Spider nesting

Found this little fellow (~1cm in size) hiding among the strawberry leaves in the garden one day last summer and she (?) was kind enough to sit for a portrait session. Wish I had taken some shots from above as well to better show the pattern on the back since just the face made ID a bit hard.

Specific Feedback Requested

Technical Details

Is this a composite: Yes
Canon 6D, Tamron SP90 macro + Raynox DCR-250, Diffused flash @ f/13, 1/160s, ISO 400. 2 image composite to increase the depth of field. Cleaned up the spider and background a bit and worked on the contrast and colors.

Hi,

The spider looks good and you managed to get the essential parts of the spider in focus. I would like to see more of the abdomen in focus too, but I think that the focus on the spider’s face is so important for this type of shot and takes precedence over the rest of the spider. Well done…Jim

Thats a beauty friend. These are the kind of images I make too, of spiders. This one is beautiful, with the face and eyes in sharp focus.

Very well done.

Balan Vinod

Oh a photographer after my own heart - this looks like a crab spider of some kind. Judging by the position of the eyes and legs and the overall shape of the head. I don’t think my North American spider book will help with an ID though. :grinning:

It looks a little dark and contrasty to me, but that’s subjective. You have the mandibles & eyes in crisp focus and that’s the important part. If I were to make a wager, I’d say this is a female and she’s sitting on an egg sac. I love the pedi palp just barely denting the surface. Applause!

Ingemar, I am not familiar with this spider but you did a wonderful job capturing it, in my opinion. I love capturing photos of jumping spiders. You have the face nice and sharp, and that is most important. The colors of browns on green are very nice. I like that you captured the web right over him as well. He did a great job posing for you, and you did an excellent job capturing him. Very nice.

Ingemar, this is a fine look at this little spider. Your focus on it’s eyes and face are excellent. The few sharp strands of web in the upper right add nicely to the story.

First of all thanks for the nice comments. I agree that the background is a bit dark, and I actually have a second image from this set I’ve been putting together. I’ve tried to be a bit less heavy-handed on that one.