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vawendy


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Self Portrait Without People III (Advanced Editing VII)
Collection: 2012 Challenge shots
Date: Jul 26, 2012
Date Uploaded: Jul 26, 2012

[Aug. 2nd, 2012 09:30:37 PM]

So... this is not what I had for an idea.

I started out with something like this:



For nature photographer.

But then some friends said that it had to be a squirrel or a bird. But the squirrels haven't been around for awhile, and actually, I didn't have much of a chance for a bird.

But in the meantime, when I was trying the dragonfly shot, I saw a little spider, and I figured, what the heck -- I have my macro lens on. Then I saw what was in the spider web. I was fascinated!!!! I had never seen anything quite like it before. I spent about 45 minutes trying to get a good shot. I tried focus stacking, but failed miserably at it. The lighting was difficult. But I got this shot. Having the top of the web part oof bothered me, so I went out for another 45 minutes on my knees trying to get the shot. I even tried with external flash off camera with a diffuser. That set failed miserably.

Back to self portrait.

But then I realized just how incredibly perfect this shot was. When I was trying to come up with ideas, my daughter asked me "how do you think of yourself", and the immediate answer was "a mom".

That's what I am first and foremost. And always will be.

But I thought maybe I should try again for the nature photographer self portrait.

This is the result:



I actually really like this one. I love the seagull portrait and the colors.

But I kept going back to the spider. I figured that some people might think it's a shoehorn -- thinking that it's the spider's lunch. But it's not. These are egg sacs. I've been watching the spider since then, and she spends all of her time sitting just below the egg sacs, must be protecting them. When I was taking pictures, every once and awhile she'd spook a bit, and run off. But only an inch or two, and would come back less than a minute later.

So, to me, it fit almost perfectly. A mother, and a nature photographer took the shot.

I say almost perfectly, because I only have two children. But then I thought about my husband -- so maybe three fits after all....

Thanks for all the wonderful comments! :)

Statistics
Place: 6 out of 67
Avg (all users): 6.6289
Avg (commenters): 7.6364
Avg (participants): 6.6129
Avg (non-participants): 6.6364
Views since voting: 1569
Views during voting: 236
Votes: 97
Comments: 20
Favorites: 2 (view)

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AuthorThread
Canon EOS-7D
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro for Canon
 08/04/2012 11:30:17 PM
Terrific!!!! Nice finish.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D750
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED
 08/03/2012 05:03:57 PM
Congrats, foremost, on being able to define yourself. I couldn't do it and so, missed the challenge, LOL!!! I truly despise spiders, and I do dislike comparing folks to other folks, but This is an amazing bug macro, something on par with Roz's work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 08/03/2012 06:24:54 AM
YEAH I PLEASED IT DID WELL AND YOU DESERVED THE SHERPET RED STAR AWARD XOX LOVED IT YES ANOTHER WENDY FAVORITE I THINK I AM MIND AND HEART AND WENDY FAVORITE RE SO MANY OF YOUR IMAGES NOW RE SO MANY OF YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS... I HAD NO IDEA THIS WAS YOURS SO COOL LOVED IT XOX
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sony Alpha a1 II
Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS
 08/03/2012 05:24:23 AM
Yeah... i did go a bit overboard on this one, but it thought it was a special challenge. Defining yourself required more work. :)

Usually I wait until the last day to come up with something, so there's less time to obsess. (actually, that's not true, I wait until the last day because I'm a horrible procrastinator.)

Message edited by author 2012-08-03 08:07:53.
Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+
Sony Sonnar T* FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA
 08/03/2012 03:10:54 AM
Top marks for the effort Wendy, I must say I'm more like Bear when it comes to effort.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Samsung Galaxy S24, S24+, S24 Ultra
Sony Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm f/4 ZA OSS
 08/03/2012 02:04:48 AM
ROFLMAO on the "three children" bit. But gawd, Wendy, you're OBSESSIVE :-) Congrats on a very cool shot and top-10. I don't work anywhere near so hard; I just pull over to the side of the road and fire off a burst...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sony DSLR-A580
Sony DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical ED
 08/03/2012 01:17:45 AM
Wonderfully taken, Wendy, and a great capture. Congratulations on the finish.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Canon EOS-40D
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
 08/02/2012 11:29:44 PM
beautiful
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Fujifilm X-Pro2
Fujifilm XF 10-24mm f/4 R IOS
 08/02/2012 09:59:08 PM
Fascinating.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D7000
Nikon AF-S DX 18-105 f/3.5-5.6 ED VR
 08/02/2012 08:43:07 PM
So beautifully photographed - one of my favourites in this challenge.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 08/02/2012 04:26:38 PM
A wonderful image! I hope you didn't eat the dad :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-600D/T3i Rebel
Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM
 08/02/2012 11:55:28 AM
Good clarity here.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 08/01/2012 12:18:23 AM
What an exceptional macro! From this (and your title) I would assume you see your role as a parent as prominent, but I'd also take away from this that you are very attentive to detail, very well organized, and a very good photographer.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D90
Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G
 07/29/2012 08:01:00 PM
Thinking I'll be leaving your children alone ;)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/28/2012 12:40:05 PM
Excellent macro, colours and DOF!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D7000
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED
 07/27/2012 01:40:03 PM
that's the scariest frakkin mom i've ever seen.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sony Alpha a77
Sony DT 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 SAM
07/27/2012 10:11:52 AM
OMG, I hope this was a zoom lens and you didn't have to get too close! I have seen the size of these things...YUCK! Great capture though.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 07/27/2012 06:42:23 AM
LOVE THIS ONE CLEVER AND SO WELL DONE... LOVE THE SOFT COLOURS AND THE INTERESTING EGG NESTS... NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE AND THEREFORE GETS MY SHERPET RED STAR AWARD FROM ME... NOT VERY OFTEN DOES AN INSECT ESPECIALLY A SPIDER TOUCHES MY HEART LIKE THIS ONE DOES... FROM SHEZ

HERE IS MY SHERPET RED STAR AWARD



CONGRATULATIONS FROM SHEZ
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-6D
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM
 07/27/2012 12:18:49 AM
Whoa golly! Who CARES what you shoehorn this for? It's... amazing!


(commenting only)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D800
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 16-35 f/4 ED VR
 07/27/2012 12:13:47 AM
great colours and clarity
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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