I've got a new lens and a tripod

[ewx]

Click on the images for even bigger spiders.

My new lens is one of these and is rather bulky compared to my camera (it's about 12cm end to end). My initial experiments with it didn't come out well but combining it with the tripod and very long exposures produced the above images.

The (far cheaper) tripod worked better once I'd figured out the right way round to attach the camera to it, initial experimentation chez crazyscot having left me worrying that it wasn't up to the weight of the lens.

Comments

[new-brunette.livejournal.com]

Very nice! I look forward to seeing more from that lens. I'll make a good portrait lens, too.

[gareth-rees.livejournal.com]

It's a male domestic house spider (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_house_spider), Tegenaria domestica. Note the bulbous pedipalps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedipalp).

[ewx.livejournal.com]

Thanks for all the identifications, BTW l-)

[lnr]

I know it's hard to tell size from a photo, but that article says "legspan up to an inch" - is legspan the whole distance across or just one leg? Cos I'm sure this spider was more like 1.5 - 2 inches across in total, if it's the same one he was planning to photograph earlier.

[gareth-rees.livejournal.com]

It could be a giant house spider (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_house_spider), Tegenaria gigantea.

[lnr]

Yeah, I read the description of those next, and actually managed to make myself shudder. I don't mind spiders in principle, and I don't mind small ones in practice, but the domestic one is already bigger than I'd like to pick up, and the giant ones make me uncomfortable to be around unless I've a reasonable distance between me and them.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

http://hobospider.org/european.html (http://hobospider.org/european.html) seems to favour that identification, particularly the absence of rings on the legs. It doesn't rule it out as a Hobo spider, but apparently that species is almost never found in houses in Europe.

[gareth-rees.livejournal.com]

Good thing too; hobo spiders are aggressive and have a poisonous bite.

[davefish.livejournal.com]

Lovely shots.
I've been thinking of getting that lens for a while now, you'll have to post a review of it somewhere.