Eating her curds and whey,
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away
When I was late putting out some food for the Hedgehog a few nights ago I spotted a garden orb spider in its web. Even though the night was dark I decided to attempt to take a few photographs. Amazingly the Lumix TZ7 did a splendid job using its red LED to give just enough light to auto focus before firing the flash. (The Lumix does not have manual focus)
As the web was strung up in the open I was able to photograph from both sides.
I was more than a bit pleased that the web, which can be very difficult to capture in daylight, showed up well under flash photography, especially with the dark background. To give an idea of scale; the spider is, at the most, about 20mm long with legs outstretched.
The Lumix performed well here John.
ReplyDeleteThe flash has really made the web stand out against the black background.
Wow, that's a really great capture John! Excellent! The only time I've been able to capture a spider web properly was early in the morning with the dew on it, but haven't tried at night, haven't got a good camera at the moment anyway.
ReplyDeleteI never cease to be amazed, Keith, by how well a £200 (ish) camera behaves. I had expected the spider to be washed out by the flash as the camera was just a few inches away from it.
ReplyDeleteThank you Maree. Early morning dew is usually the best time to see webs but then the lighting is so poor I have been disappointed by the results. These turned out far better than I expected.
ReplyDeleteExcellent results........Very impressive.
ReplyDeleteThank you Adrian. The TZ7 seems to be the best camera I have for close up work, easy to use as well.
ReplyDeleteJohn, I forgot to mention. If I use my little Olympus I stick a cigarette paper or a bit of greaseproof is better over the flash. It cuts down but doesn't eliminate blow out.
ReplyDeleteGood tip Adrian. Remembering when in a rush to capture a moment before it disappears is a different matter lol.
ReplyDelete