My First Wildlife Image on My New R5

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marklangner

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So, pulled the plug and decided on the Canon R5...(I have the 5D Mk IV)....took two trips on Mt Diablo (in California) looking for the tarantula spiders that I learned recently live there. Second trip I found three. Gosh I love this camera.
CU8A0093 - California Tarantula Mt Diablo Aphonopelma chalcodes.JPG
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I have some questions on this image if anyone can comment. The spiders on Mt Diablo will still be roaming (males) looking for mates for another week or 2. So I hope to have more opportunities, though frankly spiders scare me to death. This photo was taken
CU8A0093 - California Tarantula Mt Diablo Aphonopelma chalcodesV2.JPG
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with a 100mm macro lens and the spider let me inch my way (terrified) closer and closer. For background "bokeh", I'm wondering if I should stick to this lens (100mm macro) or perhaps try my 100mm-400mm f5.6 lens for a different lens perspective ???? Next question is the dirt here is very orange, but wondering if I should back off the orange.,...wondering if the dirt is too saturated ?? Lastly depth of field...think I should go for a smaller aperture and get more of the spider in focus ?? This shot was at F5.0, 1/60th second, ISO 640, Macro 100mm lens. Here is another version where I backed off the color saturation to make the soil look more like I saw in person...I think this one is better.
 
Great image!
For background "bokeh", I'm wondering if I should stick to this lens (100mm macro) or perhaps try my 100mm-400mm f5.6 lens for a different lens perspective ???? Next question is the dirt here is very orange, but wondering if I should back off the orange.,...wondering if the dirt is too saturated ?? Lastly depth of field...think I should go for a smaller aperture and get more of the spider in focus ?? This shot was at F5.0, 1/60th second, ISO 640, Macro 100mm lens
The 100-400mm will allow you to work from farther away which may be good or bad depending on how clear a field of view you have and what sort of obstructions you might get if you back off. The longer lens will allow you to control background more precisely though there's no background issues at all in the image you posted. You could split the difference and add a 1.4x TC to the macro lens if you have one. I find my Nikon 105mm AF-S micro lens takes the TC-14 e iii very well with little to no change in image quality.

From an editing standpoint it looks like the image slopes down to the left based on the spider and the transition to the blurred background. You might try leveling the image to see which you like better. The soil color doesn't jump out as a problem to me, but if you find it distracting then sure, selective desaturation is a good way to go. You could also burn down the orange hues a bit with some color selective darkening or adding a vignette or even gradient to burn down the foreground.

Not sure where you live around there but the Tarantulas can also be found in great numbers at certain times of the year up on Altamont Pass. I used to do a lot of cycling back there and we'd sometimes see hundreds of them crossing the old back roads up by the wind power turbines during their migration seasons.
 
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Great image!

The 500mm will allow you to work from farther away which may be good or bad depending on how clear a field of view you have and what sort of obstructions you might get if you back off. The longer lens will allow you to control background more precisely though there's background issues at all in the image you posted. You could split the difference and add a 1.4x TC to the macro lens if you have one. I find my Nikon 105mm AF-S micro lens takes the TC-14 e iii very well with little to no change in image quality.

From an editing standpoint it looks like the image slopes down to the left based on the spider and the transition to the blurred background. You might try leveling the image to see which you like better. The soil color doesn't jump out as a problem to me, but if you find it distracting then sure, selective desaturation is a good way to go. You could also burn down the orange hues a bit with some color selective darkening or adding a vignette or even gradient to burn down the foreground.

Not sure where you live around there but the Tarantulas can also be found in great numbers at certain times of the year up on Altamont Pass. I used to do a lot of cycling back there and we'd sometimes see hundreds of them crossing the old back roads up by the wind power turbines during their migration seasons.
Thank you...yes I was on a sloped hill trail, spider walking towards the camera, laying literally on my belly, and using the in camera leveling aides to keep the camera image itself level. I'll give your ideas a try in the next couple days...thank you.
 
Have you thought about stacking images to increase your depth of field? Friend of mine in the uk does amazing handheld stacks with his R5 and assorted lenses (including the mad MPE lens that gives 5x magnification) am I allowed to post links here? If not give me a prod and I‘ll delete this…
 
When I shoot macro shots like this, it is always a dilemma-get very low like you have done to get the most pleasing BG or shoot from a slightly higher perspective to get more of the creature (Tarantula) in focus. I personally like to emphasize the hairs on their legs, so I tend to favor the higher perspective. I realize that it complicates things significantly, but using a flash off camera from above and slightly behind spider will really display the leg and body hairs. Use TTL with negative FEC.
 
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