twolfe

Nick, I think it would still be helpful. You could start with the first page of the Idolo consolidated thread. Sporeworld was trying to keep that updated. However, there are a lot of tips throughout that thread that would be helpful to have in the caresheets. Even though I cleaned it up, it's still a lot to read through. Some of the photos from you and Precarious (especially housing) would be helpful to include for this species. I'd be willing to help but am not available to do so until May.

Albert, Digger has made a lot of good points... Regarding Giesle's photo... He is filling the frame with dried Orchid flowers and an exuvium (skin). So, he wouldn't have had to have his lens as close to the subject. The closer you get to the subject the less depth-of-field you have. That means the amount of area that is sharp in front of the point you choose to focus on to the back of your main subject is quite shallow. I may be repeating what has already been mentioned as I didn't re-read every post. His dried Orchid flowers and the exuvium also about the same distance to the camera.

Albert, you should be able to photograph your large adults without needing the extension tube if you are trying to do the entire body and not just a portrait. I only use manual focus when doing macro photography. It's really not possible to get the entire mantis in focus without stacking multiple images. I rarely stack and instead try to get the head, eyes and the closest legs in focus. Typically the larger the mantis, the easier it is for me to photograph. If you look at this image of a Yellow Orchid, only the head and forelegs are in focus. http://twolfephotos.smugmug.com/Animals-Insects/PrayingMantis/i-J4NWjSF/0/M/IMG_2013-01-02_5592-M.jpg If you photograph the mantis when the body is parallel to the camera, it's easier to get more of it in focus.

Andrew, I shoot Canon. Nikon cameras are nice, too, but the professional lenses seem to cost more than the equivalent Canon lenses.

OctoberRainne, thanks for explaining your method for lighting when you photograph your mantids. We should probably start a thread on this sometime.

Since we're talking about Canon lenses, I'll let Canon explain what IS (image stabilzation is). http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/standard_display/Lens_Advantage_IS

A, the minimum focus distance for the Canon 100mm lens is 1 foot. That means that I need to be a foot away from my subject in order to focus on it. You can reduce that amount if you attach an extension tube to the 100mm lens. I generally don't use an extension tube for making portraits of larger mantids, but I do use it when I need to get closer to smaller subjects.

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