The Spider and the Fly

Jumping Spider

Fang, the Jumping Spider

My latest macro photography has included jumping spiders.  So now I have one as a pet…  It likes to eat live flies.

Jumping Spider Photography

My last several blog posts have shown my explorations into the world of macro photography.  I generally do not mind killing  the insects I photograph, but I draw the line at praying mantis and certainly jumping spiders.  It must have something to do with their eyes.

The Annual Slide Show

A camera club I belong to has a tradition of members showing a slide show at the annual Christmas party.  Typically, people show their best photographs of the year or some theme or a project they accomplished.  My contributions have been on the entertainment or comedy side.  One prior post was of singing carp seen in Japan.  Here is the link: Singing Carp in Japan .

 

Focus Stacking

On the technical side of this video, I hope you have read my prior blog where I discuss shooting hundreds of photos of a single bug to make sure the whole bug is in focus in the final photo.  The problem the many photos solve is one of depth of field.  This is called focus stacking.  Think of the area in clear focus for each photo like a slice of bread.  Each photo only captures one thin slice of the bug in focus.  The next photo focuses on the next slice or section of the bug and so on until the entire bug is in focus.  Sometimes, a single photo can have such a narrow depth of field the slice in focus will only cover the width of a couple of hairs.  Special software is required to blend these many photos into one photo, hopefully all in focus.  This process seldom goes smoothly.

The focus stacking technique was not possible for this video, since Fang was running around exploring and seldom still for very long.  Paying close attention to some of the photos, you can see part of a leg is in focus, the next slice is blurry and the next is in focus again.  I could not use the necessary Cognysis Stack Shot Rail to make sure all parts of the spider were in focus because Fang was not still long enough.  So while the quality of these photos may pass for a fast moving video, I do not yet have any good photos of Fang.  Maybe next year.

For those photographers who wish to learn more about focus stacking hardware, here is a link:  Cognisys Focus Stacking Equipment

5 thoughts on “The Spider and the Fly

  1. A sense of a strong emotional swing of being terrified to hardy, full on laughing comedy at the end and all with some appropriate music leading to some pretty spectacular photography.
    Enjoying your journey into Macro.

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