Last Webnesday I posted some portraits of what I believe was a rather large wolf spider, and used a warning caveat in my title that it was “not a cutie,” in reply to which my long-time photo pal Emily commented that she’d never encountered a spider that she would call a “cutie.” This shot that I made of a little jumping spider in northern Minnesota in July 2012 came immediately to mind. I’ve used it as a header on the website, but a bit of research has revealed that, apparently, I’ve not yet featured it in a post. I’m pretty sure that it was a Platycryptus undatus, commonly known as a tan jumper.
It’s high time to rectify this oversight, wouldn’t you say? This one’s for you, Emily.
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krikitarts 
And what a superb shot, Gary. Love the narrow DOF as much as getting this tiny spider in sharp focus.
Thanks a lot, Vicki. As I recall, my macro lens was quite new, and I was delighted to have this volunteer appear to help me to run it through its paces!
That’s a good off-center placement of your subject.
Yupyup, rule of thirds and all that. I wanted to make a nice bokeh with the rest of the plant.
Cute indeed.
I must admit that it wasn’t quite so cute in a dorsal view, but I’ve always loved this shot.
Even my sweetheart, who is scared of spiders, likes the jumping ones. He admires their attitude too, because if he goes to scare them off, they seem to stand their ground and go ‘not likely!’
Has he ever had one jump onto him as he was getting close? On several occasions I’ve had them jump onto the camera lens–I think they may well have been reacting to their own reflections. And it’s great that he likes them–I’ve never heard of anyone being bitten by one, and I love it when they jump onto me!
I don’t think they have jumped on him. That might be eight steps too far.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get such a fine photo of a jumper, but they’re around, and I’m going to keep trying. I absolutely adore them.
Thanks for that high compliment! I can’t remember when I became so enamored with them, but I remember trying to get up close with extension tubes and a reversing ring with my old traditional SLRs, but my passion was mightily fueled when I bought my first digital camera in 2000 (a Nikon Coolpix 4500, as I recall) and found out its amazing macro capabilities. And then, shortly after I got my first digital SLR, I bought my first real macro lens and fell in love all over again.
LOL… thank you for the dedication Gary. I think you have the natural ability to look past their creepiness and capture their best side. :)
I’m sorry that my response has been so slow… I didn’t mean to ignore you. I’ve been so busy trying to get the farm up and running that I haven’t been able to spend a lot of time to blog and read posts. Thanks again for the dedication, my spider whisperer friend… :)
You are so very welcome! I understand completely about other things taking precedence. The lockdown here has provided me with a lot more time to devote to the blog, and I’m really savoring the luxury; it’s much healthier than bemoaning what we can’t do (like giving hugs to our daughters and the grandkids). I love your “spider whisperer” compliment!