This guy doesn't realize the season; he's large for what we see around here even in the summer. And he has somehow survived several nights where the temperature dropped below freezing. Anyway, he emerges at dusk and hangs out at the side of the house for a few hours before retreating to his hiding place.
Thanks for looking. I'm always interested in suggestions.
To all who took the time to comment: thank-you so much for your encouragement.
I would like to claim that capturing this was as difficult as some of you might think. But it really wasn't. The white background is the aluminum siding on our house. The spider has built a web from the trim around a window to the right, to the trim at an outside corner of the house on the left. The plane of the web is effectively parallel to the side of the house and just far enough away that selective DOF masks just how dirty our siding really is. The web is a little below eye height, so it's easy to set up a tripod to capture the shot.
The only tricky part was timing. I noticed this spider a few nights ago while barbecuing. The spider comes out for just a couple of hours at dusk and then retreats to a hiding place overnight. Between timing and weather, last night was the only opportunity to capture it so far. I used a single flash with umbrella, asit was effectively night. My neighbours probably wonder about my sanity, setting up all this gear to photograph the side of the house, but I've probably given them plenty of other reasons to wonder as well.
Appreciate the explanation. We often go to great lengths for the shot of our choice. My neighbours are not the only ones wondering about my sanity - most of my relatives were convinced ages ago.
Nice and detailed Rich, I like it. It would probably be hard with the white bg, but any chance of resolving his web at all, so he doesn't seem like he's floating in mid air? It kind of resembles to me a static display of an expired spider in some entomologist's collection.
To all of you have commented, big thank-you. The verbal generosity of people here is always heart-warming.
David: Yes it is too bad that the background obliterates the web. There is the faint trace of one strand coming in at top centre, but the image does look a bit like something in a nature museum. BTW, technically, and entomologist wouldn't study spiders
Very nice shot Rich, crystal clear... and thanks a lot for the chuckle regarding the neighbors'. I have been known to be the cause of some funny neighborly conversations as well.
How did you isolate him from background?
Great shot. Nice symmetry and great isolation.
