Macro Spider.

[Mick]

I was fooling around with the macro on my camera this afternoon and took this photo of a Female Coastal golden orb-weaver. I found Lighting to be a bit of a problem with macro in low light. Has anyone else got any macro photos or advice on close up lighting and tricks?

[Mick]

Here's one from the other side. She in a beautiful spider!

[fringe_dweller]

Excellent Mick! once when i was a kid i was a jackeroo in central QLD and i was in the middle of nowhere on my own, mustering on horseback, and we went through/between this grove of trees/shrubs, at speed couldnt stop, that was absolutely infested with these (similar) lovely spiders - it was like something out of a horror movie they were all over us - the horse really started freaking out - the horses head was totallly covered in webs and spiders I was lucky not be thrown! - Love spider shots :) - thanks - i have a friend who takes the odd spider shot with his Nikon CP 4500 you can find a couple of them here http://67.19.82.34/~southern/pics/bazz/ btw have you seen this great aussie site before http://spiderzrule.com/index.html ?
Cheers
Fringey the cowboy :) yeehaaa!

[Astroman]

What camera are you using Mick?

Probably the best solution for lighting is bouncing the flash. Don't use the onboard flash on most cameras, use a slave flash and bounce the flash off different things, that way the light can be diffused slightly and you can put the light where you want, with a little experimentation. If you are using a SLR you can try inverting the lens there are adapters out there which enable you to turn your lens around and use it for macro photography. Either that or buy a macro lens.

[Mick]

Hey Fringey, thanks for the links, I've always had a soft spot for spiders. I think they get a bad rap for no reason anything that eats flies has to be good :) I'm working in CQ at the moment some lovley land it's a shame I get to see it eaten up by mining:( Andrew thanks I'm using a Nikon Coolpix 4500 it has a fixed lens. You can get a speed light flash for it but I think it may cost as much as the camera. I'm going to try covering the flash with something to drop the lights intensity and see if that helps.

[fringe_dweller]

Mick, I have a lot of respect and admiration for spiders too - even more so recently when i heard there is now scientific proof that they have a *laboratory confirmed* genuine sixth sense (we always knew that tho i guess didnt we - ie *you know who* spider senses tingling! hehe) the only creature known with these uniuqe ability i beleive - I dont like white tails much - they are the exception to me. evil little baskets :wink2:
BUT I do reserve the right to scream like a girl if I find a spider on my person :)
With the illumination for macro problem - i have seen a mylar?/silver car steering wheel/windscreen sun cover thingys used a diffuse mirror, reflecting the sunlight onto the subject? Might work :)
Cheers
FringeyBUT

[beren]

Top shots Mick,always been keen to try macro stuff being a insect observer.Although prefering a healthy distance from spiders they are so interesting , from web weaving to hunting ....remember once seeing a long battle between a fair sized wolf spider and a Hornet, the hornet was relentless but the spider managed to evade its attacks and escape, awesome thing to witness.

[fringe_dweller]

Wait - I got more spider stories! this one is even astronomy related! Some friends and i went south to the sticks, to see a bright low lying comet in the S/W (2002 V1 NEAT). We went to look thru my mates 6.3 dob and there was a huge huntsman spread out on the primary :eek: - awesome sight in the ep! It was a very funny sight - but my mate wasnt to happy (who took those picks before) as he wont harm them of course, but still had to try to coax it out in time for a better look - but i did see the shadow of the spider superimposed on the image of the comet - way cool!.

beren - re hornet/spider battle - that is weird you said that!, because a friend had only just recently told me he witnessed something very similar in his backyard last summer - a titanic battle that lasted around half an hour - but he said it was the large aussie native wasp that was trying to drag the large huntsman to its hole for its young to feed on. The wasp won! - apparently thats what this particular local wasp lives on predominantly.
Cheers
Fringey - send a horrible pic of a spider to your friends in the UK - they wont sleep for a week!

[Mick]

This is OT now, but looks like there maybe no Hornets in Australia only Wasps.

Wasps (http://faunanet.gov.au/wos/factfile.cfm?Fact_ID=225)

[beren]

Mick im pretty sure ive seen similar wasps featured in the link , the one i saw was about as long as your index finger and bright orange with black strips ,couldnt find any id googleing around . Around the end of summer they are very active here along with other species , i often see the end results of battles but that was the first time ive seen the actual contest . Remember also seeing a little black wasp dragging a big redback along the outside patio pavers to some sand and digging a burrow/nest ahhhh amazing how in the natural world size sometimes doesnt matter .
Fringey thats creepy with the huntsman , we get heaps here and ill admit i just about faint within a few metres of the buggers . Going down a 4wd track once going home after a nights viewing i drove the car through a huge web that spanned the track and a spider hit the windscreen in line with my face, seeing it crawl up the glass was pretty uncomfortable and i was nt stopping to check if it was off the roof ....let the highway speeds do that ....well i hoped anyway.