She looking at me!

When a friend texted to ask me if I had a macro lens I replied yes not knowing what he had in mind.

Arriving at his house he showed me this spider sitting on her web stretched across the spokes of a bicycle, guarding her egg sack. I grabbed my camera bag and went to work. The blur across the spiders legs was caused by an out of focus spoke. It was windy and the sun lit the scene sporadically so I  mounted my D700 on a tripod to get the shot. I tightly cropped the first shot in photoshop to emphasize her stare.

1/200th @ F2.8, ISO 200 Focal length of 86mm

1/250th @F 4.5 ISO 200 90mm

I believe this is a black and yellow argiope (are-JI-o-pee) spider or a common Orb/Garden spider. If not please let me know!

Keep shooting and have Fun!

Happenstances

I thoroughly enjoy life's happenstances. Unexpectedly I came across five red fox siblings. Smiley...came right up to me, yep I've begun the naming process. I plan to check back on them until they decide to go their separate ways. Until then look for image here to follow the "Fox" family!
I messed up quite a few shots before I captured these two. The morning light was changing fast and I was not in tune. Finally I got my act together and the results show. No matter how long or how many images you create you will miss some. At these times you must embrace the process and learn from your mistakes. 

Nikkor 70-200mm: F/8 @ 250

Nikkor 70-200mm F/8 @250 ISO:200

 

 

 

Lightning!

Last night as we traveled back home we were blessed with awesome light show. Lightning was ripping all over the sky. I knew I had to stop to try to capture the show. I have never made a serious attempt to photograph lightning. I did not have my full sized tripod but I did have a small light weight plastic tripod. So I set it up on the roof of our car. This shot was taken at ISO 800, F/9 at 13 seconds. The wind was gusty so the trees were swaying. I included the tree line for added interest and as a reference point. Not bad for my first real attempt. Remember to play it safe, the lightning here was well away from us with clear/partly cloudy skies above us. Still that is no measure of safety. Be careful when trying to capture lightning.

Lightning discharge rips across the night sky.

You only fail if you don't try!