Spider on my car

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Spider on my car

March 22, 2014 by Mike Powell

Sometimes you don’t have to travel far to get good nature photos. I noticed this colorful little jumping spider on my car yesterday when I was loading my camera gear, getting ready to go out shooting.

It was a fun challenge trying to get shots of the spider as it moved to various parts of the trim surrounding the windshield, many of which were reflective. I wasn’t sure how long the spider would hang around, so I didn’t set up my tripod and I think it would have been pretty awkward to do so.

I am hoping that nobody snapped pictures of me as I sprawled my body across the hood of the car, trying to find a way to brace my body and get a decent shooting position. My Tamron 180mm macro lens lets me get in close, but it does not have image stabilization.

One of the first things that I noticed when I reviewed my images was that my car is dirty. In this area, they use a lot of salt on the roads when it snows and I suspect that those little white spots are salt residue. I thought about removing them in post-processing, but decided that I like the more urban, gritty feel that they give the images (and besides, it would have been a lot of work to get rid of all of them).

I am always thrilled when I find a jumping spider. There is something special about all of those eyes that simply fascinates me and I am particularly happy when I manage to get reflections in the eyes.

Posted in Arachnids, Art, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, Urban, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, jumping spider, KIA Soul, Runnymeade, spider, Tamron 180mm macro lens | 12 Comments

12 Responses

on March 22, 2014 at 9:19 am | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

That last shot is pretty amazing. I like the reflection!
on March 22, 2014 at 11:30 am | Reply Adèle d'Alleray

What great shots, Mike!!
on March 22, 2014 at 8:41 pm | Reply Dan Antion

I love the reflection. Photographers are allowed to crawl al over things, I’m sure that’s the case.
on March 23, 2014 at 5:28 am | Reply caleephotography

I shiver when I see these, but the last photo is stunning! Well done, Mike!
- on March 23, 2014 at 7:00 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. Some spiders seem creepy to me, but I am endlessly fascinated with the multi-eyed jumping spiders.
on March 23, 2014 at 2:45 pm | Reply nliakos

I think lots of (all?) spiders have multiple eyes, but maybe I’m wrong. Spiders give me the creeps too (they look like tiny monsters), but I am fascinated by them too. How big do you think this one was? The pictures are really clear.
- on March 23, 2014 at 2:55 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I think the spider was about an inch long at most (including legs). As for eyes, I seem to recall that spiders have multiple eyes in various arrangements.
on March 25, 2014 at 6:16 pm | Reply waltersanford

Photo 4 (of 4) is my favorite, and in my opinion, the best of the four shots. You what they say, “Lead with your best shot.” I’m just sayin’.
- on March 25, 2014 at 7:02 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Reasonable folks can disagree. I led with the one I liked the most. Is it the best? Well, I guess that depends on the criteria that you use. For what it’s worth, the last one was the first one that I shot.
on March 27, 2014 at 7:42 am | Reply dianaed2013

Very powerful Mike especially the head on and reflection
- on March 27, 2014 at 7:46 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. That seems to be the shot that most like best, though personally I like the ones shot from an angle.
on August 3, 2021 at 7:15 am | Reply Jumping spider on my car | Mike Powell

[…] spiders like my car. As I researched my own blog, I came across a posting from March 2014 entitled Spider on my car that also featured a jumping spider and one from September 2017 entitled Tiny Hitchhiker that […]