LORD M's Macro thingies - Spiders, insects n shit

[LORD M]

Since I was a little boy I have always loved insects and spiders and I am very familiar with their world. They're the most fascinating and complex creatures on earth. They were the first animals on land and the first animals in the air. They exist everywhere. No other group of animals are as succesfull as the
insects and spiders. When I for the first time saw one of these small little critters through my newly bought macrolense - a new world of wonders opened for me. Every detail invisible to the eye could now be seen, every single straw of hair, every armourlike chitin plate, every facet in the facet eye.


When taking these photos I used myself of a Sony Alpha 100 and my wonderfull Tamron SP AF 90 mm F/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 lense.

This big (3 cm lol) black spider is a member of the Orbweavers (Araneidae) family. I have yet to establish what spieces it is.








This cute little fella is a jumping spider (Salticidae). Yet to determine which spieces it is.










These are some of my first macro shots at insects and spiders. If you feel like giving me advice on how to improve, please do. I will forever be gratefull.
(Yes I know there's no insects here yet, but I will post.)

[purplerose]

Resize some of the photos dude. Anything larger than 900 pixels is way too big.

I'll be back later.

[LORD M]

Originally Posted by purplerose

Resize some of the photos dude. Anything larger than 900 pixels is way too big.

I'll be back later.

Thanks, they're now fixed.

I didn't realise how big they were, probably because I had a pretty big resolution on my screen.

[purplerose]

Very awesome photos. We have the same macro lens.

Keep posting! Oh, don't forget to fix the first image as well.

[LORD M]

Update. A Hymenopteran.





I have more which I'll post later.

[LORD M]

I am taking an entomology course this fall, so I'm getting education about insects and spiders and all those nice creepy little things that crawl around everywhere. I was out yesterday with my class collecting insects. I brought my camera and macro, but I was stupid and didn't bring my tripod. Oh well, I did get some pretty good shots.

This guy comes from the Diptera family (two wings) and is an Lucilia sericata, commonly known here in Sweden as, roughly translated, a goldfly.

The photo was slightly edited, I brought up details a bit by sharpening it.

Full size for those intressted:http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/9...kopieraxc0.jpg






This next photo is a Hymenopteran (wasp), I don't know which spieces it is yet. I thought he had a pretty evil glare and an all over evil aura somehow.

[purplerose]

Really cool that you're in a course for this, you'll come out with some more awesome macros.

I really like both of these images. I think the crops could be a little tighter though.

[LORD M]

Thanks, Rose. This course is absolutely amazing, exactly what I have been looking for. We went awaay on a 5 day trip and stayed on a scientific research center where the proffessors helped us find and determine insects throughout our stay. For example we went out hunting nocturnal butterflies and I have got some really nice shots of some which I will upload later.


Grasshopper added, order Ortopthera, I will key him later on to determine exactly which specie it is.

[purplerose]

Really cool. Maybe tweak the contrast a bit?

[ukanfoff]

hahaha i just got thw willies lloikin at the pix.
good detail. maybe cropping would help a lil.

[LORD M]

Originally Posted by purplerose

Really cool. Maybe tweak the contrast a bit?

Thanks, I'll try but I am not so very good at tweaking. :P

Originally Posted by ukanfoff

hahaha i just got thw willies lloikin at the pix.
good detail. maybe cropping would help a lil.

Thank you.

Do you mean I should crop the image so you only can see the animal and as little from the background as possible?






Added this pic I took on Öland, Swedens 2nd largest island. It got a fauna and flor unique to the island, which cannot be found anywhere else on the earth. This is not one of those, this is a pretty common species. I haven't keyed it yet but I can atleast say it's from the order Orthoptera and in the overfamily Califera (grasshoppers).

I like the detail on his antennae where a bit of webbing got caught. :P




And while on the subject of cropping, is the right one best?

[purplerose]

Yepp, right one is the best. Allows us to see more details, but keeps the subject sharp.

[LORD M]

Originally Posted by purplerose

Yepp, right one is the best. Allows us to see more details, but keeps the subject sharp.

Ah ok, got it. Thanks

[GoGoGodzirra]

I think you have the composition down nicely, but unfortunately the detailing in some of the invertebrates are very noisy, and lost within that noise. The focus point is lost on a few but you do great with getting the detailing in the shots of the fly.
I really like the depth with the Hymenopteran wasp.