Interesting Macro - critique please

[philmony]

Walking with a bunch of people thru a forest - and captured this meal on a daisy - before cropping I shot the complete flower with bee and spider (about 10 times) - this was the clearest of them and the best angle. Canon A80 F7.1 1/500 (I have included the uncropped - reduced from 2272 x 1704 to 640 x 480) Thanks for the crit.

[mjm]

wow, that is an incredible capture. i really like how you cropped the top one.

are those scatches in the upper right of that image?

[philmony]

wow, that is an incredible capture. i really like how you cropped the top one.

are those scatches in the upper right of that image?

Nope - not scratches - those are threads of spider web (I guess they were his)

[shesells]

Phil... omg how disgusting! um, good design principles because my eyes keep going back to that gruesome face. Your cropping on #1, and the angle of the shot brings home a scene that most people would never see, but that goes on every day. Good Job.
Kit (newbie)

[Yoyo Szeto]

Hi,
I think this pic presenting facts objectively and I would classify it as a documentary photo. From the aesthics point of view, it may not be that attractive. May be that is the difference between the artistic and doumentary photography.
All the best.
Shan

[Elysian]

Nice, well done! What an amazing white spider, I've never seen one like that.

I do wonder why so many photographs in this forum are too dark. I also read several times "the original looks much lighter". You guys must be doing something wrong when you transfer your images to the internet.

And yes, my monitor is calibrated for black and whites, checked again a few days ago.

[Old Timer]

Great catch. Wonderful little slice of nature. Great reminder to always have your camera with you and be ready to use it. Well done.

[philmony]

I needed to find this out - here it is for anyone that might be interested.

The following information is from http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordL...rod_spider.htm

The Goldenrod Spider is a member of the crab spider family. It is best known for its ability to change its color from white to yellow in order to camouflage among flowers. Goldenrod Spiders eat insects, either by hunting on the ground, or by ambushing from a flower. They especially attack bees, butterflies, and flies which visit flowers for nectar. Grasshoppers and other plant-eating insects are also frequent prey. Goldenrod Spiders can walk forwards, backwards, or sideways. They do not build webs.

After mating, female Goldenrod Spiders will spin a silk sac to hold eggs. This is done by folding a leaf over the eggs and wrapping the silk around it.

The female usually dies before the young spiderlings hatch. They are on their own from the moment they are born.


Genus/species: Misumena vatia
Order/family: Araneae: Thomisidae

This species will change its color to match the background it is hiding on, usually a flower. It sits on a flower or on the ground and waits for it's prey to pass and uses its front legs to grasp it. It uses its small fangs to inject its prey with venom, which immobilizes its prey. It does not wrap it's prey with silk but instead holds it's prey until it sucks all of its bodily fluids dry. (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 1997, Comstock 1965)

The only negative effect that this spider can have is that it's favorite prey is bees. It is not dangerous to humans (Anaconda II 1998, Microsoft Encarta Encylopedia 1997).

[Lava Lamp]

Excellent photo - it would have been even better to see the bee''s head, but you can't have everything.

[PuckJunkey]

You're assuming there is a bee head. Nice shot Philmony.

;)