The Massive World of Macro Photography - Jumping Spiders

After recently recovering from Covid (for the first time since the outbreak) I was reminded of the harsh lockdown restrictions imposed in South Africa (and globally of course).

Being a creative person who loves taking photos out in nature I had to come up with a way to prevent myself from going stir-crazy - I mean there is a limit to how many virtual safari episodes one can watch.

I was working in our garden and spotted a jumping spider (Salticidae) and that is when it dawned on me - why not take up Macro Photography!

As per usual, I jumped in head first and ordered the top of the range macro lens, a few flashes and a macro focussing rail. When the courier company delivered my order a few days later I was super excited, and that is when it dawned on me that I had no clue how to even start.

I quickly searched Youtube for macro tutorials and started learning how to soften the harsh light from a flash to prevent specular highlights, magnification ratios etc. I even created my own DIY diffusers for my flashes to create that soft light we all aim for in macro photography (I published a blog post on it at the time).

Over the next few months I learnt a great deal, not only about the beauty of the tiny creatures of the world that often goes unnoticed but also about myself as I had always suffered slightly from arachnophobia - I slowly overcame this by spending time behind my camera fascinated by the various species of jumping spiders and their amazing colours (those eyes look directly into your soul)!

Here is a collection of a few of my favourite images:

I challenge you to look at the small things in life, there is a whole world out there that you might be missing out on!

Till next time…