The Insecta Trifecta

First, it was ants. Then a butterfly. You probably know what's next to finish off the insecta trifecta! Just PRAY that this is the last of the insect photos!



I caught this photogenic little devil outside my office. He looked a little lost, and I've never seen a mantis there before. It was as if he knew I was trying to fill the third slot of my macro-fest.

The technique I recently learned about, that of cooling off cold-blooded insects for five minutes before photographing them, worked like a charm. They just kind of shut down, then as a few minutes pass at room temperature, they perk right up. This little guy was just so patient and cooperative.



There's something kind of weird that happens when you're looking insects like this in the eye, up close. Because of the view through the lens, they appear about the same size as a human being photographed.

You can't help but kind of talk to them. And you start to think they hear you. I'd talk, and this mantis would just kind of move its head toward me, like a model adjusting their position to get the most flattering angle.



The other thing that happens when you're in this close is that every movement, especially fast ones, make it appear as though your carnivore subject is going to leap through the lens and tear your eyes out.

I'm happy to say that no insects were harmed during the course of my recent macro obsession. They were all released into the wild, none the worse for wear.

Their live spans aren't that long, I've heard. But now these lucky few will live on. In my Flickr Photostream. In my portfolio. On this blog. We're all looking for a little immortality. And this is just that, I guess. A little.