Banana Spider; I Think??

[Don Hamilton Jr.]

Gang, Roman, and you folks, got me salivating, so i went out tonight and tried this in windy conditions. I'm new to flash so after talking with roman a bit this week, i decided, to experiment, and use the flash as my main source of light, hoping to freeze the motion. She's not perfect, but i think i'm hooked. This beauty was up in the air about 20 feet, so i ran home and got the 500mm, and used manual focus etc. I have some real respect for what you folks are doing over here!:2eyes2:
Specs:
Camera Model Canon EOS 7D
Firmware Firmware Version 1.1.0
Shooting Date/Time 8/9/2010 7:10:08 PM
Author DON_HAMILTON_JR.flyinghamiltons@comcast.net
Copyright Notice 2010
Owner's Name
Shooting Mode Manual Exposure
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/160
Av( Aperture Value ) 13.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
ISO Speed 1600
Auto ISO Speed OFF
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM
Focal Length 500.0mm
Image Size 5184x3456
Image Quality RAW
Flash On
Flash Type Manual Flash
Flash Exposure Compensation 0
Shutter curtain sync 1st-curtain sync
FE lock OFF
White Balance Mode Daylight
AF Mode Manual focusing
AF area select mode Spot AF

[Allen Sparks]

Nice "macro" with that 500mm Don! I like the placement of the spider in the frame and the web with highlights works for me too. I like the black background as well. You may try toning down the whites a bit. Very nice image!

[Jim Bridges]

That's a big ol' female and the color and sharpness looks fine on this photo to me. The black BG really makes her shine.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Don,
Told you it was addictive. You did really well with the 500 isolating the spider and you did pop the web. Agree about toning down the whites too. Now you have to try and bring the ambient light balance up a bit.....but given that you were already at ISO 1600....not sure you could have done anything else........ a bit more natural light would have allowed you to to get rid of "flashed look"......but not bad for the first attempt! Using the 500......you may have been able to drop the f stop to around f11 and the SS to around 1/125 or even push your luck to 1/100.....giving 1 full stop more of ambient. If the spider stood still long enough that is! This helps you see the balance more easily and how flash affects the scene. I think you did very well with the comp and given the breeze....you nailed the focus too.......which isn't always the easiest with a moving web! I did warn you it was addictive!!!

[Julie Kenward]

Roman got to you, did he? ;) Nice sharp image and the black BG really forces the web to stand out. When you try this next time you might turn the spider on even more of a diagonal - getting that back area into one corner and the legs moving towards both side corners would really fill the frame with his/her presence. Way to get out of your box and try something new!