Gloria Grandolini
October 2026 - Soft Embrace
About the Image(s)
SOFT EMBRACE
This is a white crab spider on a western pasqueflower. This flower
Is native to the subalpine and alpine meadows of western North America,
Including Glaciers National Park, where I shot this image.
I know it is not perfect and the crab is very soft.. but I felt it showed
the essence of macro photography - seeing the unseen.
I had no clue that the spider was on the flower until after I took the photo.
I used the NiSi macro close-up lens with my 70-200 lens.
It is very hard to focus! Let me know if you have suggestions on how
to improve this image.
Canon R5
200 m with NiSi close-up lens (RF 70-200 F2.8 L IS USM)
1/250 at f/9.0 ISO400 handheld
In Lightroom I cropped and adjusted exposure, used Lightroom’s denoise feature.
7 comments posted
I don't know if the spider was moving. If not a second shot to focus stacked would have been nice. I focus my Nisi closeup lens by moving my body back and forth when I have gotten pretty close to the focus using the ring in the lens. My other suggestion would be to focus on the spider instead of the flower if not able to focus stack. I consider the spider the subject here. If the flower was the subject I would leave the spider out. Posted: 10/04/2026 17:40:25
Thank you Margaret. I was with a group pf friends hiking so I did not have enough time to take a better photo!Thanks for the NiSi tip. Posted: 10/15/2026 20:26:46
My thoughts are that Margaret stated it so well...I think focusing on the spider would have told the story best. My own personal preference is always for clarity up front, blur behind. Because the spider is a prominent part of the image, its blur doesn't work for me. And its size makes me feel as though the spider was the story, not unseen because it is as large as the flower it is clinging to (almost looks like it is hugging it!!). Those NISI macros have such a TEENY TINY range...I think handheld is close to impossible. You can also put your camera on burst mode if you don't want to focus stack, and rock back and forth like the technique outlined by Margaret above. I know that when hiking with friends, it is nearly impossible to engage in photography :-( Posted: 10/18/2026 16:54:45
Thank you Carol for your extensive comments. Very very useful. Posted: 10/21/2026 21:48:09
I have the Nisi lens as well and use a focusing rail with tripod when using it. When that is not available, I do the burst mode technique that Carol mentioned. I can shoot 20 frames per second in raw on my Nikon Z8 so I just hold the shutter down and rock back and forth. Then I will either try and focus stack or find a sharp single image.
If I'm going out with the intent to hand hold focus stack I will use a flash with an AK diffuser mounted over the flash. (https://akdiffuser.com/). Then I focus on the front and lean in while burst shooting. You do need to adjust the flash power so it can recharge fast enough for the shutter speed and burst rate. Posted: 10/19/2026 01:12:54
If I'm going out with the intent to hand hold focus stack I will use a flash with an AK diffuser mounted over the flash. (https://akdiffuser.com/). Then I focus on the front and lean in while burst shooting. You do need to adjust the flash power so it can recharge fast enough for the shutter speed and burst rate. Posted: 10/19/2026 01:12:54
Thank you Jeff very useful Posted: 10/21/2026 21:50:58
The tuft is nicely sharp, but I feel that the rest is too blurred to form a complete image. also I would suggest removing the light blurs at the top right! Posted: 10/25/2026 07:47:01