There is this Gnarly looking spider that has taken home among my bird feeders. It has made a spectacular web.
Thing is it only comes down at night and it sits right in the middle of the web. Its so cool. Its a very creepy looking spider also. I couldnt even tell you what kind it was.
I have seen it come down at dusk if we are not outside but I took my eldest daughter out to look at it when there was still some light and it fled.
We got pretty close when it was fully dark, ans shined a flash light on it and it didnt move.

Heres my point. How can I photograph this spider in full darkness?

Heres what I got with 2 flash lights and the cameras flash..

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m126/harmonyrising/Photography/Photography3009.jpg

I got the same results without the cameras flash also.

I do not have any lighting equipment, however my husband does have spot lights he uses if hes working on the car or something and it falls dark and he needs to finish what hes doing.
Would these be good enough to capture good shots in total darkness. It gets very very dark where I live. You can barely see your hand in front of your face.

Any advice that anyone has I would greatly appreciate and I promise a photo as best I can get it of a spider that will make you shiver.

get a tripod, set up your camera and manual focus on the spot while its light out. wait until dark, set the shutter for a long period of time ( couple seconds), manually pop a flash from the side, or have it go off while the shutter is open. although you may need to turn the flash power down so as to not blow it out.

I wouldn't use your built-in flash. It's going to overexpose the spider terribly and produce a flat-looking image anyway.

Use your hubby's spotlight(s) - play around with the angles until you get one that brings out the web detail as well as some light on the spider's body. Ignore your camera's meter - its going to try to overexpose your spider like crazy. Instead, use manual controls and bring down the exposure. Ignore also your histogram as it will say that virtually everything is black (which it should be). Just concentrate on how the spider itself looks like on the LCD playback.

I think you'll find that the exposure value won't be too "low" if the spotlights are the kind that I think he has.

Thanks Dylan & Loupey

I will try this tonight and see how it comes out.

I've had good luck with a diffused flashlight. Flashlights leave a signature circle of illumation on the subject, but something like a piece of typing paper taped over the front will even that out.

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/photos/shawnee%2009-06/cave%20salamander%20portrait%20small.jpg

not the most dramatic lighting, but the detail is good all of the levels are under control. This was diffused maglite, and diffused onboard flash. I had someone else hold the flashlight to the left. I used a pint sized deli cup over the flashlight head as a diffuser.

I didnt have a chance to do it last night, so Hubby and I were collecting things this morning to shoot tonight.
Well I noticed something odd about the web. Its gone..completely absolutly no trace whatsoever that a web had even been there, Nothing!
I saw the spider last night. I saw it fixing holes in the web..

We have a shared fence where my bird feeders are hanging off of a pole we attached to the fence. My abutting neighbor has apprently not taken to lightly to our visitor and distroyed the web.
@#$@&*%@!!!!!

So unless the spider rebuilds, or I can find where it gone off to there will be no picture.

Yarrow, that's unfortunate (OUCH) :eek: . Some people do not appreciate the beauty of nature and the service that such a creature provides - catching nuisance nightime insects. :thumbsup: Chances are if the neighbour took the web he/she also took the spider. :mad2:

Cheers,

WesternGuy

well here's my way of doing it,you place the camera on the tripod as directed by others,then you use the spot light to get your focus set up,then set your exposure to stay open for at least 30 seconds,while the camera is capturing you take a soft flashlight and gentle give the subject a couple of fast burst of light,this will take all the glare away from your subject and give you better clarity,but before you take the picture i would suggest taking a house plant mister,and ever so softly mist the web,you will get a amazing results,remeber to not over do the flash light ,quick burst and the camera will do the rest,good luck,(my opinion).you might want to hold a soft white glow stick above the scene behind the camera for a additional aid if need be.

yarrow, the spider probably moved and/or will rebuild. i had one in my backyard, the web was HUGE! about as tall as me (5'5") and the spider was not one to mess with either, haha. it attached the web to a branch, ground, and tree trunk. when i saw it at first, it was in the process of making it. when i headed in that night it was complete, then next morning, gone. no trace or anything and it hasn't come back.