Leap Of …

Posted in Consciousness, Insects, Life, Love, Macro Photography, Meditation, Nature, Photography, Relaxation, Spider, Spirituality, Sustainability, Truth? by Mark on 16/02/2018

*Click on the pictures for a proper look … and click again

… maybe, maybe not.

Who knows what’s in a spiders mind.

Not personalised thinking, that’s for sure …

14 comments

14 Responses

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Zezee said, on 18/02/2018 at 1:11 am

All I can say is…Wow!
I love that second pic where it’s flying, jumping, through the air.

Reply
- Mark said, on 18/02/2018 at 11:54 am
  
  It’s actually hanging from a thread, filling out its new body/exoskeleton after molting from its smaller old one. It would take a while before it would harden and the spider could go about its business.
  
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  - Zezee said, on 18/02/2018 at 11:56 pm
    
    Oh, when I saw it I thought it was flying through the air to pounce on something, possibly dinner. But now that you explained, I see the thread behind it.
    
    Reply
    - Mark said, on 19/02/2018 at 12:50 am
      
      Yes, I rotated them 90′ for that effect. The thread behind would be there if it was pouncing on something, they usually anchor themselves in case of mishap or just to return to position – it’s a safety rope/thread.
      
      This is another ‘event’ in the garden from a way back, the pouncing done – https://beingmark.com/2010/12/24/the-kill/ – events are rare enough.
      
      Reply
Audrey Van Vliet said, on 17/02/2018 at 9:14 am

I honestly don’t know how it’s possible, but your work just gets better with each new shot. Absolutely stunning.

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- Mark said, on 17/02/2018 at 3:53 pm
  
  Maybe it’s just that you are able to appreciate it more as time passes? I am not doing anything different, it’s what presents that I can capture.
  
  Thanks Audrey.
  
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Oleg Komarickiy said, on 16/02/2018 at 2:37 pm

Super, highly interesting !

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- Mark said, on 16/02/2018 at 6:32 pm
  
  Thanks Oleg …
  
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Walking My Path: Mindful Wanderings in Nature said, on 16/02/2018 at 11:29 am

Wow, Mark!! Amazing!! Don’t they usually go off by themselves to molt? However did you get this?!

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- Mark said, on 16/02/2018 at 2:30 pm
  
  Yes, they do. And I go wandering the garden at night and occasionally run into such events as this. This is an orb weaver, there are many in the garden over the year. To molt it hung by a few threads from one of its usual anchors, where it is relatively safe from predators – a spider’s thread is not somewhere predators explore I suspect, and let gravity work to exit its old body/skin and hang there swaying and turning in the breeze to dry.
  
  It was slightly breezy that night but not too much. I set myself where the spider would pass through or turn in my focus and timed my shots to suit – lots of misses. I think I got enough in enough focus to do a molting series, maybe next post, maybe not … I never know so far in advance what I’m going to post.
  
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Lissa Clayton said, on 16/02/2018 at 6:18 am

Did you actually manage to capture this spider mid air when it was leaping? Incredible. Looks like it’s on glass perhaps until I read your comment. Not often that you get to see the underside of a spider :)

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- Mark said, on 16/02/2018 at 10:46 am
  
  Mid air, yes. Leaping, not actually – except from one (old) body into the new. It was actually molting – will do a series soon perhaps – and these have been rotated 90′ for the larger landscape view.
  
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David said, on 16/02/2018 at 6:07 am

Pretty fantastic, especially the second one.

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- Mark said, on 16/02/2018 at 10:43 am
  
  Thanks David.
  
  Reply