ShowcaseSix months of jumping spiders (sorry, again)

Back in December I said I'd try to photograph one jumping spider species properly instead of grabbing whatever moved, and it's the end of May, so here's the write-up nobody asked for.

The species is mostly Phidippus audax (the bold jumper, the one with the green chelicerae that look like they've been dipped in metallic nail polish), plus a few Platycryptus undatus off the back fence (tan, flat, basically a sentient piece of bark).

Gear: OM-5 with the 60mm macro, a flash with a diffuser I've rebuilt four times (current version is a Pringles tube lined with baking paper, don't laugh, okay laugh a little), and in-camera focus stacking at 8 frames.

What I learned: the diffuser matters far more than the lens. Winter was useless (no spiders, obviously) so I practiced on a dead one from the windowsill (RIP). Spring has been great. They get used to you if you move slowly. One audax on the porch rail now turns and looks at me every morning (I've named him Gerald, which I realize is a problem).

Best of the six months: Gerald at eye level, all four front eyes reflecting the diffuser as little rectangles, stacked sharp from the eyes to the palps. Worst: roughly 300 frames of the back of a spider walking away.

Would love tips on getting the stacking to work when they twitch between frames.

Gerald! We need Gerald updates now, that's the rules. For the twitching I drop to 5 frames with a narrower focus step, and I shoot the stack the moment they stop and turn to look at me, because that's when they hold still for a second or two. You lose a bit of depth but you get far fewer ghost legs. Also, cooler mornings are your friend. A sluggish spider is a sharp spider!

Kathy_R said:

you get far fewer ghost legs

Ghost legs is exactly the word (I have a whole folder of eight-legged spiders with eleven legs)

Not a spider person in the slightest but I read the whole thing. A Pringles tube diffuser is the most British-sounding bit of kit an American has ever made. Mind you, I once made a lens hood for the Helios out of a cut-down yoghurt pot, so I'm in no position to judge.

This made me smile so much. Gerald turning round to look at you every morning is honestly the best thing I've read on here. I'm not keen on spiders, but I'd like to meet Gerald. Is there anything like jumping spiders in Scotland or is it too cold for them?

tomthurlow said:

the most British-sounding bit of kit

I'll take it (it's a sour cream and onion tube, if that helps the authenticity)

salticid said:

They get used to you if you move slowly.

Lovely project. One species, proper observation, behaviour noted down. That's how naturalists used to work and the photographs are better for it. The best bird photographers I know work the same way, one patch, one species, a whole season, and they end up with pictures nobody passing through could get.

The habituation is real and well worth writing down properly: dates, times, temperature, where he was on the rail. Six months of that is genuinely useful to someone. Platycryptus is a good second subject too, they're far more tolerant than the Phidippus in my limited experience of them on a trip over there.

Platycryptus are sweethearts, agreed. Gerald vanished for two days this week and I was genuinely worried, but he's back (a smaller one has moved in at the other end of the rail, there may be drama). And thank you for the note about writing things down, I've actually been keeping a little log in my phone with dates and temperatures, so maybe I'll tidy it up and post it at the end of the summer (nobody stop me).

Spider soap opera. Keep us posted!