Jumping Spiders & Praying Mantis in Rutland

Photographers on Safari are offering you the opportunity to photograph a range of tiny insects in their studio in Rutland. These invertebrates provide the opportunity to photograph intricate details of our subjects that are not normally visible to the human eye. Our subjects are extremely easy to work with and will provide you with hours of wonderful entertainment. They are very cute and clearly enjoy their time outside their enclosures. They are fascinating to watch, let alone to photograph.

Jumping Spiders

The Phidippus Regius is the most popular Jumping Spider species. It comes in remarkable colours, often with several different combinations. One of the most outstanding features are their remarkably huge beady eyes on a comparatively small body. The males grow to 15mm and the females are larger and generally reach up to 22mm in body length. The females have brighter colours on their bodies that typically range in colour from grey to orange, whereas the males usually have a black body with white markings on their abdomen. One of the most attractive characteristics of the Regal Jumping Spider is their blue-green or pink-coloured iridescent, an often metallic-looking chelicerae or “jaws.” These spiders have three rows of eyes, the first row being very large and easily visible.

Praying Mantis

A Praying Mantis is named after the typical ‘prayer-like’ stance that it adopts when it folds its legs into the pre-strike position. There are approximately 2,000 mantid species worldwide. They have two huge compound eyes mounted on a triangular, articulated head which they are able to rotate 180 degrees. In addition, they have another three eyes situated between their antennae. They are the only invertebrates known to have the ability to see in 3D. Their long antennae are used for smell, and these strange creatures have the ability to regrow any limbs that may become lost prior to reaching adulthood. They have a voracious appetite and can feed on prey much larger than themselves. These creatures are masters of camouflage and can mimic twigs or leaves and parts of flowers. A Praying Mantis can even hear ultrasonic pulses from bats that use echolocation to find prey. When a bat targets a Mantis for a meal, the Mantis recognises the sound of these pulses. They are collected in its chest-centered ear and it can dive bomb away from a bat’s bite midflight.

Leaf Insects

Leaf insects are very closely related to stick insects and whereas stick insects camouflage themselves as twigs, the leaf insects are superbly camouflaged as a leaf. There are some 30 different species. They are green or brown and they copy the leaves in their surroundings. They are extremely difficult to spot in the wild and some of these insects have spots and blotches to mimic the leaves around them. Others look exactly like dead or wrinkled leaves. Leaf Insects mimic their surroundings so well that other Leaf Insects will, from time to time, mistakenly take bites out of them.

Studio Photography

All the setups will be indoors, using the very latest LED lighting equipment. The group size will be limited to just THREE photographers in order to enhance your experience and to eliminate overcrowding. We will take our time with each subject, giving you every opportunity to return home with some truly outstanding shots. You are free to use whatever settings you like throughout the day. The best option would be for us to set up your camera in manual mode before the workshop begins. The LED lights emit a constant level of light and you will not need to change settings throughout each session. All you have to do is to focus on the subject and press the shutter button. No previous experience in this type of photography is required. We are happy to loan you a Canon camera with a macro lens if you wish.

Tips and Tuition

Photographers on Safari will be on hand throughout the day to make sure that you are getting correct exposures for each session. If minimal adjustments are required we will show exactly what to do. Do not be fearful of techniques or settings that are new to you. We will guide you through the day. Once your camera has been set up correctly, your photography is no different to when shooting outdoors.

Typical Itinerary

09.30 Meet & Greet, Tea / Coffee, Risk Assessment
09.40 Introduction to Digital Photography
10.00 1st session photography
13.00 Lunch (food and drinks provided)
14.00 2nd session photography
15.00 2nd session ends
15.00 Optional Bonus Session with Harvest Mice and/or Red Eyed Tree Frogs. This one hour session will cost just £10.00 chargeable on the day.
16.00 Close

Harvest Mice

Harvest Mice are Europe’s smallest rodents and the only British mammal to have a prehensile tail. This allows them to grasp plant stems as they move through long vegetation. They have a reddish-yellow coat with a white underside, small hairy ears and its nose is much blunter than those of other mice. They are mostly nocturnal, although they may be active during the day in warm summer months. Numbers have declined in recent times and they are now rarely seen in the wild. We have many different set-ups for these animals. Make your choice on the day.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog

These frogs have bright lime green bodies and have white bellies and throats. Their sides are partly blue with vertical white bars and their feet are orange. Male Red-Eyed Tree Frogs can grow up to two inches in length and females can grow even bigger. Our captive-bred subjects are likely to be somewhat smaller. Although the Red-eyed Tree Frog itself is not endangered, its rainforest home is under constant threat. They look really great on Banana Plants that are readily found in their natural habitat.

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