outdoor photography

Golden-silk Orbweaver Since moving to Florida, I've had the opportunity to see some pretty enormous spiders.  Golden-silk Orbweavers and Black and Yellow Argiopes are pretty large, and they're spectacular-looking as well.  Black and Yellow Argiope Of course, not all our spiders are huge.  But whenever I have the chance to get close enough to them for photographs, I'm always struck by the beauty of these creatures. I know spiders freak some people out, but when you have the chance to look at them carefully, they really are a wonder to behold. Red-femured Spotted Orbweaver Crablike Spiny Orbweaver Leucauge Argyra

Black and Yellow Argiope I apologize to those of you who get freaked out by spiders, but I think they're pretty wonderful. I've been wanting to photograph this species for a while. I've seen them before, but I've never been able to photograph them until this morning at Central Winds Park. I hope this one sticks around so I can return with my macro lens and diffuser.  With my 400mm lens I had to stay over 10 ft away and photograph her in harsh lighting. These spiders are pretty large (well, females like this one are), and they're quite stunning when you find one. They go by many common names, including Black and yellow Orbweaver and Golden Orbweaver, but the scientific name for the species is Argiope aurantia . Sometimes spiders of this genus are called writing spiders because of the zig zag pattern in the center of the web.  Despite their large size, they are pretty harmless. Black and Yellow Argiope Black and Yellow Argiope

Leucauge Argyra Canon EOS 7D with EF 400mm f/5.6L (ISO 2500 | 1/160 sec | f/5.6) I came across this spider near the shore of Lake Jesup at Central Winds Park.  It was one among about a dozen others of the same species all in eyeshot of each other.  I positioned myself so that a tree was directly behind this one and took a few pictures, not expecting any to turn out.  I had to hand-hold with a relatively slow shutter speed, a high ISO, and I had to manually focus the lens because it was so small in the frame.  I thought it would be a good challenge, and thankfully one came out sharp. Back home I began to search for what species of spider this might be.  The species  Leucauge argyra appears to be the best match.  But this species doesn't have a common name (at least not one I could find on the web).  Now personally, I'm not sure this is quite fair.  I mean this is a perfectly fine-looking spider, and it's relatively common in Florida. Thi...