Daddy out on a limb

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Daddy out on a limb

June 4, 2013 by Mike Powell

Can a photo of a daddy longlegs (also known as a harvestman) be artistic?

Ordinarily, I would emphatically respond in the negative, but somehow this macro shot that I took of a daddy longlegs, suspended upside down from a branch, came out with a cool, creative vibe to it. I like the way the legs are placed, the way the light is hitting its body, and the way the branch is in focus only in the center area.

I ran across this daddy longlegs as I was walking through the woods and I took the time to set up my tripod and use my 100mm macro lens to get this shot. The daddy longlegs was amazingly tolerant of my efforts and remained in place the whole time, even when I experimented with the use of my pop-up flash.

Posted in Arachnids, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 100mm macro lens, Canon Rebel XT, daddy longlegs, harvestman, huntley meadows, opiliones | 9 Comments

9 Responses

on June 4, 2013 at 9:01 pm | Reply krikitarts

It’s wonderful how tolerant they can be to our proximity, and what great fun to stalk them so cautiously. Your patience paid off very well this time.
- on June 4, 2013 at 9:25 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Gary. Most times I am satisfied if I can get a closeup image in focus. This image is one, though, that I like as much for its artist impression as for its technical merits.
on June 4, 2013 at 10:01 pm | Reply Jessica Slavin

Yeah, this is really a great moment, and the composition of the shapes and lines and colors. I love it!
on June 4, 2013 at 10:12 pm | Reply Sue

That doesn’t even look like an animal, but some contraption with wires supporting a pod. They are such strange-looking creatures.
on June 5, 2013 at 12:38 am | Reply lylekrahn

I think anything can be artistic.
on June 5, 2013 at 6:50 am | Reply New Hampshire Gardener

I’ve never seen one so close. Excellent macro!
- on June 5, 2013 at 7:28 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. This is the first time I saw one in the woods and it was a fun challenge trying to photograph him.
on June 5, 2013 at 10:12 am | Reply lovelydeer

Its really great but still freaks me out!!! haha
on June 14, 2013 at 1:53 am | Reply One more Daddy | Mike Powell

[…] I posted what I had characterized as an artistic shot of this arachnid that showed mostly its bottom side. […]