An after summer update...
Well since I didn't shoot any people this summer like I planned,didn't even shoot myself really much this year which is unusual,I pretty much only shot bugs. That said I'm deleting my summer preview shots off my FB to free up space for my current subjects which have been pet praying mantises,and I will be posting shots from this summer of non-pet bugs as soon as I can get them stacked and edited.
* NEW *
made a seperate photography page on FB finally,was a little behind on doing that,so you can now follow or like me on there :
www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Octo…But for behind the scenes and unedited pics you can add my personal page on FB @ OctoberRainne,or check the links below
More about the mantis obsession...
My first mantis was a wild chinese one named Zeek,who I found in WV this year,and took home as a pet,and I fell in love with them.They're very much like lizards,and almost like miniature dragons cuz of the wings most have.I also see them as being like little aliens which I also love.Sadly After a couple months Zeek had a mismoult and passed away shortly after that.Here are some of his stacked/off camera images that have not been edited yet...
ZEEK!
Part.1
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www.facebook.com/media/set/?se…EATING.Shots
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Baby Mantids?...
So after only having Zeek for a short time,I was super sad about it,and decided to go online and try and order another one,and I really wanted a green one cuz you don't see many green ones here,and I was also interested in the african ones,so I ended up going with the S.lineola species,which are a little different but really close,but instead of one adult like I planned on ordering I somehow got 2 babies sent to me,so I'm currently raising them and they are just under an inch after their second moult since I've had them.This species is only for pet in home use,you can not release them,for those who are thinking they are illegal in the U.S lol and I have no plans on releasing them obviously.People also think it is illegal to keep and to kill all mantises and this is simply not true,though I'd hate to see them be killed for some dumb reason.And the species found outside of the US can not be released because they don't want them to mate and take over our current introduced species ect. so theres some clarifications for those who still think you cant touch them lol. Even I was like are u allowed to take one home at first,cuz someone had said that when I was little,that you weren't allowed to touch them or anything,but again not true.
To chronicle the babies progress here are their preview folders of off camera shots...
(I have not given them set names yet cuz I want them to get a little bigger so I can see which sex they are,I think I have one male and female tho)
Baby.Mantids.1
(They started out on fruit flies and Betta flies which I think are the same species or close but a little smaller,but my current fly cup is full of maggots and not flies so i've been tweezer feeding them tiny meal worms and baby crickets,waiting for these flies to spawn)
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www.facebook.com/media/set/?se…(Baby 2 is no longer with us
,so from this point on I have just one baby S. Lineola,who has passed its 3rd moult at this point)
Baby.Mantis.6
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www.facebook.com/media/set/?se…Baby.Mantis.17 (After 7th Moult,She now has wing buds,and has 3 upper eyes)
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( 8th moult,She is now 3 inches long,with full wings,and just under a half an inch wide,with 3 big top eye spots)
www.facebook.com/media/set/?se…Baby.Mantis.25 (Apple)
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Violet.The.Mantis
Then as a surprise my mom's friend who had a lot of praying mantis insects on her property caught me one,to keep that was an adult.This one is another species that is common here called a carolina mantis so she is just under 3 inches,maybe 2.5 or so and her name is violet,I've had her for atleast a month or so,and she eats a lot and can hover fly when not super full lol Today Oct.1 she has laid her first Ootheca which is her egg case,not sure if there will be any hatchlings in there cuz she was wild but might be,they take weeks+ to hatch tho.
Here are her folders of off camera images...
Part.1
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www.facebook.com/media/set/?se…Violet.Eating.1
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www.facebook.com/media/set/?se…Violet.Eating.9
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Ophelia...
Violet passed away a week or so after laying her egg case,and I ended up gluing the ooth to a wooden fake well we have outside,so if there are babies in there hope some will make it and grow around our yard by next spring or so.The same day I was gluing the ooth outside I found another carolina mantis literally on our front door,so I took her in,and put her in the big cage,and named her Ophelia.She is the first mantis I've ever seen around our house,so it was a really out of the blue find.Not sure if I will keep her for very long,or not,they don't seem to live very long as adults and seem to have all sorts of falling problems and I don't know if there is anything I can do about that or not.She laid an ooth herself yesterday,I have yet to remove and glue hers outside tho.Shot her eating for the first time today,the other times I've missed so far,but here is her folder(s)...
Ophelia
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Behind.The.Scenes.&.Out Takes
For some shots of my macro set ups and some behind the scenes pics,Check out these links...
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Here are some off camera "Posed" Macro shots of Insects apart of my "The.Bug.Show" from 2011
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* New* MYRTLE BEACH trip pics previews (off camera)
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Again I'm working to stack tons of bug pics,and go through them all,so I'm trying to make a deal to post atleast 2 shots on here a week starting soon but we'll see cuz I'm still shooting almost daily when the mantids eat ect. on top of recording covers at home still.Other things I shot this year including pets,zoos and aquariums I have shots to edit and post as well,so It's just a lot,and I stay busy,so thats why not so much on here.I feel like last year and this year tho that I've gotten more professional with shooting and singing,so hoping that shows,and my editings getting much better I think,but still not all the way there yet
In the future,I want to shoot more people,get better at editing and get rid of shadows in pics,which I think will involve more lighting ect. I plan on getting a new cam ASAP,I need to get the guitar box for pro-tools to record original songs with,and I want to get this macro converter filter to shoot even smaller/closer than what just the extension tubes are doing.Truthfully I love shooting just bugs,but I feel like that won't get me too far lol I'm also in the process of making an article/how to called Perfect Pics but thats no where near done,inwhich I'll share my thoughts of what makes pictures of great quality,and how to achieve certain looks ect. I just feel on sites like this quality is highly over shadowed by popularity on not very good technical work,so wan't to let people in on how to instantly improve aspects of their shooting,and what NOT to do ect.
I'll be updating this alot so check back for more links and add me on FB for more pics and vids of me and my pets <3 Thanxx to anyone who does check out any of the links and who actually reads any of this I know its a lot
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