Mantis

 

Another from this archives, this time a flashback to 2019 and a visit to Wild Arena when it was based in Knowsley Safari Park and their Macro Workshop.  I attended two macro workshops with them in 2019, mostly to experience their frogs (which I have always been passionate about).  And, it was these trips that inspired me to get some exotic pets.

This feature shot is of something teeny - a mantis on a leaf.  It was taken in a studio type set-up with a flashlight in a large softbox to light the subject. At the time I was using a Canon 5Diii and I had an EF 100 mm macro lens on it.  David guided us with the settings so I followed his suggestion of f/16 with a shutter speed of 1/200 sec (set because of flash usage) and ISO-125.  Unfortunately, most of the shots were not sharp and this was about the best of them.  Something, I should really try again.