Inspiring Photo: Why are they always upside-down? #10594824

Why are they always upside-down?

Uploaded: August 11, 2010

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Exif: F Number: 3.2, Exposure Bias Value: 0.00, ExposureTime: 1/60 seconds, Flash: Strobe return light not detected., ISO: 100, White balance: Manual white balance, FocalLength: 60.00 mm, Model: NIKON D200

Comments

Susan M. Reynolds August 11, 2010

I know the square post has a lot of issues such as noise and over-sharpening, but while my spiderman husband went out on his weekly mission to kill spiders at night, I asked him to wait so I could get some photos for the challenge. He told me he had seen webs of some big Black Widows and one had three big egg balls in her web the size of sugar cubes!
I didn't have the nerve to get closer and I'm awkward anyway when down low and these ladies run fast as soon as the light hits them, so he held the flashlight off to the side while I tried to get a focus and clicked the shutter as he said "3" and put the light on the Black Widows...each time he did they ran so fast across their shiny webs. He told me the webs of Black Widows are stronger and shiny while the other webs around are yard are more soft looking and dull.
It creeped me out to even work on these. I'm adding two uncropped or edited to show how far away I was and how much cropping I had to do to get them close up. I'm sure that's the reason for the noise and splotchy look of the photos. Couldn't be because I was shaking or too nervous to get the settings right could it??? YIKES! He asked me tonight if I needed more as he went out the door with his can of wasp spray and I said NO WAY...one time trying to shoot Black Widows is enough for me! What evil being made creepy, crawly things the challenge??????????? lol #1297070

Jeff E Jensen August 11, 2010

Way to go Susan!

These are really cool. #8820364

Teresa H. Hunt August 11, 2010

Ewwww!!! You are much braver than I Susan! These are great! I'm sure the noise is from the sever crop. I like the second de-noise shot better than the first. #8820455

Michael Kelly August 11, 2010

I think they are pretty neat entries Susan. Black Widows are not my favorites and I don't like to get close either as they are so ugly. I like how you captured the red hour glass.

I think the problem is that they are just being pushed beyond the pixel count due to the crop. The rest looks pretty good for how far you pushed it. #8820487

Rita K. Connell August 11, 2010

susan I am so proud of you....You are way braver than I would have been remember Mine was dead...LOL
I think theses all are great I to like that fact that you got the red hour glass
So I take it you have alot of black widows around your house thats just plain scarey.....creepy....Yikes....!!! #8820603

Susan M. Reynolds August 11, 2010

Oh I was scared alright, but Matt was right there with the light and the can of wasp spray to save me if they ran towards me instead of away from me! It was freaky even trying to edit them. And Yes we do...there all around the patio, the shed where all my fabric is in bins...and you wonder why it's not sorted yet???? lol and out by the pool, My husband has this strange fascination with them Shining a light on them and spraying them with wasp spray when they run....It's so funny because the first time I met him as a teenager was at my church during a volleyball youth fun night. We were playing in the shell of a new brick building. The ball went out the window because the stained glass hadn't been put in the big windows yet...Matt was a showing off for all the girls and he jumped into the window frame hanging on there and looked just like Spiderman so that everyone started calling him Spiderman then shortened it to MattMan then William was WillMan and Josh became J-Man when he started dating Charlotte. I'm sure we have been saved from sure-fire bites from Black Widows because of his diligence in hunting them down in the dark of the night like the grim reaper. So, I've got my very own Super-Hero...My very own Spiderman, only Matt's a lot better looking! :) #8821039

Debbie E. Payne August 11, 2010

I love the last one, Susan. I'm sure you would have won a 1st place in the 8-Legged Critter contest if you lived here in Colorado and frequented the Butterfly Pavilion. Great job and such a brave woman!! I like the diagonal line down the middle of the photo. Very striking! And the eye is drawn to red mark on the belly. #8821273

Susan M. Reynolds August 12, 2010

One thing I am not...and that is brave my phellos...not brave at all, just taking baby steps to learn true courage and bravery by making myself do thing I'm afraid to do and a lot of times I do chicken out before I actually do them :) #8821925

Dale Hardin August 12, 2010

You show real dedication and courage Susan. I like your last post a bit more because is separates the nasty girl from her background. A very cool background by the way with it's nice diagonal element and complimenting colors. Well done. #8822857

Susan M. Reynolds August 12, 2010

That last post is the crop from the one above it titled "Why are they always upside down"
Dale...I made sure the diagonal was point to point and perfectly centered with a close crop, a rotate and a flippity-doo-dah-day, just for you! #8823015

Dale Hardin August 12, 2010

After all that work and creativity, it's a good thing I noticed, Huh??! :o) #8823115

Carla Capra Anderson August 12, 2010

Oh Susan, you are a brave one out at night trying to capture these deadly spiders. Eeeek, I'd be running for cover, lol. All kidding aside, these are all great images. I like what you've done with your last edit. She fairly jumps out of the image.

#8823223

Aimee C. Eisaman August 12, 2010

YOu may not think you are brave, but let me tell you I would not be caught anywhere near one of these things. I don't have an issue with spiders in general, but anything that has a deadly bite is off limits! I'm shocked at how good a shot you got with how you said you were doing it. And their webs look so shabby. Around here most spiders have those perfect round looking webs. O I don't think I could live there! I'd be worried and up all night thinking a black widow would come bite me. Thanks for sharing these and the stories....love good stories! :~) #8823510

Susan M. Reynolds August 12, 2010

Thanks to all and yes Dale I'm glad you noticed :)
Aimee, the webs of black widows are tough and shiny. A lot harder to break than normal spider webs and yes they are messy just strings going every which way and I dearly want a bit round circular one. My daughter has been wanting one like that with dew drops on and a spider like Charlotte's Web she red as a child...thinks she need a photo of it to go with her name but darned if I can find one around my yard...don't know where to look in my area for webs like that or what kind of spiders make them. Checked out our blackberry bushes in the "back-back" yard but now big round webs with black yellow and white spiders like in the blackberry bushes we picked from up in the hills as kids. bummer ~ Thank you all for your comments :) #8824019

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