Of The Order of Mantodea

Sometimes while walking, carrying your camera helps because you never know what you're going to see around you, in this case, below you.

This past day while roaming around in the backyard we discovered this rare insect widely known as the Praying Mantis. It was sitting on some blue canvas we had covering lawn equipment bathing in the sun. Albeit, a nice macro lens would've done the job better but sometimes the moment is upon you and you don't have time to switch lenses - you stop, capture, and work with the results. In this case, a macro lens would've really sharpened the Mantis's facial features in high detail. I had my big lens on the camera so I had to stand about 8' away.

Keep that in mind when traveling and going on for specific types of photography. Always carry your other lenses with you in the event you want to capture something else. Or you could use a universal lens with attachments.

Factoids: This insect is protected in the State of Connecticut as the state insect. The word mantis is derived from a Greek word mantis meaning prophet or fortune teller namely due to it's posture or position.

URL Reference: Praying Mantis Wikipedia