May 17 Program: Macro Photography of Jumping Spiders (and more!)

Salticidae, the family of jumping spiders, is the most species-rich family of spiders. Their extreme diversity and beauty can serve as an effective gateway to arachnid-acceptance and teaching the important role spiders play in ecosystems all over the world. In this presentation, our speaker will go over their approach to finding and photographing them, how they see, how they hunt, and more! Not only will the presentation be about his work with salticids, it’ll be full of macro-photography advice applicable to anyone interested in close-up photography in the field!

Our speaker, Thomas Shahan, is an artist and photographer based out of Oklahoma, United States, who utilizes his background in printmaking to bring a creative approach to high-magnification macrophotography. He has worked as an imaging specialist for the Oregon Department of Agriculture, a video game artist, and a book illustrator.

With a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art from the University of Oklahoma, his photographs have appeared in National Geographic, national television programs, and museums throughout the world. Despite an interest in all fields of entomology, his passion lies with arachnids, specifically salticids.

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