[Recovered Thread: 30203]

[djb]

geofs, fantastic shots!!! it's amazing to see how the crab spider would blend in to the flower as the colorings of both are the same. i'm surprised the spider took on such large prey. cool critters aren't they?

dennis

p.s. aladyforty, aren't tiger snakes and brown snakes quite common in Australian subburbs? got any photos of them yet?? just be careful they are 2 of the world's most poisonous snakes.

[geoffs]

djb wrote:

geofs, fantastic shots!!! it's amazing to see how the crab spider would blend in to the flower as the colorings of both are the same. i'm surprised the spider took on such large prey. cool critters aren't they?

Dennis, thanks for the compliment!

I've done a little bit of internet research on the crab spider - particularly this species, and found out that this spider has the ability to change its color depending on the background field of the flower it is hiding within. So far I've seen pictures of white and yellow colored phases of this spider.

Apparently these crab spiders are known for their ability to take on such large prey. This particular spider is a female - the males are much, much smaller.

[eric s]

Oh, so many things to comment on.

For aladyforty, there is the bumper sticker "I break for moose, and you should too". Geoffs named deer as a problem when run into (and they are) but you should really be afraid of moose. They can weigh more than your car and are often much bigger than a horse. If you hit a moose with your car, your car can "die" but the moose just might run off hurt but survive.

Vito & Geoffs...
What I really mean is this. Take one picture exposed properly for the middle of the darks using a RAW format (which your camera might not have.) This means that the lights are too dark, but still have detail. Then when you convert the RAW formatted file to TIFF (or whatever... some format your editor can work on) you convert it twice. Now first understand that most RAW converters let you change the exposure (I say why this is possible further down. So you convert the RAW file once to get an properly exposed image for the darks and you covert a second time to get a properly exposed image for the lights.

Then in PhotoShop you can combine the pictures by using layers and erasing the parts off the top layer that you don't want (this causes the bottom layer to show through.) This gives you a single picture with parts from each of the two different exposures of the same RAW. This is possible because the RAW file format often has some exposure latitude that when used doesn't hurt the picture (unlike just shifting brightness, which lightens the picture but can really mess the colors up.) Literally, there is an "exposure" slider in the PS CS RAW converter window. You can reduce the exposure by about 1 stop, or increase it by about 2 stops (although I rarely go that far.)

What I described above could be done by taking two pictures, in JPG, at different exposure settings. Then you combine them the same way as I describe above. The problem is that you need a static scene to achieve this (of course.)

Geoffs, the problem of DOF is one of light. Macro is hard because to get a decent DOF you need a really small aperture (f22 or higher.) But since you're using a camera with a really small sensor you get a larger DOF by default. So that is in your advantage. But by adding more light you could use a smaller aperture. That doesn't help you on exposure, but it does help with your "I want more DOF" desire.

Eric

[geoffs]

Thanks for all those explanations of things, Eric! It took you time to do that and I appreciate it very much!

Yes, moose are much worse than deer should you hit them, but fortunately moose are way less common than deer on the roads in the majority of the US.

The explanation on how to properly use RAW for maximizing detail in shadow and highlight areas was great. It is one very convincing reason to use RAW, at least for certain types of photography. On my camera it is very painful to use RAW because the write time to the storage card is about 12 seconds for each image and during that time the camera is basically locked up. But for macro photography, at least of the type I am doing, I don't see the problem with using it. I will be trying this technique for sure in the coming days.

While I'd like to increase my DOF by using a smaller aperture, I was already at the smallest aperture provided by my camera - f/8.0. It seems like the only way I could have increased my DOF is through some other combination of macro lenses giving me the same magnification but at a further distance from the subject - is this a correct statement?

[Eric CAN]

Normcar wrote:

If you want to really get radical, you could use layers and masks to create a perfect impression.

Meter your subject perfectly. Take your shot

Meter your background. Take your shot

Take both into either PSP or photoshop

combine both

and dazzle the company.



Either that, or work with light, which is more difficult, but I think more promising and successful

There's nothing radical about mask layers !! LOL , I do it all the time these days :crazy:

Very nice capture Geoff, I forgot to mention, these are keepers, you should be proud of them :-D

Cheers !

[geoffs]

Thank you, Eric CAN! Coming from you, I take the compliment very seriously!!!

[photosbyvito]

i agree with eric.....definetely keepers....well...i think the third one is the "keeper"

Vito

[djb]

geoffs, i was going to comment that the spider was probably a female due to it's size. as for the color changing, i wasn't sure but thought i had read something to that effect. i had a green crabbie on my truck the other day and never got to get a picture of it. wouldn't have been half as good as yours.

dennis

[geoffs]

djb wrote:

as for the color changing, i wasn't sure but thought i had read something to that effect.

I have some yellow roses in my garden - I'm going to keep an eye out on those roses to see if I can't find some crab spiders that have turned yellow for better camouflage.

[eric s]

Originally Posted by Geoffs

I'm going to keep an eye out on those roses to see if I can't find some crab spiders that have turned yellow for better camouflage.

Wait a sec. Change color?? No one told me they could do that!!! You just might inspire me to go looking for these little critters.

Eric