22 1 June 2019 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
Technique
Inquisitive Zebra Spider
Jo Angell
Third place Animals
Occupation Early Years pre-school
practitioner
Facebook Jo Angell Photography
Twitter joangell5
‘It was a warm day and I’d noticed
how active the bees were around
the bug house in my back garden. I
had some spare time on my hands so I
positioned a chair in line with the house
and sat and watched the bees for a while.
Some of them were in the bamboo sticks,
and I had several little faces staring right
back at me. I took some pictures, but as
I watched I noticed a zebra spider moving
in and out of the different areas of the
bug house. Zebra spiders are quite small
(around 7mm), so getting them in focus
can be quite tricky. When they move
they can be too quick to follow with the
camera, so I fi nd waiting until they pause
to be the best option. However, more
often than not they turn, or I am at the
wrong angle! This is where the three Ps
come in (see below). I watched as the
zebra spider made its way down the
bamboo stick and fi nally paused, in
a wonderful position
just looking out of
the hole.’JO’S TOP TIPS
1 Check out brick
walls, fences, etc in
your garden – you
will be amazed by
what you can fi nd!
2 Sit and watch your
subject to learn more
about its behaviour.
3 Use the three Ps:
patience, persistence
and practice.LochanLily,Isleof Harris
LizzieShepherd
HighlycommendedPlants
OccupationProfessionalphotographer
http://www.lizzieshepherd.comFacebook
LizzieShepherdPhotography Twitter LShepherdPhoto
Instagramlshepherdphoto
‘Anintricatenetwork of lochans intersperses the
rocky,lunarlandscape on the east coast of the Isle
of Harris.Theseprovidethe perfect habitat for aquatic
plants,suchaswaterlilies, reeds and bog bean. A week
hereorthere,canmake such a difference to the form
andcolourof theplants. My preference is for a still day- onthisoccasion,there was a fair bit of sun. The water
reflectedtheblueof the sky and the lily was golden in
hue.I chosetodiscardthe colours, focusing on the form
of thelilyandstrands,with a black & white conversion.’
LIZZIE’STOPTIPS
1 Lookforrepetitionof shapes – echoes and mimicry
canhelp you to make sense of a
complex scene.
2 Check for unsightly blemishes
on your plant. This lily was past its
best, but I liked the symmetry
of the nibbles on the leaf.
3 When using a longer lens,
keep an eye on depth of fi eld.Sony Alpha7RII,ZeissBatis135mm
f/2.8,1/125secatf/10,ISO1000.
Postprocessing:Lightroom,
Photoshopandconvertedtoblack
& whiteusinga presetcreatedin
SilverEfexPro.Clonetoolto
removea fewflecksanda couple
ofstrandsfromthewaterThe Sigma 105mm
was the perfect
choice for JoIsolating detail was
easy with the 135mm© LIZZIE SHEPHERD