The Dalles, Oregon-

This is my "pet Jumper", she's in so many shots on my web site I lost track. I identified her. Her scientific name is Phildippus audax. I used size, proportions and markings to ID her from one my my field guides. She's not a caged "pet"--she lives outside next to my light in a hole she lined with silk. I've been photographing and watching her nearly every night for a month or more now and even sold a picture of her (full sized). I've not yet put it up. but all pictures on this site are potentially for sale (in there full sized version)--to obtain the full sized version and about sales--e-mail me.

Below is a spider that I caught running on my wall. I just saw it on the internet a couple of weeks ago!! I forgot it's scientific name. It's one of the first pictures I took with a bunch of gear for my 35mm Pentax SLR. Extension tubes and a macro lens. The whole outfit works well but it takes practice to get right. The gear for my Pentax has super-macro abilities almost as high as my digital stuff with the right lens combos. All pro stuff in great shape. I've got to try it out. I do mostly digital but never forgot 35mm or 120 film and still will use it. The biggest trick is the scanner I've got a lot to learn about that. I will mark 35mm pictures every time I put them up.





I recently took this picture from my Grandma's. You can see the Columbia river on the right and the entire town down below. My house is just to the left a bit up in mid-picture up the hill. The view and photo-opportunities are great but meeting people is a bit hard.


A daddy longlegs -(the insect type) in a jar. That bright light bulb covered in aluminum foil makes a quick easy light for 35mm or digital photography without a flash. But you gotta keep it cool--use under 40w or a floodlight that does not get too hot. A lamp now replaces that stuff now and I can take great 35mm pictures with no flash and test all that Pentax gear I got. I'm excited about what this stuff can do. Its the "the big bug gun" of my gear with up to a foot long lens combo wich has all kinds of macro Possibilities. My new digital cameras can almost certainly do much higher macros, at higher then 35mm res., but this is a challenge I want to take on. This stuff is typical pro-gear standard stuff for spider macro shots as instructed in one of my books from the 1980s--how to do it. Some pros even still do things this way today. The photo club here still has a lot of slide photography. That's another field I want to learn at least the basics about. I want to learn all the techniques and technologies of photography I can. The hint of sepia in this picture is a natural effect of high speed film (400-800+) when used in low light. The effect happens with digital cameras as well but you can fix it with your white-balance control.
(if your camera has one and you know how to use it- most do)