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Fooled By Camouflage
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Fooled By Camouflage

by Heather Nilson

Gallery: Weekly ChallengePosted July 13, 201262 views3 comments
I shot this three years ago, while I was running around like a fool trying to shoot every flower in sight during an absolutely terrific wildflower year. I think my original intention was just to fill the frame with yellow and the little thorns/hairs/whatever-those-are on the stems. I was so busy looking at the flowers that I completely failed to notice that amazingly well-camouflaged spider on the bottom left. So, the most interesting part of the composition is poorly placed in the frame and not in the plane of focus. Oh well, I got a big kick out of it when I later found it on my computer monitor. I still think that's a stunning bit of evolutionary color-matching.

Comments

3 comments
Comment posted by Carolyn Derstine on July 13, 2012 at 8:18 PM
This is a bright cheery picture and certainly is a great example of a very effective disguise. It fooled you too. :smile: Glad you weren't a little bug looking to land on this flower! :wink:

I have done this often, too, where some interesting detail isn't seen until the image is viewed on the computer. In fact, my "Deer fly?" posting in the macro gallery is a case in point! It all adds to the fun of photography IMO.
Registered on February 16, 2011, 610 Posts, 3684 Comments
Comment posted by RL Potts on July 14, 2012 at 10:00 PM
I actually like the obscure location of the spider. A sharper focus on it would be a lot better though. I like the warm sunny feel to this exposure. It seldom occurs to people when they sniff a flower, that they may be sniffing a flower spider too.
Registered on November 24, 2003, 188 Posts, 985 Comments
Comment posted by Ed Williams on July 15, 2012 at 3:34 AM
Love the camoflage of this spider. Bright and cheery and a little bit skeery for a bug. . . sorry.
Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments