It is pretty cool that a website (cracked.com) chose to use one of my photos in an article entitled “6 Insanely Colored Versions of Normally Boring Animals.” It is this photo that I took during the summer of my favorite insect, the Handsome Meadow Katydid and I featured in a posting called Rainbow Grasshopper.
Check out the article at http://www.cracked.com/article_20811_6-insanely-colored-versions-normally-boring-animals.html .
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Congratulations! It was a great photo — and it certainly didn’t hurt to have such a colorful katydid sit on a fuschia-colored stem
Sometimes insects and birds are cooperative in choosing photogenic perches, but, alas, that is most often not the case. At this time of the year, I am longing to see such color in nature and have to satisfy my cravings with the sight of an occasional cardinal.
Well done Mike 😀
Thanks. Somehow it seems appropriate that it is a humor website (I’m known for bad puns).
Not a lot wrong with a groan-inducing pun now and again 😀
Congratulations Mike.. it is a brilliant photo.. so pleased for you xx
Congratulations, wonderful shot!
Thanks, Victor. The author did not get advance permission to use the shot, which I really like, but at least he gave me credit and linked the photo to my blog posting.
It is getting harder to control one’s own creations!
Congrats Mike!! It’s a great photo 😀 and cracked.com is one of my favourite websites!
Thanks, Camilla. I have a quirky sense of humor, so it seems strangely appropriate that one of my photos would show up there.
Congratulation! The colours are really spectacular. I think it is a female – she looks rather coy but you can see she is enjoying all the attention.
I love your description of why it must be a female. Who knows? I am afraid that the details of insect anatomy have eluded me thus far–it’s hard enough to tell the gender of birds.
Congrats! Beautiful photo!
Thanks. The Handsome Meadow Katydid is my favorite insect and I was happy that a photo of it was selected. Strangely enough, the most popular photo on my blog is a photo of a fuzzy white caterpillar, not one of this colorful katydid.
Congrats!
Thanks, Lyle. As I checked out the website cracked.com, I realized that it helps to promote quirky humor, a definite plus for me.
Well done, Mike. May this help to spread your fame!
Fame? I don’t know about that, Gary, but I did note that the article had been read by a few hundred thousand people, so at least I had a bit broader exposure than normal (actually a lot broader exposure 🙂 ).
Congratulations, some well deserved recognition. I was waiting for some “bug or bird” photos from Vienna.
Thanks. I tried to get some bird shots, but there was not much daylight during my free time and at this time of the year there weren’t any bugs to be seen. I did take some shots of the two-toned European crows, but they did not turn out that well.
Congratulations on getting published. Your photos are always a treat. I really enjoy the wildlife photos because I am a wildlife enthusiast, but I also really enjoyed the Vienna photos as well.
Thanks. My interests tend to gravitate most to wildlife/nature and I have grown to enjoy my long walks in the outdoors. When my work took me to Vienna, though, I decided to switch gears (mostly out of necessity) and did more urban shots, which was easy at Christmas.
Wish you could send some of those my direction (southern Illinois)!
I am not sure of the range of the Handsome Meadow Katydid, but I was shocked the first time that I saw one. I could not believe the brightness of all those colors. Now I know where to find them (more or less) at my local marsh and look forward to seeing them each summer and fall.
Hope you will share pictures of them occasionally. They are fascinating.
Congratulations 🙂
Thanks. I am especially happy that the photo they used is one that I really like.
That’s nice – sort of adds to the pleasure 🙂
Congratulations Mike! 🙂
Thanks. Professional photographers probably don’t get excited when someone uses one of their photos, but I am thrilled to see my name in “print.”
Congratulations, Mike! Is your photo a false color image?
Thanks. These are the true colors of this amazing insect.
Congrats!
Thanks. I am not sure how they found my shot, but I am happy that they at least credited it to me.
Congratulations Mike, it’s about time. Maybe next time it’ll be National Geographic.
Shoot for the stars! It’s nice to dream.