Taking Pics

[wdt2000]

How do you guys get your mantis out in the open? I can't seem to get mine to come out of the rocks. She seems very happy and is always clicking away at the rocks. I know this sounds bad but I also want to see her kill something and everytime I put a hermit in the tank she does not even look at it. But if I put my homemade food or krill in she at least attacks it and eats it.

Will

 

[Gonodactylus]

Will,

My primary secret is "patience". I leave my camera and strobes set up focused on the area in front of the cavity or burrow. The animal gets used to it and if I see something interesting, I grab the cable release and take the shot - provided of course that the strobes haven't turned themselves off. Also, a lot of the shots I take involve animals interacting. That's how I get threat displays. Finally, I often use small photographic aquaria with only a single small piece of live rock and a sand or gravel substrate. If I want to photograph an animal, I remove it from the tank and place it in the photographic aquarium.

Ro