Spider web

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Nature Photography Image Critique : One Thread

Nikon N70, Sigma 70-300 APO, handheld, Sensia II 200.

-- Deb Davis (debvis@aol.com), March 25, 1999

Answers

Deb, I think this is a very nice spider web but there are some elements that keep it from being a great picture. The light patch at the bottom of the frame and the details in the background are distracting. You might crop tight or throw the bkgd of focus more than you have by using a wider lens opening. If you want to show the subject interrelating with it's environment (background here), walk around it and view it from every angle until you find what works. In this way your will be "making" your picture, not finding it. Good luck.

-- Mike Green (mgprod@mindspring.com), March 26, 1999.

Deb,

The burnt-out highlights and the bright background with large areas of leaves intruding behind the web all distract from the interest in the web itself.

For images of such delicate open-textured subjects to work really well you have to be able to control these kinds of distractions. The best way is probably to do the photography early in the AM, before the sun lights up the area and to learn to select the appropriate aperture for creating background blurs. Webs are particularly hard as they move with the slightest air disturbance (you even have to control your breating, if you are fairly close), which means doing them before the day heats up, which means before sunrise, which means low light levels, which means longish exposures, which means lots of patience and frequent disappointment.

Good luck,

Frank

BTW, you aren't the Deb Davis who lives here in the Conejo Valley area, are you? FHK

-- Frank Kolwicz (bb389@lafn.org), March 26, 1999.


Deb,

I think that Mike and Frank made some good points about simplifying the background, so I just want suggest a couple of ways of really making your subject "pop" from this perspective.

Try using the 300mm end of your zoom, if you haven't already done so, for reducing the angle-of-view. This help simplify your background.

Second, I would personally make the subject larger in the frame. This focuses attention of the spider web itself. I think this can be done judiciously without losing the relationship between the web and the branches it is connected to (this is one of the nice things about the picture). Personally, I would keep the vertical composition and roughly double the size of the web in the picture.

Third, I'd put a polarizer on the lens. This will dramatically reduce the burned-out-highlights look, will cut through the blueish reflections from the sky and restore the lush green vegetation underneath. Polarizers aren't only used to darken blue skys.

It looks like you're off to a good start. Good luck.

-- Dan Nelson (dwn2@duke.edu), March 31, 1999.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ