Orange Spider by Dennis Qualls
I love getting photo's of the small things we never notice. While golfing I noticed a little orange spider crawling in the grass. Saved her from the grass cut...
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I love getting photo's of the small things we never notice. While golfing I noticed a little orange spider crawling in the grass. Saved her from the grass cutter that was approaching our hole and brought her home. Now she can lay her eggs and next year I can get pic's of more beautiful creatures like this.
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Nov, 2013Views
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dennisqualls
November 20, 2013
Thanks Allie, fortunately she was docile. Bracketed 20 different exposure shots while she sat on an twig sticking out of a birds nest.
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in my backyard but the spider was transported from hole #4 at the Densons Creek golf course. She was a beautiful spider with bright orange all over. The grass mowers at the course hadn't cut in that area but wasn't far behind us. I knew she wouldn't make it if I didn't bring her home.Time
This photo was taken later in the afternoon and was one of my original favorites shots with my first DSLR, a Canon T3i. It was an overcast and cool rainy day. The light diffusion from the clouds was perfect and gave a nice even tone across the histogram. This photo was taken almost a year ago to the day, November 17, 2013 at 3:36 pm (EST).Lighting
It's been little over a year ago but I clearly remember having my camera on a tripod and I handheld the flash. It was a Yongnuo flash and a trigger. I was holding the flash at about 4 to 5 feet away in varying positions. I wanted to catch the brilliance of the water drops and tiny hairs on her legs. But I didn't want to blow out the image so I never had the settings to powerful or the flash to close.Equipment
I was using my faithful Canon T3i with Yongnuo 568 flash with a diffusion cap on the flash. I was also using a macro lens attachment (+2 magnification). The camera was mounted on a tripod while the flash was handheld. The files are shot in RAW format. This was shot in Aperture Priority at the following lens and camera settings. Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens 1/160 F/6.3 ISO 400Inspiration
She's a gorgeous spider and I had been taking quite a few pictures of small critters during that time period. The water droplets seemed to stick all over the spider like a small flower dew drops. I saw it crawling on the bright green November grass and it stood out. The weather was chilly so I knew she wasn't going anywhere fast and her doom was humming not far behind us. The beauty of nature is amazing to behold and macro photography allows us to peer into the world of tiny creatures all around us in ways many have never seen. This photo had to be taken.Editing
I did a WhiBal color correction on white balance and the majority of post processing was completed in ACR. Increased sharpening by +10 and increased sharpening by another 20 on the water droplets and some of the legs to bring in the details. Corrected chromatic aberration and lens profile correction. Only brought out very slight saturation in the greens to give it a little better contrast between the orange spider and green background.In my camera bag
I have 2 bags and one is almost always with me, except for visits to the bathroom :-) My Canon T3i has been replaced with a Canon 70D. I always have my Canon prime 50mm f/1.4 and my Sigma 18-50 for the wider shots. More recently I've added a Canon 70-300 F/5.6L lens. It's very compact for a zoom and does a remarkable job at steadying any hand held shots. I always keep at least one flash in my bag along with plenty of remotes to control the lighting or shutter. One additional item I keep that most probably do not is a Rode VideoMic pro. It's really a step up from the on board mic if I want to capture any video moments with family. I also keep several screw on macro lens filters with adapters to fit any of my lenses as well as a CPL filter to capture the clouds.Feedback
Always keep your eyes open for something amazing because it can happen at any moment. I could have easily over looked this spider and focused on my golf swing. I don't remember what I scored that day a year ago but I remember this little spider. That's what photography can do for anyone. Helps us remember. Never be afraid to create the photo. I knew the potential to get a great shot by bringing this spider home and saving it from impending death by lawn mower. I've learned that keeping a small bottle of fresh water around the house to spray on a flower or small bug to accentuate the picture gives the picture that extra pop. Be mindful of your backdrop/background and how it will affect the picture and mood of your shot. One last thing, little creatures are much calmer when the weather cools down before winter. Early mornings in the spring are also great times to capture some great shots of sluggish bugs :-)
