Although I have read many accounts of spiders being described as “curious”, I have never myself encountered one of these enquiring creatures, until today that is.
As I paced through the backyard, I spotted a small grey blob clinging on the wall. I loomed in closer with the camera, adjusted myself so that it came into focus (reverse lens macro, focusing is quite a challenge). Its entrancing eyes came into view, fixed towards something ahead. As the shutter began to chime, I expected it to turn away from the source of the noise and scuttle away. Yet to my surprise, it looked up, right into the lens!
The gigantic black box could only hold its fascination for so long however, it lost interest soon after, and sauntered away, presumably in search of a good spot to hunt.
Taken using: Tokina 28mm manual reversed, on extension tubes, magnification roughly 2.5:1
Seeingthrough35mm 
Jumping spiders definitely appear to be curious. Great photograph.
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Is this a jumping spider? My spider knowledge is shoddy at best, just thought he was cute looking 😀
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I am almost positive. Bug guide.net can help.
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Of course it’s a jumping spider, yuk
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Bugs freak me out but they make great photographs. Nice shot!
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Indeed, I was very close to naming the post “Arachnophobes, look away now” haha. But then thought, this would be a great as part of the graded exposure therapy to help overcome their phobia 😛
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You should have !!!!!!!!!! No warnings, how could you !!!!!
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hahaha, I was expecting this 😛
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You are so mean 😥
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Cute? No. I’m one of the arachnophobes … give me a snake over a spider any day! Nice photo, though!
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Ah snakes, now we are talking, I’m a big fan of reptiles!
My SO is not a fan of the eight-legged creatures either (apart from crabs), perhaps I should post a spider each week, at unspecified time, so that it is therapeutic 😛
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I don’t think either of us would enjoy that therapy, but thanks anyway! We’ll just carry on with our phobia. Haha.
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Gives me the shivers! But that just means the picture is very good:)
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Haha thanks Inger. I took a little stroll, and found so many little creatures in such a small area.
Have you tried macro photography before?
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I don’t have a proper macro lens for it so find it difficult to get good ones. Do you have a macro or are taking them with the ‘normal’ one?
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I use a Tokina manual lens, with a manual aperture ring, reverse the lens and put it on an extension tube for extra magnification. There is no autofocus and no metering, takes some practice, but is really good fun, and it’s really cheap. The extension tubes turn pretty much any old lens into a macro
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Interesting, I might have to try that out:) I haven’t been able to justify buying a macro lens but this might be a good option! Thanks for the idea:)
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Yeah, same here, I don’t take enough macro photos to warrant buying a new lens (although I want to 😛 ). There are quite a few images I took using the old Nikon 18-55mm kit lens with the tubes. The Kenko tubes still allows for autofocus, albeit a bit slower.
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Welcome to the jumping spider club!
The jumping spider I encountered the other day wouldn’t stop leaping on my lens, so be prepared for a variety of unpredictable antics.
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Cool! I’ve found a jumping spider!
The ones in North America seem a lot more colourful and interesting looking, and greater variety. Or perhaps it’s my lack of effort in finding them here
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I usually encounter zebra jumping spiders, tan jumping spiders, and woodland jumping spiders — none of which is very colorful.
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Beautiful photograph!
…even if I may of died a little inside…
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I applaud your courage for looking at it! That’s one step closer to loving these little creatures 😀
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How close were you? And this spider was in your backyard? Not sure what I would react if I saw one of these in my backyard, but I think I will grab my camera as well – as long as it is not going to jump at me! Good shot!
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About 5 cm away, the reversed lens plus the tube allow for quite a close up shot.
It looked rather dull without the magnification, just grey little blob. I’ve decided that I should aim the lens at everything that moves, for it can uncover surprising intricacies!
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Nice close up. I’ve never encountered a specimen of these adorable, hairy, large-eyed… jumping spiders… :p
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I never thought we had them in the UK until I started to look at them throw a macro set up, it appears that all of them have quite adorable puppy-dog eyes!
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Ahah puppy-dog eyes?!! Seriously? Maybe they’re even as soft as a puppy :p I also tend to find bugs & reptiles “cute” which most people don’t understand… I feel terribly misunderstood ahah people think ducks are cute, but that’s really a misconception 😀
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Same here, I’m a bigger fan of invertebrates than birds. There compound eyes are mesmerising, and also all the tiny details you can uncover that you never noticed before are very exciting. There is a species of bug that practices “traumatic insemination”, I find them less cute…. 😛
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Quite fascinating indeed, “traumatic insemination” doesn’t sound too pleasant :p I personally prefer birds, love birds, but one important reason for this is that they are basically modern dinosaurs… so I feel ya 😀
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I suppose everything that is alive today is a modern version of something haha, apart from goblin shark, which has just been goblin shark for millions of years, and refused to evolve
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Ahah a particularly unappealing living fossil!
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I love this shot!
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Thanks Katie. I was surprised that the little guy didn’t run away, and posed for the photo haha. I’d love to be in Australia with the same set up, the bugs over there are amazing I’ve heard!
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Yes, the wildlife here is pretty amazing. The birds are so colourful and interesting. I’d love a really good zoom lens so I could capture them too.
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What set up do you use for your photos at the moment? Sigma and Tamron have both released some excellent telephotos in the past couple of years. I’d love to get one, I’m currently still struggling with a Nikon 55-300
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