webwatcher

Unido: 08.ene.2022 Última actividad: 28.mar.2024 iNaturalist

I’ve been a spider enthusiast for most of my life, and a casual photographer of them. Familiar with birders? I’m a spiderer. (There’s got to be a better label than that for a spider-enthusiast. How to start one?) I have no scientific training; I’m just someone keen on reading layman’s books on spiders, watching documentaries about them, and generally absorbing any knowledge I can about spiders from any source, even the occasional scientific paper if I’m looking for some specialized bit of information.

I was surprised that there were others who shared my interests. I’ve been quietly studying spiders for decades completely unaware of how many others, besides scientists and birders, are out there looking for their own wildlife that they are passionate about. iNaturalist has been quite an eye-opener, and its great to have an outlet for a somewhat esoteric hobby. I like that my data, which would otherwise languish in my files referenced only by me, might have some scientific or ecological use.

Recently I’ve become more focused on seeking out new and different (to me) species. Along with this increased focus, I’ve been concentrating on the photography. I’m strictly an amateur but I became frustrated with my results and lately I’ve been upping my game with more knowledge of macro photography and (moderately) better camera equipment (actually my iPhone with a bunch of accessories). The better results have inspired even more interest in getting out into the field.

I concentrate on spiders and lately I’ve been actively hunting for them to photograph, so most of my wildlife photos are of spiders. Pictures of other types of wildlife tend to be opportunistic–I happen upon them in the course of other activities. I imagine myself branching out to photograph other kinds of animals at some point; in order of interest: other arachnids, then other arthropods, then all other animals. But for now I’ve got a laser focus on spiders. After a lifetime of studying and photographing them, I feel like I’m really just starting to know them.

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