Golden orb spider

[Carl Walker]

First time here and in my mind I know this is not macro quality but thought I might use this as a learning curve. So feel free to chuck it if need be. I have seen the good feedback here and although I do not have the right lens yet perhaps this will suffice for now

HH
7D - 300mm f2.8L IS USM MK II - plus 2 x extender MK III
ISO 400 - f5.6 - 1/1600 sec - AP
LR5 basics
PSE 9 - LM, layer adjustment including levels, sat,

I realise that this is very tight and after adding canvas I really battled with getting it right due to the getting the spider web in the right context. I cloned out some mess in the bg - probably oof little males. I darkened the BG a bit to try and make this pop.

C&C very welcome

[Gabriela Plesea]

Carl!!! How can you clone out the little males? And call them "mess"?:bg3:

Love this image, I usually like to shoot these guys from the profile but you got some nice detail here and the colours are spot-on! Nice and sharp and I love to see the eyes of the female, mmm…not a friendly one…if you did not take out the boys she would have probably eaten them anyway:t3

Nice to see you in Macro, Carl! Have a great evening, say hello to Shangaan from me:wave:

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Carl, I think this is great and the clean-up mentioned is done very well. I only wish for a little more room at the bottom edge. Very nice work!

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Carl. I think your 300 mm "macro" lens has done a very nice job with this subject! At f/5.6 you've managed to get almost all of the spider within your DOF. The background is excellent and the exposure is well handled. I would wish for more room all around, but especially top and bottom. I hope to see more of your work here in Macro!

[Diane Miller]

Beautifully detailed! I also want a little more room at the bottom -- would be easy to add canvas there.

[Mitch Haimov]

Very cool subject, Carl. Great job on the cleanup--I don't see a trace. I wish for a looser comp and more light on the "face," perhaps a reflector could have helped here (held in your third hand at the end of that extra-long third arm).

[Jonathan Ashton]

A good shot, you may wish to consider using an extension tube as opposed to the 2X, I think this will improve sharpness. I think f8 at this magnification would have been better but nevertheless a good shot.

[Carl Walker]

Thanks everyone for the comments. Much appreciated. This was when I first got this lens and have improved a lot since then.