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Hi Pentaxian friends.
In southern California, autumn is the best time to capture Preying Mantises (literally and on camera). They are easily found around the yard. It seems that every year, I am lucky enough to catch and photograph one performing for the camera.
Actually, I believe the ritual is to scare a possible assailant. They are easy to catch. Just put one finger in front of them and they climb right on. By waiving your finger in front of them, they appear to get in a defensive mode, and try to make themselves look bigger. They are aggressive and it’s a good thing they aren't eight feet tall.
The pictures above were all taken using a Pentax K-7 with the DA 18-55mm kit lens or the Pentax “A” 50mm f/1.4 with a Vivitar tele-extender.
Isn’t nature great!
Thank you for looking,
P.S. Looking at some comments received, I cannot stop wondering if Measurbators really understand, what photography is all about. I believe that it's not about what make of DSLR you use, it's not about the megapixels your DSLR has, it's not about perfect IQ... it's about composition. The subject of your photographs, the arrangement, the lighting, the message your images convey are all some of the elements that photography is made of. If you look at some famous pictures through the years, sharpness was not the prime factor. Look here:
In southern California, autumn is the best time to capture Preying Mantises (literally and on camera). They are easily found around the yard. It seems that every year, I am lucky enough to catch and photograph one performing for the camera.
Actually, I believe the ritual is to scare a possible assailant. They are easy to catch. Just put one finger in front of them and they climb right on. By waiving your finger in front of them, they appear to get in a defensive mode, and try to make themselves look bigger. They are aggressive and it’s a good thing they aren't eight feet tall.
The pictures above were all taken using a Pentax K-7 with the DA 18-55mm kit lens or the Pentax “A” 50mm f/1.4 with a Vivitar tele-extender.
Isn’t nature great!
Thank you for looking,
P.S. Looking at some comments received, I cannot stop wondering if Measurbators really understand, what photography is all about. I believe that it's not about what make of DSLR you use, it's not about the megapixels your DSLR has, it's not about perfect IQ... it's about composition. The subject of your photographs, the arrangement, the lighting, the message your images convey are all some of the elements that photography is made of. If you look at some famous pictures through the years, sharpness was not the prime factor. Look here:
Nick Ut snapped a picture of Kim Phuc, a Vietnamese girl, fleeing naked down a highway in Vietnam after a napalm attack in 1972. The image is not sharp, but the message was bigger than the picture itself.And look here:
http://www.worldsfamousphotos.com/
My photographs do not compare to these photographs and they humble me. Can you imagine someone criticizing a Pulitzer Prize winner for the image quality? It would be absurd.
In the end, there are photographers and Measurbators. One is about Art and the other about technology. Their goals are very different. I say live and let live. Your measurbate, I take photographs. Respect my goal and I'll respect yours.
Yvon Bourque
http://www.worldsfamousphotos.com/
My photographs do not compare to these photographs and they humble me. Can you imagine someone criticizing a Pulitzer Prize winner for the image quality? It would be absurd.
In the end, there are photographers and Measurbators. One is about Art and the other about technology. Their goals are very different. I say live and let live. Your measurbate, I take photographs. Respect my goal and I'll respect yours.
Yvon Bourque
12 comments:
Nice photos again Yvon, I still remember the previous ones and how envious I was that your Praying Mantis would put up a show like this, the ones we have are not quite as entertaining, or I just haven't found the right one yet. We only have ginat ones, or so the name states anyway, you can see some photo's here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhenn/sets/72157604043012714/
P.S. just joined the K-7 club three days ago and what a ride it has been so far.
Flashy Thingy,
I looked at your pictures. Very nice. Your preying Mantis are scarier. They look like aliens. Congratulation on joining the K-7 club. You will like this DSLR.
Nature is great.
Wish there were insects that would pose like that in these parts. :-)
Cheers
Jostein
Funny (but the photos aren't that sharp).
"RiceHigh said...
Funny (but the photos aren't that sharp)."
I see you are still lurking around in your Mommy's basement. You really should get out more often.
Yvon,
Fascinating photos. The K7 purchase commences on payday Sept 30. I put it off till I had the complete DA 15-70 lens lineup. I have been out with my K20 and the DA's several times. It'
s amazing the whole kit fits in a small Domke bag even with the 100mm Macro. I went hiking with a Cannon buddy of mine yesterday. He was lugging around about 20 lbs (ok I exaggerate but just a bit) of gear. He was a bit jealous. :-) Seriously, that camera (I can't remember which one because quite frankly they have so many different models) plus these two gigantic zooms and a macro lens weighed more than my kit. Plus he needed this huge bag.
Personally I find it easier just to zoom with my feet or change a lens, but that's just me. That said, I don't do a lot of bird photography.
Another hiking buddy of mine who has never gone digital (he shoots a Hasselbald and small field camera) was so impressed with gear and the photos that he's going to get the K7. Those little DA's are fantastic.
To me that's the beauty of Pentax. It's functional in real life situations. Of course, I don't spend much time shooting pictures of charts on the wall at 6400. I spend most of my time outdoors with Stanley the wonder dog and my camera.
Apparently there is a review in a Norwegian paper from this weekend where they left the K7 out in the rain for 30 minutes then put it in the freezer. 5 minutes later it's working.
great shots.
i shoot canon but have been playing around recently with a friends pentax and i have to say i am quite taken with it.
P.S. Looking at some comments received, I cannot stop wondering if Measurbators really understand, what photography is all about. I believe that it's not about what make of DSLR you use, it's not about the megapixels your DSLR has, it's not about perfect IQ... it's about composition. The subject of your photographs, the arrangement, the lighting, the message your images convey are all some of the elements that photography is made of. If you look at some famous pictures through the years, sharpness was not the prime factor. Look here:
Nick Ut snapped a picture of Kim Phuc, a Vietnamese girl, fleeing naked down a highway in Vietnam after a napalm attack in 1972. The image is not sharp, but the message was bigger than the picture itself.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/special_reports/war_photos/history.html
And look here:
http://www.worldsfamousphotos.com/
My photographs do not compare to these photographs and they humble me. Can you imagine someone criticizing a Pulitzer Prize winner for the image quality? It would be absurd.
In the end, there are photographers and Measurbators. One is about Art and the other about technology. Their goals are very different. I say live and let live. Your measurbate, I take photographs. Respect my goal and I'll respect yours.
Yvon, I have to agree with you here, it is very easy to get side-tracked from the real photography with all the technology around nowadays, I find that we are putting more and more unrealistic demands towards our cameras.
Over the years now I've been trying to start my own little private library at home (photography books), I find myself lately buying more and more older books as i admire the photo's published in these, these photo's are not pin sharp, neither do they exhibit huge Dynamic range but they are great photo's depsite the hardware used and I enjoy analyzing them and putting myself into the photographers shoes to determine the technique used.
I would rahter have a unsharp or high ISO grainy/noisy photo than not at all.
There are times when you want to achieve a technically great photo but there are also times when you want to enjoy photography and share your world, and the latter is more important than the first in my books.
Regards
Michael
Yvon, I suggest you just do what most people in Pentax forums are doing for a longtime already: just ignore RiceHigh posts or blog comments. He's just a troll, and replying to him is just a way of feeding him.
Cateto/Jose
Cateco,
I know, but just once I wanted to write my point-of-view on measurebating and photography.
Yvon,
I'm always thrilled by your mantis shots. Scared too! :-D
I'm sure any of them would make a fine 16x20 print, so forget the silly comments. This one has the nicest lighting, making it my candidate for such a print :-)
PS: Have you ever been bitten by any of these mantises you play with?
Miserere,
I am obviously fascinated with Preying Mantis. I actually did enlarge some of the mantis photos and love to show them to people. They usually cannot believe their eyes when they see how human-like they can look.
Mantis would pose a great danger to humans if they were bigger. Fortunately, for us, their mouths are too small to bite our skin.
I never would have anthropomorphized a preying mantis as easily as I did after taking my early pictures last year.
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