Too large: the pregnant female jumping spider or my magnification ratio? Yeah, the closer obsession got me again.

I like to get as close to my subjects as possible. I sometimes do this at the expense of a good shot. To be sure I try to get shots of a particular subject at a range of magnifications, but when having to choose one end or the other I have tended toward the higher end. Part of it is a desire to put a “face” on a bug: not only is it novel thing to see, but, in my humble opinion, it gives these small, often reviled creatures a depth that is hard to dismiss. On the flipside, if most of the bug is in the shot, it’s usually better to get the whole of the bug in there. That’s how I feel about this jumping spider shot. I managed in a single frame some very pleasing clarity on the beautiful eyes as well as a good representation of the spider’s plump, fertile abdomen in the background, but I cut off the legs. I was playing on the edge, and if I lucked into a different angle at the same magnification the whole subject would have fit into the frame. These are times when I have to make a choice an live with it. Not many second chances from spiders.