Jumping Spider

[adcolon]

University of Puerto Rico's Botanical Gardens. Canon 30D, Canon MP-65 w/macro flash. ISO 100, f/11 @ 1/250 sec.

[John Cooper]

A good frame-filling image of the Jumping spider adcolon and sharp where it counts.
Some back-lighting here would have been beneficial to separate the back portion the spider from the dark BG. Was this a nocturnal event?

[adcolon]

Yes, I know what you mean about the dark background in this daylight photo. Yet when I saw the effect I compared it to studio portraits taken of people using selective flash to highlight certain portions of their faces for artistic purposes, even if in this case it was done in the field.

[Robert O'Toole]

I like the profile angle and the sharpness looks good but as mentioned the BG is a problem. I think in this case it is a matter of the flash power. It think the flash is too strong and maybe the flash head might be a little mis-aimed?

Next time AD, with a similar subject and magnification try ISO 400 and set the exposure to something like F16 and 1/15th of a second, and use a diffuser over the flash heads, even a piece of paper or a card. The diffuser will spread out the flash output and the slower SS will help soften the flash fall off and make the ambient light light the BG.

What was the Mag ratio? 1:1 or more?

Robert

[Robert O'Toole]

Sorry I left out one step in the above. I would recommend trying to use Flash exposure comp or better yet manual mode to set the ration to about 1/4 or 1/8 power to start. Adjust the ratio until the subject is exposed properly. You can also experament aiming the flash but with the MPE-65 this is almost impossible with the small working distance.

Robert

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Adcolon,
Possible improvements covered. Does almost look like he's almost floating. Even a little separation would have greatly helped....but I know it's not always that easy!

[adcolon]

Thanks for the comments. The magnification is 2X.