The Jumper

[Stuart Dahne]

I absolutely love the world of Macro Photography! I still struggle with getting the DOF that I want. The importance of shutter speed, light, and exposure mode appears to be magnified when you have this little mass to capture. Any and all help is graciously accepted!

Camera Canon EOS 20D
Exposure Time 0.02s (1/50)
Aperture f/7.1
ISO 200
Focal Length 180mm (288mm in 35mm)
Flash flash fired, compulsory flash mode
Exposure Program manual
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Exposure Mode manual
White Balance auto
Color Space sRGB

[Steve Maxson]

I like the composition here and the even background. These little spiders are very interesting, but hard (at least for me) to photograph. You got the focus on the eyes which is a plus. For me, the out of focus front legs are a distraction and detract from the image. I don't mind the out of focus rear half of the spider. Given that DOF is tiny for these types of shots, I would try a higher aperture (f/16-22) next time and see if that will be enough DOF. The whites around the face look a bit hot on my monitor.

[Fabs Forns]

Incredible detail in those eyes. Wish you'd had moved the subject higher in the frame since you have plenty of room at the top and too tight at bottom. I am aa fan of wide open macro, so DOF is OK with me :)

[Robert O'Toole]

Stuart,

The details and sharpness are great, good work. I really like view and the slightly diagional comp. I agree with Fabs and would also like to see more room at the bottom. Super job of balancing the flash with the background. Using F16-32 would have made is difficult to balance the BG tones to avoid the midnight flash look. DOF looks great to me.

Robert

[Tony Kirkby]

I agree it could be higher in the frame but neverthless a fine shot. Depth of field works very well

[Mike Moats]

Hey Syuart, I really like the DOF on this, and others stated they would like to see a little more on the bottom, but I think it looks ok.

[Vincent Grafhorst]

Great comp and details Stuart! A bit more DOF would have been nice to get the front legs in focus.

[Stuart Dahne]

Thank you all for your time and vision! DOF is a real challenge on these little guys for me. Getting a fast enough shutter is tough. Any suggestions on how to do that would be greatly appreciated.