How I was nearly murdered by a giant spider

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My workshop group and I were in Lower Antelope Canyon in Page, AZ when an attempt was made on my life. That’s a bold statement, I know. But in this case, I think the facts are pretty much on my side.

We’d been in the canyon for probably only fifteen minutes when we heard it: the sound of something landing in the sand near us. And there it was: the biggest little spider I’ve ever seen. At first I thought it must be a baby Acromantula, but then I remembered baby Acromantulas were the size of a Pekinese and this one was only about an inch and a half to two inches in diameter so it couldn’t be that particular giant spider breed. Anyone who’s read the Harry Potter books or has seen the movies knows this is true.

I’m pretty sure the beastie was aiming for me. Probably in retaliation for all of its relatives that have ended up as goo under my shoe. This isn’t my fault. Spiders are sneakier than cats and the bottom-of-the-shoe-gooing of a spider is a purely reflexive reaction on my part. I have no control over this, it’s a survival mechanism. So if you’re going to blame anyone, blame Darwin.

As I said, this spider was aiming for me. It leaped from the top of the canyon specifically to murder me. Fortunately, it was windy that day and my would-be assassin was blown off course, hence the ominous sound we all heard.

Now since this bugger didn’t technically sneak up on me, my ninja-like spider squishing instincts weren’t triggered. So instead I just took pictures of it. After dismissing the identification of Acromantula, I at first thought this to be a juvenile tarantula. But I don’t think it is. I’m leaning toward wolf spider at the moment, but that’s just from information I’ve found on the internet. Anybody have an idea of who my nemesis might be?

Edit: We have a verdict. According to my friend Dave Muse, accomplished photographer of things creepy and crawly, Wolf Spiders have eight eyes. When I zoom in on this critter, I see the four eyes on the top of the head and another row of four eyes below those four. So: wolf spider.

Lessons

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I’ve added a section to my website called “Lessons”. See that link in the menu above? That’ll take you there.

These are a series of short lessons on single subjects mainly using before and after photos (though not always). It’s just in it’s infancy and I’ve got grand plans for adding to it. Today I’ve added an example of using an Enhancing filter. I also updated the text on page about using neutral density filters.

Enjoy!

Does a cougar live in the woods?

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The answer is emphatically YES! In fact, one lives in the woods adjacent to our neighborhood. Do you want to know how I know this? Thought you’d never ask. It’s because I saw one. Close up. Too close up if you ask me.

Bailey (the Labradoodle) and I were out for our usual walk the other day and since it was so nice out I decided we’d do the “big” loop of the old logging roads and trails. We were about a mile from home when we came across a deer grazing at the side of the road. This isn’t unusual; we see deer probably three or four times a year on the road/trails. So as soon as I saw the deer I called to Bailey to come to me so I could put her leash back on. She tends to chase things like deer.

Once the deer saw and heard us he (he had a pretty good sized rack) went off the road and back into the woods. So Bailey and I continued on our way but before I could take even a few steps I spied an unfamiliar lump on the side of the road about a hundred or so feet away. It was in shade and was hard to discern, but I thought I saw it move just a little. And since a deer had just been standing in the same area, I wasn’t too worried about what it could be. After all, if a deer is comfortable, I should be too. Right?

So I thought what I saw was either a rock or a bush, but when I saw movement then I thought it might be a fawn. It was pretty small looking after all. We walked just a few steps closer before I figured out this wasn’t a fawn. It had a roundish head. And was that a tail I just saw flicking? Then I realized it was a cougar and we had just interrupted its hunt. I stopped and took a quick picture. Somewhere along the line I had also picked up a rock. I think I had planned on tossing it down that way to see if it was indeed an animal rather than a lump of rock or a bush.

As we took our first step away, the cougar got up and came toward us. But both Bailey and I are alright. I was able to scare it off by yelling, making myself look bigger, and throwing rocks.

So you want to see a picture of that cougar? You know you do. Here it is.

TTG Client Response Gallery CE2

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If you’re a photographer who needs to present images to clients for approval or selection, The Turning Gate (TTG) has just the thing for you: The Client Response Gallery. With it you’ll be able to present a selection of images to your client in gallery form (password protected if you need it) and your clients can pick which images they like. They can even rate them, choose options, and add comments. Once they’ve done all that, they fill in an email form, click send, and all their image choices and comments are sent to you in an email.

All this for just $25. Actually, all of TTG’s galleries and web modules are very affordable. And for what they do, I’d say they’re actually a great bargain

To learn more about the new TTG CE2 Client Response Gallery, take a look at the release announcement.

Special Offer from Think Tank

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From the folks at Think Tank Photo:

Just in time for Spring, Think Tank Photo announces a special offer on their popular StreetWalker™ backpacks. When you buy one of Think Tank’s spacious and comfortable StreetWalker® Pro or StreetWalker® HardDrive backpacks by April 30, 2012, you will receive a padded Pro Speed Belt™ for free!

The Pro Speed Belt makes the StreetWalker backpacks even more comfortable and provides greater support for the weight on your back. This padded belt also allows you to attach Think Tank’s modular bags to the belt line. In doing so, you will have quick access to your lenses or accessories instead of having to take the backpack off to retrieve your camera gear.

With Think Tank’s StreetWalker backpacks’ slim vertical profile, you can navigate crowded places while still being able to access professional photographic equipment. The backpacks include a monopod/tripod mounting system, a contoured harness and air channel, and lots of pockets and organizers. Women in particular will appreciate the StreetWalker’s very narrow and vertical profile, especially when combined with the shoulder harness design.

StreetWalker Pro
Holds most 400 f2.8 lenses with a pro size DSLR camera body attached or a pro size DSLR and 70-200 2.8 attached. Lens hood can also remain attached in shooting position. Bottom front pocket can be used to carry a tripod or monopod. A pop out tripod cup is built in for carrying a larger tripod. Removable seam-sealed rain cover included.

 

 

StreetWalker Harddrive
Holds most 15” laptops. Carry a pro size DSLR and 70-200 2.8 attached with hood in position or a Nikon 400 f2.8 attached to a pro size DSLR body. Bottom front pocket can be used to carry a tripod or monopod. A pop out tripod cup is built in for carrying a larger tripod. Removable seam-sealed rain cover included.

TTG Stage CE2

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The Turning Gate just released Stage CE2. I’ve been playing around a bit with a pre-release version for the last week or so and I can see I’ll have plenty of uses for it. Up until now, I was creating my single pages using the Autoindex CE2 plug in and just not using the indexing feature. However, Stage is really meant for this kind of all around usage. But it’s a whole lot more than that. If you have flash galleries or video that you post to your site, Stage CE2 can “host” those and apply the same styling to the page that’s throughout the rest of your TTG created site. The really cool thing is that it can stage those flash galleries so that now they’ll be viewable on iOS mobile devices such as iPads and iPhones.

You can read the release announcement here.

Since I’m not using flash galleries or creating videos (yet), my main interest of use for this plug-in is for stand alone pages. But the feature that I’m really liking is the before/after comparison view. If you do portrait or wedding work, or you’re a professional photo retoucher, this feature of Stage can really help you show off your abilities.

Since I do a lot of teaching, I’m using this feature for before/after tutorials on image processing. I’ve already posted three examples of this and you can see them here. I can see expanding the text area with step by step instructions, including screen shots.

One of these days I’ll start taking videos at workshops and Stage CE2 will be the way I post them on line.

Iceland tour nearly full

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EDIT: March 13

I now have only one space left in my August Iceland Photo tour.  I’m really confident this trip will fill so if Iceland has been on your wishlist and you’ve been thinking about this trip….I’m just sayin’