My 2018 Project: Scorpions (Extreme Macros)

mygale

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 6, 2015
Messages
196
I'm mostly known for tarantula photography but 2018 will be all about scorpions.

They are all 40-50 megapixel, 16bit, ProPhoto, likely the most detailed (extreme) macros I’ve ever made. EXIF, setups and so is in the Flickr description, everything is studio work.

Androctonus gonneti Metasoma by mygale

"I'm still absolutely blown away by this metasoma. I have another edit of this one, where it looks like it's made out of black shiny metal, one of my favorite wallpapers ever. The original color was almost completely orange. I restored it to the original brown/black tone."

Androctonus gonneti Metasoma @1x by mygale

Buthacus stockmanni Telson 3,2X by mygale

"This small scorpion species with around 5 cm body length (body+flat metasoma) has an exceptionally long aculeus. It’s named after my friend Mark who discovered it, and collected this exact specimen in the wild. Original colors restored based on a living one, also photographed by me!"

Hottentotta franzwerneri Metasoma 2x by mygale

0.1 Adult female Hottentotta franzwerneri preserved in 75% Isopropyl.
Original colors restored based on a living one, also photographed by me!

Leiurus brachycentrus - Aculeus by mygale

Unlike tarantula fangs which always are completely black, every scorpion aculeus I have seen so far was always darker at the end. So far I assume that's due to the metals > https://flic.kr/p/VyXM4Y > https://flic.kr/p/Vz7G3X

Eye of the Scorpion - Leiurus brachycentrus 6x by mygale

On the 100% view you can see the many scratches on the eye. Also, the mouth is on the right.

Scorpion Chela Apistobuthus pterygocercus by mygale

Shield-Tailed Scorpion by mygale

1.0 (Sub) adult male Apistobuthus pterygocercus preserved in 75% Isopropyl.

"I photographed a living one yesterday, this in combination with habitat images from Mark http://www.buthidae.eu, who collected this specimen in the wild for research purposes, allowed me to recreate the natural environment as close as possible in the studio."

All of them were collected for research purposes or are captive breeds, none of them were killed. Usually, they directly go to the universities. I keep them completely intact, which makes it a lot harder to photograph them at 6-10X.

Most of those macros were produced for the upcoming handbook:

A preview of the new handbook. by mygale
 

Scorpionluva

Arachnoangel
Joined
Jul 15, 2013
Messages
925
Absolutely beautiful pics :)
I'd love to take pics like that with all my species Truly Breathtaking and thanks for sharing them!
 

Wishorama

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 18, 2018
Messages
6
Amazing shots! Jaw-dropping, in fact. I plan to shoot my Desert Hairy and this is perfect inspiration. Care to share lens details? I've got a 105mm Nikon Macro I'll be using, so my images won't be as magnified. I'll keep an eye out for the handbook, it looks interesting as well. Great job!
Edit: I see the Flickr links with more info now. :)
 

pannaking22

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 25, 2011
Messages
4,226
Wow, I can't hit love enough times for those posters. Absolutely incredible!
 

Scorpusvonpork

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jun 8, 2017
Messages
83
Excellent! Thank you for showing us that!. I'm excited by the dog like eye with patina. I'd have never thought they'd have eyes like that.
 

mygale

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 6, 2015
Messages
196
I'm excited by the dog like eye with patina. I'd have never thought they'd have eyes like that.
The scratched eye seems to be everyone's favorite. I'm currently working on new even higher magnification macros of the medial and lateral eyes for the upcoming anatomy poster. It seems that the tiny lateral eyes have a colorful iris too.
 
Last edited:
Top