Uploads from Thomas Shahan, tagged macrophotography, with geodata

Female Jumping Spider - Phidippus regius - Florida

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 22:34:37 -0700

Click here for a larger view as flickr tends to over-sharpen these smaller thumbnails!

This apparently tipsy female Phidippus regius female (found by a helpful Guillaume Dury) was more than willing to pose for photos from several attendees at the 2012 Bugshot workshop. Given that one of my ultimate goals while in Florida was to find this exact species - I'm grateful that I finally got a chance to photograph one of North America's largest and most beautiful Phidippus species!

The image above is a single shot taken with a 50mm prime reversed on a set of extension tubes.

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If you're into macro photography, entomology, or just want to hang out in Central America - I'm proud to announce I will once again co-instructing a Bugshot, a macro-photography workshop with Alex Wild, John Abbott, and Piotr Naskrecki - this time in BELIZE! More information can be found here and here

Female Jumping Spider - Phidippus workmani - Florida - Bugshot Workshop

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:51:45 -0800

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

Yet another amazing Phidippus species I had been dying to find while down in Florida while teaching the last Bugshot class back in August. Just look at those chelicerae! Phidippus workmani is within the P. audax species group - and although the males are relatively close in appearance to P. audax males - the females are just fantastically marked! This awesome female specimen was found by Josh Mayes, an attendee of the workshop.

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If you're into macro photography, entomology, or just want to hang out in Central America - I'm proud to announce I will once again co-instructing a Bugshot, a macro-photography workshop with Alex Wild, John Abbott, and Piotr Naskrecki - this time in BELIZE! More information can be found here and here

Male Habronattus sp. - Arizona

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 14:26:23 -0700

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

Click here for a larger view!

**Update! 7/5/12 - I still don't know the species - but what's really important - he may actually not even have a name yet - more info hopefully coming soon!**

Yet another handsome Habronattus sp. from southern Arizona collected by a member of the Elias Lab! Haven’t had any luck tracking down an ID on this little guy so far – will update the title once I find out!

Note the variation in the setae that make up the patterns in his face - elongated wispy setae compose the pale blue while shorter, stubbier setae make the surrounding orange. In retrospect, I wish I would have attempted a higher magnification portrait as well to get a better look at the really thick iridescent pinkish setae bunched up around the eyes. Really a beautiful species – interested in finding out what he is exactly.

So – this was 2 shots focus stacked in Zerene stacker and then just a bit of a 3rd shot to get a little more detail in the palps. 50mm reversed on two sets of extension tubes and cropped. Shot him as he hopped about on dry leaves collected from the environment - the blue in the background is my shirt.

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In other news - I'm planning on producing a short series of how-to macro tutorial videos. If you're interested - go ahead and suggest any topics you'd like me to cover!

If you want to keep up with me and my work - feel free to follow me on twitter here: twitter.com/thomasshahan

Male Habronattus virgulatus Jumping Spider - Arizona

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 20:37:00 -0700

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

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I’m back! Just returned from a week with the Elias Lab out south of Tucson, AZ while they carried out their field research involving Habronattus jumping spiders. It was great to spend some time in such beautiful country with the company of fellow spider-fans that never seemed to tire of my endless questions and ramblings about salticids. The amount of beautiful and varied species we found was just overwhelming too – and I ended up taking quite a lot of shots – so expect to see more wild Arizona salticids around here soon!

This little Habronattus virgulatus male, after much coaxing, eventually allowed a few portraits to be taken of his beautifully colored face - despite his odd behavior of turning about 45 degrees every time I pointed the camera in his face. I suspect he was threatened a bit by my massive new 8x10” flash diffuser I’ve started using lately. The image is a pretty significant crop from a focus stack of 2 images (would have loved to have gotten a 3rd for the foremost legs – but he began to groom himself shortly after the above images) taken with an old SMC Pentax 50mm reversed on two sets of extension tubes.

So – stay tuned and I’ll be posting more species soon!

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In other news - I'm planning on producing a short series of how-to macro tutorial videos. If you're interested - go ahead and suggest any topics you'd like me to cover!

If you want to keep up with me and my work - feel free to follow me on twitter here: twitter.com/thomasshahan

I recently shot a segment with This Land Press about my macrophotography, which you can view online *here* or by clicking on the image in the comments below!

BugShot, the macrophotography workshop I will co-teach with Alex Wild and John Abbott in Florida this coming August, has now filled up - but go ahead and check out the website HERE to keep track of updates on where we will be next year!

Hummingbird Hawk Moth - Macroglossum stellatarum - Arezzo, Italy

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:32:21 -0700

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

As always, I'd like to apologize for the lack of postings lately. I’ve been quite busy recently and haven’t had as much time as I’d like to get out and shoot arthropods like I used to. Additionally, I’ve been in Italy for the past month and didn’t have my usual macro equipment with me. Be assured – more macro photos will come someday.

The image above is one of the plentiful and beautiful Hummingbird Hawk Moths (Macroglossum stellatarum) I encountered while in Arezzo, Italy. The shot was taken with my new Pentax Kx and an old 50mm f/1.4 prime.

To all of you who have been asking questions about my equipment or macrophotography in general – I apologize for my silence – I just can’t get back to all of you. If you are interested, I have an FAQ here: thomasshahan.com/other and additionally - a short video about my techniques here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqRn3at0H60

Adult Male Habronattus cognatus Jumping spider

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 16:14:09 -0800

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

Click here for a larger view!

I apologize for the lack of posts lately - I've been quite busy. Rest assured, big news (don't get your hopes up just yet - just be thinking "NG") and more shots are on their way! For now, check out some of my more recent artwork: www.flickr.com/panbasket

Here's an old shot from last last May that I originally turned down in favor for this shot. I realize this type of shot may not be a big hit, but in retrospect, I prefer this composition despite the decreased magnification and hidden chelicerae. Here's the original text that accompanied the last post:

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Several weeks ago, I photographed an interesting looking female Habronattus at a spot near the Canadian River I visit frequently to look for tiger beetles. She looked quite different than the usual female H. coecatus specimens I can find relatively easily around Oklahoma, so I've been having high hopes I finding a new Habronattus male species every time I head out to the spot.

So, my persistence payed off, and after a rather unsuccessful afternoon of stalking the larger tiger beetles near the river, I spotted this little guy (~4mm) as he was watching a large caterpillar wiggle its way across the sandy path. I was exhausted and didn't feel like chasing him around in the sand, so I let him hop in a jar I had with me and took him on home.

Although not as flashy as some of the Habronattus species in the U.S., this little male H. cognatus is handsome in his own right - I love those intermittent, mottled scales on his chelicerae. He wasn't in the best cosmetic shape (missing scales/worn) but proved to be quite a lively and active spider that would only slow down when partially covered by the leaves I collected and set out to photograph him on. During the next bug-hunt, I released him at the excact same spot where I found him.

If you are interested in the Habronattus genus (you really should be) make sure to take a look at tolweb's entry here: tolweb.org/Habronattus

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Adult Male Phidippus mystaceus feeding on a Chrysopid - With Video!

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 15:59:53 -0700

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

Click here for a larger view! and... Click here for the video!

And here is yet another fantastically beautiful male Phidippus mystaceus - discovered once again by the same friend who spotted this guy while out bug-hunting with me last October. Bear in mind that I had I spent a good three years searching for an adult male specimen of this species before he found that last one and he has already inadvertently happened upon two this fall. Bitterness aside, I'm quite grateful - these spiders are an absolute joy to observe and photograph.

There seems to be a fair amount of variation in the appearance of this species and the three P. mystaceus I've had the chance of photographing in this area of Oklahoma seem to be markedly different than other P. mystaceus I have seen in photographs (like this amazing male photographed by JH Carmichael in Texas for example). The image above is a slight crop from a single image taken with my 50mm at f/16 reversed on a set of extension tubes.

The females are possibly even more amazing - here is a small set of photos of an adult female I found a couple years ago: bugguide.net/node/view/231103/bgimage

Adult Female Cardinal Jumper (Phidippus cardinalis)

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 13:07:04 -0700

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

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Here's a beautiful and fairly large (~15mm) female Phidippus cardinalis I found a while back while wandering one of my favorite haunts.

She proved to be quite skittish and somewhat agressive - frantically darting around, waving her palps, and even baring her fangs at me a couple times. I ended up rolling up a leaf to make a little tunnel for her to relax in. In the image above you can make out the curl of her shelter reflected in her eyes. The blue of the background was yesterday's cloudless afternoon sky. Photographed with my 50mm at f/11 or f/16 reversed on extension tubes and focus stacked from 2 shots. The value contrast I usually strive for in my work isn't really here, but I liked the shot regardless.

Sorry for the infrequent uploads lately - I haven't had a lot of time for macro work lately, but be assured - more exciting shots are on their way (think Phidippus mystaceus...)

More artwork is up at my other account: www.flickr.com/panbasket/

Robber Fly with Prey (Holcocephala fusca)

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 19:16:37 -0700

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

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Here's another shot I've been sitting on a while - a feeding Holcocephala fusca robber fly from last June. I don't remember exactly, but I believe this was a focus-stack of 3 images taken with the 50mm reversed on extension tubes.

It's easy to see why these little guys are one of my favorite Asilid species - those beautiful compound eyes are just spellbinding - I spent just about all last summer trying to get another "really" high-magnification portrait (more so than last summer) but had no luck in getting the shot(s) I wanted. I can't stress how many hours I've spent chasing these little flies around the woods of Oklahoma to no avail - these are some truly skittish animals.

They are quite a joy to watch though regardless of their difficulties as a photographic subject - I'll have to get some video of their hunting and mating behavior some day.

Blue-faced Meadowhawk - Sympetrum ambiguum (With Video!)

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:31:27 -0700

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

Click here for a larger view!

What a cooperative dragonfly! He found a perch at about eye level and didn't mind me moving in for several photographs. The background color is from a turning leaf I held behind the fly with my left hand while firing away with my right.

Taken with a 50mm at f/11 reversed on extension tubes and cropped from a focus stack of two images.

The video isn't specifically about the image above or dragonflies - but a brief introduction to high magnification macro photography. I just thought some of you might like to see my equipment and see me at work - so - click here to see the video.

Adult Male Phidippus putnami Jumping Spider

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 09:03:04 -0700

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

Click here for a larger view!

Here's another one of those shots I've been planning on taking for years - and now I've gotten it - full frame as well! My daily wanderings paid off a couple days ago as I was making my way along a trail (following a large robber fly). A little form on the railing of a wooden bridge caught my eye from about 20 feet away, and as I took a couple steps closer - it spun around to greet me and I immediately recognized the face as an adult male Phidippus putnami.

These adult males have to be some of the wildest and hairiest spiders out there - the markings and tufts of hair are just unparalleled (excluding some of the really wild Habronattus species out west).

The image above is a full-frame focus stack of 2 images (with a significant gap - but perfectly aligned) taken with my relatively new 10 dollar vintage Pentax-M f/2 50mm lens (at f/11 or f/16) reversed on a set of extension tubes extension tubes.

Eye Arrangement of a Hogna Wolf Spider

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:58:48 -0700

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

Unfortunately I still don't know the gender or species of this spider - but am confident that it's in the Hogna genus given the markings and eye arrangement.

Lycosid eyes may not be as clear or reflective as salticid eyes, but their arrangement is just as fascinating and wolf spiders supposedly have pretty good vision (although not nearly as applauded as the jumping spiders). A couple of times while photographing the spider seen above, his/her eyes would light up at certain angles just as cat eyes do in the dark - really on odd sight to see a spider with glowing eyes!

The image above was stacked from 5 photos using Zerene Stacker. The shots were taken at about 4:1 magnification with a vintage Pentax Takumar 28mm prime reversed to a set of extension tubes.

Robber Fly (Holcocephala fusca)

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:50:53 -0700

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

My favorite little robber flies are back! They still aren't easy to shoot, but those eyes are always worth the struggle. Out of the 200 shots I took yesterday, only a handful were good enough to do anything with. These little flies are just ~5mm long and incredibly skittish, making them a particularly tough subject to shoot.

Despite their size, they're just as vicious hunters as their larger cousins - taking down just about any flying and non-flying prey their size or less.

Female Striped Horse Fly (Tabanus lineola)

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:48:58 -0700

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

Click here to view the larger image as Flickr's resizing creates moiré artifacts!

I'm not sure if a fly can be any more beautiful than a female Striped Horse Fly (Tabanus lineola) and I doubt I could have found a more perfect specimen. I've been planning this shot for years now, and as I left the house heading out to my favorite bug spot the day that I took this photo, I thought to myself "how great would it be if I could find a cooperative T. lineola female today?"

And sure enough - almost as soon as I arrived at the park, I spotted a large female cleaning her eyes on the railing of the bridge I find salticids on! She was quite battleworn and uncooperative, and I gave up chasing her around pretty quickly. Soon after, another female landed nearby (the fly pictured above and below), and instantly caught my eye - she was smaller and cleaner with brighter, more deeply saturated eyes. I proceeded to photograph her from just about every imaginable angle and magnification I am capable of, and she sat cooperatively the entire time despite grooming her eyes and wandering about a bit.

It's worth noting that male Tabanids are completely harmless as they merely feed on nectar and pollen. It's the females (like the beauty above) that feed off vertebrate blood and have those wonderfully vicious scissor-like mouthparts that easily rip through human flesh. Despite the bad reputation, I haven't been bitten by one of these radiant flies yet - although that would make for a great photo should it ever happen. To determine the gender of large Tabanids - the males have compound eyes that touch in the center of the head (As seen here.)

To read more about the compound eyes of arthropods check out the Wikipedia page (featuring one of my photographs as an illustration) on ommatidium here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ommatidium

...and it's possible I may upload some new artwork on my other account soon:

www.flickr.com/panbasket

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The image above is a manual focus stack of two images taken at f/11 with an SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/2.0 prime lens reversed to a set of extension tubes on a Pentax K200D.

Female Blue Dasher Dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis)

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 19:12:26 -0700

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

While wandering about one of my favorite bug-hunting areas, and after an hour or two of unsuccessful attempts at photographing female horseflies, I decided to try my luck with some of the dragons hanging out near a creek. It took a good 10 minutes of chasing this little female Blue Dasher around before she finally found a perch solid enough for her to feel confident on. Once she had a grip on a downed tree limb, I moved in for some higher magnification photos. Like all skimmers she was fairly skittish, fluttering off if I advanced too quickly, but would always would return to her new perch after a few moments.

The image above is an uncropped, full-frame focus stack from 4 photos taken at f/11 with a newly acquired 10 dollar (!) vintage Pentax-M f/2 50mm lens reversed on my extension tubes. The lens is a possible replacement for my battle-worn Pentax-M f/1.7 50mm which has a loose barrel as a result of it being continually reverse mounted. Not sure if this f/2 is as sharp, but I'm not too worried about it. The vignette present in the image is a natural result of me angling the shot so a bit of sky would silhouette her head.

Adult Male Habronattus cognatus Jumping spider

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Mon, 10 May 2010 19:03:29 -0700

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

Several weeks ago, I photographed an interesting looking female Habronattus at a spot near the Canadian River I frequently visit to look for tiger beetles. She looked quite different than the usual female H. coecatus specimens I can find relatively easily around Oklahoma, so I've been having high hopes I finding a new Habronattus male species every time I head out to the spot.

So, my persistence payed off, and after a rather unsuccessful afternoon of stalking the larger tiger beetles near the river, I spotted this little guy (~4mm) as he was watching a large caterpillar wiggle its way across the sandy path. I was exhausted and didn't feel like chasing him around in the sand, so I let him hop in a jar I had with me and took him on home.

Although not as flashy as some of the Habronattus species in the U.S., this little male H. cognatus is handsome in his own right - I love those intermittent, mottled scales on his chelicerae. He wasn't in the best cosmetic shape (missing scales/worn) but proved to be quite a lively and active spider that would only slow down when partially covered by the leaves I collected and set out to photograph him on. During the next bug-hunt, I released him at the excact same spot where I found him.

If you are interested in the Habronattus genus (you really should be) make sure to take a look at tolweb's entry here: tolweb.org/Habronattus

Some of my more recent artwork (including a Phidippus audax woodcut!) is up here: www.flickr.com/panbasket

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If any of these images look odd on your monitor (too dark/oversaturated/strange hue) please speak up. I'm editing on a new monitor and am not fully used to it yet.

Mating Festive Tiger Beetles (Cicindela scutellaris)

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 18:16:36 -0700

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

Spring is in full swing and lately I’ve been enjoying the sun around the Canadian River here in Oklahoma stalking the tiger beetles that buzz about in the sand. I first noticed these beautiful beetles last October in the same spot where I found that Phidippus mystaceus male, but didn’t have the time to get any photographs of them.

Without a doubt, these beetles have been some of the most difficult subjects I’ve ever photographed as they rarely let you get anywhere near them. If you move an inch towards them, they’ll fly an inch away.

For the shot above, I laid flat on my belly about 10 feet from the beetles, and very slowly over the period of a minute or two inched my way like a snake towards them. Once I had the pair in focus (the focusing distance with my 200mm lens on a set of extension tubes was about 2-3 feet) I just fired away. To get the low angle, I had to dig my chin down into the sand by wiggling my jaw about. Not long after I started photographing them, I heard the rumble of an ATV and the screeches of the teenage couple driving it approaching behind me. Begrudgingly I got up, wiping the sand out of my beard, and let them pass. As they roared by, the beetles disjoined and flew away.

This shot isn't up to my usual standards of quality, but given the difficulty involved with shooting tiger beetles, I'm pleased with it for now. It's a significant crop from a pretty low quality lens (an old Japanese "ASANUMA" 200mm f/3.5 prime on a set of extension tubes) and was taken in direct sunlight without flash.

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If you are interested in the amazing variety of tiger beetles present in the U.S. - take a look through the photos on bugguide here:

bugguide.net/node/view/40862/bgpage

Male Robber Fly (Triorla interrupta)

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 11:01:05 -0700

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

Click here to view the larger image as the Flickr's resizing creates moiré artifacts!

I found this rather cooperative male Triorla interrupta (same species as this monster female) last August who allowed me to take several shots good enough for the focus stack seen above. I usually try to avoid vertically oriented compositions, but a wider composition would have left too much negative space. He was so docile I thought there may be something the matter with him, but he was physically perfect and once I was done he flew right away without any problems. Couldn't have worked out any better for me!

These particularly large robbers are absolutely vicious hunters that can take down prey much larger than themselves. Check out this link to see some great Triorla photos by Herschel Raney:

www.hr-rna.com/RNA/Rfly pages/Triorla page.htm

I recently posted some new artwork on my other flickr account here:

www.flickr.com/panbasket

...and in case you haven't seen it yet, I now have a personal website up and going here:

www.ThomasShahan.com

The "Apache Jumper " (Phidippus apacheanus) - With Video!

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:32:21 -0800

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

(Click here for the video!)

I debated how to go about photographing this little guy as my usual "portrait" angles would deny his most prominent feature - the beautiful reddish-orange markings atop his cephalothorax and abdomen. I've never seen such vivid markings on a salticid before - he was really quite something to see when held up to the sunlight!

Between the 2 specimens I found of this species last September, this guy had the most scales/hair left. The other male was in pretty rough shape and almost completely bald, so I let him go about his way - although I did relocate him to a safer spot than the heavily used sidewalk I found him wandering about on (I've seen 2 praying mantises that had been crushed by foot/bicycle traffic around the same area).

I'm actually not entirely sure which species this guy is - I've seen images of Phidippus apacheanus and Phidippus cardinalis males that look almost identical. Complicating the matter even further - both species appear to be present in my area - so I can't really say confidently that this guy is indeed P. apacheanus. So, if anyone knows more about these two species / how to tell them apart - please enlighten me.

Robber Fly (Triorla interrupta) with Dragonfly (Plathemis lydia)

nobody@flickr.com (Thomas Shahan) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:58:58 -0800

Thomas Shahan posted a photo:

Witnessing this female Triorla interrupta take this young male Common Whitetail right out of the air was an amazing sight - it simply pulled him right out of the air, and after a minute or so of bouncing and buzzing about in the grass, she was sucking him dry. Dragonflies are certainly vicious predators, but they're are no match for these beautiful robber flies. From what I've read, these Triorla robbers are absolute beasts that regularly take down prey much larger than themselves - grasshoppers, katydids, dragonflies, and of course - other robber flies.

Maybe I'm exaggerating, but I've seen darker hairier robber flies around this same spot at least twice the size of this female T. interrupta! I never managed to get a good photo of the one specimen I encountered last summer, but got a good enough look to be certain it was a robber. As it would transfer from perch to perch, it would swoop down and buzz right by my head, coming within inches of my face - I've never witnessed anything like that. Maybe next summer I can get some shots of one of those monsters in action!

I took this photo last July - and maybe my memory is awful or I was just too excited about the scene, but I really can't remember exactly how I took the shot above - I think I was just using my old Asahi Pentax 50mm f/1.4 prime reversed directly to the body... regardless - it's a manual focus stack of 3 shots.