this is filled with epic and win

I bow deep with pride... and no modesty at all. I'm wrapped around here, too many words equals nothing to say.

Oh jeez, that IS a good shot, makes me nostalgic.

Hadn't thought, but now I will listen for how this makes people feel. Nostalgic is good!

you know you are right. it is kinda making me feel like it is a lost memory or something. it reminds me of times and feelings of times past without actually picking anything specific

Oh the amber colors are beautiful, the angle is cool too really like how its not centered. Such a dark shot to come out so great is truly a good thing you have done. I like how the webbing helps to guide the eye though the picture so you don't focus just on the light source.

Centering your shot on the main subject is usually a mistake, draws too much attention to it and is generally uninteresting, needs background/foreground context and all. Learning how people read a picture and learning how to guide your viewer through a scene is essential. I thought of absolutely none of this while I'm shooting of course. A great thing about digital photography though... nobody gets to see your failures! *lol* Thanks for your time and analysis, and glad you liked the shot.

Dude...

I don't "speak" visual well enough to even begin to comment on this, but I can see it's special. The amber light makes it feel as hot as today's been; a good day to hide in a cave. Wow, Acat, just... wow.

Me neither, mostly!  cheetahka has good words though, but there's so many! I was thinking here about how disorderly and yet sharply defined the web was and how it would transition to the soft light background. Really though, I'm not really thinking too much while I'm shooting, just doing that thang.

Probably the best way. Especially since it's working for you.

Often your time to think is limited anyways, from minutes to seconds. I do love those situations where you can take your time though. However if you over-analyze it you'll be there forever and probably get crap anyways.

Taking a picture and having the vision to see what is there are two very different things. Being remembered by having the ability to open another's eyes and maybe changing someone's life because of that...what better way! }:=)

I was thinking about how to reply to this last night, had some thoughts, let it ride. Then I was thinking about it again at 5:00 am as I was setting up the tripod, already out, wiping blood-filled skeeters from my neck. I've always said that the most important thing, the only thing of power really, is the ability to change people's minds. I've always meant that in the context of political or social discussions, but it's wider than that, isn't it. Let's expand it then... the only thing of real power and worth is the ability to affect other people's minds. I love bringing people sights that they can't see because they're stuck in the city, or because they can't spend hours in a blind waiting for that one second when an eagle lands, or they can't be out at 5:00 am swatting skeeters and waiting for the sunrise. If by doing so I'm "changing their minds" by bringing some beauty or a sense of peace to them when they need it, well then I am truly honored and very happy in that.

Another thing... most people when they do get out to a place like where this was taken would be all consumed in the pursuit of the pleasures of swimming, eating, each others' company, etc etc. Very few would, on their way back from the beach, spend half an hour entranced at the light playing off a half-ruined spider-web. Stop and smell the roses means when something flashes and catches the corner of your eye you STOP, and spend that time to see what's there.

Cat,
Sorry for the long delay. I have been having friends as guests on the ship I work on and time on the net was a bit limited. We both do what we do for the same reason. I work as Ship's Naturalist not to fill the guests heads with trival fact, figures, dates and numbers. My one and only purpose is the make the guests understand what they are seeing so the can better appreciate what they are seeing and hopefully understand how fragile this world really is and for them to try to make some changes to better themselves and the world around them.

We both try to change minds and as the saying goes..try to leave this world a better place.

*hugs*
Take care, Cat! }:=)