First Macro: Spider

[Noni]

I was catching an escaping cat this morning, and almost ran smack into this web and it's owner. I absolutely am terrified of spiders; this encounter resulted in Simon being caught by his tail and hind legs, a maneuver I reserve for the most extreme emergencies.

And then I thought....man, that'd make a great shot, if I can get it. So I brought my wayward feline into the house, grabbed the camera, and went back outside. I swear, I was sweating and shaky, because I am literally terrified of these things, and I **know** it was marking me for eventual attack and death. So, if I die anytime soon, you all will know the spider that got me.

(enjoy...)

Best-
Noni

[Ballen Photo]

The backlit web looks kinda COOL. Dont worry Noni, it wont get You. ;)
-Bruce

[chemicalbro]

yeah i like the way the light is scattering ,sub surface in the spider :)
its a little oof but considering you were shaking like a leaf you did a good job
CONFRONT YOUR FEARS !!!!!!!!.... it won't harm you in the least if you don't prod and poke at it.(or accidentally destroy its web whilst chasing a cat :))

[Dragonslayer]

Noni, most spiders can not cause you as much injury as a skeeter can. This one looks pretty harmless to me. When shooting a shot like this even if you are scared, get a feel for the scene here, you have the spidered centered in the frame and I would personally have moved it upwards some, also try to get your camera parallel with the spiders web so that you do not get the OOF areas on the web here at the bottom as you have in this image and move in closer it won't bite you, unless you really corner it or threaten it.

The other thing is the spiders exposure seems a little warm overall here some very bright areas but you still did good considering you over came your fear long enough to take this shot, that is the first step, know your critters then you will have nothing to be scared of, or you will know enough to stay away from it :)

Now go out and find a bigger one and take more spider images.

[RockOne]

I like this shot. The yellow spider and backlit web against the dark background. Most spiders (99%) are totally harmless and in fact beneficial. Like Eric says if you know which ones are dangerous then you will know which ones that can be photographed safely.

[Noni]

Thanks, guys. I was worried about camera shake...and the darned thing leaping on me and biting me. Once, in a traffic jam on the freeway, I nearly left the car because I saw a spider on the dash board. My fear is legendary, having nearly caused 911 to be called more than once (most recently at the office; I started hollering and running out of my office into the receptionist area...and she thought I was being attacked...I'm still trying to live that one down). I *am* allergic to the buggers, though. Once bit, I swell like a golf ball is lodged under the skin, harmless spider or not. I can't imagine getting bit by something that's actually poisonous.

I liked the backlit affect pretty well, though, once I got the shots downloaded. It is pretty bright though...and gelatinous looking. Ewwwwwwwyuck. Dragonslayer, thanks for the tips on how to shoot it; I noticed a shot but couldn't get it at all: from the side angle, the web sort of bowed outward, with the spider situated in the center. Although I tried to get it, it didn't come out as well as I'd hoped.

It's so funny, too, me being scared to death of these things...I skydive, and am a black belt...it's not like there's much fear in my life (or what there is is faced and conquered). But this is the closest I've voluntarily come to the 8 legged living nightmare...maybe I'll be able to do it again someday...and then, hopefully, I will be more capable of framing, and lighting, and whatnot.

Thanks for looking, and I *really* appreciate the advice (and reassurance, too....)

Best-
Noni

[scrumpy]

Hey Noni, great picture.

[Bald Eagle]

It seems to me that under the circumstances, You took an excellent photo. I love the backlighting effect. Very well done. I would suggest starting small. Crab spiders are a favorite of mine.

[chemicalbro]

Noni try to think of spiders as your friend :)..

wether you skydive is irelevant.......... you've got a phobia .... an irrational fear of something (usually VERY easy to overcome once you see the thing you are scared of isn't really so bad)
like you i used to be arachnaphobic (overcame that by letting a VERY large tarantula crawl up my arm at a petting zoo.(this things body alone was about 5 inches, not counting legs)..... once the initial horror of oooo its going on me.... it wasn't too bad.... it just wandered around a bit then back onto the table.... after that other spiders seemed ok...
that was when i was a kid about 14 yrs old...
these days i'm forever picking them up.... (lucky in scotland coz theres none that can harm humans) i'm more afraid of wasps coz they can actually do me some damage ...but i still take photos of those :)
if they wern't there think how many flies there would be and we'd be up to our necks in maggots....they feed the cute little bird that you photograph.....
they throw the strongest organic substance known to man out of their a**es, whats not to like ;).

i seen a thing where they were trying to synthesize spider silk so they could use the fabric as a lining in bulletproof vests, becasue its so strong they would only need a few layers and the vest would be lightweight and inconspicuous :)
they are cool little critters who just wanna get on with it and eat a few flys they don't really care if you live or die tbh.... if you leave them alone they won't even know you are there.
(well thats not strictly true becasue they have excellent eyesight, he'll know you're there alright but will more likely run away than attack ) you might think a spider looks big.
but think how big you look in its little eyes.