Lynx spider

Lynx spider

Not my planned blip and even after finishing the safari, this image was not at the front of my mind. But, once it crawled onto my screen, it scared off the meager opposition, plus it has been a long time since I posted a lynx spider. The white thing that she is guarding is an egg sac, ensuring that this area will be infested with a couple of hundred lynx spiders next year.

I have got into the habit of using the monopod every day now. At first I thought it was very inconvenient, but now that I have forced myself to use it, I have found a routine that works. The trick is to clamp the ball joint before trying to extend the leg, this allows the extension to be a one hand operation.

It steadies the camera enough without having to clamp the joint, this gives you more mobility while framing and still prevents up/down movement. If I am doing close macro shots, I clamp the joint for a bit more stability. Now that I have used it for a couple of weeks, I actually feel naked without it!

Sure, it is not as good as a tripod, but I love the mobility and it has increased my success rate a fair bit. Doing a lot of close-up work out in the field, often a tripod won't work due to space. Also I was losing a lot of shots through the disturbance of setting up. The monopod that I have is a very cheap, trial thing, but if I had the money, I would go for something a bit slicker, a quick release would be handy. Definitely worth a trial in my book.

Dave