betting it's me but just wanted to ask the pros...
 
embolism said:
very cool

my buddy gave me his old Nikon D70S setup with a 28-300mm sigma lens but I can't get shots like those. Is it the lens, the camera, or me? If I get too close, the camera won't focus (I'm at max zoom with lense about 12 inches long).

I'm betting it's me but just wanted to ask the pros...
Click to expand...

For up close photography, you need a lens with good macro capability and good lighting. Macro shots can often take planning, tripod, patience, etc. and often supplemental lighting to get that nice contrast.
 
Man, those are some great shots! Especially the last one!!
 
embolism said:
very cool

my buddy gave me his old Nikon D70S setup with a 28-300mm sigma lens but I can't get shots like those. Is it the lens, the camera, or me? If I get too close, the camera won't focus (I'm at max zoom with lense about 12 inches long).

I'm betting it's me but just wanted to ask the pros...
Click to expand...


Id say a mix of you and the lens. From what I know about Nikons, that is a very capable camera. You really cant use a telephoto lens to get a macro shot. There is a minimum focal distance. Once you figure that out you can get a close up shot. The lens I used a Canon 100mm macro is a dedicated macro lens, you get 1X magnification and the focal distance is about 1 inch I believe. On a few of these shots, like the last one I had extension tubes attached. These tubes get me in even closer while still being able to focus. You could technically buy extension tubes for your lens to get your focal distance down instead of buying a new lens. Its much less money that way.
 
Bunky said:
For up close photography, you need a lens with good macro capability and good lighting. Macro shots can often take planning, tripod, patience, etc. and often supplemental lighting to get that nice contrast.
Click to expand...


Correct, but I very rarely use a tripod of macro shots. Way to difficult to maneuver for me, esp. with insect shots. Patience, practice, and lots of practice, did I say practice?!?!
 
Jeff, when you say the focal distance of the lense is 1 inch, does that mean you can get within 1 inch of the subject and the camera will still focus?
 
Great series Jeff! I was at my cousin house before and saw a praying mantis outside his house. Wanted to take a pic but didn't have my external flash with me.

By the way, what camera did you use?
 
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