Psst

Picked up the Mantis on a blade of tall grass. Set him on the drift wood. Took about 50 shots then released him. If I would have been a little smarter I would have released him in the woods, instead I put him on my Butterfly bush without thinking. Next thing I saw was this guy eating a Monarch!

My setup when shooting:

1. Setup on the kitchen table, used black felt material as the base and driftwood as the perch.
2. Setup ring flash, one angled towards the diffuser and the other slightly facing the Mantis.
3. Placed the Mantis on the driftwood, carried him using a branch, never touched him.
4. Set the camera in Aperture mode.
5. Fired several shots, looked at result, and then readjusted the flash positions, shot again.
6. Adjusted the Aperture setting several times until I got the result I was looking for, range F2.8 – 11.

Camera Settings:

Location: Middletown, Delaware (In Doors)
Special Equip: Backplate diffuser, Nikon Wireless Ring Flash
Processing: Saturation and contrast.
Weather: Indoors
Tripod : No, handheld
Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens : Sigma 50mm
Focal Len : 50mm
Flash : No
Exposure Mode : Aperture Priority
Metering Mode : Multi Pattern
Exposure : 0
Shutter : 1/60
F Stop : F 8
ISO : 100