We thought that there is only one species of Wood Spider, until we came across the Black Wood Spider at the camp in BR Hills. What caught our eye was the really huge spider web, which was over 2-3 meters in diameter and one of the largest that we had seen. It was spun between two tree trunks and the Black Wood Spider, which was sitting right in the middle of it, presented itself as a willing subject for us to photograph.
After taking some pictures with the D700/70-200mm lens, we realized that the Black Wood Spider web was a little beyond the reach of this lens. However, it was at the ideal distance of the D300/300mm lens (with 2x TC) to get full frame images. I immediately mounted the D300/300mm lens combination onto the tripod and positioned myself at an angle, ensuring that the tents in the background of the web were adequately far away for us to experiment with the f-stop.
We saw that the Black Wood Spider was busy repairing its web. There was also a breeze blowing, which was gently swaying the web, thereby giving us different perspectives to photograph this diligent subject.
