Cicada Close-Ups

During my Summer break, I took long walks each day. During those walks, I picked up dead cicadas that I found along the way (they are odd little creatures and incredibly fascinating). I gathered them for photographic purposes, and after holding on to them for several weeks (much to Davis' dismay), I finally photographed them today. 

Having a 55mm micro lens with an extension ring in my possession, I spent an hour documenting two of the cicadas, as well as a flattened frog I found in the RCC parking lot. You're wondering about my sanity right now, aren't you? Trust me, I enjoy live subjects just as much as anyone else, but for something as small and unpredictable as a cicada, it works a lot better to have them...immobile (i.e. DEAD). Here are a few of the shots I took. You can see the rest as a set on my Flickr page.

Cicada number one.

Cicada number two (which looks somewhat like a pug, don't you think?).

Detail of the feet (?), top, and detail of the body of cicada number one.

The wings of both cicadas overlapping.

Tiny Guest

This little guy was hanging out on my back porch door a couple of weeks ago. 

Luckily I had brought home the 55mm lens with the extension ring that day, so of course I got in his face and also some wing detail.