When looking at a praying mantis a word that often comes to mind is evil. This is an insect without mercy that eats its victims alive one small bite at a time.
I came upon this mantis waiting in ambush hanging from an iron weed bloom. An unsuspecting bumblebee looking for pollen and nectar became its victim. In the blink of an eye the unfortunate bee was impaled and held in a steel like grip by the mantis appendages. Then slowly and painfully eaten.
Death in the Meadow
Fantastic images! Would have love to have seen that - with or without a camera. I have yet to encounter any mantids this year, much to my disappointment.
What was your focal length for these images?
Thanks Cameron… I took these images with a Canon R5 and a 100 to 500 mm zoom. The focal length was 500mm f 7.1. The shutter was 1/3200. The ISO was set to auto but I think it was 1600. The editing was done in Lightroom and photoshop.
Interesting photos. Did you shoot on a burst setting? It shows that nature isn't kind to others. Still learning and appreciate when the photographer shows the camera settings.
Hi John
I use a custom setting for this type of photography. More than the settings I use, for any one shot, it is important to practice and know what dial or button changes those settings. You want to be able to change settings quickly to match conditions without taking your eye from the viewfinder. You want it to be second nature so you don’t have to think.
We all develop a style for a particular type of shot. I have a macro lens that I sometimes use for this type of image but of late I have been using the 100 to 500mm long lens. It can focus at 500mm less than 4 feet from a subject. The f7.1 gives me good depth of field and is still pretty fast. It is easily hand held and stable.
I have the aperture and shutter set on manual and the iso on auto. I try to keep as fast a shutter as I can, between 1/2500 and 1/4000 for moving subjects, with a reasonable Iso. I do occasionally change the aperture according to the depth of field I am looking for.
I have the histogram displayed in my viewfinder and I use the EV compensation when needed for situations like back lighting. With the new noise reduction software available I don’t worry about a high iso. I put my priority more on using a fast enough shutter speed to freeze action. I shoot using canon cRAW files to save space. I use 20 frames a second with the electronic shutter. It can be a pain going through all the images. But especially with macro photography focus is often hard to find and keep, so the more images taken the better the odds for sharp keepers.
I customize three of my back buttons for back button focusing. One button gives me eye detect focusing. Another is set to spot focus if the subject is in a busy background and the last is a zone for small birds in flight… for quick snap focusing on fast moving subjects.
I also have another button for fast switching to video mode which is a different subject.
When using a long lens it is often difficult to get and keep a subject in the view finder. To track fast moving subjects or to find one in a busy background I use a piece of equipment called a dot tracker. It attaches to my flash shoe and allows me to keep both eyes open tracking a subject which greatly increases keepers. If you want more info on a dot tracker drop me a line and I’ll point you to a good one.
This post is pretty rambling so if you want or need a clarification let me know.
Butch
I appreciate your description of your methodology, to use a term, for photographing things as the praying mantis. I have graduated from rank amateur to amateur. Thank goodness for the DSLR; mine is a Canon T7 and allows me to take photos and see them for a few seconds on the screen or when I download them on my laptop. Love to experiment with settings. I'm getting to the point where I can guesstimate setting for a certain photo. Today I set the camera to M to take photos of a hummingbird perched on a deck chair. I was very pleased with the photo. My wife liked it (that's a plus). I have used a telephoto lens for macro photography. My wife had loads of flowers. I can take the shot from a distance and not disturb the insects. Thanks again for taking time to post this information. BTW, I entertain myself by turning on the camera and reading through the 300+ pages of the manual.
You sound well on your way to a satisfying hobby. Good luck and enjoy.
I started with a second "hobby" of writing and photography. I mainly concentrate on outdoor subjects as fishing. However, I see there are lots of "Kodak moments." Keith, thanks for the note and encouragement.
Great shots of a deadly animal!