Temperatures were forecast to soar yesterday, so I arrived early at the marsh—about 6 o’clock— and was treated to many stunning examples of spider art. The early morning light and the dew made it possible to get these shots.
I had thought that it was a bit early in the season for spiders to be active, but I was thrilled to be proven wrong. I never fail to be impressed by the handiwork of the different kinds of spiders and how they are able to adapt their webs to the environment.
I shot some webs with my macro lens and others with a telephoto zoom. In virtually all cases, I focused manually and used my tripod.
Only a few of the webs had visible spiders and I chose to highlight one of those in the first image, which is a close-up of the web shown in the final shot. The webs themselves are not perfect and have gaps and breaks in some places, an appropriate metaphor for the lives that most of us live.
Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
I love these shots. I must not get out early enough, because I rarely see these.
I got there at 6:00 a.m. and probably should have been there even earlier.
Eeeeehhhhh! I too love to capture webs, but cringe when I see them. lol The first one looks like a brown recluse or something, although I’m sure it’s not since they like dark places.
Those are quite the webs. They captured the light nicely.
Thanks, Lyle. The early morning light is the only time when you can get shots like this, at least in my marshland park.
Great light! These are wonderful. Did you ever see the article discussing the effect of Drugs on orb weaver spinning? Those spiders made some crazy mixed up webs! http://www.trinity.edu/jdunn/spiderdrugs.htm
Thanks, Sue. I just read the article that you referenced. It’s amazing what scientist will do in the name of research. Now I have visions of a spider smoking a tiny marijuana cigarette.
Very nice pictures, you’ve really captured the beauty and symmetry of the webs! and as so often happens, your title put a big smile on my face 😀
Thanks. The geometry of the webs really intrigues me and there seem to be so many variants. It’s a little tough to get the focus right, but I somehow manage to get some of them pretty close.