Spiderwebs

On a morning with lots of dew, spiderwebs are beautiful to behold. I may not like spiders very much, but I sure like their webs. On the heathland I visit, most webs are made by tiny spiders. Wheel webs are my favorites.
(Lens: Lensbaby Twist 60 with macro converters)

They are hanging in the tall reeds, sometimes completely horizontal.
(Lens: Lensbaby Burnside 35)

This morning, 30 June 2019, I went to the same field where I found these last year. There was a bit of fog and the sun was rising (fast). I was hoping to find many of these but there were relatively few spider webs. I never payed much attention to this, but I think it is still early for these spiders. The best time is September. I hope I am not wrong!
(Lens: Pentacon 50 mm 1.8 MC)

This picture is probably already visible on this blog. These webs may look big, but they are quite small. As you may notice it was formed in the grass.
(Lens: Lensbaby Edge 80)

I always work with natural light and I don't like to carry around lots of stuff. So I shoot out of hand and I don't use the white umbrella I once bought to shield the light. Although I think I could make beautiful pictures if I did... For me it just is too much hassle.
(Lens: Lensbaby Twist 60 optic with macro converters (similar to extension tubes) and a white umbrella)

Last year I discovered how to use the Lensbaby Velvet 56. I already had it for a year. I think for every lens you need to find for which subject it is suited and what kind of light works best. I really got hooked last year. I love the soft look.
(Lens: Lensbaby Velvet 56)

Another big hanging web. They are so versatile and all the tiny drops reflect the light so beautifully
(Lens: Lensbaby Twist 60 optic with macro converters).

I always work with a shallow depth of field, which means that I have the aperture open or almost open. Since I always shoot against the light, the shape of the aperture is often visible and I prefer it to be round. I thought I would be able to see which lens I used by looking at the image. But most lenses I use have similar traits. Probably because I like them ;)

Had to check but this was made with the Pentacon 50 mm 1.8 MC. It is a vintage lens and quite magical. If you are used to manual lenses this is one of the best. Not expensive and lots of fun!
(Lens: Pentacon 50 mm 1.8 MC)

This is another one made with this vintage lens. The web is glowing.
(Lens: Pentacon 50 mm 1.8 MC)

This is an oldy and a different kind of web. The spiders use moss, or mushrooms as a tent pole and weave there webs from there. If you are lucky you find a perfectly formed specimen! Usually they are more messy and not symmetric.
(Lens: Lensbaby Twist 60 with macro converters)

And last but not least this web on a leaf. I take macro pictures for 10 years now and in the beginning I kept seeing things that I never noticed before. Even the details on a dandelion are beautiful when you never properly looked at it. But now when I find something new it is like a little present. These webs made on a leaf, and so perfectly, I had never seen before. And I haven't seen them since. I also don't know which spider made them.
(Lens: Lensbaby Twist 60 optic with macro converter)

There are more pictures I want to share and I'm planning to write more often, but we'll see. I do post regularly on my instagram account.

Burnside 35

How wonderful is it to get a chance to test a lens before it is out? In December I received the Lensbaby Burnside 35 to try. It is a proper lens (not an optic) with swirley bokeh and - this is very new - a second aperture. The second aperture controls the amount of vignette and it also affects the image in other ways.

December is not the best for macro (dead crap season ;)) but I was lucky that on the days I went out there were rain showers and sunshine: sparkles! I could play with backlight and raindrops.

The idea was to make macro pictures of my favorite subjects. In December that would be moss. You can get close to the subject with this lens (within 15 centimeters) but I found that there was still too much in the frame for tiny stuff. The solution was to add a 12 mm extension tube, but the point was to first test the lens as is, as macro as I could get! So I looked for other subjects: big pine needles with raindrops.

With this kind of light the bokeh is quite wild. I like the oval shape of the bokeh towards the sides of the frame. Compared to the Twist 60, the bokeh of Burnside is more like that of Helios, a vintage lens (the second picture was cropped to get a better composition).

I fell in love with Lensbaby lenses because of the shape of the bokeh and the magic the lens creates. On the first day I tested the second aperture to observe the effect. When you close an aperture, the shape of the blades is reflected in the bokeh. I did not like this at first and used it mostly wide open. Therefore the vignette is also not visible in these pictures.

When the light is softer, the effect is softer too (both apertures open).

Because the moss was very beautiful I added a 12 mm extension tube to get the proper magnification. This was just perfect for what I hoped to achieve. Here I closed the second aperture. It adds more drama and the swirl also becomes stronger. The change in the shape of the bokeh is obvious. I think what threw me off in the beginning was that there was already a lot in the frame and closing the aperture made it even more wild and crowded.

The moss is growing on an old tree-trunk, wet from the rain. The light is in front of the lens.


I can't wait to try more with these settings and on different subjects like dewy grass and spider webs.

This was taken from a larger distance while I was taking shelter from the rain.  The swirly bokeh is clearly visible. Both apertures wide open and just the lens (no extension).

The colors also come out very nice. I love this about all Lensbabies. Again at close focus with both apertures open (Burnside without extension). In spring this will be great for images of flowers, subjects that are a bit bigger than moss. Only for the really small stuff you might want to add an extension tube. With a lot of sparkles in the background in soft light, this will be exquisite.

Needless to say that I enjoyed this lens very much and that I am curious to see the results of other photographers!

(click the first picture to get a bigger and better view)

Go here for the Burnside blog on Lensbaby.com