JPP300

Tarantula Eyes

Macro shot of a Chile Rose Tarantula.

Macro shot of a Chile Rose Tarantula.
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NIKON D800

settings

Aperture f/20 ISO 800 Shutter 1/40 Focal Length 1050/10

upload_date

Feb, 2016

Views

474

Likes

+108

Awards

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Peer Award

+56

Absolute Masterpiece

Superb Composition

Top Choice

All Star

Outstanding Creativity

Magnificent Capture

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Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo in my home on a kitchen table homemade studio. I put the tarantula on a piece of black acrylic which was on top of a cake baking turntable. This meant that whatever direction the spider faced I could slowly rotate the turntable to face my camera. The acrylic and turntable were placed inside a light cube with a black cloth background too.

Time

Nothing exciting about the time of day as I controlled all the lighting in the image and only used artificial lighting.

Lighting

I used a Nikon R1C1 kit with two flashes to light the spider. Both placed at 45 degrees to the camera and set at the same power and distance. I used the SU 800 Commander to trigger the lights and a 105mm lens. Both lights had a diffuser on them to soften the lighting and make it more even.

Equipment

I shot the image on a Nikon D5 Camera with Nikon 105mm Macro Lens mounted on a Manfrotto CF tripod. An SU800 Wireless Commander unit was placed on the hot shoe and then two SB R200 Flash units were used to light the spider evenly from both sides. A light cube with black background and acrylic sheet on top of a turntable were used as the place to hold the spider.

Inspiration

I was inspired to take some macro shots of my tarantulas by a photographer called Igor Siwanowicz who has made fine art imagery of lots of invertebrates.

Editing

I just cropped the image and adjusted the levels to darken the shadows slightly. The red colour is the actual colour of the spider. I then sharpened the image on Adobe Camera Raw and resized for the web.

In my camera bag

My bag changes depending on what I am shooting, I have three bodies, Nikon D800, D4 and D5. 14-24mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm all f2.8 lenses and a 50mm f1.8, 105mm macro, SU900 speedlights. I also have a Fuji x100f for travelling and silent shooting. For wildlife I use a 600mm f4 usually but also 300mm f2.8 if more mobile.

Feedback

Before trying to photograph an actual animal I would practise on something similar sized so that the lighting is tested and set up how you want before having a ‘live’ sitter. Although generally docile large spiders can be incredibly fast moving and when looking through a macro lens at them this can give quite a shock.

See more amazing photos, follow JPP300

JPP300

JPP300

Tarantula Eyes

Macro shot of a Chile Rose Tarantula.

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow JPP300

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