The mummy returns.....for lunch!

[Jerry van Dijk]

Panasonic DMC-FZ18, handheld, FL 13 mm (78mm DSLR equivalent) with 3x macro conversion filter, ISO100, F/8, 1/125 sec, pattern metering, RAW, EC -1, WB 5200K.
Slightly cropped to get rid of som OOF stuff in BG. Selective sharpening of the carapace (the "head"), selective histogram clipping on the eyes.

Autumn is spider time in our backyard. I found this femal Araneus diadematus preparing her lunch. Spiders can't chew very well, so they inject their victims with enzymes that dissolve them from the inside, using their fangs. This is exactly what this lady here is doing. After some time, they can just suck up their lunch! :eek: After that, the spiders clean their web by shoving out the empty shells. That's why you find all these black shriveled lumps on the windowsill when you have a web in you window.
My wife says this image gives her the creeps, which means that I must have captured the essence of spider life here! ;)

- Jerry -

[Ed Cordes]

Cool image. I like the behavior aspect of the image. On my monitor at work it looks as if it could use a bit more sharpening. Could be the monitor?

[Julie Kenward]

It is definitely more of a behavioral macro than one taken to show the beauty! That said, I agree with Ed that it could use some selective sharpening - looks like some of the front legs are nicely in focus but other areas are a big fuzzy. Next time, try turning your camera a bit to put the placement of the spider on a diagonal instead of centered in the frame. I think it would make the composition just a little bit stronger.

[Robert O'Toole]

Behavior and action are good! The BG info is a big plus. The vertical centered comp is classic and works well.

I would recommend flash to open up the shadows and add more sharpness.

Robert

[Mike Moats]

Hey Jerry, reality of life. As Robert points out good BG, good comp. Would be nice t have a little more DOF on body, it does look like to captured details on the spiders head, which is good.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi folks, thanks for the comments! I'm afraid that the DOF is limited by the gear I use. The macrofilter doesn't allow for very much DOF and F/8 (which I used here) is the smallest aperture I can get on my camera. These spiders are quite big, so you lose a lot of focus very quickly. I don't think that selective sharpening will fix the problem, but I'll give it a go!
Robert, you suggested using flash several times on my macro images (which were all shot on the same day). I'll try it out next time. but again some material limitations: just a pop up flash and no hotshoe for an external one.
Julie, I'll try turning the image a bit in PP, but I'm not sure if I have enough room in the area that I cropped to render the same composition.
- Jerry -

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hey there, just tried out your suggestions with IMHO striking results! I feel the image has improved tremendously. Especially turning the image to have the spider aligned with a diagonal improved a lot. Thanks for the suggestion Julie (although I'm not really sure that this is what you meant)! Downside is that the image is cropped slightly more than I would have liked. Selectively sharpening the abdomen partly solved the DOF issue, but you can't get out what's not in.
I'm still amazed that you don't see things in your own pictures untill somebody else points them out to you! In other words, a great place to learn. Thanks a bunch!
- Jerry -

[Anita Rakestraw]

I do prefer your repost, Jerry, looks a bit clearer and sharper and shows the details better. The image overall seems a little on the soft side though. With the limitations you mention, I wonder if using a tripod instead of handholding would have resulted in better sharpness?

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Anita, I don't think using a tripod will immediately solve the DOF problem. However, I have been dying to try out some more advanced PP stuff (infected by what some of the people here on the forum pull off) and using a tripod as you suggested does give me a chance to make 2 similar frames with different points of focus, which can be combined in PP (it's called HDR if I'm correct?). But I'm still not so confident in my PP skills to tackle this.
- Jerry -

[Anita Rakestraw]

Hi Anita, I don't think using a tripod will immediately solve the DOF problem. However, I have been dying to try out some more advanced PP stuff (infected by what some of the people here on the forum pull off) and using a tripod as you suggested does give me a chance to make 2 similar frames with different points of focus, which can be combined in PP (it's called HDR if I'm correct?). But I'm still not so confident in my PP skills to tackle this.- Jerry -

Yes, there are some great techniques to be learned here, and knowing how to optimize in editing software can make a lot of difference! I wasn't suggesting that using a tripod would make a difference in DOF; but I've struggled alot with the sharpness issue and one of the best things I did was get a GOOD tripod and use it more often, or other steadying methods, including mirror lockup and remote shutter release, not to mention really fast shutter speeds when possible. I'm just not that steady on my own. :(

On this photo, I found that you can pull out more sharpness, so thought perhaps that removing all possible camera shake might have captured it at the time of taking the shot. I could sure be wrong! ;) Here's my redo; I also opened up the dark areas a little more. Hopefully, my monitor's letting me view it accurately....:confused: :eek: