My husband spotted this little guy on our blinds, and so I immediately got an envelope and coaxed him on it, took him outside where he belonged. Ran back and got my camera. He had crawled up into this leaf that was too close to the ground for me, so I plucked the leaf and rested it into the Spiderwort flowers, and got this shot before he decided he didn’t like to pose for me after all.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
I wish the brown dead debris wasn’t on the leaf on his left side, but I couldn’t move it without disturbing him, and it is too close to him in the curl of the leaf to clone out. I figure he is in nature, and nature isn’t always perfect.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Anything to improve.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 100 mm L macro lens, KX-800 twin flash with a diffuser, manual settings at f19, 1/90, ISO 160, hand held.
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This is a fantastic photo Shirley. You seem to be “one” with these little spiders. So good of him to pose. I like that you got him into the leaf, this for me, really helps focus just on him. The detail is amazing. The small amount of dead leaf particles don’t bother me, they add a more realistic feel to the whole photo. Great job.
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Superb color and color contrast in this image. I think you could probably lighten up the black parts of the spider with the selection brush, being careful not to diminish the intensity/depth of the black body parts, especially around the eyes. Well done!
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Nice job and good for you to do the running back and forth to get the shot of the little guy. Spider is nice and sharp with lots of detail. I don’t mind the bit of debris inside the leaf with the spider. I do wonder how a vertical crop would look by removing the other surrounding plants.
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Shirley, this works very well as presented. The funnel of the leaf pulls my eyes right to the spider. The details in it’s face and legs look great, as do the iridescent palps. The debris next to the spider is dark enough so that it doesn’t pull attention from the spider. The bits of spiderwort add some nice color. Given the shape of the leaf, did you get a chance for a vertical?
Mark, I didn’t get to try the vertical, although I have been guilty when opportunity presented itself, that I have forgot to try, so probably wouldn’t have thought of it. I liked the buds and blooms on both sides, and was including them. He got tired of my shenanigans after one shot, and moved on. He social distanced himself from me!
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Clearly one up-to-date spider… 
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Hi Shirley,
Jumping spiders are the cuties of the arachnid world. I like the pose and there’s enough DOF to delimited the essential items of the image. The white hairs and iridescence of the chelicerae are nice bonus features.working at this size requires modest extension to get near frame filling spider shots. I think that if you went vertical and were able to come in closer would have made a more stronger comp. Otherwise, a nice capture and it works for me…Jim
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Shirley: Great capture and effort rewarded. Sometimes you only get one shot and you made this one count. Bravo! >=))>
I love this image. Poised and ready to jump. Did it jump out at you and make you jump to?
Mark, he didn’t jump, actually, but he did start crawling out and had his back side to me by the next shot (I couldn’t see what end I was shooting of the little guy in the viewfinder). 
I really have grown to like the jumping spiders, after learning that they aren’t harmful, although if pressed, they could bite, but it would be something like a wasp sting, from what I understand. There was a time when any spider was something to be afraid of, so knowledge is valuable.
Thanks to all of you for your kind words.
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