Double Meaning

[Loupey]

In Japanese, the word "Kumo" means spider. It also means clouds.

Shot these last night right next to our garage. It was easy to get a stepladder and my gear. Getting my daughter and my wife to hold the flash in just the right position was a different matter altogether.

[mn shutterbug]

Man, that ugly thing has hairy legs. I can't say I blame your wife and daughter. Considering the spine tingling subject, extremely well photographed. I'd cuddle up with a snake much sooner than I'd let one of these things get on me.

[Loupey]

What?! Is she not adorable?

Thanks for looking, Mike!

Having spent most of the day raking leaves and mowing the lawn, I was happy to shoot anything

[Knight]

Good Capture Loupey , did you use more than one flash or just the one off camera ? Hey Mike, I'm just the opposite i would rather cuddle up with a spider than a snake lol.

[Loupey]

Knight - just one flash. At first, I held the flash in my left hand as far out as I could reach but the lighting was still too flat.

My "assistant" was about 2' to my side and 3' behind me. Fine tuned the balance by having them step in/out a foot here and there.

These are all shot with my 28mm to get the background in the shot. At minimum focus distance, the spider is only about 6" in front of the lens and the infrared wireless flash transmitter is nearly touching the web. Even with the stepladder, I had to hold the camera with my right arm fully extended to get the right composition in relationship to the clouds and trees. Focus was achieved by moving in/out my entire body. At that distance, I could only see the spider through the viewfinder. I was surprised that it was even in focus and properly composed - although it took many attempts.

Another version. This shot was taken 10 minutes later than the first two. The "good" clouds had blown away in that short of a time.

[Yarrow]

Spiders freak me out. Great shots