Feeding Jumping Spider

[ktuli]

I was fortunate to find this jumping spider shortly after it has caught this bug. It was extremely cooperative and let me work with it for about 20 minutes. The whole time, it would carry it's dinner around and continued to eat it despite me sticking a camera lens and flash in its face.

Eventually, I tried this angle along with the flash positioned to the side (laying on the ground) which produced this dramatic lighting and shadow. I thought that the lighting produced a very interesting view, but would like to hear what others think of the lightning and other C&C on the image. Does the shadow work, or is it no good?

The one unfortunate thing about this shot is that the angle did not cause the metallic green color to appear in the spider's color. Some small flecks of it can be seen on the abdomen, but on the right angle, the green shine was all over the spider's body and looked very pretty.

Thanks for viewing. Oh - and if anyone has an ID on this guy, it is greatly appreciated.

- Bill

[jiro]

You' really lucky with spiders, Bill. Take it constructively, I think the shadows did not help the shot at all. If there was another light source on the right but lowered in exposure value that could have helped the shot. I wish I have a macro lens to try out these kind of shots, too myself. Maybe someday.

[ktuli]

Willie,

Thanks for the compliments and comments - I really appreciate it.

I wonder if maybe reflector on the right side might have helped a little. I like the strong shadow because I feel it exaggerated the size of the spider - making him look larger than he actually was. But maybe a reflector could have kept some detail on the shadow side without completely losing that shadow the flash threw.

I would really love to see what kind of stuff you would produce with a macro lens... so I'm looking forward to the day you get one.

Thanks again for your input.

- Bill

[jiro]

Yeah, I believe a reflector would have helped a lot.

[ktuli]

Willie,

Do you use any reflectors? Do you have any recommendations on what to buy there? Or for any DIY homemade ones?

- Bill

[jiro]

Bill, if you go to any Walmart store, you'd find this nice 3-fold presentation board. It's white and students usually use this for school science project. It's made of hard cartolina with a foam core so it's lightweight and sturdy. You can cut it to the size you need. I think it sells for less than $7.00. I hope I'm right, I think it's called "TRI-FOLD PRESENTATION BOARD". This is what I use as my diy reflectors. Hope this helps.

[jupiterlush]

Oh no please Bill! Anything but spiders...they bite! Haha. Nice capture but still

[ktuli]

Oh no please Bill! Anything but spiders...they bite! Haha. Nice capture but still

They're not that bad! And I felt extra safe working with this guy... his fangs were preoccupied with something else..

- Bill

[Geoff F]

Jumping Spiders are fascinating and extremely useful pest eradicators. Apparently, although I never got it to work, you should be able to feed a 'tame' jumper with aphids if you use a fine pair of tweezers.

But I do everything I can to encourage them into my greenhouse.

[ktuli]

My goal is to get a shot of a jumping spider in mid-air... (if I'm feeling overly greedy, I add "to pounce on some prey").

I had one that my timing was right, but the focus was all wrong.

Geoff, what is your opinion on the shadow and side-lighting?

- Bill

[Geoff F]

It works OK, Bill, but whether it is better or worse than a straight head on angle is difficult to tell without a direct comparison. To some extent, it has illuminated the full length of the body; but a lot of that area is out of focus anyway.

There isn't anything which has been lost by using this angle and it may have reduced some harshness of lighting. The fine detail and colour have reproduced perfectly.

[ktuli]

Geoff,

I think the closest example I have with top lightning would be this...



Thanks for the comments.

- Bill

[Geoff F]

Well that is the one to use in order to obtain an identification of your model. Everything works well here.

But I think there is still a place for the slightly more artistic side lighting shot.

[ktuli]

Yeah - I have a variety of angles that I could use for ID (if I knew where to look to figure that out). I selected this one here because it was the most similar positioning of the spider, just with the top-down lighting.

Thanks again for your input - it is highly valued.

- Bill

[Geoff F]

If it was a European spider I could help with the ID but I don't know anything about their American cousins.

However if this helps at all http://ednieuw.home.xs4all.nl/Spider...Salticidae.htm