When I set out on my venture I had every intention of capturing a fantastic sunset behind a huge oil derrick. Sometimes though we have to work with the hand we're dealt.

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Copyright Wade Enloe 1999

While watching the sun slowly sink towards my target, I searched for the perfect position to set up my tripod. This spider provided me with a nice shot of her in the middle of her web. Unfortunately, all the spiders were in the same position. It took a little creative coaxing but I finally managed to convince the spider to pose for me. The sun was in a perfect position to illuminate the spider as well as the wisp of web in the background. Notice that the back leg is slightly more out of focus than the front leg. This is a prime demonstration of how narrow the focal depth is at the f1.7 setting. However, notice how the background is completely obscured leaving only the main subject filling the frame.

Copyright Wade Enloe 1999

As I paced down the gravel road, a mother cow and her calf paused long enough to pose for this shot. The entire herd actually gathered to see if I was the new feed courier.

Copyright Wade Enloe 1999

As I continued to survey my upcoming sunset shot, a loud crack came from behind me. I turned to capture this approaching storm, which produced this rainbow due to the location of the setting sun. So, if you're ever riding down the road and you find yourself between a shower and a setting sun, get that camera out of the trunk.

Copyright Wade Enloe 1999

As it turns out, a storm moved in blocking out the sun and thwarting my opportunity to capture the picture on the original agenda. I decided to use the last 3 exposures on the roll to experiment, as you should too. Setting the camera f-stop and speed according to the sun and not the subject causes this silhouette. Care must be taken though since this setting often produces unusable underexposed photos. To avoid this set your camera to 1 or 2 speeds slower than the bright source requires.

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