I have long had a particular fondness for the small folk who share this wonderful world with us, and I have developed a special fascination for the spiders. And my favorites among them are the jumpers—the salticids. Today one made an appearance while I was otherwise occupied with YardWork. A tiny movement caught my eye on the side of the garage, and when I had a close look, this was my reward. It’s a tiny zebra jumping spider, Salticus scenicus, and it had very recently conducted a successful hunt. To put this in perspective, it was between 1/8 and 3/16 of an inch in length. By approaching very slowly and respectfully, I was able to get into reasonable macro range.
Metadata: Pentax Optio W90, ISO 200, 1/125 second at f/3.8, hand-held, ambient light
krikitarts 
I share your fascination with arachnids and you’ve made me think again that I need to invest in a macro lens or extension tubes. Good fieldcraft btw!
That’s a really good idea. I use extension tubes with the DSLR, but for only a little more you can get a waterproof camera that does specular macro work. My Pentax W90 is no longer in production, but my brother bought a newer WG-1, and it’s improved in several ways, still not much more than US $200. Check it out!
Thanks for the tip Gary, I can feel some research coming on.
This is exceptional Gary! The detail is unbelievable and the catchlights on the eyes really make the image come alive.
Thanks, Jeff, I really love what this little camera can do with the macros. And who could resist fascination with the amazing headlamp eyes on these tiny wonders?!
I love taking photos of them too, but I wouldn’t want one crawling on me! Ewwwww!! When you said about approaching slowly and respectfully, it made me laugh because I always wonder what my neighbours think of me when they see me tiptoeing around my yard and crouching down over things. It must just add to their opinion of my craziness!! :)
I laughed when I read this. I always wonder what people think of me as I face an otherwise nondescript wall and happily snap away.
It’s so small you probably wouldn’t even notice, and they readily jump off to any other convenient object with the slightest encouragement. And, yeah, it crosses my mind at times how I must look on my hands and knees (or lower), with my glasses off, and inching my way toward a new potential star–but bother me it does not!
Good one, especially from the Pentax. You’ve got a steady hand there Gary!
It’s always a challenge when working that close, bracing knuckles, fingertips, and anything else against any semi-convenient relatively-stable structure, and it usually works, at least if my subject hold still enough for long enough.
I LOVE IT! What an adorable little guy. The very first post I read of yours was about spiders, and now I’m a devoted fan….of you….well, and of spiders, too….but mostly of you.
It’s fans like (especially) you who feed my fires of entuhusiam and adventure and I’m so grateful! While I was working and traveling to exotic places about a third of the time, I al-ways created a full photo-journal for each trip; some were 150 pages or more. My immediate family (and my mom’s friends) loved them, but I didn’t do much with the incidental gems that came my way during the rest of the year–other than to catalogue and store them for future reference–except for a photo show of my favorites from each of our summers at our northern Minnesota retreat. But the appreciative (and happily critical) community here has turned all that around, and it’s great fun not only to post just about anything to see how it’s received, but also to see and be able to appreciate what you’re posting as well. Thank you (all of you) for being you and being there for the rest of us!
Omg…Hätte ich nicht schon gesessen, wäre ich ohnmächtig in die Ecke geplumpst…Das Foto ist der Knaller, aber es mindert meinen Ekel & die Panik vor diesen achtbeinigen Monstern nicht im geringsten ;)
Liebe Grüße
Sollte ich ein Warnschild einstellen wenn ich wieder so ein (niedliches und harmloses)Mönsterchen zeige? Eigentlich hatte ich mir kurz überlegt, ob ich sowas tu’, aber dann tat ich es wieder nicht. Entschuldigung–das hatte ich mir erlaubt! Vielleicht nächstes Mal…
Eine Warnung wäre toll, käme wohl aber zu spät, da der Reader bei WordPress ja auch immer gleich ein Foto anzeigt ;)
Liebe Grüße
I’m not really fond of spiders but this one is a great shot, I even like his eyes!
The eyes are the best part, as far as I’m concerned. Next best is the way they move, almost too fast to follow. But I’ll settle easily for getting those amazing eyes in focus. Thanks, Alicia!
A great shot, I love his shiny little eyes and the detail of the hairs. I love taking photos of the critters in my garden too. :)
Ah, yes, the eyes…it’s amazing to think that, when you look at them from head-on, they take up more than three-quarters of the entire width of the head. Thanks, Metan!
A beautiful and fascinating picture, Gary – excellent! Adrian