Recently I was contacted through Instagram by local macro arachnid guru Bryce McQuillan, who suggested we go out to shoot together some time. Plans gelled a few weeks ago and we have been out on a few forays in the dark together.
Being bird obsessed my explorations are usually diurnal and my knowledge of nocturnal invertebrates is embarrassingly poor. Our first trip was exploring about 150m of the edge of a road I ride on my bike almost daily when accessing the forest mountain bike tracks. Discovering the wealth of life was eye-opening and very exciting for me. Using a macro lens, hot shoe flash and jury rigged diffuser of packing foam sheet with Bryce’s expert help allowed me to capture some intriguing images which are quite different from my usual work. Early learning curves are steep, challenging but totally stimulating, absorbing and satisfying.
This is a completely new combination of habitat and subject for me so it was fascinating to visit with the guidance of someone as knowledgeable as Bryce.
It was intriguing to see just how many spiders were out and about. Some were clearly visible on the bark of trees, on their orb webs or at the entrance to their tunnel webs (once pointed out to me!). Others were detectable in the undergrowth by the reflections of my head torch from their eyes. Being night hunters their eyes have a reflective tapetum like cats. The above image of a Nursery web spider particularly pleases me as it is the one subject that I found for myself!
The above spider was a revelation. Naked eye appearing as a generic little brown spider in a web, once photographed the stunning patterns revealed, reminiscent of a hand enamelled jewel. Apologies to all the arachnophobes who don’t share my enthusiasm.
Lighting is a challenge as harsh shadows can make it hard to appreciate the structure and details of the small subjects. Diffusers are a big part of macro photography and a youtube search will show any number of patterns for homemade solutions. This is an activity I am enjoying, prototyping and developing a few options which I may write about at a later date.
The final treat for the night was a Ranger Dragonfly found resting at the edge of the road. I have photographed Dragonflies during the day before and found them quite a challenge so it was nice to have a more sedentary subject and more controlled lighting to reveal the exquisite colours and details.
Photos with Nikon D850, 60mm f2.8 micro Nikkor lens, Nikon SB800 flash with jury rigged 3mm packing foam diffuser.
For those interested in exploring New Zealand arachnids or simply wanting to see some top level macro photography I strongly suggest a visit to Bryce’s website. It will either intrigue and stimulate you to put more effort into your macro attempts or to throw up your hands in despair and retreat to a simpler genre!
