Golden Orb Weaver
I’m afraid of spiders. Anyone who has seen my comments on Spider Friday knows this is true. The smallest little eight-legged beast can send me skittering across the room in fear, except for when I have a camera in hand. The second that camera is placed in my hands, the fear melts away, and I start doing things like reaching into the open-air Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila madagascarensis) exhibit at the Washington DC Zoo, past smaller spiders, in order to get a shot of the largest one that I could see.
Something about the camera makes me feel invulnerable, even when my arm is easily within bite range of a spider with a body more than an inch long. I wanted a picture of the one shown above, because it was easily over an inch and a half long, but in order to do that I had to reach around webs, near similar but smaller spiders.
I’m not trying to toot my own horn here. After taking a few pictures, extracting myself from the open air spider exhibit*, and breathing deeply, I was a quivering mess. It’s just something about having that camera in my hand that makes me feel temporarily invincible.
So I’m wondering if it’s just me. Do any of you have any particular bug you’re afraid of, but are willing to approach to get a good picture, or am I just a particularly interesting brand of crazy**?
*Did I mention Open Air Spider Exhibit? Gyahh!
**Yes.
Slowly getting the site back onto an even keel. It's nice to get back into the old posting rhythm.
tceisele said,
July 25, 2008 @ 8:16 am
Well, I can’t really say, because my phobias don’t involve bugs or spiders (heights, on the other hand . . .). But, I’ve seen an awful lot of pictures of things like tornadoes and other dangerous phenomena, where the first thing that occurs to me is “Was the photographer nuts?” Or, in some cases, “Gee, I hope this isn’t something that was found in a camera PRIED FROM THE COLD HANDS OF A CORPSE!” So, I think at least *some* people suffer from your brand of crazy.
In fact, I think the guy handling the camera in “Cloverfield” was supposed to be crazy in exactly that way.
Scott said,
July 25, 2008 @ 8:37 am
Having a camera can give you a detached POV. I’m a bit of an arachnophobe myself though a sort of exposure therapy has helped. Used to be I couldn’t even look at a closeup sider pic without getting the willies.
Scott said,
July 25, 2008 @ 8:38 am
Beautiful shot btw.
Steve said,
July 25, 2008 @ 8:38 am
Is that paisley on its abdomen?
JFargo said,
July 25, 2008 @ 8:59 am
tceisele - I’ve got a thing with heights too. Cameras don’t help me at all with that one, and actually seem to amplify it. But yeah, you make a good point. I guess I’m not alone!
Scott - Thank you for the compliment. I completely agree about the detached POV, and I’d guess that’s what I’m experiencing. People around me were watching in awe as I reached past these spiders, saying things like “Wow, you’re brave!” The second I stepped back and put the camera down I had to tell them “Well, really, I’m shaking like a leaf and scared out of my mind, but I wanted to take a good picture!”
Steve - It looks like it, doesn’t it?
David Brady said,
July 25, 2008 @ 10:31 am
JFargo: Awesome pic! Photography certainly has helped with my own arachnopohobia as well. (Yes, really. I has it. It’s largely under control because I’ve been working on it for several years, but it occasionally rears its ugly¹ head.)
Everyone: Buffer Status: 0w/7p. 0 writeups (gotta blog tomorrow’s tonight), 7 photos slotted. I’m falling behind. Current goal is still to get ahead with writeups while hanging onto the slotting lead.
¹ Technically, its ugly eight-eyed head
JFargo said,
July 25, 2008 @ 11:24 am
Thanks David! I’m glad you like it, and that I’m not alone!
If I go back, I’ll have to get a better picture of that abdomen. Seriously, I wasn’t really paying attention to what I was doing and didn’t even notice the beautiful markings on it.
tceisele said,
July 25, 2008 @ 12:48 pm
“didn’t even notice the beautiful markings on it”
If there is one thing that makes me crave a digital SLR, it is the fact that it is difficult or impossible to see fine detail on the little LCD screen on a digital point-and-shoot camera. The number of times that I didn’t even *see* things until after I’d uploaded the pictures to the computer, where I could finally look at it full-sized, doesn’t bear thinking about.
Well, two things: I really miss the whole “hit the shutter and it takes the picture NOW” feature. The one-second delay doesn’t sound like much, but a bug can move a long way in one second.
Andrew said,
July 25, 2008 @ 2:16 pm
@tceisele: The dSLR doesn’t help in missing details until you upload them to the computer. I constantly miss detail and I shoot with a Canon Digital Rebel. That part of my brain that wants new toys is trying to convince the rest of me that I would see this detail with a new 12 MP SLR and/or — preferably and — a 100mm macro lens.
The shutter delay problem is true, though.
JFargo said,
July 25, 2008 @ 2:17 pm
Tceisele - The shutter delay is a BIG thing for me, and is why I’m going to do my best to save up for a dSLR. The lack of detail in the little window doesn’t bother me so much; it’s almost like a little surprise present when I see the final image, like with this spider.
wright said,
July 25, 2008 @ 9:32 pm
I have a similar reaction to scorpions AND spiders. If I spot them beyond arm’s reach, my first impulse is to close the range and admire them. If they surprise me, then (as is the perogative of a 6′ 5″ male weighing over 200 lbs) I quite naturally scream like a cockateel, flail wildly at my surroundings, and backpedal like an off-kilter unicycle.
And yes, gorgeous pic.
marit fp said,
August 2, 2008 @ 11:16 pm
I am also of that breed of crazy, with one qualifying factor: if it’s in my house, I get squicky, and if it’s on my person, I shriek, flail, levitate away, and then shudder involuntarily for a few moments. however, with or without camera, if I’m outside, I just brush it away, or grab for camera. don’t know why.