The first two images show the same strands, just from slightly (very slightly) different angles. By comparing them, you can see how small adjustments can change how the colors appear:
The next three images are the same "color ladder" running up the web, but framed differently, with more or less of the web showing around the lit up strands. See what you think!
We have been mesmerized by the beautiful webs we are seeing in our garden for the past month. There is one gigantic web that the spider has been continuing to repair daily for more than a month. We are fascinated by the engineering feat.
ReplyDeleteYesterday morning we caught a tiny perfect gem of a web just as the sun was illuminating it, and my husband thought he should get his camera and try to do the same kind of work you're doing here.
My favorite in this series of yours is the third one.
Enough of this web envy. Please share clear instructions as to how we admirers can join the club. I assume this is at dawn with a dark background. The camera setting is at AUTO or what?
ReplyDeleteAny support you can give would be greatly appreciated.
Al Janulaw
Hi, Al,
ReplyDeleteI just happened upon the spider silk magic by accident. Someone else recently asked how I take these pictures. I'm not a professional photographer, so I'm a little uncertain how to explain it. Here's what I wrote before:
Yes, this is a little tricky. I use my regular SLR camera and a small lens (18-55 mm) for the spider web pictures. I just got lucky the first time, and then I started experimenting after that.
One of the key things is to find a good spot -- one section of a web or a strand that is lit up by the sun. If it has a dark background that will make it easier. You should be able to see some hint of the colors with your eyes. It's also important that it's calm (no wind), so that the web is still.
I move in as close as I can get with the camera and start to focus on that particular section. But then I do combination of manually bringing the strand out of focus with the lens and moving subtly towards/away from the strand until I can see the colors as you see them in the photos. Not sure if this makes sense, but the strand is actually not in focus – it wouldn’t show the broader bands of color if it was. It’s a little hard to describe!
I’m really winging it when I take the spider web photos. It was a pure accident the first time. But it’s very addictive once you start looking around and trying it. The colors are amazing and different every time!
Let me know if you have more questions.
Jackie
P.S. You might also be interested in explorations and explanations of this phenomenon by Dietrich Zawischa:
https://www.itp.uni-hannover.de/fileadmin/arbeitsgruppen/zawischa/static_html/spiderweb.html