Last of the spiderweb photos

The spiderweb is rather tattered and torn now. I couldn't even find it at first this morning. I misted it and it showed up nicely, but it's so windy that the droplets evaporate quickly. I used a 50mm lens with a 35mm extension tube to see what I could come up with. This is one of the best of the bunch. It's not great, but I do love the softness and the interesting colors in the background. Because of its location, I can't photograph the web straight on; I have to come at it either from a sharp angle or shoot directly at the edge of it, which is what you see here -- the edge of the web -- kind of like looking at the edge of a nebula through a telescope.

And isn't that what's great about photographing nature? No matter what we see, there's always something bigger out there, but constructed in a similar manner. We can see a tree in the veins of a leaf. A grand canyon in a stream bed. The edge of the universe in the edge of a spiderweb.

Ha! What if our Earth is just something wrapped and cocooned in a web, a little morsel waiting to be eaten by some giant cosmic spider? Oh, the joke's on us . . . ©Carol Leigh

Another chance

This morning, guess what? The spiderweb was still there, even though it has rained a lot since Thursday. Okay. This time I'm more prepared. I put my 100mm macro lens and an extension tube (can't remember which one right now) on a tripod and attach a cable release. I also take with me a flashlight and a little spray bottle of water (breezes have evaporated most of the water droplets, so I replenished them). I'm much more prepared. It's kind of windy, however, forcing me to use higher ISO settings than I would like.

And here's where "live view" is amazing. I can focus on a water droplet and then, looking at my LCD screen "live," click the focus magnification button once for 5X magnification and then can click again if I wish for 10X magnification. I can stand back, look at the viewfinder, and immediately see if the droplet is sharp or not. Alas, the breeze is shaking things all over the place . . .

I take some "regular" images and then, just because I can, I turn on the flashlight and illuminate the wood behind the web. Not the web itself, necessarily (the droplets are so tiny they don't show up well when lighted), just the background. The warm tungsten light from the flashlight turns things an orange color, which is fine with me. Again, "live view" lets me stand back, wave the flashlight around, and I can just look at the LCD screen to see when the effect is just right — I don't have to keep my eye pressed to the viewfinder.

Then I look at the edge of the web. Gasp. Wow. All those little droplets all lined up. And all that out-of-focusness right behind them. Amazing.

You know what else is amazing? I have to practically WADE through robins to get to the "decklet" where the spiderweb is. I've never seen so many in the back yard — maybe 30 of them. They flutter off, but then return when they see I'm ignoring them. The red-shafted flickers (three of them) return as well. So do the Steller jays. Crows begin screeching and juncos begin "tsk-tsking" and the next thing I know a hawk flies out of a tree, followed by several cranky crows. It's a veritable ornithological extravaganzo!

I have been up working on photography in one form or another since 1 this morning. (Did you see the photomontages I made?) I'm exhausted but exhilarated. Wishing you the same exhilaration (without the exhaustion) today! ©Carol Leigh

Sunrise

This is what I love about photography: surprise. We're getting ready to go into Newport to run our usual Thursday errands, but first, I see there's dew all over everything in the back yard. Hmmmm . . . Maybe something good to shoot? I grab a camera with the lens that's on it — an 18-55mm — and begin looking and shooting, sort of "warming up." Nothing's happening. And that's when I see the spider web. Adrenaline rush! But this lens won't let me move in close enough. (The background is really busy and I need to come in super close so that it will blur out.)

Back in the house. I grab my 50mm lens and a 35mm extension tube. Why? The macro lens is on another camera on another tripod and damn it! I'm in a hurry! I choose the 50mm lens because it opens way up to f/1.8. The fat extension tube will give me magnification. How much? Don't know. Don't care. Gotta move fast.

Back outside. Web's still there. But the dew drops are evaporating quickly. It's becoming breezy. I move in as closely as I can without becoming a feast for some lucky spider. The sun's rising fast, light/shadow/light/shadow through the trees in the distance.

It's difficult to focus on something using a combination of an aperture of f/1.8 (super wide open, very shallow depth of field) and using an extension tube. Especially hand-held. And these photos reflect that. They're not all that great. But you know what I love? Look at how WEIRD the spiderweb looks! Isn't that incredible? I love the distortion shallow depth of field gave me.

And this is for Linda, who was frustrated with her f/1.4 lens/25mm extension tube combo yesterday. Often the key is to work WITH the unique characteristics of your lens/extension tube combo, not try to force it. The beauty of your lens is shallow DOF. Move in close on just one little focal point and let everything else go absolutely wacko around it! Not every photo you take will be a winner. So what? The beauty of digital is that we can play with this stuff, JUST TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS.

As a result of shooting this spiderweb, I had the joy of the bizarreness, the strangeness, the uniqueness of seeing something completely differently. Yes, there's lens flare. Yes, there's green stuff on the right from the trees. And I'm showing these pictures even though they're definitely not my best because THIS is what I love about photography. The joy of seeing. The fun of experimenting. The amazement at what we see when we just let go, when we don't feel compelled to be perfect.

Sometimes we shoot simply for the joy of it. ©Carol Leigh