4 Views of Orchard Spiders on Their Web

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Orchard orbweaver spider against the dark

I think I’ve always found spiders fascinating. And what’s even more fascinating? A spider on its web, of course! 😀

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A colorful orchard spider

Here are 4 examples of orchard spiders I found in Prince William Forest Park (Virginia) in June of 2022. The first two are from June 4th and the last two are from June 25th.

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Orchard orbweaver on its shiny web

I tried to find different perspectives to show you, though looking at them now I realize I didn’t capture any good photos of the back of the spider. Oh well, that gives me something else to look for on future hikes. And seeing as how orchard spiders are fairly common in this area there’s a good chance I’ll find plenty of opportunities.

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Spotlighting an orchard orbweaver

The last photo isn’t the greatest from a technical perspective. It has a fair bit of noise and isn’t completely sharp. But I was looking for a particular mood to the image, with a somewhat dark spider spotlighted by the lighter circle of green in the background, and the web largely hidden from view. The environs were very dark so I had to boost the ISO which resulted in the noise. And my unsteady hands and any breeze hitting the web caused the lack of sharpness. But I’m still pleased with the image and I hope you enjoy it.

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Grazing Geese

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Grazing geese at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Virginia

One of the early photo trips I took within the first year of purchasing my first DSLR was to Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Virginia, an absolutely beautiful park. Any time of year you can find something worth photographing, and for most of the year the park is full of blooming flowers.

In this case my brother and I visited the park to attend a photography show in early March, before there would have been much in bloom. But I found this grouping of Canada geese grazing on the grass along the shore of Lake Caroline. It’s a very simple photo. What drew me to the scene was the monochromatic color scheme and the arrangement of the geese into a line.

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A Canopy in Green

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A Canopy in Green

I’ve mentioned before how I enjoy pausing to look up when hiking through the woods and today’s photograph is another example of why this is. There’s so much beauty out there and some of it is directly above us. In this case we’re looking up into the green canopy of what I believe to be a black walnut tree along the trails of Caledon State Park in Virginia. I just love all the shades of green, and the patterns of the branches and leaves. I get lost in these scenes and can only hope the photo might affect you similarly.

Exposure is always a challenge with this sort of photograph when making a single frame. There’s a large dynamic range and trying to show details in the shadows without blowing out highlights is not always easy or possible, though I feel this photograph is a nice balance between the two. And thank you, Alex, for our talks of glowing greens. I believe this photograph benefited from them.

I encourage you to look up once in a while when out hiking, whether out in the woods or even in the city. You never know when what’s above you might be just as interesting as what’s below.

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