an 'umbrella' made of grass
by roz

Comment by Paul:
Great macro. I think this is a Mantispidae; AKA mantis fly, mantid lacewing, mantid fly.

an 'umbrella' made of grass
by roz

Comment by Neat:
What on earth is that insect! Stopped me in my tracks, beautifully photographed and the sharpness of the raindrops really sets off this amazing shot! This is the blue for sure, bumping this up, pretty sure I̢۪ll see you on the front page.

Grasshopper
by roz

Comment by Barroness:
Very nice image, crisp and beautiful lighting.
I like it just the way you presented it.

Grasshopper
by roz

Comment by streetpigeon:
Another beauty. The grasshopper seems to be woven of life itself, worthy of an entire career's study. What's marvelous in the black and white is the disappearance of green, more so than the fade out of browns. The forms of the grasses now come into their own, the bokeh like northern or southern lights. The grasshopper is now camouflaged and serene. That's putting quite a spin on it, but I'm on a roll.
Fascinating.

Grasshopper
by roz

Comment by nam:
BW simply does not do this one justice, even though the conversion is excellent. Not only are the natural colors rich and pleasing, they help separate this critter from the background which I think is essential.

light and shadow
by roz

Comment by kasaba:
Hmm ... I wished the light green leaf was darker, but then I guess the shadow wouldn't have worked. As it is my eye pops between the subject and the light spot/shadow.

an 'umbrella' made of grass
by roz

Comment by spencelg:
My favorite in this challenge.

Grasshopper
by roz

Comment by bsluijk:
I like how both shots work - a live grasshopper on the left, a steel one on the right

Grasshopper
by roz

Comment by spencelg:
Love this!

The Robberfly - waiting in ambush
by roz

Comment by Barroness:
Very nice image.
Thank you for the info on the Roberfly. I was not familiar with this insect. I'm sure it was a difficult capture.