Spiderweb Photo Tips

I've never photographed spiderwebs before,

and these shots reflect that.

It's Monday morning and I was still feeling the lumberjack high from taking down limbs from our 20 year old tree in the front yard (all by myself - last Friday).  The tree needed shaping and our grass needed to get some sun and maybe it would save the tree from damage during our annual ice storm.  Feeling very product, the plan was to do the same for the backyard tree this week.  And today was the day!  It's astonishing how quickly I can get distracted.

Most of my photos look abstract.  I love bokeh

and the mist spray bottle helped me achieve this bokeh web.

A huge spiderweb was draped between the roof of our house and the tree in the front yard.  I decided to take some photos of the spiderweb before I knocked it down for the Terminex lady who was coming by this morning to do our Fall spraying for bugs.  Last time she found a 4 foot snake (a good kind) in our garden and I didn't want her to walk through this huge spiderweb on this visit.  She may never come back to our house again though I'm sure these findings happen all the time when they service their clients but it doesn't have to be our property with creepy crawly gotchas!  She has been so helpful and nice to us.

The mist really helped the spiderweb to be visible. 

I was shooting these backlit.

Before wasting to much more time, I grabbed my camera (but not my tripod); so all these photos are taken hand held.  I did remember the plant mister which was very helpful in making the web visible.  The spider, of course, was not willing to come pose for me, which was okay by me after Janet informed me we had a black widow in our garden, YIKES!  This was a fun break, but I still had to start the chainsaw and cut those limbs before it got too hot outside. I got most of what I wanted removed, though I'll need to wait for hubby to hold the ladder for a couple more higher limbs.  

Next time, I'll spend more time appying some of the

tips I listed below.

Here are 11 tips to keep in mind when planning to shoot spiderwebs next time (copied from digital-photography-school.com):
"1. Shoot on a still day

Spider’s webs are incredibly light and if there’s even a hint of breath in the air they’re likely to move as you photograph them. This has the potential to not only cause blur in your shot – but also movement will shake off any moisture on them and potentially could even break them. Generally the stillest part of the day is early morning (which is also a great time for finding dew covered webs).
2. Be an environmentally friendly photographer
We’ve covered this topic numerous times here at DPS but it’s worth reemphasizing. Remember that where there’s a web there’s a little (or not so little) creature that made it
3. Find a dark background

The backgrounds of all shots are important as they either add to or distract from the shot. With spider’s webs it is particularly important to have a plain and preferably dark background. This will enable the web itself to stand out and be the feature of the shot.
4. Narrow your Depth of Field

To isolate the web further from your plain and dark background choose a large aperture (small ‘f/number’) to give you a shallow depth of field. This will throw your background out of focus.

5. Shoot from head on

Photographing webs from all angles can leave you with interesting results – however getting directly in front of the web and shooting from straight on will enable you to keep the full web in focus as the distance from your lens to all parts of the web will be similar – negating any narrow depth of field you might have. Of course you might also like some shallow depth of field shots (large apertures for these) from different angles to see what effect you can get.

6. Use Manual Focusing

Switching your camera to manual mode is something that most macro photographers find helpful because even the slightest changes in focusing can have a large impact. As webs are so fine even being slightly out of focus can ruin your shot.

7. Tripods Please

Keeping the web still by shooting on a still day is important – but so is keeping your camera still. The intricate details of a web on a contrasting background mean that camera movement will be very noticeable.

8. Dew on the Web

One of the classic photos of spider’s webs are those with dew or rain droplets on them. The great thing about moisture on a web is that it widens the web slightly and helps it to stand out more clearly. As already mentioned – the best time of day for dewy webs is mornings.

9. Fill Your Frame

Use your zoom to get in as close as you can to the spider’s web. If you’ve got a macro lens or macro mode switch to it to help you focus up nice and close. Another framing is to focus upon just a smaller part of the web and the patterns that you see there. In this way you can end up with some real detail and abstract composition.

10. Shoot from both sides

Sometimes a web can look quite dull and lifeless from one side while the other side has the light falling upon it in a way that just brings it to life! This will also help you to see the web with a different background.

11. Experiment with a Flash

I find that shooting with natural light is generally best – but sometimes adding some artificial light with a flash can light up the web nicely and get some good highlights."

I will be much more prepared

when I find my next spiderweb.

These aren't the best of shots, but something to share before I collapse.

Enjoy Your Day!