Having finished a series of flowing water images, I knew just where to go to get the sunset light on the old cabin. I had seen it just glowing the evening before but could not get to the position I needed due to heavy tourist traffic. Tonight, if anything, the light is better. Camp fires have added a bit of warm smoke haze to the light and it will be perfect for the image I have in mind.
As we head for the new location, out of the corner of my eye, there is a flash of light. It takes almost a quarter of a mile for me to register what I had seen…a giant spiderweb glowing in the evening light. OK, stop, turn around and go back…looking for it…not finding it….going way past it…turning around again…and this time, slowly..slowly driving the road…there it is! Invisible from the other direction due to the light….
The sun is setting, not much time as this is in deep woods and the light is going fast. Set up the tripod, look for the right position, make the image. But, where is Mr. Spider?? To make a web this large (about 5 feet across) we are expecting a 50 kg beast….and there he is, up on a nearby branch. A red/orange creature about 5″ big. Who obviously has a large appetite and great expectations. He is watching us, thinking “dinner” but we are too big for him….perhaps, another somewhat smaller prey will happen along.
The light has gone from the web and it has all but disappeared.
We move on to the cabin where as expected the light is now just right.
The lesson is not to become so fixated on the “next place” that you miss the wonderful things that are right in front of you. I have learned to drive slower, to see better, to stop and go back for things rather than lettings them pass by, and to really look at what is available for me. A good lesson for all of us.
Steve,
You do an excellent narative of seeing what is important in being in the moment.
Beautiful photograph.
Please post more of these images.
Charles
Thanks Charles, Glad that you like it. That spider really looked hungry. More will follow.
So very true Steve. I went to a place this evening to get a couple of images that I had planned out if the light was right and ended up shooting almost 200 frames of “things” along the way and back.
Hi Mike,
Nice to hear from you again.
In the “hurry up” pace of todays life, I think most of us need to slow down and see the webs. One reason why I like to spend time out in nature is the slower more relaxed pace of things. Gives a person the chance to not just smell the roses but to make a great image of them.