BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: Photo Equipment Tips & Tricks

Irene Troy

How to Photograph a Tunnel Spider

Hi folks,
I am trying to capture a good image of a tunnel spider. If you are not familiar with this species, I’ll try to explain what I am attempting to do: tunnel spiders build webs that actually form tunnels into which the spider builds a temporary home and where s/he takes prey. These are also fairly shy spiders and do not often show themselves when the sun is out. For two days, I have been trying to capture a good image of this spider. I’ve been using my 100mm lens with a 36mm and a 20mm extension tube stacked; used the 100 lens solo; used a full stack of 12, 20 and 36 mm extension tubes that brought me close to the spider, but the result was still not good. I’ve metered on the dark spider and averaged this against the much lighter web material and still not been able to achieve a good image. Any advice or insight will be hugely appreciated!

Irene

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0 August 31, 2007

Bob Cammarata

Irene,
Meter the green grass, not the spider or the web ... and shooting on a cloudy day will help to minimize that contrast. I only have one shot of these secretive spiders. They usually scoot back into that tunnel whenever I try to get close.

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0 September 01, 2007

Irene Troy

Thanks Bob! I went out again early this morning, before the sun really got up in the sky, and tried again to capture a good image of this elusive spider. This is my result. It is better than the other two, but I would still like to get his ‘face’ clearer. This may be impossible since these spiders really are shy and as soon as the air warms they are gone. At least this image shows the complex web and the spider itself a little clearer. Thanks again!

Irene

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0 September 01, 2007

Ellen Anon

One of the things that can be helpful when photographing subjects in tricky lighting is to check the histogram. It can help guide you with the exposure. As you discovered, shooting before the sun is too high helps. Using a reflector or diffuser may also help even out the light.

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0 September 01, 2007

Irene Troy

Thank you, Ellen. I had to smile a little about the advice to shoot in early morning when the sun is not yet over the horizon very much. I am the ‘queen’ of lecturing people that the best time of the day to photograph most outdoors subjects is early morning or late afternoon. And yet, with this subject I first noticed the spider around 9am when the sun was already strong in the sky and contrast was great. I should have known better! Anyway, yesterday I managed to make a few shots very early, around 6am, and those came out somewhat better. About ten minutes into photographing, it suddenly dawned on me that this was a good situation for trying my new diffuser/reflector. I placed the panel so that the sun did not directly hit the bush or spider and then moved my camera so that the sun was on the side and coming through the diffuser. Again, this helped and the result is the image above. I am still not happy with the results and will try again – unfortunately, this particular spider was dead when I got back to the bush early today. However, around here there should be others and once I find one I will try again until I get the image I want. Thank you, again, for your advice.

Irene