Backlit golden silk orb weaver

[Connie Mier]

Wasn't sure about this one, but thought I'd try it here. I photographed this beauty in a creek on Biscayne Bay. I tried some shots without the external flash and in between maneuvering the canoe for a clean sky background, I tried to focus on the spider's body as much as possible while shooting handheld quickly. I opened the aperture as wide as 3.5 to allow more light in, providing me a shutter speed of 1/200, barely adequate under such conditions. I only increaed the ISO to 200 with the camera I used due to excessive noise at 400.

I thought the lack of dof would be a negative, but after seeing the results, I liked the effect.

Sony a100, 180mm Sigma macro, 1/200, f3.5, ISO200, no flash, very little PP, only cloned out minor web debris.

Connie

[Vida van der Walt]

You managed well under difficult conditions Connie. The shallow dof is not a big problem and it can make for interesting macro shots. I would however have preferred the focus on the head of the spider instead of on the abdomen. Just a personal preference though.

[Steve Maxson]

An interesting, almost abstract effect, Connie. I agree that it would be stronger with a sharper head.

[Connie Mier]

Thanks Vida and Steve. Admittedly, I also thought that the lack of sharpness on the head was a limitation.
Connie

[Mike Moats]

Hey Connie, agree it has a nice abstract, high key quaility. As you mention a little more focus on the head would have been nice, but overall I think it looks pretty cool. Would have liked the body tilted a little more on an angle instead of straight up and down in the frame.

[Julie Kenward]

I'm with the others on the fact that your DOF is on the abdomen instead of the head but I also think you did really well under the circumstances. One option might be to convert this to black and white and sharpen the heck out of it, leaving you with a high key spider outline.