Creepy Crawlies

All these thinking about useful content is slowly killing me. 
So I decided to put on my creative hat, and just go out with the camera for the fun of it.


This rainy season, we apparently host a spider on our drying lines.
The spider, being pretty small, is able to hide itself in this stray strand of thread on the line, and build its web whenever nobody is looking.
Unfortunately, its size might have worked against it, as the rain almost inevitably bring down the web.
Well... that and also the occasional sunshine as we use the drying lines for its proper use.

I have been trying to capture our 'guest' for a while. Here's what we have so far:

Following some advice that I got of Digital Photography School, I sprayed some water on the web to make it more visible. The spider did not seem to like it much as it quickly pulled itself into a tight ball.
By the way, the stray white stuff in the background is that stray thread that is often used as the spider's hiding place when its web is down.

Soon after my spray bottle was commandeered by my 'assistant'.

I never expected myself to be fascinated by spiders, or any other creepy crawlies in general. However this particular spider fascinated me with every single effort to build up its web every time it was hit by rain.

Of course, the start of my fascination might also have come from the long ago photography assignment from DPS, the first one that I actually entered. Somehow, being told to photograph some creepy crawlies had changed my mindset from simply dismissing them to appreciating their beauty.

And just incidentally, we found more beautiful spiders not unlike the one I photography back then.

Unlike our puny 'guest', this one is huge! and its web had been withstanding an impressive amount of battering in the form of rains, winds and storms for the past weeks.
(Uhmm.. yeah, I have been checking out on it whenever we go out for our walkies).
The other interesting thing is also that on that tree where it makes its web, there are also two similar spiders building their webs. Huh! Imagine that.

It so happen that when I got my camera, the sun was shining through, illuminating the web so I did not have to spray any water. I don't think I don't dare to disturb this big a spider.
Just look at those legs!

That picture above, I have to admit, is my favorite so far. It's still far from perfect, but I simply love how the web lines simply draw your eyes along until you found the spider waiting for you at the end, ready to pounce.
It just speaks to me of the dangers lurking under the beauty found in nature.

Although these pictures are still far from perfect, I am pretty glad with the quality in general as they stand as testament to how much I have improved in my photography. With the serious upgrade of hardware, at least I am showing some progress since the last time I tried my hand on insect photography.
Oh, and no getting bitten, either! Hahaha!

So, have you done anything just for the fun of it lately?
Bonus points if the activity reveals some kind of personal progress.