Saitis barbipes courtship
May, 2016Views
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adambykowski
September 26, 2016
Amazing. I love the green and blue on eyes. I love the legs sticking out in a cute way like they are wings. I love the color of the background.. I just love everything about this. Excellent macro work.
WildPablo
February 01, 2017
This photo is available as a print on my redbubble page:
redbubble.com/people/wildpablo
Please take a look
redbubble.com/people/wildpablo
Please take a look
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo indoors to fully control the setting and my only focus could be getting the make to dance in front of a female. I did not want him to be distracted by other insects or wind. Obviously, it is also a lot easier to retrieve a spider hopping on an empty table than in grassy vegetation.Time
This shot was taken in the evening, since time of day doesn't really matter that much when doing flash photography. For me photography is like therapy after a busy day, I can forget everything around me and only focus on my subject.Lighting
Macro photography requires a lot of light, that's why I chose to use an external flash with a diffuser attached to soften the light.Equipment
This image was shot with a canon 7D and a canon 100mm F2.8 macro lens together with a 36mm extension tube to achieve a higher magnification.Inspiration
I have always been passionate about nature and wildlife, but it's not only iconic animals that grab my attention. Often I lower my scope to look for tiny critters in the undergrowth. Their beauty or behaviour can be dazzling too! I always had a keen interest in spiders, especially jumping spiders and I wanted to capture the determination and perseverance that a male jumping spider can display when courting a female. This spider species is related to the better known peacock spiders of Australia in the Maratus genus and was an outstanding candidate for achieving my goal.Editing
To appeal the female spider, males often have very pleasing colors to make their dance even stand out more. I wanted to really emphasize this and therefore I cranked up the reds a bit. I saturated the greens a little too because I think it makes the spider's colors even stand out more. Apart from color finetuning, I added a litte more local sharpness and contrast.In my camera bag
Most of the time I make the choice between "am I going to shoot birds or other reasonably sized animals or am I aiming for animals smaller than a nickle" because I don't like to be loaded like a donky when venturing out. My standard macro gear consists of my canon 7D body with a 100mm F2.8 macro lens, an external flash (I have used a ring flash in the past but nowadays I don't use it that much anymore) and a flash diffuser. I also carry a good compact, robust and weather sealed camera with me for some quick shots if conditions are harsher.Feedback
This picture is all about the courtship behaviour of the spider. Get to know the animals around you better, observe them, read about them, etc. Once you have this basic knowledge you can set up a design to properly capture the moment that you have in mind with a subject of your liking. When shooting indoors, you obviously have more control over the setting, which can make it easier to make the photo exaclty how you like it. Next to this, timing is crucial, press the shutter button when the action is happening. Also try to lower your point of view to eye level of your subject.
