How would you light a spider web?

I came across a beautiful spider web (with spider) around the corner by my house this week. So the next day I went for a walk with camera to snap some shots of it, but I can not even see the web in the photos, looks like the spider is floating in air.

How can I light it so the web is visible in the shot?? Just bring a Bare flash & light with hard light? And where should i place it? back light? Side light it? Also do you think I need a modifier? Umbrella or Softbox?

If anyone has any advice or experience, please do chime in. I appreciate everyones help as always!

Droplets of water would make it awesome, but that might not seem natural. Why not just go grab a single flash and try different angles yourself since it's so close?

Headshotzx wrote in post #13145734
Droplets of water would make it awesome, but that might not seem natural. Why not just go grab a single flash and try different angles yourself since it's so close?

Thanks headshotzx, the water sounds like a good idea, as long as I don't disturb the spider. I will head over at sunset and try different angles out, just wanted to see what kind of suggestions POTN had, maybe someone knows of something I don't even think of (that happens often)

I used top down lighting on this ...

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The background is a important as the lighting.
Bring a piece of black foam core with you. If the sun is shining on the web, use the foam core to shade the background. That should provide the contrast you need.

Another technique would be to underexpose the background ambient at least 2 stops, and light the web with flash.

We could be more helpful if you post the shot you took, so we can see the environment.

Dustman wrote in post #13145692
I came across a beautiful spider web (with spider) around the corner by my house this week. So the next day I went for a walk with camera to snap some shots of it, but I can not even see the web in the photos, looks like the spider is floating in air.

How can I light it so the web is visible in the shot?? Just bring a Bare flash & light with hard light? And where should i place it? back light? Side light it? Also do you think I need a modifier? Umbrella or Softbox?

If anyone has any advice or experience, please do chime in. I appreciate everyones help as always!

I've shot a couple of pictures of a spider web that was running across the walkway to my house between two shrubs. I used a bare hotshoe flash mounted on a stand and placed off to one side. I took a few pictures of the spider and the web from different angles resulting in pics using front lighting and back lighting. I liked the shot using back lighting better as far as lighting for the web was concerned.

These shots were taken in the evening.

^^:p

Late one night, I found a huge Orb Spider that spun a huge and beautiful web across two trees. I didn't have my triggers with me so the pictures didn't come out very good. Direct flash didn't work well as you noticed. When I came back, it was gone.

Use a SpiderLite.

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lol

lol

TMR Design wrote in post #13146760
Use a SpiderLite.

http://www.photography​blog.com …s/uploads/td6-550x362.jpg

Hey, that would work even better than regular flash. LOL

TMR Design wrote in post #13146760
Use a SpiderLite.

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you stole my answer...

Curtis N wrote in post #13146003
The background is a important as the lighting.
Bring a piece of black foam core with you. If the sun is shining on the web, use the foam core to shade the background. That should provide the contrast you need.

Another technique would be to underexpose the background ambient at least 2 stops, and light the web with flash.

We could be more helpful if you post the shot you took, so we can see the environment.

Came here to say the same thing. If not black foam core, shoot it at night/dusk.

Beyond that, I'd spray it with a superfine mist of water from a high-quality spray bottle, and mostly back light it to really emphasize the spider web. You could use a fill light or reflector to bring the spider into it, however a sillhouetted spider could also be pretty impactful.

clarence wrote in post #13146085

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Dammit! Someone beat me to it.
This, and a can of Lysol.