H Carolinensis Carapace Molt 19 stack
I keep many arachnids as pets and one is a wolf spider. She has recently molted and this is the carapace from that molt, set on a reflective, black acrylic sur...
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I keep many arachnids as pets and one is a wolf spider. She has recently molted and this is the carapace from that molt, set on a reflective, black acrylic surface.
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Feb, 2015Views
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Awards
Top Shot Award 21
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Top Choice
Superb Composition
All Star
Genius
Magnificent Capture
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mdendekker
February 23, 2015
A really fascinating capture Timothy, great job!!!
And welcome to the viewbug community, I hope you feel right at home
And welcome to the viewbug community, I hope you feel right at home
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo in my home office, where I have set up a home made light box for my macro projects. Home office is kind of a loose term though. More like a re-occupied dining room!Time
It was taken around 7pm at night. I had found the Wolf Spider's molt earlier in the day and set it aside for the photo project that night after dinner.Lighting
I made my own lightbox for these projects. Made of a 20 Inch cube cardboard box with most of the sides cut out and re-covered with white tissue paper. Two thin, small wood planks help hold up the open side of the box. Inside I have a sheet of black (or white) poster board to cover the background and bottom of the box. For this photo I placed a 12 inch square of black acrylic as the base as well. Two desk lamps with 100W 5800K daylight bulbs, one on either side, as well as a flash unit above the box and one more flash unit in front of and slightly to the right of the camera.Equipment
I used a Canon T5i camera, Canon EF-S 18-55mm USM Lens, 13mm+21mm+31mm macro extension tubes, & Sunpak 5858D Tripod. As well as two off brand, cheaper flash units (20-30 dollars each). Two Yongnuo RF603C-II wireless flash triggers.Inspiration
I am an avid arachnid enthusiast who loves seeing the intricate, tiny details of pretty much all things around me. When my own Wolf Spider molted, I saw the opportunity to take an amazing photo of it's molt at high magnification to get an up close and personal view. What remained was how. I decided that a slightly slanted, diagonal view would give an iconic, product style picture of the carapace. The black reflective surface would help cement the feeling. Giving the molted carapace a kind of "helmet" appearance.Editing
This particular image took 19 RAW files to create. After initial lens correction, I sent all 19 RAW files through Helicon Focus to stack using the pyramid method. Once happy with the results, I finished processing the resulting image in Lightroom where I cleaned up some of the inevitable dust from the desert air, darkened the image around the subject and tweaked the color settings until it was mostly a realistic representation of the spider's colors, but with a blueish halo as though it were on display in a gallery.In my camera bag
First and foremost is my Canon T5i camera. Hard to take a picture without a camera. Equally important though, is the lens. My go to lens is the kit lens that came with the camera, the EF-S 18-55mm USM lens. I find the range is just about perfect for walking around. I also add in my macro tubes should I come across a nice macro subject. A small lens that also works in a lot of situations, and is easy to take along is my Yongnuo 50mm f/1.8 lens. I keep one flash in the bag as well as two Yongnuo RF603C-II flash triggers.Feedback
The best advice I can give for this type of picture is patience. Patience in setting up the subject, patience in arranging the lighting, and patience in adjusting the focus for every shot. Rushing through can cause your shots to be too far off from each other to stack properly, or can leave portions of the image unfocused in the final result. Use the sturdiest equipment you can. The smallest sway in your tripod, or smallest give in the mounting can ruin the end result when taking images at such high magnification.
