The Fearsome Spider

DA* 16-50 Giveaway Entry #5

By Heie in It's Good to Be Fearless on Apr 12, 2013

Well, it IS importantant to be fearless. Photography is not an exception and sometimes, we have to overcome our minor or major fears.

For me, the last time I had to do this was at the time when the photos below were taken (half a year ago). Not that I am panicky when it comes to spiders, but I must admit I quite loathe them. But I think overcoming this minor fear was worth the pictures I got. The spider (Tegenaria atrica) was captured and put in a jar. The pictures were made through a safe barrier of curved glass, which caused the distortion and defocusing and made the images look dreamy (well, nightmarish in my opinion). There is very little postprocess done. But capturing a fearsome spider is not the most fearless thing about those pics.

Probably the most brave thing is that they were made by an Olympus camera (E-510) and Olympus lens (OM Zuiko 50 F3.5 macro) and posted on the Pentax forum! I know it is almost a blasphemy but I did not have my Pentax gear at hand at the moment, so I borrowed the mentioned camera and put it to use although I am otherwise a dedicated Pentax user. If this is not brave, then tell me what is!

What does "It's good to be FEARLESS" means to you"?

What does the phrase "It‘s good to be fearless“ means to me, when it comes to photography? Other than the case mentioned above it is mainly not to fear bringing a camera wherever I may go, point a lens on any subject I may see, and dont be afraid to get a little dirty or to break something. Moreover, I am not afraid to use film cameras or digital ones, which I think needs a little courage these days in this fast epoch of technocratic dictatorship (but the limits of film process may bring you some great pics in return). With this new acquision I do not think I will become any more brave (not that I am always enough), but I will have a new, better tool to convert (my limited amount of) courage into an image.