![]() ![]() For these up close shots, this ladder had a hole in the top step that was perfectly sized to slip my monopod through, setting its foot on the ladder’s tray. Working the web, this was the “macro” position. This made future set up easy as we were able to leave the ladders and tripods in place for the next day. After the first two days, I was able to mark the best spots on the ground with tape, noting the ideal time at each for the brightest colors and the time when they would fade. At first, when the colors started to fade at one spot, we would move and hunt for the next best place. As the sun rose and the light angle changed, the rainbows would appear or disappear at different distances and angles. The rainbow phenomenon only appeared for about two hours each morning. My wife also used a similar setup, most often using her Tamron 18-270mm lens. I have always made a habit of using extended height tripods, there have been many situations like this where the added height is a distinct advantage. I used a step-ladder, a tripod, and a variety of lenses, including a Tamron 180mm macro, 70-200mm, and 150-600mm. Thus began the next two weeks of our photo shoot with “Rai”, the Rainbow Spider*. To my pleasant surprise, it was still there on the screen. Looking at the live view will usually tell me if it’s just the migraine messing with me or a genuine natural phenomenon. ![]() Despite all my contortions, it was still there, so I grabbed the camera, aka my “reality meter”. Still, not believing my eyes, I tilted my head back and forth, took off my glasses, squinted, squatted up and down, and generally looked like a crazy person. After filling my coffee, I wandered back, and saw it again. I see rainbows and sparkles all the time around light sources right before a migraine hits, it’s a pretty tradeoff for feeling like your skull is trying to strangle your brain. ![]() I have dealt with migraines for most of my life, accompanied by visual auras. “That’s pretty…need coffee”, I thought, as I stayed on course to my caffeination station.įor me, seeing a random rainbow is nothing new. No spider can be considered reliably identified unless a spider specialist has examined it under a microscope.A few months ago, as I was making my regular morning journey from office to coffee pot, I glanced out our patio door and caught a glimpse of a rainbow in the upper corner of our screen enclosure. Even if your spider from Texas "looks just like" a photo from Belgium, the chances are that you have not made a correct identification. The geographic range of the species must also be considered. Furthermore, the appearance of one specimen of one species will give you no information on the differences between that species and similar ones, and no idea of how variable the species in question might be. In the first place, as noted in the “ Spiders are easy to identify” myth, naked-eye appearance is more deceptive than useful, in spider identification, to anyone but an experienced specialist. Myth: I found a photo of a spider species that looks just like the spiders in my house, so now I know what they are.įact: In other words, you have one color picture of one species of spider, and this magically enables you to tell how that species differs from hundreds of others of which you do not have pictures? Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. ![]()
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