Portrait of a Jumping Spider

[Vida van der Walt]

Hi, I'm a new member on this site and would appreciate your comments and any advice to help improve my photography. Thx :)
Canon 5D Mark11; Lens: MP E 65mm; Flash: MT 24EX
Hand held
apert f16; ss 1/200; iso 200

[Mike Moats]

Hey Vida, welcome to BPN and the macro forum. Very cool first post. Excellent details on the eyes and love this little guys eye lashes. I also like the DOF and the BG. Well done and looking forward to seeing more.

[Christopher Miller]

Welcome to BPN, Vida! Wonderful up close look at this little guy. Love all the details, particularly the eyelashes. Nice colors and BG. My one suggestion would be to clone out the light line in the BG. That's a minor point though on this great image!

[Anita Bower]

This is an appealing spider portrait. Love those eyes, eyelashes and little hairs. Nice colors. Your focus is on the right areas: head and front little arms. Ideally, all more of the front would be in focus, but, it doesn't bother me. I agree about cloning out the lighter horizontal line. Good work. Look forward to more photos!

[Vida van der Walt]

Thank you for the welcome and comments Mike, Christopher and Anita. It is much appreciated. I agree with the light line Christopher and will give it a try as soon as my PS skills are up to it (I still have a lot to learn about image editing in Photo Shop). Anita, you are right and it will definitely look better with more of the legs in focus. Unfortunately the available dof of my lens is very limited and depending on the magnification used only between 0.269 and 2.24 mm at f16.

[Julie Kenward]

Welcome, Vida! If you need some help with PHotoshop check out our educational forum - it's sure to have some great tips.

Love this first image. Only thing I can see that distracts at all are the two small lighter areas at the front of the spider's feet (on the leaf surface). I might think about cloning those out or darkening them a bit. Love the facial area - tack sharp and lots of interesting details! Very nicely done.

[Connie Mier]

Killier image, I love the low perspective you captured. I agree with above suggestions, but such minor changes to an already fabulous shot.

[Steve Maxson]

Welcome Vida! This is an impressive close view of this little spider. You must have been very close - usually jumping spiders don't stay in one place very long and you captured it perfectly. I like the low, eye-level, shooting angle you achieved and the "eye lashes" are very interesting. Excellent sharpness within your DOF. On the other hand, what catches my attention are the dual, rectangular, flash-generated catchlights in each eye. If this was mine, I would clone those such that only one smaller, round catchlight remained in each eye. :) Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Vida,
Excellent presentation and I'm with Steve on the catchlights if you are OK with getting rid of such things. The hair and lashes really make this a standout though.....very nicely done!

[Nick Palmieri]

Everything else has been said. Congrats on a very nice capture!

[John Chardine]

I am very impressed with this image Vida. With the vanishingly small DoF with that lens, even @ f16, I don't know how you hand held! The sharpness, lighting and colour are all great. If it were a bird portrait you might hear a comment that the crop is too tight but I don't think this necessarily carries over to macro work.

[Ed Cordes]

Super sharp where it needs to be. I love the details. I also agree the catch lights are just a bit over the top.

[Vida van der Walt]

Thank you for looking and commenting Julie, Connie, Steve, Roman, Nick, John and Ed. Your suggestions are appreciated. I recently ordered raisers to enable me to diffuse the twin flash and will hopefully receive them soon.:)

[Greg Basco]

Vida, I echo the others' compliments on a fine image. I've played with this lens before and know how shallow DOF is! As others mentioned, you nailed the sharpness where it needs to be sharp. My suggestion would be to play around just a bit with the ratio between the two flashes to get a bit more texture and depth to this kind of image. Setting one of the flash heads 2 times stronger than the other might be a nice variation. By the way, diffusers definitely help. I made some out of cheap silk fabric and elastic for my MT-24.

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

It has all been said. Superb image indeed and the subject is most interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[Vida van der Walt]

Thank you for the kind words Greg and Judy Lynn. I will experiment with the flash as suggested. I saw a video on you tube showing how to make a diffuser for this flash using the tops of Castrol oil cans/holders.(It increases the surface area and is therefore better at diffusing). Unfortunately I later discovered that packaging of Castrol oil differ from country to country and the cans I need are from the USA. I'm still searching for something similar available locally. Unless one of you want to mail me a pair of empty oil cans.;):D

[Ramon M. Casares]

Wonderfull species, light, DOF, detail, colors and BG.
I loved it.
Congratulaitons.

[Morkel Erasmus]

good to see you joined Vida! another tack sharp image from your side. welcome and hope you grow exponentially from here (not that I think you need it!)

[Vida van der Walt]

Thank you Ramon and Morkel. I'm glad you like it. Morkel, I'm sure that I will get some great advice on this site to help improve my photography.:)

[Stu Bowie]

Oh, how this section will enjoy your wonderful images of mini monsters Vida. Welcome to BPN, and Im sure you will get to know the guys and girls on this great site. Cheers for now, Stu.

[Vida van der Walt]

Hi Stu. Thank you for the welcome and it is great to know that you are a member here.:)

[Craig Thompson]

Vida,

This image makes me wish these guy's didn't freak me out so much!!!

This is a very, very nice image! (..looks a bit like "Lizz Taylor" with the "eyelashes" don't you think? {course "Liz" only has two,.. i think?]) ;)

Seriously though,.. I really do like the way you've captured this image, even if the subject gives me the "willies"!!!

Craig

[Vida van der Walt]

Thank you for commenting Craig. Much appreciated. Jumping spiders are sooo cute.:)

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

IMHO nothing needs improving here, except that I wanna see more Vida. Insane image! :)

[Vida van der Walt]

Thanks Akos. Much appreciated.:)