Still Struggling to Focus Jumping Spider: Posting shots straight from camera and then a cropped shot. I like how they look, till I get them up close. Spider is deep in the stems in a...

sford122 Loc: Amarillo TX

Posting shots straight from camera and then a cropped shot. I like how they look, till I get them up close.

Spider is deep in the stems in a pot of rose moss.

Canon Rebel T3, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, Speedlite 430EX11 w/diffuser. Maybe a little improvement from last posts. Will keep struggling.

Back focused? Me or camera?? Me?

Focused on back eye

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

This is the same focus issue with which I struggle.

Shoot more; shoot often.

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

Because these guys are sooo small I focus as near to the top of the head as I can. The bottom half of the single focus point is on the eyes the rest on top and over the head. If you focus to close on the eyes/ top of the focus point on the eyes/ a lot of the time the focus point picks up the hands which are in front and forward of the eyes, then the eyes are not focused. My first shots were just like yours till I figured this out. Hope this Helps.

tinusbum Loc: east texas

good looking spider.i havent seen that one befor,good advise.i do shoot often, next time i see one i'll try aiming at the top of the head.tom

sford122 Loc: Amarillo TX

Nikonian72 wrote:

This is the same focus issue with which I struggle.
Shoot more; shoot often.

I don't mind struggling, as long as I'm headed in the right direction. It helps to know you had to struggle too. Thanks.

sford122 Loc: Amarillo TX

fstop22 wrote:

Because these guys are sooo small I focus as near to the top of the head as I can. The bottom half of the single focus point is on the eyes the rest on top and over the head. If you focus to close on the eyes/ top of the focus point on the eyes/ a lot of the time the focus point picks up the hands which are in front and forward of the eyes, then the eyes are not focused. My first shots were just like yours till I figured this out. Hope this Helps.

Thank you so much for your reply. I have been trying so hard to get my spot focus red dot to light up exactly on an eye, or between the eyes. It will be interesting to see what happens when I aim for the top of the head. I was also angled down, sometimes straight down, to take these shots. The little guy was deep into the pot of flowers. It was like peering through an obstacle course of stems. Just knowing your first shots were like these give me such high hopes. I was beginning to feel like a failure, but not now.

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

sford122 wrote:

Thank you so much for your reply. I have been try... (show quote)

Keep the bottom half of the focus point on the eyes, not all the way on the head. And it does help to angle down a little so your Looking Over the Hands, too low and your focus point crabs the hands. That said, he still has to look up your way, if he is looking down near impossible to nail the eye focus because they are sooo small.

Macromad Loc: New Zealand

From what i can see you have definately got the roight idea, they know where to hide to make it hard to get the right shot.( patience) watch for long enough and he might leave the pot to hunt. have not seen one like this in NZ

sford122 Loc: Amarillo TX

Macromad wrote:

From what i can see you have definately got the roight idea, they know where to hide to make it hard to get the right shot.( patience) watch for long enough and he might leave the pot to hunt. have not seen one like this in NZ

I've spent the last hour just watching my little guy hunt, jump, and watch me watch him. What a thrill. Didn't get any shots good enough to post, but got a lot of practice in and thoroughly enjoyed myself. The pot of rose moss he is in is only about 10 inches wide. We have had wind gusts up to 40 mph today, temp in the 40's and low 50's and it is supposed to get down to about 25 degrees tonight. (It was 85 degrees here yesterday. Cold front blowing through.) I decided to bring the flower pot in to my sunroom and now I am comfortably observing him. Thanks for responding to my post. And welcome to UHH! Look forward to seeing your work too.

sford122 Loc: Amarillo TX

tinusbum wrote:

good looking spider.i havent seen that one befor,good advise.i do shoot often, next time i see one i'll try aiming at the top of the head.tom

Thanks Tom, I think he's handsome too.

sford122 Loc: Amarillo TX

fstop22 wrote:

Keep the bottom half of the focus point on the eyes, not all the way on the head. And it does help to angle down a little so your Looking Over the Hands, too low and your focus point crabs the hands. That said, he still has to look up your way, if he is looking down near impossible to nail the eye focus because they are sooo small.

It really is difficult. On Canon's focus points, there is a little square with the dot in the middle. At your suggestion, I'm now trying to get the bottom part of the square on the eyes and the dot and top part of the square just above the eyes. Is that correct? It is so dark through the view finder, if the subject is dark, it is hard to even see the box and even more difficult to get the dot to turn red. I guess that's why I have to keep practicing.
:)

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

sford122 wrote:

It really is difficult. On Canon's focus points, there is a little square with the dot in the middle. At your suggestion, I'm now trying to get the bottom part of the square on the eyes and the dot and top part of the square just above the eyes. Is that correct? It is so dark through the view finder, if the subject is dark, it is hard to even see the box and even more difficult to get the dot to turn red. I guess that's why I have to keep practicing.
:)

Sounds like part of the problem. If your camera can't see well it won't focus well. Sometimes you have to walk away and shoot another day. I'm awake at 5:am but for best results I can't start photographing till 7:45 am. Your learning the limits of your lens and camera and you have to work around these.

JHodge Loc: Missouri

sford122 wrote:

It really is difficult. On Canon's focus points, there is a little square with the dot in the middle. At your suggestion, I'm now trying to get the bottom part of the square on the eyes and the dot and top part of the square just above the eyes. Is that correct? It is so dark through the view finder, if the subject is dark, it is hard to even see the box and even more difficult to get the dot to turn red. I guess that's why I have to keep practicing.

The square you are talking about might be the metering area. I assume you have your camera set to single point focus and usually there will be the focus dot with a larger square around it with represents the light metering area, depending on your settings of course.

sford122 Loc: Amarillo TX

JHodge wrote:

The square you are talking about might be the metering area. I assume you have your camera set to single point focus and usually there will be the focus dot with a larger square around it with represents the light metering area, depending on your settings of course.

Thanks Jim. You are correct... that is how I have mine set.

Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

I think you are doing great Susan!! You have come a long way from where you started.
Erv