Jumping Spider Stack

Simonl · Post by **Simonl** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:20 pm

First trial run using my newly created rig.
Not entirely happy with the result but this is due to my operation rather than the setup.
I forgot to reset the aperture so this was shot at f8 instead of f5.6, which I understand may be the optimum for my Nikkor 50mm EL.
Also I should have shot with smaller increments and improved the lighting.

Anyway, 56 shots combined with Helicon focus.

Spider was dead and taken from the freezer, it measured about 5mm or so.

Hopefully my next subject will benefit from these initial mistakes.

Any advice will be welcome.

Thanks

Simon

DaveW · Post by **DaveW** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:08 pm

Excellent first effort Simon. However I would do something about the lighting since the square catch-lights in the eyes do not look natural. You need to find some way of making the light source look round to simulate a shot taken in daylight.

One of the problems with artificial light photography is you can always deduce the lighting from the catch-lights in the eyes. Sometimes these are altered in post processing if you cannot alter the lighting, particular in human portraiture when double catch-lights are present one set is often cloned out using post processing software.

DaveW

lauriek · Post by **lauriek** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:26 pm

That's a really nice first go, is this with the Proxxon table?

My personal preference is for natural colour backgrounds so not sure about the purple, but the stack looks generally very nice, good alignment, clean specimen, good pose!

Simonl · Post by **Simonl** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:46 pm

Thanks for the feedback. Agree the square catchlight isn't the best look, I may have to make a circular difuser ( I have a shoot through umbrella but think it may be too big!).
Yes, first outing with the proxxon, definately not the last. Will have to use smaller increments though, but really like the table. Will try my next effort with more natural background. Understand some people use sand paper

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 2:31 pm

Simon,

Very nice start! (And it's a tough subject for stacking as well)

Yes, the lighting need to be improved... the highlights on one side of the body are burned out, while the other side has areas that lose detail in dark shadows. But I don't think you needed more images in this stack. 56 images when shot at f8 should cover it, and I don't notice and "sharp-soft-sharp" transitions.

F5.6 is the generally the best aperture to use with the 50/2.8 El Nikkor (or half a stop open from f5.6). You can use f8 for magnifications up to about 2.5X, but I think you are beyond that here.

Simonl · Post by **Simonl** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 4:42 pm

Thanks Charles, nice to know about the apperture for sure. I've just made a diffuser by cutting the bottom off a plastic drinks 'glass' and put a couple of layers of kitchen roll over the end to diffuse the light from my flash - I'll add more layers if it is too harsh. Hopefully it will give me a nice round catchlight.

Simon