Closeup portrait of spider Misumena Vatia
I like spiders and fear them in the same time. They are amazing and very cute creatures (especially jumping spider species), but if any spider (even tiny one) will touch my skin, i'll not be happy, definitely.
These crab spiders, Misumena Vatia, is one of my favorite species. We call them "flower spiders", because they usually hide inside a flower, waiting for prey, and almost perfectly camouflage with flowers: very often we see yellow spiders on yellow flowers, and white spiders - on white. These spiders are unusual, quite large, with calm behavior (maybe, they rely on their camouflage?), and all this makes them perfect target for macro photography.
This photo was taken in Moscow region, where lots of these spiders can be found every summer. This was one of my first tests of macro setup with additional lens Helios 44, used as additional magnifier. Later, this setup become my main tool for snowflake macro photography.
This image was processed from single RAW photo, without averaging and focus stacking techniques. Depth of field is acceptable for this "portrait picture", but focus stacking of several source shots will give much better result.
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You might also like this photo collection of different spiders, also captured in Moscow city and Moscow region.
