on Overcoming the Creative Block, Patience and Portrait #38

It has been awhile...

I am back from almost three months away from blogging. My day job got a lion's share of my time and sapped all the enthusiasm away from me. There were times when I found myself lost and devoid of creativity. Even taking photos became a chore of sorts.

Getting over the creative block meant taking time away and doing other things. I rescued my guitar from the back of the closet, bought a pen and a sketch pad, and did some experimenting in the kitchen. Focusing on other things helped me ease myself back into doing what I love to do. I am sure a lot of the people I know who share this hobby with me have their own stories to tell about how they fell out and back in love with photography.

The first thing I did when I felt I got my mojo back was to finish editing a set done two months ago for my friend's makeup portfolio. Paulyn invited me to shoot Hanna, who was on vacation in the country, for her blog. It was such a blast working with the two of them. Paulyn did a splendid job with the makeup and Hanna was very easy to work with. I'm glad I took this shoot even on short notice since this will probably be my only chance to get to have Hanna as my model.

I would probably avoid using my macro lens the next time I shoot portraits in a studio(ish) environment next time. Post processing is such a pain when using the macro lens; too many unwanted fine detail. It took me hours to finish cleaning things up.

It took a while for me to publish the set but in the end it was worth it. One thing I learned during this shoot is that I should always be patient and not be in a hurry when I am shooting or retouching. Patience is not a part of my vocabulary but I learned that you cannot rush things when you seek aesthetic satisfaction. Creativity will come in waves. Sometimes it consumes you until you run out of energy and other times it dries up even when you desperately need it. What matters is that know when you have it and that you make the most out of it when it's there.

Portrait #38: Johanna

Well, there you have it. Another set published and another portrait to add to my project. I will hopefully write another blog in the next couple of days. 

PS: A big thanks to Paulyn Dy for always trusting me to shoot her portfolio and to Hanna for being an awesome model!

PPS: Hanna's portrait just went popular in 500px.com an hour after I uploaded it. Oh happy day!

on Finding Crab Spiders

I've been under the weather lately and work is killing me. Anyhow, I found some time to blog since tomorrow is a holiday. This post is long overdue.

It's been a long time since I started doing macro work and people often ask me this question: "how on earth do you find these spiders?"

 perfectly camouflaged in its surroundings and waiting for passing prey...

I've learned a lot about how to track spiders and where the most promising spots are in our little garden. Since I specialize in Jumping Spiders, I tend to go to spots where there are big leaves as they like to hang out there. But the most sure fire way to track them down is look for the food source. Where there are flying and crawling insects, you will surely find a spider nearby.

 front view of this Crab Spider...

This curious little critter is what we commonly call a Crab Spider since its stance is similar to that of a crab. They tend to be well camouflaged and according to my research can change color after a few days of being in the same spot. I've seen greens, yellows and brown colored ones in the past. This particular one is somewhat orange as I found it on dried up leaves and flowers. They are really hard to spot since they do not move and are well hidden. They are ambush predators and wait for days on end to catch prey.

 old photo of a Green Crab Spider...

I think I am lucky to have spotted and photographed this specie as it is very hard to find one in the confines of our small garden. I am hoping that by exploring other areas, I'd find some more of them in the future. And since tomorrow is a holiday, I'll make it a point to go shoot macro. 

on Finding the Ant Mimicking Spider Part 2

I found another Ant Mimicking Jumping Spider.

It did not resemble the long jawed ant mimic I posted a week ago. It looked like an ordinary ant with funny looking antennae poking through the side of its head. I normally would have just ignored it but What gave it away was that it jumped. I instantly knew this was another ant mimic.

I followed it as it went about its business and found out that the telling sign is not that it jumped; because it did it only twice.  It was the fact that it moved its thorax (rear end) up and down while it was walking which was not a normal thing for small black ants. It moved a bit faster than most ants and didn't seem to follow the straight lines that ants usually take.

I got only a few useable photos because the spider was really small. Here are my photos of this Ant Mimic Jumping Spider.

I got lucky again last weekend and found a few more. I will post them when I have the time.

on Finding the Ant Mimicking Spider

I went through my archive and found the most curious Jumping Spider that I still have yet to blog about. This is the jumper that I have long searched for. In all my years of macro photography, I encountered it only twice and this was the first time I had a good shot of it.

The Salticidae I am talking about is the Ant Mimicking Spider (Myrmarachne). There are a lot of species found in the Philippines but so far, this is the only one found in our garden. I found it on top of the car because it looked weird for an ant. When I took a closer look, I found that it huge jaws and fangs. I took some shots of it before it fled when a bigger Salticidae arrived. If you compared it side by side to the more common jumpers, it will be relatively small and looks incapable of fighting off the larger ones like the Cosmophasis I posted in my last blog.

Here are two of the shots I got for the Ant Mimicking Spider on top of the car. Shot with the same 90mm macro and 50mm reverse stack and an on-cam mounted strobe with an omni-bound diffuser. The greenish tint is from the reflection of the leaves.

I will search for these spiders more this summer. I don't really know how to track them down since I only saw it twice. The next one I find, I will probably observe it more so I get an idea of how they behave and where they are commonly found. Wish me luck! 

on Shooting Orb Weavers

I often shoot macro during the daytime in shaded places where I often find Jumping Spiders and winged insects. But there are times that I go out at dusk to find orb weavers. It is very interesting to shoot orb weavers at dusk while they build their webs. These are busy like critters who are masters at creating their masterpiece webs.

Most of the orb weavers I find near our house are found in the tall grass or shrubs. They usually build webs in between two branches or two plants. Finding them is easier that finding those fast moving or well camouflaged jumpers. Bringing a flashlight will help in locating webs. A fresh web is usually a good sign of spiders. If you do not see them in the center, they are lurking on the sides in leaves. Tapping the web lightly will also stir them from their hiding places.

Here are two photos of orb weavers I found during the Holy Week. I had some lucky shots as it was really dark when I found them and the wind did not help either. These were shot using a single strobe mounted on-cam with an omni-bounce diffuser.

I would like to shoot more of these spiders. If only the grounds keeper would leave the grass tall in front of our house, I'd be having a field day. But sadly, they trim it from time to time, which destroys the habitat. I hope to find more of these before summer ends.

on Cosmophasis Jumping Spider

I have a new favorite spider family which is the Cosmophasis. I have found quite a number of them in the garden and in front of our house. These are agile Jumping Spiders who are not so skittish. They are the type who prowl and move about often and they move really quickly. I chanced upon it several times and only got to shoot it when it was stalking its prey.

Most male cosmophasis have really brightly colored streaks that are even brighter under UV light. The ones found in the garden have bright blue markings on their legs. According to google, they prey mostly on ants and smaller insects. This one also has distinctive eyebrow like hair on top of its eyes. I usually identify individuals by the eyebrows.

I don't actively look for these Jumping Spiders since they move about so much it is hard to find them. I usually accidentally stumble upon them and they do pause long enough for me to take that one frontal shot then they move on again. This photo below is one of those times that I looked below a leaf and found a Cosmophasis underneath. It really did pose for one shot then left.

And why is it my favorite Jumping Spider? It is because of that fleeting moment when it actually looks at the camera then jumps out of the frame. It is challenging to actually capture a sharp image of it as it pauses. I sometimes think that it has some intelligence when it pauses and looks directly into the lens.

I hope to get more shots of this spider this summer.

PS: There is another cosmophasis specie in the garden... the orange one. I will try to take some photos of that too.

on Return to Macro

And so I came back to the genre that interests me the most.

On a gloomy sunday, I went about seeking jumping spiders. My usual shooting areas were either wet from the rain the previous night or flattened by my neighbors to make parking areas. It was a bummer but then again, the intrepid soul in me went seeking new grounds to shoot. And by doing so, I found new critters too. For this shoot, I used a stacked setup with my 90mm macro and a reversed 50mm. The reproduction ratio of my setup is about 2:1.Shot with one on-cam flash with an omnibounce diffuser.

I got about 10 keepers and here are the 3 best photos from that session.

Hover Fly (Baccha Clavata)

Weaver Ant (Oecophylla Smaragdina)

Jumping Spider (Salticidae)

I spent around two hours shooting near our house. I discovered some new sites that clearly have potential as my macro field. I'm happy that I found the time to go back to shooting macro photography. There is that certain satisfaction in shooting what you love best. And time flies when you are enjoying what you do.

on Studio-ish Macro and Reflections

Happy accidents!

I've been having trouble with my new stacked macro lens setup. I stacked a Nikkor 50mm 1.8D on top of my Tamron 90mm 2.5 SP Macro lens with a cheap 52mm-52mm coupler ring. I like the resulting 2.5x magnification but the problem is that the spiders keep on jumping on to my lens. It must be the shiny chrome bayonet mount that attracts them to jump up to my lens.

While out shooting near our black Honda sedan, a spider jumped on my lens. I went to the back of the car so I could lean on the trunk and find where the spider was to remove it. I blew it from the lens to the top of the trunk. The Jumping spider just stood still and I took the opportunity to take some shots. The output was totally unexpected.

I accidentally found a nice shooting location that provided something of a studio feel and at the same time added a reflection. And when lit up by my strobe, the dust added some bokeh to the shot as well. I have tried shooting with the other car which had white paint but the shots were prone to sensor flares.

After discovering the studio like effect of the black paint job, I have had a lot of success shooting on top of the trunk lid. I'll some more photos soon.

on A Jumper's Story

It's been my mantra that one photo will make my day. But I have always been asked how long it takes me to get that one photo. I don't really know how long it takes me. There are times I get it in the first few clicks or on the last out takes.

For macro photography, I usually spend an hour or more shooting. There are times I shoot over five hundred frames to get around ten keepers; and ten keepers is already a very good haul. Sometimes I shoot until it gets dark, my batteries run out or my memory cards are full.

And there are times when I just sit in the shade observing as insects go about there daily lives. Sometimes I forget that I have to shoot these insects. And there are times that I focus on one subject for hours that I get to construct stories with my shots; that is when I'm lucky that they'd cooperate and I'd get my shots in focus.

Here is one of those times when I got to see a Jumping Spider decide when it would jump to another leaf. This three shot sequence was taken from about 50 consecutive shots (with more than half out of focus because the leaf was swaying with the wind) where the Jumping Spider measures its jump and decides when to go for it. It jumped a distance of probably a foot with a another foot of drop.

You think I should go for it?

It looks so high from here... but what the heck... I have a bungee cord.

I'm ALIVE!!!

Shooting macro stories like these make me appreciate this field a little more. Being there and observing how these little critters go about their business makes me think a lot about my life and how even briefest of moments can make an impact. I think I'll shoot more of this kind of photo stories in the coming months.

on Two-Striped Jumpers

What I like about Jumping Spiders is that I find them in the oddest places. I found a few in the window sills, the screen door and the carpet. They go exploring a lot since they have such good eye sight.

I found a pair of Two-Striped Jumpers (Telamonia Dimidiata) about a month ago and did some research. These jumpers are distinguished by the long legs and two bright stripes around the back. Most females have bright rings around the eyes and males are dark colored.

And apparently I unknowingly found a male and a female.

Female Two-Striped Jumper found in our garden.


Male Two-Striped Jumper found clinging to the wall.

These are very skittish jumpers, unlike the common ones I find in the garden. They react to movement and run away when possible. I find them difficult to photograph because of this behavior. They do apparently have short term memories and when I stay still for some time they seem to forget I'm there. I just wait around for them to forget me after I have my camera pointed at them; very minute movement is key to taking pictures of these spiders.

Hopefully in the coming days I find more of them so I can learn more on how to handle or take photos of these jumpers.

on Insect Portraits and Shooting Flowers

I've never been any good at shooting plants and flowers. Well, I'm really not good at anything that isn't moving.

The only time flowers interest me is when I see an insect land on it. And on a recent shoot while I was out looking for Lynx Spiders, I found this bee hovering on a white flower. I had to crouch down to get the bee to eye level and to my surprise it didn't even seem to mind me at all. It was just doing its own thing while I took a few shots before it flew to the next flower.

One thing to note is that lately I have been trying to make sure I at least get one front facing (portrait) shot of whatever insect. I credit is as the reason why I have been so interested in macro photography lately. I don't know why, but front facing shots make me happy. For me, it's just like taking a picture of a person; the only difference is that I can't ask an insect to look at the camera. Probably the challenge of taking that type of shot is what makes me want to take more.

on Luck and In Flight Macro

Luck plays a huge part in my photography.

I roam a really small area and get only a number of densely populated shrubs and bush. But during a recent macro shoot I had, I was lucky that as I was leaving the area I chanced upon a bee hovering on a flower. I took in flight shots but wasn't sure if I got a decent shot since I had a manual focus lens. I didn't get to review it since I only had a few seconds before the bee landed on a leaf.

In the short minute that the bee was in front of my lens I got one portrait and an in-flight shot. It was my first time to shoot something in flight with a manual focus macro lens and get it somewhat in focus.

Being lucky and having the skill is a must in macro photography. You can't just go killing bugs and sticking them to a plant with glue for a controlled macro scene. Moving around, watching for movement, anticipating the next actions and getting spot on focus are some of the things I have been trying to perfect when I shoot. And I want to shoot my subjects in their natural habitat too. But when I reflect on it, even if I was the best macro shooter (and I am not even that good), if I didn't have luck, I still wont be able to shoot insects even when I am in the area where the usually hang out.

Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

on Holiday Macro Adventures

Overcast days are perfect for photography especially when you go out hunting for macro subjects.

The country is celebrating it's independence day and it is a holiday. I took advantage of the holiday plus the overcast skies to shoot macro. I got about fifty keepers today; I will sort them out later. But as I have said before, one photo will make your day. And boy, did this one really make my day.

I was in my favorite macro spot where there is a pepper plant. It is home to huge and fierce looking ants and some predator flies. I was waiting for a bronze jumping spider to face me when I saw movement about three feet away. There was this fat jumping spider moving from leaf to leaf. It was one of the few times I saw a Jumping Spider really jump about a foot in distance. I quickly moved around the bush to where it was and found it already had something in its jaws. I would have been awesome to see it grab the wasp looking insect but I had to settle for a photo of it feeding. I only had three frames of this spider and this one is the best.

This is probably my current favorite spider photo. The details are awesome and I can clearly make out the prey too. It makes walking around in the bush for hours worth the effort.

Happy Independence Day to everyone!

on Jumper Portraits

In photography, you really need to find what you want to shoot and how you like to shoot...

There are times that I find shooting portraits boring. I tell the model how to pose, to look at the camera, drop the smile and then take the shot. I memorized how to frame my shot and how to post process it after. The monotonous shoots shorten my attention span to that of a kid (not that it is that long in the first place).

But I have found a type of portrait I would never get tired of. I can't tell my subject to pose or look at the camera. I cannot dictate the angle in which I am to shoot or even tell my subject to stay still. I have to make do with that short window of opportunity to get that shot I want; but when I get it, the feeling of success is really uplifting.

I am talking about shooting insect portraits. And specifically Jumping Spider portraits. Those beady eyes really get my attention. It will never be boring to shoot such portraits because it is hard work even finding jumpers in that ideal setting where I can shoot such portraits. And when you find then, you get about a minute or two to shoot. And while shooting you just have to pray your camera settings are spot on. It is a matter of both skill and luck; and a whole lot of patience.

Here are the first of many shots...

I like the darker spider better and was lucky that when I bent the branch it didn't move for a while. The light brown one clearly just finished feeding because of the big fat abdomen. It couldn't move as much so I got the shot. I am really happy with these two shots. I wish I'll get lucky again in the coming days...

on Summer's End

Summer is almost at an end and I still haven't found the time to shoot a lot of macro photos. Anyways, here is one of those that got buried in my flickr account by all the portraits I have been shooting lately. My favorite spider in the garden with its large eyes. This was taken about late afternoon when the jumping spiders are already starting to rest. I really like the summer months because of the long days and all the active creatures. It seems like summer is always the perfect time to shoot macro.

Since tomorrow is a Saturday, I think I will start shooting macro if the weather permits. I hope to make the most of the weekend since I have been seeing a lot of Lynx Spiders and Orb Weavers during the twilight hours.

on Shooting Macro Wide Open

The only limit to your creativity is your imagination....

I have come to accept that in the world of photography there is no sacred rule. Mastering rules and concepts is a must; but that's just the tip of the iceberg. After attaining the basic skill comes breaking rules. The real skill set comes when you find your own way of breaking rules to show off your creativity.

I'd like to highlight landscape photography (which is admittedly one of my waterloo) a field where the basic rules are rigidly applied. You shoot at f8 to f16 on wide angle lenses, apply the rule of thirds, properly expose the foreground and background and all the other stuff. But no one ever said that you cannot shoot at wide apertures or with telephoto lenses. It's how you use what you have that makes things interesting.

And no one ever said you can't shoot macro photography wide open...

I know that in macro photography, depth of field is important. You really want as much of your subject in focus and shooting wide open will give you very little depth of field. But that shallow DOF can be used in many ways to highlight certain parts of your subject; that is where creativity comes in.

Here is an ant looking fierce with only its jaws in focus.

And a cool black true bug coming out of the hazy background.

This little green fly looks nice with only its eyes in focus.

You don't need that much DOF when you shoot parallel to your plane of focus as seen in this photo of the green fly. I still had enough details to make the photo look nice even when shooting wide open

I have to admit that shooting macro wide open is very hard. But when you get it right, you will surely be proud of it. This is what I always say to those who ask me about ideal setups, settings or whatever: maximize your gear and creativity. The most important part of photography is the thought process.

on Black Saturday Hunchback Fly Sighting

I had nothing to do today because it is Black Saturday and decided to go look for macro subjects again. I was disappointed to see that the neighbor flattened my usual macro hunting grounds to have a parking lot. Technically the land doesn't belong to them but they decided to use it anyways. My macro search area shrunk by a couple of square meters.

Anyways, I found some aphids and beetles but I got drawn into shooting another hunchback fly. It is only the second time I found this sort of fly. It maybe slow moving but it is definitely hard to spot as it doesn't really move much. What I learned is to go look for unusual black spots in flowers as this fly feeds on nectar and is a pollinator. I got two photos before sunset.

Front Profile

Side Profile

Technical Notes: Shot with Tamron 90mm F2.5 Macro 1:2 plus 55mm extension tube.

on Damsels and Valentines

Since it is Valentine's Day... I'll be blogging about damsels. Well, its not girls but the gentle insect called a Damselfly.

I used to find these creatures in our front yard but they have been really scarce this past few years. These insects are predators and eat smaller insects they pluck out of leaves or in the surface of a pond. We used to pit them against each other to see who would yank off the head head of the other first. But even though they are predators, they are quite fragile. If you hold on to the wings too long, they be crumpled and would leave the damselfly grounded. I miss seeing all the different colors and sizes of these insects which really reminds me a lot about my childhood days playing near swamps.

 

Oh, and I have to mention that damselflies belong to the same family as dragonflies. Like their bigger cousins, they are born as in an aquatic environment and only become terrestrial when in adult form. That is why the are most often found near bodies of water. I wish next time I can find a damselfly couple mating.

Anyhow, I'll blog more next time about this. Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!

on the Year of the Dragon...fly.

Kiong Hee Huat Chai!!!

In this side of the world, we are celebrating the Chinese New Year. It is a holiday here and I am glad I found some time off from work and my (amazingly) busy photography sideline to write another blog. I do hope that this year bring me good fortunes in photography.

And as it is the Year of the Water Dragon, I have been hunting down water born dragons... errrr... Dragonflies.

I was lucky that I did not have to go far to find a dragonfly. It was about four and a half inches long and green. I got only two snaps of it but I am happy I got close to one. I wish I could shoot more dragonflies but they are such a rarity here in our village these days. Next time I'll go looking for a red or blue dragonfly.

Again Happy Chinese New Year to all!

on Spider Sunday

One reason why I love macro: I can find subjects wherever there are plants.

Last Sunday, after our annual reunion, I decided to go looking for new subjects to shoot. And I was lucky when I found four different arachnids in a hedge in front of our ancestral home. I didn't waste the opportunity to add to my growing collection of Jumping Spiders and Orb Weavers. And it was a good test for my new gear.

I found an orb weaver spinning its web at dusk and I waited until it finished as I could not track its movement as it made the web from the middle outwards. After it finished, the weaver left the web and rested on an orchid root and that's when I got this photo.

I call this Jumping spider a ghost as it has semi transparent legs which blend into the leaves. I was lucky to spot it moving from one leaf to another but it was hard to take a photo as it seemed to be aware of my presence and reacted every time I pointed the camera at it. I took the photo of it on the underside of a leaf.

This next Jumping Spider is quite small and was nicely camouflaged in the tree bark. It is about five millimeters and is quite hard to spot. What I like about this one is that it has blue legs and bronze hair.

For the last photo, I found this on an orchid. Among all the Jumping Spiders I have seen, this is quite unique because it is the only one I have observed to have some sort of a web where it lies and waits. It didn't move a leg when I was shooting as if it wanted to simply hide in plain sight.

I hope someone identifies these arachnids for me. I really wish to learn more about them and I am hoping I would find more of them the next time I visit.