Young jumping spider, ready to "balloon"
I was testing another camera / lens setup in my backyard a few days ago and encountered this tiny jumping spider (Maevia inclemens?), preparing to "balloon" from the end of a pine needle at the top of a foot tall pine sapling. These events usually happen very quickly and I could see that it was very close to paying out line and floating away. On this occasion I was stuck with no time to run to the house to get a "normal" macro set-up. The rig I was testing was my D40 with the lens and shutter assembly from a Number 1 Eastman Folding Pocket Kodak, made from 1905 to 1915. The shutter assembly and lens board were mounted on the front of a Spiratone Bellow-Dupliscope bellows using rubber bands. The magnification used to get these images was provided by shooting through the objective lens from a damaged beyond repair Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 ED auto focus lens, standing on edge, hose clamped to the end of the bellows rail. The Kodak lens was racked forward to where it was nearly in contact with the objective's barrel. The rubber bands allowed for positioning the Kodak lens in the center of the objective. This crude air-spaced arrangement works surprisingly well, but focusing hand-held, even with a stick to provide a bit of stability, is difficult. The Kodak shutter was left open on "T", the exposure being made by the D40. The Kodak's lens has three apertures... 1, 2, and 3, with 2 being used. The viewfinder image was very dim and trying to achieve maximum depth of field by using 3, the smallest, was impossible.
I often encounter ballooning spiders and sometimes get some interesting shots. The image on the left was taken as it was backing out to the very tip, the right pic showing it ready to extrude a line of silk. A light breeze was moving the needle up and down, so in this frontal image the eyes fell just outside the focus "sweet spot", with its front legs being a bit sharper. The side view had the needle moving parallel with the camera back, so focus wasn't an
issue... it's a bit sharper. Hoping to get a shot that might show a bit of loose silk behind the spider, I shot once more, the screen image then showing an unoccupied needle... no spider.
Nikon D40, Spiratone Bello-Dupliscope bellows, No.1 Eastman Folding Pocket Kodak Lens /Shutter, Nikon 80-200 f2.8 AF ED objective (reversed), hand held (push-pull focus), pop-up flash bounced off reflectors of a home-made macro bracket.
DSC7961-DSC7965 combo
Young jumping spider, ready to "balloon"
I was testing another camera / lens setup in my backyard a few days ago and encountered this tiny jumping spider (Maevia inclemens?), preparing to "balloon" from the end of a pine needle at the top of a foot tall pine sapling. These events usually happen very quickly and I could see that it was very close to paying out line and floating away. On this occasion I was stuck with no time to run to the house to get a "normal" macro set-up. The rig I was testing was my D40 with the lens and shutter assembly from a Number 1 Eastman Folding Pocket Kodak, made from 1905 to 1915. The shutter assembly and lens board were mounted on the front of a Spiratone Bellow-Dupliscope bellows using rubber bands. The magnification used to get these images was provided by shooting through the objective lens from a damaged beyond repair Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 ED auto focus lens, standing on edge, hose clamped to the end of the bellows rail. The Kodak lens was racked forward to where it was nearly in contact with the objective's barrel. The rubber bands allowed for positioning the Kodak lens in the center of the objective. This crude air-spaced arrangement works surprisingly well, but focusing hand-held, even with a stick to provide a bit of stability, is difficult. The Kodak shutter was left open on "T", the exposure being made by the D40. The Kodak's lens has three apertures... 1, 2, and 3, with 2 being used. The viewfinder image was very dim and trying to achieve maximum depth of field by using 3, the smallest, was impossible.
I often encounter ballooning spiders and sometimes get some interesting shots. The image on the left was taken as it was backing out to the very tip, the right pic showing it ready to extrude a line of silk. A light breeze was moving the needle up and down, so in this frontal image the eyes fell just outside the focus "sweet spot", with its front legs being a bit sharper. The side view had the needle moving parallel with the camera back, so focus wasn't an
issue... it's a bit sharper. Hoping to get a shot that might show a bit of loose silk behind the spider, I shot once more, the screen image then showing an unoccupied needle... no spider.
Nikon D40, Spiratone Bello-Dupliscope bellows, No.1 Eastman Folding Pocket Kodak Lens /Shutter, Nikon 80-200 f2.8 AF ED objective (reversed), hand held (push-pull focus), pop-up flash bounced off reflectors of a home-made macro bracket.
DSC7961-DSC7965 combo