Spidy on web

[Dave Humphries]

Rather than corrupt or gatecrash Geoff F's excellent, if scary, thread with his shots, here's a more humble offering (if the inline link works).



Probably the best I've taken to date.

Comments welcome,

[Colin Southern]

Would folks viewing this please be so kind as to post a reply to let us know if they can see the above image or not - (and let me know what platform and browser thay're on) -- trying to track down some issues.

Thanks,
Colin

[Jim B.]

Windows Vista, IE7.I can't see the picture.
Jim

[john w revie]

Colin I can't see the image
platform Mac OS.10.4 browser Safari/Firefox

John

[Dave Humphries]

For all those cheated of the picture;


Until the problem is identified (the cause of which I suspect isn't actually C-in-C one), this thumbnail should work, although to see at the size intended, you need to click the image again once it opens in a new tab (or window) from imageshack.

[The Blue Boy]

I can't see the original picture in the first post. I'm currently at home on the laptop running Vista Home Premium and surfing with Firefox 3.

On the latest post, yes! Another great spider!

Edit; However, I click on the thumbnail, a new tab opens for Imageshack but it took two attempts to load and took about a minute to load on the second try. I blame my ISP for this, not CiC.

[Geoff F]

Difficult to be certain of a 100% positive ID just from that angle but I would guess Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus). They are big and scary. The ones that spin webs across the garden path and you walk straight into them at night. The web clings to your face and you can feel the spider running down your neck!

Always difficult to get good results from that sort of image so you did well to obtain good lighting on the spider, a clear web and even an interesting background.

ps. the original link didn't appear for me either. XP using Opera as a browser.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Geoff,

Yes, that's probably the one (thanks for winding up the hysteria factor ).
This one wasn't too big, perhaps a young 'un, only about 20 - 25mm across the legs as seen.

Spinning the web like that was what gave me the opportunity to move around it and get a better background and it being flatter from below meant I got a bit of luck on the DOF, although my tiny sensor helps. The knack was not to hit the web with the lens hood, yes I was that close, and have it run off (up the lens, over the mock pentaprism and into my hair).

Is it my imagination, or has it swivelled it's eyes down to see what I'm doing?

I "don't like" spiders, so perhaps that's why when they're outside, and I feel I have enough room to get away if I need to, I find taking their picture quite interesting.

Cheers,

[Daniel Salazar]

hi, I can't, however I'm checking with my cellphone, but the other ones displayed correctly.

[Geoff F]

The biggest 'fear' about photographing spiders is that you will get to like the challenge, then move on to other insects.

Be warned, macro photography can become addictive - and expensive!

[Colin Southern]

UPDATE: I've been doing a few tests with Sean, and at this stage it's looking like the hosting site is preventing the image from displaying inside someone elses web page (I don't know how they do it, but Sean tells me it's easy to do).

One way around it is to copy the image URL and paste it into a seperate window -> which displays the image -> which is then stored in your PCs local cache -> which will then display on the CiC page if you right-click it and choose "Show Picture". Only other solution is probably to check up on the TOS for the hosting site, and/or relocate images to be displayed here to a site that allows inline display.

[Dave Humphries]

Only other solution is probably to check up on the TOS for the hosting site, and/or relocate images to be displayed here to a site that allows inline display.

Yup, rapidly coming to that conclusion, might do a DIY one in my ISPs free webspace, 200MB should keep me going for a bit.

Or ... does the "nominal fee" pbase account allow inline posting Colin?
I don't mind spending a bit and prefer pbase style to many other's I've seen.

Thanks both for your efforts on our behalf,

[Dave Humphries]

Be warned, macro photography can become addictive - and expensive!

Fear not, I'm too old to crawl through undergrowth looking for bugs and don't fancy filling the house with escaped creepy crawlies from my table top studio - a rather grand name for 3 desk lamps on a table with one of those fabric white box things!

Still I know what you mean, and the table top studio probably means I am already infected, just not with the insect strain of the macro disease.

Cheers,

[Wirefox]

I cannot see the first image - using OSX Leopard and Camino browser, but I can see the second. Nice shot Dave. A little more sharpening maybe although it could blow the web.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Steve,

Yes that inline link didn't work in post #1

Not sure why, since done by attachment in post #5.

You could well be right about the sharpening, this was, relatively speaking, "an age ago" and I have such a backlog of new pics, I can't see me getting back here. (but I also know that's not what you're asking for)

Thanks for the kind words,

[Wirefox]

Dave

I have full sympathy with the backlog situation. I have found that shooting in RAW and particularly with my slightly 'soft' walkaround zoom (Canon EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM) that every image needs sharpening as an absolute minimum in PP. For me this leads to the inevitable rather large cache of RAW files with a considerably small folder, for each day, of the images I PP. It does not mean that the RAW images are unworthy of processing it is just that I only have time to do the ones that catch my eye on the day.

[Geoff F]

Yes, I agree with that. But macro photography is even worse. Photographing countless bugs or flowers is the easy bit, what takes serious time is identifying the little critters.

After taking one or two hundred RAW images a day, I usually manage to whittle it down by around 50% in camera before downloading, then gradually work my way through the editing on wet and windy days. But a lot of photos have to be temporarily labeled 'Unid bug' etc until I have sufficient time - often not until the winter.

[fauxbird]

nice capture i have one keep in mind this picture is like over ten years old and taken with not a great camera but i like it anyway,ok so here we have a jumping spider dinning on an orb weaving spider my title-As i sit and sup~(little miss muffet sat on her tuffet eating her curds and whey,when along came a spider who sat down beside her then decided to dine on another.)