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Five lenses, one spider
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 11:58 pm    Post subject: Five lenses, one spider Reply with quote
I first took this picture using my Tamron Adaptall 135 Close Focus, not realizing that there was a spider there. I had seen the web, but the spider was well camouflaged until I saw it on my PC. I then kept going back with different lenses trying to get the best shot. I couldn't get close enough to use my Flek, which I would have preferred.

Tamron 135mm Close Focus


Mamiya Sekor 55mm


Vivitar 135mm Series 1


Vivitar 200mm Series 1


Vivitar 200mm Komine w/macro adapter
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 12:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Saved the best for last eh.

Cool shots!


PostPosted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 1:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
What macro adapter did you use with the Vivitar 200mm Komine?


PostPosted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 2:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nice spidey ...


PostPosted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 2:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I should state that I used the best picture from a series with each lens. I've written about this combination before, it's the standard 200mm Vivitar f/3.5 connected to the 1:1 adapter that came with my Series 1 90mm f/2.5 Macro. It gives a very good working distance of around 3 feet (estimate) and the quality of these two in combination is wonderful, especially considering that the 200mm is a $20 lens. In my case, I'm using the Minolta mount version that I bought in the 1970s. I've adapted the 1:1 adapter to my SONY camera, but the other side is still the old Minolta mount.

In fairness, I should re-shoot at least the 200mm Series 1 pictures because they were handheld and the focus point is very shallow. I moved to tripod when I used the 135mm Series 1 and the standard 200mm/adapter.


PostPosted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 2:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I neglected to ask if anyone had ever seen a web like that. I don't recall ever seeing it before. I don't understand the purpose of that woven grid other than possibly camouflage for the spider.


PostPosted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 5:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
electricl wrote:
woodrim wrote:
I neglected to ask if anyone had ever seen a web like that. I don't recall ever seeing it before. I don't understand the purpose of that woven grid other than possibly camouflage for the spider.

Nice pictures! Maybe the insects avoid the white part in the middle, thinking they are clear when flying around it and instead ending up getting caught in the less visible part of the net, making a hungry spider happy.


I was curious too, so I looked it up. The center part is apparently called the "stabilimentum", or "web decoration". Here's the description from Wikipedia:
wikipedia wrote:
Function

There is much controversy surrounding the function of these structures, and it is likely that different species use it for different purposes. Some people believe that they provide protection to the spider by either camouflaging it or making it appear larger. Another theory is that they make the spider visible and therefore animals such as birds are less likely to damage the spider’s web.[3] Originally the decorations were thought to stabilize the web (hence the term stabilimentum), but this is dismissed nowadays. One more recent theory is that web decorations attract prey by reflecting ultraviolet light.[4] Light in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum is known to be attractive to many species of insects.[4] Many other theories have also been proposed such as thermoregulation, stress, regulation of excess silk, or simple aesthetics. At least one variant has been observed to vibrate the web, while positioned in the stabilimentum, when approached by a body the size of a human. One theory has been put forward that the purpose of the stabilimentum is to attract the male of the species to the web when the female is ready to reproduce. A limited study carried out in the Calahonda area of Spain in the summer of 1992 showed that there was a positive correlation between the presence of a male in the webs of Argiope lobata and the presence of a stabilimentum.[5][citation needed]

While many Uloborus species construct stabilimenta, Uloborus gibbosus does not; it usually rests at an edge of its orb and drops to the ground if disturbed. This is thought to support the web camouflage hypothesis. The strongly UV-reflecting stabilimentum of the uloborid Octonoba sybotides was found to be attractive to Drosophila flies.[1]


PostPosted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 7:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
great captures and interesting infos


PostPosted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 7:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Did you change any of the picture settings or white balance between lenses save for exposure adjustment? If not, then that is one great display at how different lenses can give you an entirely different color palette.

Also, great pics!


PostPosted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 2:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks, Scheimpflug, for the research. Very interesting indeed. I will keep with the camouflage theory, especially since I did not even see the spider when I first took the picture. As for the theory of attracting males for reproduction, I'm not so sure this was a female - and certainly not sexy.

Chris Watson: I never think of these things when I'm doing the pictures. I wasn't so much looking to make direct comparisons and hadn't planned to share all of these here, so the only consistency is that the images shared is the best from each lens. I did make adjustments to color, remove blue fringing (interesting about the UV reflecting), exposure, sharpening, crops, etc.

The 200mm/1:1 adapter provided the largest magnification, so maybe not surprising the image appears better. The Mamiya lens provided the least magnification. Maybe I'll try to get into the bush some today and see what my Flek or Vivitar Close Focus 28mm can do. It's just that I hesitate around that bush because it is home to many creatures. To us, it's just the bush at the bottom of our front stairs, but the things that go on in that bush daily are a combination of beauty and terror, depending on the creature. There are beetles (I almost said Beatles), spiders, bees, flies, anols (lizzards), birds, and a long, black snake. It is the latter that causes me hesitation. Everything else I have photographed, and I almost got the snake last week, but he slithered off too quickly for my manual focusing skills.

Here is one of the anols (bug and spider eater):
They are typically bright green, but change color for various reasons, including surrounding. Here is another that I chased around the driveway until we were both out of breath. He was bright green until I finally caught him, then he changed to this drab color:
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