Spider Webs and Fall Colors

Spider Webs

The other morning, we had a heavy dew, some fog, and some sunlight coming through. So I grabbed my camera and went on a nature walk around the yard.

Spider webs are much easier to see when they have some dew on them. I saw several of these webs as I was walking to open a fence gate, so I made a mental note of where they were so that I could find them when I came back out.

I also like the tight focus look for photos like this, so that your eyes are drawn immediately to the spider web. The muted colors work well here, too. While I sometimes use bright and saturated colors, I liked this look for these spider webs.

Here is one more spider web for your enjoyment. Apparently, the spiders were active the night before I took these photos. But they had all abandoned their webs by this time. Maybe it is difficult to climb over all those dewdrops. I am glad that I am not a spider.

Fall Colors

While I was outside, I also took a few photos of the fall colors, or what is left of them. This crabapple tree in the above photo was vibrant not long before, but it had lost most of its leaves by the time I took these photos. A rain storm with lots of wind had come through, plucking most of the leaves off of the trees and throwing them on the ground. You can see Copper, my companion for this walk, checking out the ground leaves. I am not sure what he was looking for, but he is always sniffing around for something.

However, this tulip poplar tree is still holding on to its leaves for as long as it can this fall season. This is one of two tulip poplar trees (the state tree of Tennessee, by the way) that we transplanted some years ago when they were just short sticks. I am always happy to see that they are thriving now, because we are not exactly tree experts. Plus, the trees had to fight off being eaten by deer for a while, too. But they held their own, and now they tower over the deer that come around. They say to the deer, “Hahaha! Who is the little one now?”

To end with, here is a photo showing the fall colors and the blue sky. You can also see our neighbors’ horse off in the distance, in case you were wondering if that was one of ours. Ours were in the barn happily eating their breakfast at this point.

And yes, this photo is actually straight, believe it or not. You can tell by checking the roof of the neighbors’ house way off in the distance, near the center of the photo. Our yard and their pasture both have a bit of a slope, as you can tell. While I sometimes have trouble taking a straight and level photo, I made sure that this one was straight, even if it appears not to be straight.

Beauty in Nature

I often talk about finding beauty in nature, and that is what I was looking for in these photos. While other places are nice, you can usually find some natural beauty right around where you are, if you just take the time to look for it.

God has done some wonderful things with his creation. Whether it is bright fall tones or muted colors behind a dew-covered spider web, there are always great things to see around all of us.

Take some time to notice just now beautiful things are around you, no matter what the season.

“While the earth continues to exist, planting time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.” - Genesis 8:22

About the Photos

You have probably noticed that these fall photos have a different aspect ratio for these photos. I had been reading recently about how many new movies, especially streaming movies, have been using a 2:1 aspect ratio. That ratio is a compromise between the 2.35:1 widescreen ratio and the 1.78:1 ratio of HD TVs. So I thought I would see how it looks for photos. In looking at these, I definitely think they have a cinematic feel to them. The downside is that they will not work well for social media, especially Instagram, so I will have to crop them differently for that. Maybe. Also, shooting for that ratio takes some different thought, and I don’t usually think in that way. So will I use this ratio more? We’ll see.

I mentioned above the muted colors and tight focus for the spider web photos. I used a little more color saturation for the other photos, because I thought they needed it more. There is no reason to be locked into a certain look, even for photos in the same post. I think these work together well here, even though they do not all look exactly the same.

Photo: Each photo is a single Raw exposure, processed in GIMP and Raw Therapee. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 II
Lens: Rokinon 35mm f/1.8
Date: November 1, 2022
Location: Home, Williston, Tennessee