Moth for lunch

As soon as the rain cleared out, the winds calmed down. Perfect conditions for Biscayne Bay. The sky was clear all morning, with the exception of the low thermal clouds on the horizon during sunrise. Once the sun cleared them, it was blue skies the remainder of the morning. Today, I would take full advantage of the calm conditions and stayed on the water 5 hours. Most of that time was spent at the rookery and there are photos from that visit. I headed back to the launch site and on the way, detoured into one of the many creeks along the western shoreline of Biscayne Bay. In the canopied creeks, I can find my favorite 8-legged subject, the golden silk spider.

There were several spiders not far from the entrance of the creek. When attempting to photograph them, the trick is to find one that is in full view and good lighting. I always use my flash when photographing the spiders because most of the time they are backlit or shadowed by the canopy. As I paddled, I searched above and within second, found my subject for the remainder of the day. The spider had a large object in her web; soon it became apparent it was a butterfly or moth.

This spider was very difficult to find a good angle and light on it. I wanted to see the spider in full and struggled to get into the best position to do that. Overall, I was able to shoot the spider as it ate its meal from two very good perspectives. The flash did the trick and made it possible for me to shoot at a low shutter speed (1/250) and high aperture (f14). the higher aperture was necessary to get the depth on the spider and the moth.

Always looking for a new or unique composition with the golden silk spider, I was lucky to have come upon this one today.