Big Hairy Spiders

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Monday, September 26, 2011

Katherine has a horse, spiders, dogs, cats, and reptiles. Along with a background in science, she enjoys art. Her pictures of animals, drawn from memory, are anatomically correct. For her, art and science are inseparable.

When our daughter Helen had her tonsils removed a few years ago, Katherine stopped by to cheer her up. Knowing it would take something novel and interesting to distract a ten year old recovering from a tonsillectomy, she brought over a few of her pet tarantulas. Over the past couple of years, Katherine and I have talked about working together on a photo shoot of tarantulas. Last Saturday, our schedules aligned. We spent five hours photographing big hairy spiders.

I had no idea what to expect. Katherine assured me that she would be able to "contain" the tarantulas so that they would stay confined within a space of less than a half a square foot for macro photography.  Much to my surprise, the tarantulas were mellow. Katherine used a small paintbrush to "comb" their hair and dislodge undesirable particles from their bodies. The paintbrush also served as a handy prod to keep the spiders within the camera's field of view.  

It is tricky to focus and light small living animals for macro photography. The setup involved two strobe lights. The main light was set off to the side of the camera on a six-foot stand. I adjusted the deep octagonal softbox for moderate diffusion and tilted it 45° so that its beam spread onto the white Plexiglas stage. I rigged a second strobe below the translucent Plexiglas to achieve a clean white background. I mounted a medium format digital camera equipped with a 120 mm macro lens onto an industrial strength copy stand. I tethered the camera to my laptop. This enabled me to control the camera remotely and to stay out of Katherine's way. Another benefit of tethering the camera to the laptop was being able to view the pictures at 100% magnification on the screen only seconds after tripping the shutter.

Of the four specimens that Katherine brought over, two appear in this blog post. The first subject, pictured below, is a Chaco golden knee. Katherine explained that "golden knees" make good pets due to their docile and calm temperament. Despite these attributes, I opted not to handle the tarantula. I passed up the opportunity to stroke her hairy coat.

Close-up

The next subject, an Avicularia versicolor, posed wonderfully for the camera. Due to their calm demeanor and interesting coloration, these tarantulas, like golden knees, are popular spider pets.

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The camera captured an extraordinary amount of detail on this female Avicularia versicolor specimen.  

Katherine, the spiders, and I found our rhythm. We worked for hours. At around 6:30, Katherine packed up her tarantulas to head back for home. She had to tend to her horse before nightfall.