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Tipula sp. head extreme macro, Heesch, Netherlands A few weeks ago, a burst of adult Crane flies appeared in our garden. Out of the blue, we found them everywhere, by the dozens. In their adult phase, they only live for a few days, and most species cannot even feed at this point. Terrible pilots that they are, many were found dead or stuck in cog webs. So I repurposed a spider&#039;s meal for this photo. <br /> <br /> Due to being close to defenseless in their adult stage, most Tipula species look as unremarkable as they can, in terms of color. The mouth parts (rostrum and palpus) looks sizable in this photo, yet seems to have no purpose in most Tipula species. They can&#039;t bite or feed with it.<br /> <br /> As for the &quot;making of&quot;, this one uses a tunnel diffuser, as explained in my previous post:<br /> <figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/104217/ozyptila_sp._extreme_macro_netherlands.html" title="Ozyptila sp., extreme macro, Netherlands"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/2/104217_thumb.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=rRU4aWMjHcO8zuAsmYzp0G292LU%3D" width="200" height="172" alt="Ozyptila sp., extreme macro, Netherlands Whilst playing with our cat in the backyard, I noticed some movement in the grass, a tiny crab spider. Unusually small compared to how I normally find them, and I wasn&#039;t expecting them on the ground. This one I roughly estimate at 4-6mm wide for the abdomen, so without legs.<br /> <br /> I sacrificed this one. To repeat my earlier take on this: I prefer to use arthropods found dead (about 75% of cases), yet sacrifice on an exceptional basis, within moderation. Only if it&#039;s a species not done before, or if the subject is meaningful or promising. And I will always disclose it.<br /> <br /> Technically, I&#039;m pleased with the result, which doesn&#039;t happen a lot when it comes to extreme macro. The interesting &quot;making of&quot; note for this one is that I used a tunnel diffuser. Which is a very fancy way of saying that I enclosed the subject entirely with a paper cup, and then aimed my flash unit directy to the outside of the cup. The paper texture causes soft spread light, yet due to the shape of the cup, light also bounces inside of the cup, in all directions. Altogether, this creates a relatively soft and even light in all directions.<br /> <br /> It&#039;s a delicate process for me to pull this off currently. Positioning the cup without touching anything else is stressful, but once done, you lose focus light. There&#039;s almost no distance between the front of the lens and the beginning of the cup, so hardly any way to get any preview light in there. Therefore, everything needs to be ready, calculated and programmed before taking this step.<br /> <br /> Ways around this would be to have a very strong permanent light next to the cup, to at least have *some* preview light. Or, to have the cup placement procedure be more repeatable, in some permanent position where it always lands in the same spot. I&#039;ll explore that.<br /> <br /> Back on point, ultimately the point of all of it is the subject, not the process. I find it delightfully unsettling. Should have posted it for Halloween.<br /> <br /> As for species, I expect it is in the Ozyptila genus. This genus has relatively dull crab spiders and most are only a few mm in size. Extreme Macro,Extreme Macro Portraits,Netherlands,WeMacro" /></a></figure><br /> The particular challenge for this subject are the antennae. Long antennae add a lot of depth to a scene if you want to have them in focus end-to-end. Whereas the spider example is a 40 stack image, this one is 230 images, and that&#039;s entirely due to the antennae. Extreme Macro,Extreme Macro Portraits,Netherlands,WeMacro Click/tap to enlarge Promoted

Tipula sp. head extreme macro, Heesch, Netherlands

A few weeks ago, a burst of adult Crane flies appeared in our garden. Out of the blue, we found them everywhere, by the dozens. In their adult phase, they only live for a few days, and most species cannot even feed at this point. Terrible pilots that they are, many were found dead or stuck in cog webs. So I repurposed a spider's meal for this photo.

Due to being close to defenseless in their adult stage, most Tipula species look as unremarkable as they can, in terms of color. The mouth parts (rostrum and palpus) looks sizable in this photo, yet seems to have no purpose in most Tipula species. They can't bite or feed with it.

As for the "making of", this one uses a tunnel diffuser, as explained in my previous post:

Ozyptila sp., extreme macro, Netherlands Whilst playing with our cat in the backyard, I noticed some movement in the grass, a tiny crab spider. Unusually small compared to how I normally find them, and I wasn't expecting them on the ground. This one I roughly estimate at 4-6mm wide for the abdomen, so without legs.<br /> <br /> I sacrificed this one. To repeat my earlier take on this: I prefer to use arthropods found dead (about 75% of cases), yet sacrifice on an exceptional basis, within moderation. Only if it's a species not done before, or if the subject is meaningful or promising. And I will always disclose it.<br /> <br /> Technically, I'm pleased with the result, which doesn't happen a lot when it comes to extreme macro. The interesting "making of" note for this one is that I used a tunnel diffuser. Which is a very fancy way of saying that I enclosed the subject entirely with a paper cup, and then aimed my flash unit directy to the outside of the cup. The paper texture causes soft spread light, yet due to the shape of the cup, light also bounces inside of the cup, in all directions. Altogether, this creates a relatively soft and even light in all directions.<br /> <br /> It's a delicate process for me to pull this off currently. Positioning the cup without touching anything else is stressful, but once done, you lose focus light. There's almost no distance between the front of the lens and the beginning of the cup, so hardly any way to get any preview light in there. Therefore, everything needs to be ready, calculated and programmed before taking this step.<br /> <br /> Ways around this would be to have a very strong permanent light next to the cup, to at least have *some* preview light. Or, to have the cup placement procedure be more repeatable, in some permanent position where it always lands in the same spot. I'll explore that.<br /> <br /> Back on point, ultimately the point of all of it is the subject, not the process. I find it delightfully unsettling. Should have posted it for Halloween.<br /> <br /> As for species, I expect it is in the Ozyptila genus. This genus has relatively dull crab spiders and most are only a few mm in size. Extreme Macro,Extreme Macro Portraits,Netherlands,WeMacro

The particular challenge for this subject are the antennae. Long antennae add a lot of depth to a scene if you want to have them in focus end-to-end. Whereas the spider example is a 40 stack image, this one is 230 images, and that's entirely due to the antennae.

    comments (8)

  1. View Ernst's profile
    Ernst
    Lion
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    Ferd, that is incredible and fascinating.How long does it take to finish one completed image? Posted 4 years ago
    1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
      Ferdy Christant
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      Thanks! The actual capturing of all the shots is about 11 minutes in this case. The most time consuming is actually correctly positioning the subject, finding a good angle, preparing light, etc. So before pressing "start", it will at least be an hour or so in preparation.

      As said, then the 11 minutes to capture. Then a few minutes for the software stacking process, and finally an hour or so of post processing.       Posted 4 years ago
  3. View Ruth Spigelman's profile
    Ruth Spigelman
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    Really interesting in regard the mouth parts. 230 images stacked here....mind blown! The end result of these stacks is simply wonderful. Posted 4 years ago
    1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
      Ferdy Christant
      Lion
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      Thanks! Posted 4 years ago
  5. View Christine Young's profile
    Christine Young
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    Wow, Ferdy! 230 stacks is impressive and this photo is incredible -- as good as those in the links we shared a few days ago! You have gotten really good at extreme macro! The eyes and tiny hairs on the antennae are fantastic. Posted 4 years ago, modified 4 years ago
    1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
      Ferdy Christant
      Lion
      View Lion class
      Very nice words, thanks so much! Posted 4 years ago
  7. View Pudding4brains's profile
    Pudding4brains
    Lion
    View Lion class
    Impressive macro Ferdy! Posted 4 years ago
    1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
      Ferdy Christant
      Lion
      View Lion class
      Thanks so much! Posted 4 years ago

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By Ferdy Christant

All rights reserved
Uploaded Nov 13, 2020. Captured Sep 26, 2020 12:46.
country flag of Netherlands Explore Netherlands 8,314 2,306 0
  • NIKON D850
  • f/1.2
  • 1/320s
  • ISO64
  • 50mm

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