Jumping Spider with a Meal

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Another shot made today with the 100mm.
Jumping spider, family Salticidae, with a roach. This guy was effortlessly pulling the roach (at least equal to its own weight) up a plant stem. Reminded me of a leopard hauling its kill up a tree :).

Canon EOS 500D + Canon 100mm macro USM
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv (Shutter Speed) 1/15
Av (Aperture Value) 16.0
Exposure Compensation -2/3
ISO Speed 800
Flash On (built in flash) at Flash EC 0

I feel the OOF portions in this image are distracting :(
I think I should have used something to diffuse the flash... ?
Cropped to a vertical composition. Intentionally clipped the legs of the spider to draw more attention to the head. Do you feel this crop works?

Thanks, C&C awaited.
Off to Matheran tomorrow, hope to try out the equipment there.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Abhishek,

I am very very happy watching your macro images. Who on earth will compare a spider with a leopard. God! Your passion for these small creations of God (Of course equally important creations) is amazing and am sure will prove to be infectious and make more people shoot macros. Add a little bit of description about the species, so that people watching these will have their knowledge enhanced.

I think it would have been better to move your camera a bit to the left. That would have reduced the empty space at the right. The gap between the two leaves at right doesn't add to the image.

The spider is focused well. The eye of the spider has come out well.

It would be good if you try diffusing the flash. Or just carry thermocol sheets and place at bottom or sides to deflect the light.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nice action captured. The catchlight in the eyes is nice. The details and the sharpness is good. I agree with Sabyasachi about the space between the leaves, but I think you composed this way as one of the legs of the roach is touching the right frame, so it would have got cropped if moved to the left.

The comparison with leopard shows that lot of animals share similar behavior traits. Look forward to more. Thanks for sharing.

[Praveen Siddannavar]

Lovely action captured Abhishek, make most of your new gear. The details on this are really good.
tfs

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Thanks Sabyasachi, Mrudul and Praveen for the suggestions and encouraging words. :)

There is space on both sides in the original image. I cropped from the left and right to get a vertical composition, because shooting with the camera vertical would give a side-lit photograph, as I am using the built-in flash.