Monster lobata

Precarious · Oct 10, 2012

Rich S said:
Henry: You did it again dude, you make me want this species. I have been flirting with the idea of giving them a try and now I think I must soon. Nice pics and a real way to show off this exotic looking species of Dead Leaf mantids.

Cheers,

Rich

They really are beautiful and not nearly as difficult as I'd imagined they would be.

Hey, I've been meaning to PM you. Be sure to check out this thread:

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=27382

Digger · Oct 19, 2012

Precarious:

I'm keenly interested in what lens and lighting setup you used for this series of shots. Terrific results!

Many thanks.

Digger

Precarious · Oct 19, 2012

Digger said:
I'm keenly interested in what lens and lighting setup you used for this series of shots. Terrific results!

Many thanks.

Digger

Thanks!

I use the Canon T2i with EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens (the cheaper one without image stabilization) and Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX flash which is the real reason they come out so good. The flash also allows me to shoot everything freehand at 1/200 speed. I shoot in RAW mode which makes a huge difference, then do some magic in Photoshop to bring out all the detail. I have the MP-E65mm lens too but didn't use it for this shoot.

I normally shoot on a white shelving unit with extra lighting installed, but for these I had her on the floor on top of a net cage. That's why the background is black. I kind of like the black but hate that you lose the antennae.