Attack of the Itsy Bitsy Spider

[Julie Kenward]

Saw this little guy hanging out on the end of a sunflower in my backyard. I love that funky green color he's sporting! The BG was kind of dingy so I added a little periwinkle-colored filter at 25% to add a little interest and take away the boring gray. I also finished with a screen blend mode layer to brighten the whole thing up a bit. I really wish his legs had been more in focus at the ends but this guy wasn't in the mood for holding still. :o

What should I do with that back petal? Leave it? Take it out? Add yellow to bring it closer to the others? What do you think?

Canon 40D, EF 100mm f/2.8 macro + extension tubes
f7.1 @ 1/60th, ISO 400, AWB
Manual mode, pattern metering, handheld, arms braced on outdoor table, natural light

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jules,
I really like this comp wise....but do think you need to lessen the brightness overall on the leaves. Now...DOF......one day we have to switch psoitions.....you go to f22or higher.....and I go down to f5.6 or lower! This one screams f16....ISO 800 (bright BG....what noise?)....pop up flash at minus 1. Come to the dark side:eek:!!!

[sandy richards]

LOL! No one likes bright yellows around here! :) Most people wanted me to tone down MY yellows yesterday too..
I don't mind the yellows here at all, and think the green spider is excellent. Pretty good DOF, but I agree F16 would have been better - however, you'd then have to bump up the ISO a lot to have a decent SS to hand-hold. Rarely do we get the time to set up a tripod with these little critters.

You have a sharp edge on the front petal for the "magic lasso" , so I think I'd wipe out the OOF back petal altogether.

Sandy

[Julie Kenward]

Roman, I'll check the yellows again but I did intend for them to be bright. I left them on the "green side of yellow" since the insect had that tone to him as well. You're right - I probably should have added some flash but I'm not sure I could have taken it to f16 without climbing past ISO 800 and, with my camera, 800 is really about all I try to push it. Will keep these thoughts in mind for the next time, though!

[Ken Childs]

I'm with Roman on taking down the brightness. I'm a bug geek so my eye immediately went for the spider but if I look at this shot for more than a couple of seconds, my eyes keep getting pulled down to the bright yellow. The sharp areas of the spider look great but I would like to see more DOF.

As for the back petal, I think I would add yellow but I would still keep it lighter than the front petals.

[Allen Sparks]

When I first saw this I first focused on the spider head and the yellows did not bother me. Works as is for me.

When shooting macro in low light, I sometimes shoot full flash and go f16 and 1/200s in manual mode. Full flash would have totally changed the look of this photo (maybe for the worse) but I may have given it a try to give me another option on the exposure. I am a novice in using flash (full or fill) but I sometimes try it in low light situations.

[Julie Kenward]

Thanks Ken and Allen. I also rarely use flash so it's hard for me to remember to whip it out in situations like this. Of course, I can also say that about f16...hahaha. I'll take another run at the yellows and see what I think. Thanks for weighing in on the back petal everyone!

[Vida van der Walt]

Hi Jules. Love the spider and the way it is perched on the tip of the flower! Wonder if it could be a little lynx spider. Great comp and the yellow doesn't bother me as I'm mesmerized by the interesting spider.:)

[Paul Lagasi]

Pretty neat little insect, its face almost looks like the Gouch from Sesame Street..nice image