Best, ADi
jumping spider
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
jumping spider
Hi
Best, ADi
M6M2 + DCR150 + Mitu10x, 1/4s , LED, 561*(DOF/3)Best, ADi
Re: jumping spider
Amazing and spectacular.
Troels Holm, biologist (retired), environmentalist, amateur photographer.
Visit my Flickr albums
Visit my Flickr albums
- rjlittlefield
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Re: jumping spider
Nice!
Also unusual -- notably the absence of sharp reflections of light sources in the eyes.
Is that a matter of retouching or some special illumination?
--Rik
Also unusual -- notably the absence of sharp reflections of light sources in the eyes.
Is that a matter of retouching or some special illumination?
--Rik
Re: jumping spider
Hello Troels,
Thank you very much, I am very pleased!
Best, ADi
Thank you very much, I am very pleased!
Best, ADi
Re: jumping spider
Hello Rik,
This is a combination of the extremely diffuse lighting, the lens hood on the lens and of course the image processing.
I wanted to avoid reflection from the lens at all costs.
Such photos of spiders with pupils in their eyes look good, are celebrated on Instagram and Facebook and considered natural by many people.
Unfortunately, spiders' eyes do not have pupils.
I am still looking for the best solution.
At the moment, I'm tending to take the centre of the eye from a photo of a black, shiny ball.
Do you have any other ideas?
Best, ADi
This is a combination of the extremely diffuse lighting, the lens hood on the lens and of course the image processing.
I wanted to avoid reflection from the lens at all costs.
Such photos of spiders with pupils in their eyes look good, are celebrated on Instagram and Facebook and considered natural by many people.
Unfortunately, spiders' eyes do not have pupils.
I am still looking for the best solution.
At the moment, I'm tending to take the centre of the eye from a photo of a black, shiny ball.
Do you have any other ideas?
Best, ADi
- rjlittlefield
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Re: jumping spider
There are a couple of approaches that may help.
First is to avoid wrap-around diffusers, especially diffusers that are shadowed by the end of the objective and thus produce a sharp-edged circular "black hole" that looks like a pupil.
Second, probably in conjunction with the first, is to retouch from original source or from a slabbed output so that only the surface of the eye and reflections of nearby hairs are rendered in sharp focus. Reflections of "distant" environment, including diffusers, will always be focused somewhat behind the surface of the eye, so with careful retouching it is possible to avoid that sharp-edged black hole.
Here is a short and rather ugly test stack that illustrates both these ideas. The stack was shot long ago to investigate the first idea, and I have just now reprocessed it to incorporate the second. Note that the faint but large gray crescent at the bottom of each eye is the reflection of a large wood platform that the spider was sitting on. See viewtopic.php?t=13636 for an overview of the setup and effects of other diffusers and placements.
A third idea is to shoot the spider twice, once with whatever illumination you need to make the body look good, then again with different illumination that makes the eyes look good, and combine those with retouching. Probably you will have to retouch outside Zerene Stacker in this case, because Zerene's alignment algorithm often gets confused by changes in illumination.
One final issue: it is unavoidable that viewers will infer the structure of the eye from the reflections that they see in it. (Aside from prior knowledge, the reflections are really the only cues they have.) If there are no sharp reflections, then the surface will look matte. If the reflections are blobby or mottled, then the shape will look dimpled, especially if the blobs or mottling are different in the two eyes. So, to convey shiny and spherical, the image must show some sharp reflections and no inconsistent blobs or mottling.
--Rik
Re: jumping spider
Hello Rik,
Thank you very much for your suggestions!
I really like the eyes in your photo.
Now I also have something to try out :-)
Best, ADi
Thank you very much for your suggestions!
I really like the eyes in your photo.
Now I also have something to try out :-)
Best, ADi
Re: jumping spider
Lovely baby. He reminds me a bit of ET. As for the reflection on the spherical surface of the eye, the method proposed by Rik produces an acceptably natural effect. Blurring in post-production can unfortunately seem like a blurry dead eye. I like the masterful photos in nature of Thomas Shahan, who uses a simple elliptical diffuser, but you can still see the lens in the eyes of his spiders and even his hand http://www.thomasshahan.com/wp-content/ ... raeyes.jpg
==best, Pawel
==best, Pawel
Re: jumping spider
Another approach for avoiding reflections is crossed polarization.
Nice image, BTW!
Nice image, BTW!
Pau
- rjlittlefield
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Re: jumping spider
This is true, but without any reflections at all the eye becomes solid black and can look rather like a black pit.
It occurs to me that one might set up multiple light sources to get desired modeling on the body, cross-polarizing all but one of them to give an isolated catchlight from the eye surface. I have never tried that, so I don't know whether it actually works.
--Rik
Re: jumping spider
Hi Rik,
Multiple light sources and polarisation could be difficult.
So the light sources would have to have the same position of the polarising filter, wouldn't it?
Best ADi
Multiple light sources and polarisation could be difficult.
So the light sources would have to have the same position of the polarising filter, wouldn't it?
Best ADi
Re: jumping spider
Not that much if you use continuous illumination and each source polarizer is rotatable
Relative to the camera lens analyzer yes, they wouldSo the light sources would have to have the same position of the polarising filter, wouldn't it?
I've only used two configurations: a) two light sources and b) one ring shapped fiber optic or flash tube
Pau
Re: jumping spider
Hello Pau,
Best, ADi
OK, and the rotation of the polarizing filter is parallel to each other.each source polarizer is rotatable
do you happen to have an example photo taken with it?I've only used two configurations
Best, ADi
- MarkSturtevant
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Re: jumping spider
A very nice picture and interesting discussion.
This season I've been experimenting taking pictures with the lights at different positions if I have a shiny subject. Each picture will have a highlighted area, but in different positions. I am trying to combine them in layer masks or whatever to get a final picture with less highlighting.
I do like highlights of some sort (personally), and I don't really mind seeing details of the lighting or the diffuser reflected in jumping spider eyes. In fact, those are worth surreptitious study. But one thing I don't like are jumping spider eyes taken with a ring flash. The effect is very unnerving.
This season I've been experimenting taking pictures with the lights at different positions if I have a shiny subject. Each picture will have a highlighted area, but in different positions. I am trying to combine them in layer masks or whatever to get a final picture with less highlighting.
I do like highlights of some sort (personally), and I don't really mind seeing details of the lighting or the diffuser reflected in jumping spider eyes. In fact, those are worth surreptitious study. But one thing I don't like are jumping spider eyes taken with a ring flash. The effect is very unnerving.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters
Dept. of Still Waters