Spiders Around the House

I found these spiders in or around my house in the last two years.

A jumping spider (focus stack of 3 images)

 

Triangulate combfoot (or cobweb) spider (focus stack of 7 images)

There was spider drama the other day. Unfortunately, my photos are crap and the video is hard to watch. Anyway, here goes. 

I spotted this web just outside the garage. A spider, visible as a tiny blob to the left of the rightmost plant stalk, was hanging from a support strand. I thought, "That's a big web for such a small spider to make." It didn't.

An hour later there were two additional, larger spiders. Well, one was present the whole time, right there in the center of the web. The Seek app identified it as a conical trashline orbweaver. These spiders decorate their webs with lines of prey parts, plant debris, and whatnot, and then they hang out at the center, looking like part of the trash. The third spider was on one of the support strands and seemed to pluck at it.

The tiny one, the web mistress, and the plucker

Every so often, the spider in the center would go to this third spider and fight or mate or something. With the excuse that wind is the bane of macrophotography, here's the plucker in action:

 

Running crab spider (focus stack of 3 images)

American green crab spider (focus stack of 6 images). It's on a bedsheet hanging on a clothesline.

A jumping spider (focus stack of 3 images)

Two Bugs

When making a focus stack, the idea is to take a series of pictures, each of which is focused at a different distance, or depth. I usually shoot insects handheld because they tend to move, and my strategy is to set the macro lens to its maximum magnification and then position the camera so that the bug is just out of focus. Then, using burst mode, I hold down the shutter button and move the camera forward. The camera takes pictures as long as I hold the button (maximum 8 per second).

If I move the camera too slowly, I get a lot of shots of the same thing. If I move it too quickly, I miss a slice, and part of the stacked image is out of focus. Like this:

This Asian lady beetle larva didn't move much, and I concentrated on moving the camera slowly so that I wouldn't miss a slice. It turned out well, except the chewing end.

Focus stack of 22 images

Bees are difficult for me to shoot handheld because they move a lot, and quickly. However, sleeping bees do not move! The missing gardener has a celosia patch, and we have seen carpenter bees sleeping among the flowers.

Instead of using burst mode and moving the camera, I took advantage of the bee's stillness and used a tripod and single shots. I used the viewfinder to focus so that the bee's face was almost in focus and took a picture. Then I turned the len's focus ring a small amount and took another picture. I repeated that, checking the viewfinder occasionally, until I'd captured the bee. I also used an extension tube for more magnification.

Focus stack of 16 images

The bee did move a little:

Unretouched stacked image

An antenna moved a bit, so there are shots with it in different positions, and a few of those ended up in the final stacked image. The focus-stacking software I've used lets one paint from a single image into the stacked image. I picked the image that showed the sharpest antenna and painted from that into the stacked image. Then I used a different image with no antennas showing to paint over the unwanted antennas.

I claim these uses of software to produce and improve an image do not contradict my lack of desire to use software to improve an image. I use focus-stacking software to overcome limitations in macro photography, at least in within my budget. I could use a smaller aperture for a larger depth of field, but that would require more light, and I don't want to carry around a flash and diffuser. Gimme my camera and natural light. I won't use software to remove a utility pole, but I will use it to remove artifacts of focus stacking.

Summer Insects

Here are some insects from last July and August.

great spangled fritillary (June)

Japanese beetle on hyssop (focus stack of 4 images)

large milkweed bug on milkweed (focus stack of 6 images)

male ebony jewelwing, a damselfly

northeastern hammertail, a robber fly (focus stack of 5 images)

Is it just me, or does this ant have transparent rings in its abdomen? (focus stack of 2 images)

immature large milkweed bug on milkweed (focus stack of 5 images)

twice-stabbed stink bugs on hyssop (focus stack of 4 images)

Zethus spinipes, a wasp, on celosia

Focus Stacking Artifacts

The focus-stacking software I use can introduce artifacts into images.

 

Sometimes a "reflection" is generated. Here, there's one across the bottom. (Check out the crablike spider at the top.)

 

As I was shooting this caterpillar, an ant made its way along a lovage stem, and focus stacking gave ghost ants. There are reflections at the top and bottom, too.

Without ghost ants

When I shoot macro with focus stacking in mind, I set the lens to the closest focusing distance and then approach the subject until just before it's in focus. Then I shoot a burst as I move the lens closer.

I wanted the bug in addition to the bee. The bug was closest to the lens, so for the focus stack I chose an image with the bug and then skipped some images until the bee was in focus. The result is a semitransparent effect. This happens somewhat often and I haven't figured out when it's likely.

Without the image of the bug in-focus, the bee is less ghostly.

To get the picture I wanted, I took the previous image and pasted-in the bug and parts of the flower.

Mantis Focus Stack

A while ago I assembled an image of a praying mantis from five separate pictures. I recently upgraded PaintShop Pro (cheapskate Photoshop that I can pay for once) because of its focus-stacking feature. Focus-stacking software takes a set of pictures and mashes them together, using the in-focus bits of each one.

Here's that mantis, as created by PaintShop Pro:

Made using PaintShop Pro's focus-stacking feature

It's not perfect, but it's better than I can do and is a helluva lot easier.

Made by hand using PaintShop Pro