Category: Insects & Spiders

Macro Abstract Garden Spider Web At Rye Patch Rose Garden In Aiken, SC

Spun

 

Macro abstract garden spider web at Rye Patch Rose Garden in Aiken, South Carolina
Spun

To purchase a print of Spun click here
To view a larger version of Spun click here

I discovered the garden spider and web in my Spun piece while exploring the Rose Garden at the Rye Patch.  As soon as I saw all of the squiggly lines on the backside of the web, I instantly knew that I had to capture this scene for my Naturally Abstract gallery.  My artistic vision was to fill as much of the frame as I could with the wonderfully stitched web pattern.  While not too easy to see, the spider is actually on the other side of the web, which increased both my desirability to create a composition and my excitement level.  If you look real close on a larger image, you’ll be able to see some legs and her abdomen.  Since the focal point was the web itself and the depth of field was fairly shallow, not much detail in the background remained.  That said, individual strands of silk and hairs on her legs are visible.

 

To see related pieces click here

Macro Stag Beetle At Dreher Island State Park In Prosperity, SC

Boot Chaser

Macro Stag Beetle at Dreher Island State Park in Prosperity, South Carolina
Boot Chaser

To purchase a print of Boot Chaser click here
To view a larger version of Boot Chaser click here

We were tired, hot, and almost out of water on the connector trail heading back to the car when I came across the little guy in my Boot Chaser piece.  He was cool with his massive jaws.  They are so big that he clumsily muddles around.  I think I scared him because he stopped dead and stayed still long enough for me to compose a couple of images.  But, it didn’t take long before some little ants, apparently not happy with his presence, started biting him and wouldn’t leave him alone.  He tried to brush the ants off his back legs and even tried shaking to remove them, but, in the end, I think he got tired of being attacked and decided he was going to move along.  I didn’t want him to go because I was hoping that the ants would give up and I’d be able to continue creating so I temporarily blocked his path with my boot.  Which worked, but what was really strange was that he kept returning to it – even coming from as far as four feet away.  If I moved my boot to the left (to give him an escape route), he’d come plodding over to the left exactly where my boot was.  If I then moved to the right, he’d slog on over and return to my boot again.  We played that game at least four times so I don’t think it was just a coincidence.  Maybe he marked my boot with some kind of a scent or something so he’d know where he was.  It was a neat encounter.

 

To see related pieces click here