EPZ member Glen Dettmer in National Geographic

44-year-old construction worker Dettmer had been given a camera by the company he worked for two months previous to featuring in the top nature magazine. And his location might not be what you had expected either. The image was taken in the Fort Lauderdale motel room where Dettmer was staying at the time in a completely staged scenario. He collected a plant stem covered in grasshoppers, added a length of vine and snail and stuck a green piece of construction paper to the wall behind to serve as a backdrop. He then named the image Friends Meet 1. 

"The company gave me the camera for work," admits Dettmer, 44. "It's supposed to be for shooting before-and-after pictures of construction," but he was inspired to carry out more photography by Florida's plentiful wildlife. "I've shot millipedes, turtles, fish, and iguanas so far," he says. "I don't think I've used it for work yet."

After his family convinced him how spectacular the shot was and encouraged him to put the image to further use, Dettmer uploaded the image to the gallery's here at ePHOTOzine, winning the Editor's Choice, and went on to enter it in the National Geographic's Your Shot gallery, being printed as the only picture on the page.

National Geographic Photo editor Susan Welchman said it was one of the “prettiest shots” she had ever seen.