The Tyrannosaurs Rex Of The Backyard (A Collection Of Spiders)

Photographing spiders is somewhat a hobby of mine. I used to be terrified of them. I'm still not 100% comfortable handling a spider and I certainly don't like it when one runs under my bed. The majority of these beautiful examples of life are harmless, unable to see very well, they amble about like fat kings without a threat in a world. A spider will never bite you for no good reason, you need trap it, apply pressure or torment it. If you just let say allow a Red-Back to wander onto your hand freely you'll be fine. Please after reading this don't go handling dangerous spiders, if you do, do it at your own risk.

When you shoot Macro, the landscapes in which your subject reside become fantastic alien worlds. This Salticidae (Jumping Spider) was photographed in India on my windowsill. The fungus and growths it stands on make it look like it is standing in some Dystopian snowy world from Game of Thrones. It's hard to plan a macro shot, the use of the flash is hard to predict, but this is exactly what I love about it. You focus, and bang, flash your micro film set and the results are amazing.

Above: One of my favourite species of Jumping Spider, Myrmaplata plataleoides sp, or more commonly known as the Ant Mimic spider. Over millions of years of evolution this spider has evolved to mimic these aggressive ants that live within the same Eco-system. This is perfect engineering, the Ants are by far the most dominant life form on earth. They are everywhere and they have some of the most spectacular defence mechanisms in the natural world. Few mammals mess with the Ant and this mimicry behaves like an invisibility cloak. The spiders natural predators just look away. Like I said nothing messes with the Ant.

Above: This is Roger. A beautiful Hyllus sp Jumping Spider. He lived on a plant in a cafe I dined in most days in India. I photographed his so extensively I gave him a name.

This image of a Wolf Spider was taken in a spectacular location on the outskirts of Pune, India. It was an abandoned Butterfly and Insect farm/ Museum. The place was dilapidated, without a roof and overgrown, the specimens had breed extensively and were all over the place. It was a photographers dream. I'll be sure to make a future post about this place soon, but unfortunately it was found at the end of a long day shooting and my battery died after 10 minutes inside.

Macro is full of surprises. As you explore the art form more you will find your eyes start to become sharper. You'll notice micro movements on a leaf 10 metres away, you will begin to notice unusual dis-colouration on the ground, leaves and branches and upon closer inspection, these abnormalities are almost always a macro subject. The spider above is translucent, the image doesn't really do it justice but as it moves about the leaf, it is almost impossible to see it except for it's reflective eyes which glow in the light.

Some spiders are not so cute. This tiny green Thomisidae sp or Crab Spider has googly eyes. I shot this photograph inside a remote abandoned temple on a mountain. There was little macro life at this altitude and this little guy/ gal looked spectacularly different from other spiders I'd photographed in India. So many different factors affect evolution so dramatically it makes it by far the most rewarding form of photography.

Quoted "That thing you heard at summer camp about daddy longlegs being the most poisonous creature in the world, but with fangs too weak to bite you? Not true. They don't even have fangs, and they can't make venom, either. According to Clouse, the rumour might have gotten started during “the retelling by an American tabloid of a study in Australia on the venom of a daddy longlegs there; the problem is that in Australia, ‘daddy longlegs’ refers to a type of spider,” also known as the cellar spider. And, if that's not confusing enough, there's another creature that sometimes goes by the name daddy longlegs: The crane fly.

One of the coolest shots of a spider I managed to grab is not of a spider at all but it's recently moulted exo-skeleton. This is how they grow. The newly grown exo-skeleton bursts out of the old one and moves on. What a treat.

If you want to capture a spider enjoying a meal then sunrise or sunset is the time to do it. It is difficult because of the loss of natural light makes them hard to spot, but if you do find a spider sucking on an unfortunate fly then you are likely to have a good amount of time with the subject, as they become lazy and more focused on eating than the gigantic lens in their face. Try your best to not disturb them and shoot away.

Macro is a journey. A way to connect to the natural world and get a feeling for existence and what it means to be alive. Tread with care and shoot patiently and you will be rewarded with a rich experience of life.

Have a nice day,
Cotton!