Usually we know something about the subject we're shooting, but while out wandering through the county parks Monday, I happened upon this strange-looking spider having lunch on a milkweed plant. Maybe it was dinner, I'm not sure.
Photographing nature is intruiging, challenging and while shooting 1/2" long, wary spiders, frustrating. Had I known that it was a jumper, I might have continued on my walk. According to most web sites, jumping spiders can jump 50 times their body length. By my calculations, that would have put it squarely on my forehead. Had that happened, my wife would be collecting on my life insurance by now.
This photo was taken with a 105 mm macro lens, with all thre extensions, a circle flash. Jumping spiders have eight eyes, apparently, so I can't tell if it was mugging for the camera. It was a bit jumpy, so to speak, and whenever the flash went off, it moved and I had to reposition myself and the camera.
Photographing tiny creatures is exciting and time consuming. And generally, I don't mind spiders, just their webs I'm always walking into. Yuck.
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