The weather may be cooling, but things are still hopping at my local marshland park.
As I was walking through one of the back meadows last Friday, grasshoppers were hopping every which way as I approached them. Most of them settled back down into the grass and I couldn’t get a good look at them, much less a photo. Suddenly one grasshopper jumped up onto a plant and posed for a moment. I used my popup flash because I was shooting directly into the sun, and I was able to capture a good deal of detail of the insect’s body.
Shortly thereafter a katydid did the same, but chose to perch at a titled angle. I had time for only a single shot and did not use flash, so you can see some of the light shining through from behind (though I did have to lighten the shadows in post-processing). I especially like the way in which the angles of the insect’s long antennae mirror the shapes of the branches of the plant. I am not sure of the specific identification of this insect, but suspect that it’s a katydid vice a grasshopper because of the extremely long antennae.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 