Until last Saturday I had never seen a wasp spider, but I had seen lots of images being shown on Facebook and I just had to find one for myself to photograph. The images I saw were being taken at Rainham Marsh RSPB reserve, a reserve close to where I live and do go to on regular occasions.
I had decided to go over to Rainham Marsh on this day for a walk in any case to see what was around and also to try to find a wasp spider.
On arrival I asked where the best spots were for the wasp spider and was pointed in the right direction and it wasn't very long before I found my first one.
I had decided for this walk I was going lightweight as far as camera equipment was concerned and just took my 100 to 400 zoom. This actually turned out to be a bad decision as its not the best lens to use for close up work with a closest focusing distance of 1.8 meters. Still that's what I had with me so it would have to do. I took a number of images from varying angles and they looked fine on the screen. Great I had my first wasp spider recorded and couldn't wait to get home to process them.
For a first attempt I was pleased with what I got, however they were a little soft and knew I could do better.
This was my best image from the first day.
Tuesday saw me back at Rainham, this time going better prepared, taking the 100 macro and a tripod.
I made my way straight to the same area, found my specimen and started to set up. Of course they are always in the most awkward of positions and you have to be very careful not to disturb them and at all costs not to damage the web. I could see from the previews on the screen that the images were a lot sharper on this occasion but was a bit disappointed with the background being so messy.
Just before I left I was talking to a fellow photographer who had also been doing the wasp spiders and he showed me a couple in the car park but was too late for this day so another trip was on the cards.
This image was probably my best one from the Tuesday trip and you can see what I mean about a messy background.
The following day was a complete wash out with rain all day long but Thursday was looking better.
Arriving about 10.00 I looked for the two I had seen 2 days ago but unfortunately one of them was no longer there and that was the one I had wanted to photograph as it was in quite a good position. Still there was another one available and that became my target. Again I was using the 100 macro but had brought a much heavier tripod as I knew I didn't have to walk far at all today.
What I wanted to do on this session was try and get a better background. My thoughts were to get something behind the web to distract from the background, I always carry a lens rain cover in my bag and this was just the right colour to try and shield some of the background. This was not easy to set up but just about managed it without disturbing the spider.
This is my best image from the day and think you will agree is much more pleasing having quite a plain background.
I had a great time last week trying to get the best image possible and hope you like them. Their season is just about over now but its in my diary for next year. Watch this space.
Mick
No comments:
Post a Comment