iPhone picture time!

[Ranitomeya]

I recently obtained an iPhone from my sister-in-law who has moved onto a newer phone model and got around to taking some pictures of my mantids and other things. I thought I'd post a few mantid photographs here--they're not the best, but I tried! I swear I tried!

Blepharopsis mendica:

Creobroter pictipennis:

These guys are ferocious little things. Their striping matches their predatory tendencies--they're just like little tigers.

Deroplatys lobata:

I think it wanted to go back into the shadows...

Hierodula bipapilla:

So tiny and so fast. This one recently regenerated a raptorial from the tibia onwards.

Hymenopus coronatus male and female of the same instar(I think):

I've been able to keep most of the females about one instar ahead of the males, but some of the males are faster and some of the females are slower. My biggest female is now two molts ahead of the smallest male! They've got to have the biggest appetites of any similarly sized nymphs. I swear just the ten of them are eating the majority of the hydei from my three producing cultures. Just as soon as I get an explosion of flies, they're all gone and all I have left are several very fat, very satisfied looking orchid mantids.

Oxyopsis gracilis subadult male and female:

Silly things were quaking in their boots when I took them out for a photo. Another of the females decided that she didn't like the looks of my computer screen and started threat posing.

Phyllocrania paradoxa hatchling:

I could have sworn the ooth mantid_mike gave me hatched out ants! :tt2:

Phyllovates chlorophaea:

Unicorns are just too mythical for me to be able to capture a good image of one--every time I got the iphone to focus, it would decide to move!

Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii subadult male:

Sphodromantis viridis:

 

[agent A]

Not too shabby B)

 

[Mime454]

Those are way better than I could do with my iPhone.

 

[Mëluzynn]

I specially love the second picture, nice light

To capture such tiny models you can try to use a macro lens (Photojojo or Olloclip), it works really great ^^

 

[gripen]

Love the pics.

 

[Ranitomeya]

Thanks for the comments and the tip. It's pretty difficult getting the mantids into focus and with the lighting I was using, I had to use my fingers otherwise the mantids came out looking overexposed--the twig I was using wasn't getting the iphone to automatically correct for the bright lighting--it made things a bit more challenging having to hold one hand still while positioning the phone taking photos with the other.

Photography isn't my thing, but I thought that if I had the ability to take photographs, I might as well try it. It also gives me the opportunity to show off my litte gluttons--some of these photos were taken post-molt and prior to feeding time, so they're actually much more balloon-like than what is depicted here :excl: