The Arms of Death
Late one September afternoon when dusk was fast approaching, I was out in my yard and as I walked by the large desert willow tree, I heard a loud vibration of wings. I looked up on a higher branch that was covered in flowers and saw a sphinx moth frantically fluttering its wings. When I took a closer look, I discovered that the moth was caught in the clutches of a preying mantis. I found this quite amazing since the mantis was out-sized by the sphinx moth.
The sphinx moth, Sphingidae, is in the family of moths, Lepidoptera and is also known as hawk or hummingbird moths. This moth can have a wingspan up to 3 inches (75mm) and is one of the fastest flying insects, reaching speeds of 30 mph, 50 km/h. The body size of the moth and mantis are about equal at around 21/2 to 31/2 inches (65-90mm).
Wanting to catch this rare event with my camera, I quickly rushed in and changed to my Nikon 150mm 2.8 macro lens, ever aware of the fading light. I set the D90 on Aperture priority at f/8 for depth of field and raised the ISO to 800 and fired the flash. My shutter speed was indicating 1/60 second and I was afraid that it was not fast enough to freeze the wings and give me a sharp image. Darkness was quickly replacing all light so I opened the aperture to f/5.6 and increased the ISO to 1600, at the same time fearful for digital noise that might ruin the photo. I guess when a photographer becomes desperate to get a photo they will go to any lengths. As a last resort, I had the light from my LED flashlight shining on the scene while I continued to fire the flash on my D90.
After processing the RAW images in Lightroom, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and lack of digital noise from the higher ISO.
To some, this may be a less than desirable scene to watch and take photos of a preying mantis eating a beautiful moth. And yes, I had to overcome the tremendous desire to take the fluttering moth from death’s grip. However as a wildlife and nature photographer, this is one occasion where I have to think with my logical brain and not my heart. Nature has its balance and I am just an observer, I must always adhere to the principles of taking only photos and leaving only memories.
Photographs Make Great Gifts
With my Nikon and tripod, my goal is to recreate the scene as it appears in nature, to preserve in a photographic image the awesome, yet simplistic beauty of the scene that waits around a bend or over a hill. Sometimes it's a colorful landscape, and many times I'm allowed in the presence of the numerous creatures that adapt to life in the wild.
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