WC#412 - Groundhopper

This is one of my favourite images from this year, an adult female Slender Groundhopper (Tetrix subulata) on Greater Plantain (Plantago major ssp. major).

In April, I got a great guide book on local Grasshoppers & allies, and learned that the Groundhoppers are the only things that go JUMP very early in spring. After that, I found some rather easily and spent a lot of time hopping and crawling after them in their favourite (damp!) spot with my camera and mini tripod.

This is one of my favourites, because when I took it, I had just learned a lot from a whole new group of insects and was getting the hang of using a mini tripod for macro (although I still haven't figured out why the head is always in the wrong position so that it won't tilt in the direction I want it to...). My macro lens was also seeing its first summer.

Here, I want to present it much as I took it, with minimal PP (mainly a boost to contrast and very little else). If I wanted to really polish it, I'd crop a little off the bottom and clone out the little flower bits in front of the critter's face; but this is what I saw through my viewfinder, and that's what makes this special for me.

Thank you for looking.

Olympus E-3
Sigma 105 mm macro
1/100 sec @ f8.0
ISO 125
Tripod, no flash
Full frame