Latrodectus geometricus (Brown Widow Spider)

[Maureen Allen]

Found this lovely lady on my back porch last night. I wasn't too keen on letting her loose in my garage where my light box setup is, so I photographed her in the jar I captured her in. Hence, the odd angle.

Nikon D3s, 105mm, ISO 800, f/22, 1/200, 3 flash units

Comments welcome and much appreciated.

[Allen Sparks]

Hi Maureen, personally this angle is fine with me as it shows the interesting patterns on the abdomen. Wonderful sharpness and the light looks nice. Is the head really that dark or could it be lightened some? very nice image IMO.

Allen

[Maureen Allen]

Thanks for your comment, Allen. The head is a good bit darker than the abdomen. But after looking at several of the RAW images I have of this spider, it is somewhat lighter in a few of them. In this particular image, the head may be a bit shadowed because of the location and intensity of the flashes. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Excellent lighting and detail, if this was taken in a jar (I presume looking into the jar not though it) I am impressed that there are no stray reflections.

[Maureen Allen]

Thanks, Jonathan. Yes, it was taken looking down into a jar.

[jack williamson]

This looks real good Maureen, nice colors and details. As you are from Florida you probably know all about this spider. You can have an infestation of these things very quickly and the scientists have decided that their venom is more potent than a black widow but the brown cannot, for some reason, inject as much as a black. Also a brown will not defend the web like a black will.

Jack

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Maureen. You're getting really good at this! The lighting worked out great, you have good overall sharpness, and I like the diagonal comp. Very well done!

[OvidiuCavasdan]

I like the composition, good dof coverage and excellent details. This is very well done!