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Female Brilliant Jumping Spider (phiddippus clarus)
Female Brilliant Jumping Spider (phiddippus clarus)
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Mar, 2020Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo in my hometown located in northern Minnesota, there's hiking trails which I love and where a majority of my photos are taken.Time
I'd say this photo was taken around 5 or 6 in the afternoon since I work my mornings. Once I'm off it's straight to the trails which I can't wait for most days.Lighting
Since this is a macro shot and I'm mostly dealing with small fast moving subjects such as arachnids and insects, I usually shoot up to 1/250th of second with a DIY flash diffuser, with the diffuser I can create soft light to illuminate the subject and it's surrounds. I managed to fully capture the spiders face and the piece of foliage it was standing on which I was happy with, there is also a little background which I think brings some depth.Equipment
This photo was taken with the Olympus OM-D EM5 Mark ii using the M. ZUIKO 60mm 2.8 macro lens with a Raynox 250 lens attachment. The lighting (which is essential and most important in macro) is provided with the Olympus STF-8 Dual Flash system with a DIY diffuser. Also a Olympus HLD-6 grip/battery holder for extral battery life and better hold of my camera since it has gotten a bit heavy.Inspiration
I have always been a huge animal lover and fan of nature documentaries such as planet earth and blue planet etc., growing up, it was my dream to shoot for a nature series or such prolific magazines such as national geographic. Since of course those dreams didn't turn out, I decided to make it into a hobby. I bought my camera and my setup and starting taking photos and loved it, seeing other macro photographers taking stunning macro photos of things you might overlook has inspired my love for macro. I also really love jumping spiders :)Editing
Post for this photo was minimal because I managed to get the lighting correct. I only bumped the contrast and the saturation up a bit to show some color and sharpened for detail.In my camera bag
Since I usually hike for a few hours, my backback consists of extra batteries for both the camera and the flash, I also bring my 25mm lens in case I decide to switch it up a bit. I bring water and snack such as an energy bar and rain coat if the weather changes on me, I also bring The National Audubon Society Field Guide To Insects & Spiders which is my best friend.Feedback
A photo like this can be easily achieved using minimal equipment such as a flash and a macro lens and a quick DIY diffuser (I've used paper towels). Finding the subjects is even easier! There are tons of insects and spiders around every corner and the most interesting may be in your own backyard. Through trial and error and bit of ingenuity, anyone is capable of taking stunning photos of even the smallest things we overlook.
