I had to dig up a few insect photos for something recently, and as I was scanning through all my files, I started noticing that I had quite a few bug shots in there over the years. I don't have any special interest in the pests, but I have always been a fan of macro photography, and I guess bugs are just an easy subject. They're pretty interesting to look at close-up, and they're generally slow enough that you can get a good shot before they flee.
One of the shots I came across was of a praying mantis. It was pretty odd, because we found it just outside our house. I'm pretty sure those things aren't running wild around here, so I guess a neighbor nearby must have had it as a pet and it got away or something. Anyway, finding a mantis in our yard was weird, but even more strange was that the insect was brown, and not the usual bright green.
I don't know if it was dried out and dying, and that's why it lost its colour, but I put it on a big plant we had on our porch, and the next day, it was gone. I guess it either made its way elsewhere, or it became a midnight snack for some other critter.
Here's the shot of the mantis, as well as a few other bug shots I took a while back. These were all shot on a variety of ultra compact cameras I had years ago, before I took the leap to my first DSLR. Have a macro look!...
