Here's another of that jumping spider with his dinner. This one was taken without the teleconverter, so the magnification isn't as dramatic, but I feel this shot has a bit better composition than just a super-macro shot.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/250 sec at f/16. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in auto mode and wireless control. Image Stabilization on. ISO 160. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Why This Photo: When I found this little guy digging into his dinner, and saw what a cool jumping spider he was, I simply had to see what kind of shots I could manage with him.

What Works: The best item of this shot is the way the metallic green color shows up on the spider's body. This color only appeared on certain angles, so I did have to make some sacrifices to get it, but I think it was worth it. The DoF works to get almost the whole spider in clarity (only possible because of the light provided by the 580EX), and the focus is sharp right on the spider's face. And the bright green leaf produces a nice pleasing background.

What Doesn't Work: To get the green metallic color, I had to sacrifice getting the spider's face and eye contact (many of the other shots have great catchlights in the eyes). Also, the composition would probably have been better if the spider were in the upper right corner, but that simply depended on where the spider was on the leaf (in fact, the edge of the leaf shows in the very bottom left corner).

What do you think? Drop me a comment and let me know.

- Bill