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.

Home Bugs

Here are some bugs I've seen around the house.

Silky harp ground beetle (focus stack of 12 images). Yeah, I blew the exposure.

Red milkweed beetle (focus stack of 16 images)

 

Reddish-brown stag beetle

Hackberry emperor

A click beetle, Monocrepidius lividus (focus stack of 2 images)

Monarch caterpillars on milkweed (focus stack of 2 images)

A bee fly, Villa lateralis  (focus stack of 7 images)

Flies have two wings while bees have four, and files' eyes are generally closer together than bees' eyes.

The Seek app says this is a type of cutworm, or moth larva (focus stack of 9 images)

Cabbage white butterfly on purple coneflower (echinacia)

Metric paper wasp on milkweed (focus stack of 14 images)

When I came upon the scene, this wasp and two yellowjackets(?) were taking apart what seemed to be a monarch caterpillar. By the time I had my camera, one yellowjacket was gone and the wasp had its own portion.

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

I Entered a Contest

Several months ago, while reading a photography magazine, I came across the announcement of a contest. I looked at the handful of photos that accompanied the announcement and thought, "I can do that." This was not a local or even national contest. It was the global Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY 6). I paid my euros soon after seeing the announcement. Then my confidence waned and I had a hard time choosing pictures to submit. I didn't submit my pictures until the day after the deadline, and I'm not even certain they were accepted.

I entered in the insects category. The "shortlist" has been published, and I can see why my pictures did not receive a mention. The great majority that made the shortlist are beyond my capability. Here are the pictures I submitted. I've posted most of these before.

Monarch caterpillar (2019). I chose this photo for its action: Did the caterpillar cause the stem to break?

Honey bee (2019). This one pleases me. The background is clean and the angle makes the image more interesting.

Black swallowtail caterpillar (2024). I chose this because of its simplicity.

I chose this because of the unexpected perspective.

Long-legged fly (2024). I chose this for the slightly low angle and the wave of the leaf's edge.

Honey bee (2024). I chose this for its artistic nature.

Three Bees

Bees are probably my favorite insect subjects, not least because the missing gardener's plantings attract them April through October. If butterflies were half as abundant I might have a different favorite.

This honey bee was part of a failed focus stack. I was going to delete all the shots, but I decided I like this one.

 

A few days after I bought the extension tubes, I was madly trying to get more detailed shots than I could get without them. I moved the camera too much as I was shooting, and the collection of shots did not have enough of this bumble bee in focus. I was going to delete the set, but the missing gardener's comment made me reconsider. A pollen-covered bee is pretty cool.

Focus stack of 2 images

Carpenter bees are my favorite bee, partly because they're large as bees go. Their green eyes and a yellowish patch (males) help give them something I recognize as a face.

As is well-known, bees are busy, so it can be difficult to take a good picture of a bee and even more difficult to get multiple shots for a good focus stack. However, bees are still before they get going in the morning. This eastern carpenter bee spent a chilly (60° or lower) night on a flower. In the morning, I was able to get plenty of shots for focus stacks, and I managed to control the camera's movement to get good focus front-to-back.

Focus stack of 12 images

More Magnification!

Previously, I expressed a need for more magnification. Now I have it in the form of a set of three extension tubes. These attach between the camera body and the lens and somehow permit closer focusing. There are no optics involved; these things are basically empty spacers with electrical contacts that let the camera and lens communicate.

 

The closest I can get with my 100mm macro lens.

The same ruler with the macro lens and 56mm of extension tubes (yeah, I blew the focus).

Woo-hoo! I can get shots of small bugs!

Not quite. As with many things in photography, there is a trade-off. Yes, there is greater magnification, but the penalties are an even shallower depth of field, a need for more light, and magnified camera shake. The one that has been cooking my shorts the most is depth of field.

I started out using all three extension tubes and could barely orient myself. I looked through the viewfinder and couldn't find the bug that was 16 inches away from my eyes. When I did find it, I couldn't get a decent shot because it popped in and out of focus so easily. If I managed to settle in and shoot a burst for a focus stack, I found that I moved the camera too much and parts of the bug were not in focus in any of the shots.

I would have to improve my technique or use a tripod, but a tripod isn't handy for insects that move.

Something that has helped is not using all the extension tubes. I usually want maximum magnification, but if I can't take a good picture maximum magnification doesn't do any good.

Here's another illustration of the magnification. My neighbor had a bald-faced wasp's nest (or white-faced hornet or bald-faced hornet or a bunch of other names) in a garage light, and I obtained one of the fallen comrades before the exterminator arrived.

Macro lens only

Macro lens and 36mm extension tube, focus stack of 5 images

Some More Bugs

More bugs from my yard.

Large milkweed bug on milkweed. Focus stack of 8 images.

Great spangled fritillary

A better shot of a bicolored striped sweat bee (previous post)

Orchard orbweaver. This is the underside of the spider. Focus stack of 2 images.

Bumble bee on a purple coneflower. Focus stack of 9 images.

Orchard orbweaver (Same species, different individual. This one was along the road in the ravine near my house. Also the underside). Combo of two photos: One of the spider and one of the shadow.

Condylostylus patibulatus. Neither the Seek app nor Wikipedia gave a common name for this long-legged fly. Focus stack of 6 images.

I need more magnification! This is the uncropped shot of the long-legged fly. I can crop the photo or zoom in to make the bug bigger, but the details don't look good because relatively few pixels are devoted to the bug.