Wolf Spider
So we all know that I’m afraid of spiders. David says that I’m bad at being an arachnophobe and lately I’m inclined to agree. There was a time when the mere photo of a spider would send me into shudders of fear and disgust. Now, I take up-close photos of many different spiders, and barely shake at all.
One of the things I’ve been attempting to do is actually get in front of spiders to take better pictures of them, showing their eyes, fangs, pedipalps, etc. The only problem with this, and I’ve learned from experience, is that this puts me in front of the spider. Sure, I can talk about how I’m not that scared of spiders anymore, but as it’s charging towards my camera, ready to eat my face, you can be sure I’m running away once that photo’s taken.
So, there you have it. I risked life, limb, and face to get this Wolf Spider picture for you all. I was this close to it when I took the picture. People who aren’t creeped out by spiders will tell you that I was in no danger from this little girl*, but arachnophobes understand; it was getting ready to feast upon my flesh.
*Small pedipalps=girl. And you thought I wasn’t going to say anything informative! Of course, I have no idea if those are actually “small,” as I’ve never sat around any Wolf Spider long enough to compare them with one-another, but unless someone corrects me, I’m going to call this a girl.
So much for being on an even keel again with posting.... completely overwhelmed IRL right now.
Kit Watson said,
August 29, 2008 @ 7:23 am
Link to the big version seems broken.
Dang.
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Parkway said,
August 29, 2008 @ 7:47 am
Nice looking shot - but I can’t get the larger version to work.
David Brady said,
August 29, 2008 @ 10:18 am
Erk–looks like the web server is afraid of spiders, too. I fixed it.
Parkway said,
August 29, 2008 @ 10:56 am
OK, so that’s a scary looking spider!
How big was it?
The shots easily well lit enough - might a higher F-Number (narrower apperture) have given that little bit more depth of field? Back legs are perfect, but she’s reaching a long way forward as it charges forward to eat the photographers face
tceisele said,
August 29, 2008 @ 11:22 am
About the “feast on your flesh” bit: No worries! She’s not actually after your flesh, she’s a spider - she wants to suck out your bodily fluids!
Ok, ok, first she wants to inject some digestive enzymes[*] to convert some of your flesh *into* fluids, but still, it won’t be flesh by the time she eats it!
*We had a wolf spider in a jar last week, and fed it a fly. Other spiders may liquefy the innards of their prey and suck out the juices, but they are usually inefficient enough that the empty husk that remains is still recognizably an insect. Not this wolf spider though - the fly she ate got turned into a pile of *dust*. Woohoo! Now *that’s* some external digestion enzymes!
JFargo said,
August 29, 2008 @ 11:23 am
Thanks for fixing the big one, David!
@Parkway - Fact of the matter is, I have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s not your fault; I’m just not versed in anything beyond “point-and-shoot.” I have a very simple camera (Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ3
) with simple pre-set settings. I probably could have gotten it in better focus if I hadn’t been busy running away at high speed after clicking this one from inches away! 
As for its size, I’m really a horrible judge. Any spider looks about half a foot bigger to me than it actually is. Sorry.
@tceisele - Wow. I’m glad I got away before being turned to dust!
ziyda said,
August 29, 2008 @ 12:08 pm
Nice! I’m all for making sure the eyes are in focus; good work, she’s looking right at you! And, she’s cute.
An aside: I see a marketing ploy for lens manufacturers.
Vibration Reduction/Image Stabilization lenses for the Arachnophobe in your life : )
Someone in my household cannot even look at the word spider without flinching.
That’s deep arachnophobia!
Thanks for the funny post : )