Posted on July 14, 2015
Orb Weaver Web
Category: Blog, Favorite Locations, Insects, yard & pond Tagged: Orb Weaver, spider webs, spiders
Posted on October 7, 2013
It seems to be the season for spiders. Working in the yard I am coming across quite a few. The one from the other day enlarged its web to about 8 ft wide. Very poor light and windy, but here are a few quick captures, plus one from last week. With the poor light and the wind I had to use a high ISO and f/ stops from f/2.8 to f/5.6 to get something usable. All shot with a Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro on a Canon 7D. Opened in Camera Raw with aggressive noise reduction. I have to find something besides spiders for next time. I also added one Dragonfly that I just came across and liked.
Posted on September 30, 2013
As I was working in the yard and cutting the lawn I spotted this Spider on the side of the house. When I was done he was still hanging around, so to speak. I tried shooting a few shots, but it was windy and it was in the shade. I upped the ISO to 1600, but I still needed more depth of field. I tried a 3 shot sequence to make a panorama and was about to give up. Then the sun broke through and cast his shadow. I liked that shot the best and was satisfied with what I got, so back to yard work. Keep trying different crops, lighting or other ways to capture your subject. Don’t settle for one quick shot. You will be surprised with what you come up with. Again this was taken with the Panasonic GH2 and the Canon FD 200mm f/4 macro with the FD to m43 lens adapter.
Posted on September 28, 2013
I like a different kind of Web Browsing. It is fun to wander around either in my yard or parks looking for spider webs. Sometimes I get lucky and find nice webs with morning dew with interesting backgrounds & backlighting. But more often I find webs in difficult areas to get to or in really dark areas with bad light and wind blowing it around. If you keep an eye out for webs while you are out shooting other subjects, quite often you will come across them. Sometimes I try to get in as close as I can for more detail in the web and spider. Other times I back out to show more of the whole web. For whole webs you do not need a macro lens. If you want to get closer and do not have a macro lens, try extension tubes or achromatic filters. They work quite well on 70 – 200 or 300mm zooms or even 50mm normal lenses. You can even try a short extension tube on wide angle lenses. When shooting spiders close-up, try just moving up or down slightly  to get different backgrounds. You do not have to move too much to get different background effects and density variations. Either way, give it a try and have fun.