Critique The work of a spider

[Stuart Philpott]

_S2I2137 The work of a spider smj Dn by Stuart Philpott, on Flickr


Ist june around 630 am......................... I'm out early looking for roe and stop for a mo to admire the light bouncing through the teasels,suddenly I spot the little perisher above making a bee line for the safe haven of it's home. So like any self respecting wildlife tog I throw meself on the floor to nab an eye level (spider's) POV....................................squelch

Oh FFS why can't I be like those normal wildlife l togs I occassionaly meet all well dressed and dapper and er'm clean and dry nah not me :banghead:, it's just a spider and I have to throw meself in the best part of a puddle to make an image. what in gods name is the matter with me I know a second later it wasn't there but really??

Essentially those were me thoughts as I walked away from this encounter all but giggling on how stupid I am and no I didn't find any deer Mind I came home looking like I had, so then got a double telling off ,one for coming home looking like a bag of nails and another for no images......life is tough huh you lads and lasses do this as well............don't you?

560mm 1/640 f 5.6 iso 100,,bascially exposed for hilights. Or seriously underexposed in EV, 2 or 3 stops no idea which is the right way to put that the hi's are a bit hot Advice welcome re EXP

Fairly simple processing used the shade preset ( something I almost never do) after messing with WB ,more a creative choice than anything I preferred the warmth. I then ran through Topaz denoise in PS. That's it really.

Very open to crit or thoughts ,be brutal don't hold back I find meself making things like this here an there,very rarely show them so i'm very curious what folks think. I made alot more playing with lens flare shooting at, the sun but just under it. I've no mastery but find the light intoxicating to play with .


I'll show this cause it's the first the only one with spidy

Tis as framed no crop..................

.lol.................. ISO 100 now there's a first !!

cheers for any replies in advance

take care guys

stu

 

[Deleted member 34016]

Well spotted fella. Shame about no Deer but hey there's always another day

Les

 

[Stuart Philpott]

There was indeed another day with deer and hopefully again Les , but I ain't got what I want yet more yes...... but what I want nah

I got dried out same day and we had our one outing away from lockdown shielding what ever today's term is.................... First time out for months Got a letter from gov soon after back to jail again opps !! I honestly thought we were free

lol 50 years a wanting to see a large blue butterfly ended that day. So no deer wasn't the end of the world,

Thanks for the reply Les folks don't do that enough appreciated !!

stu

 

[Deleted member 34016]

There was indeed another day with deer and hopefully again Les , but I ain't got what I want yet more yes...... but what I want nah

I got dried out same day and we had our one outing away from lockdown shielding what ever today's term is.................... First time out for months Got a letter from gov soon after back to jail again opps !! I honestly thought we were free

lol 50 years a wanting to see a large blue butterfly ended that day. So no deer wasn't the end of the world,

Thanks for the reply Les folks don't do that enough appreciated !!

stu

Agreed- I always try to comment if its warranted Stu- good luck with the hunt for the Large Blue Butterfly mate

I got this in the late summer a "Common Blue"

Les

 

[Stuart Philpott]

Les I'm not and never will be the sharpest tool in the box, but why have a like button on a forum called "talk photography", LMAO...........there's wisdom in there somewhere. mate .but it flies a zillion miles over my head

You misunderstand Les, I know exactly where to find large blue butterflies now It just took 50 years tis all

The day started with the above spider image. The I came back had food .........too much tea and when normal folks wake we headed off for a special day first day out and hunted large blue (ahh man they are kinda small) and found them .

I very strongly suspect I spent the day with little things that had just walked out of an ant's nest. Les wonderful enchanting stuff We had a warm spring they were early from what I can gather. We spent the day with them. I haven't got to grips with images yet but they are here somewhere. Having waited so long to see one,I'm almost leaving them until I can see them with no passion,hard to put into words I'm going to have to cull incredibly hard. and it was so special to me I'd have taken half an image and been over the moon !! But none with open wings !!

I wanted to see large blue at around 7 years old Les, I can place it to where I lived I know the species went extinct around my late teens somewhere 16 17 ,that broke my world at the time. So to actually see them was silly cool, I had common blue behind the house back then, that's how I learned of the large blue

Just like your common blue only moreso they so rarely have their wings open when alight:banghead:.

I found a colony of common blue locally Les, I Know nothing really of butterflies, but I have a hunch.........

Find a sunny bank at the end of the day in the patch/ spot where your common blues........... are take into account what the wind is doing ,you want a warm sheltered spot ......... sit about a bit and they'll come to you,and as the sun starts to wane they open their wings just for a while to harvest the last of the solar power.

. Leastways that's what i think i've stumbled into . The first time I became aware of this was after guidance from Paul on here ,with some grizzled skipper Thank you mate !! .

There's something so enchanting about being slap bang in the middle of a communal butterfly roost Les, I have no idea if i'll see this again ,but it's something you'ld want everyone to see it's just plain wonderful

Stunning creatures aren't they !!


Funny .......................... Post a spider and talk blue butterflies

 

[Dale.]

Your image is all about the light Stu, wonderful.

Funny the things we see, and just can't help taking an image. I often set out for Kingy but end up with damsels. On one such Kingy outing early last year, I watched a damsel get snagged up in a web and along came a spider, bit the damsel and wrapped it up. The damsel was 4 times the size of the spider. I made images of that instead of the KF, such is a wildlife photographer's life. I even managed a short video. The urge to rescue the damsel was intense but I had to leave it, I think it was over pretty quickly.

I enjoyed reading about the blues Stu, butterflies are so difficult at times, especially when it's warm. I'm with you on tact, sit and wait where you'll know they'll be is best, although the urge to chase them is hard to resist. As with most wildlife, it's a sit and wait game. early morning, or late evening is best I find, when it's cooler and they are less active. Same for damsels, dragons etc.

I hope you get your roe, they are lovely animals, you should try up here when all this is over, there are a lot of deer around but it's that waiting thing again. It's possible to stumble on the odd one, they have been seen in our street, or so I've been told. There is a lane nearby that they come out of the woods and cross to the river. I really must spend more time with them, now is probably the best time, with restricted movements abounding. No Glencoe and that landscapy stuff for a while.

 

[Stuart Philpott]

'Ello mate,ya good?

wonderful is kind Dale i'm not deserving mate ,but I'm having it

Dale I'll walk past that stand of teasels til the cows come home,and never see an image,ok throwing myself in a puddle is slighty nuts but hey my excuse is I wasn't awake,if I had of been maybe i'd have mused why lush green grass,after 3 months without rain ?..when everywhere else looked baked dry bar the dew.....hmm maybe not I do some silly things when trying to make images.

Dale I've only really been aware recently if i'm out trying for deer I am pretty blinkered,sort of tunnel vision. That's why I posted this really the light dragged me away from the tunnel vision.

Only worth sitting and waiting if ya park in thee right spot Dale and that my friend is damn nigh an art form in it's self. Sit STILL and wait is cool you see things like your spider and poor Damsel,hard keeping ya mitts off isn't it,but spidy needs to eat too. The thing is mate folks moving are a beacon to wildlife,they largely hide sit still an hour and most of it comes back. Moving unseen is basically down to camo and every motion being considered, usually it's incredibly slow so slow it's painful,again all but an art,ha I get it wrong alot.

Ha first large blue in my life and I haven't processed nothing .

Dale as before to Les ,I know little of flutterbys. Before this year had no awareness at all about natives here getting together in numbers later in the day. It's a spellbinding thing buddy,that's why i've laboured it to Les and now you. It's just magical lucking into the right spot and having these gorgeous little things landing courting mating basking all around. one.

I've seen this twice now mate once the skippers once those common blues. Togging gets really hard one is spoiled for choice too many way too many,not often I say that !!

Hmm roe:

I only want a couple of frames.........................I want some kidlets interacting with their mum,but they have to be tiny. I'd lay a bet i've walked withiin feet of them ,but ya have to see them !! Around here with the veggies in june and 10foot thick blackthorn hedges that's a tough gig, Even when I know mum is holding an area I still don't see kids until they are a bit bigger

The other............. well simply, two equally sized bucks having a proper spat. uneven in size and from the little I've seen it ends as a chase.

oh and naturally I want the above light,......................if ya going to be picky ya may as well be really picky

Dale have a go at your local ones for me mate, would you please????

They are tough little guys to make images of,which is rewarding enough in it's self like your kingfishers . They are really trying at times mate and sure astoundingly beautiful.

It's their intelligence and their senses bud they teach you so much,!! Getting under their noses is so hard, but get it right and they are so incredibly curious I get a huge amount of joy stalking or leastways tryiing to stalk roe

I'm not talking a few one off's and a lucky frame , it's trying to work out how to undo those senses regularly. It's always hit and miss buddy,lots of blank days I still fail loads but when it comes together it's so good .

Hmm no need to travel mate ,nipped out while writing to harvest some cereliac just seen 3 heading for the allotments for tea