Behind the Photo #1

So how about a little back story behind some of my favorite photos I've taken over the years?  I think that sounds like fun, so bear with me while I get started.

Don't be alarmed, I'm sure this spider is dead by now, but at the time I almost shat my pants.

It was St. Augustine, FL, autumn of 2011.  While on tour with 3 Doors Down, we were at the St. Augustine Amphitheater, and it was a nice sunny day so we decided to take a little nature hike through some of the nearby trails.

I came around a corner and the sun glared right into my eyes, blinding me momentarily.  I stopped to regain my sight, an when my eyes adjusted, I found that I was face to face with this incredibly huge spider.  To give you some perspective at the scale, it was the size of my hand, fingers outstretched, and it was 5" from my nose.  Now I'm not super squemish about bugs, but being that close to a monster that could obviously devour me whole was not one of my favorite places.

After my initial fright, I took 3 very large steps backwards and was immediately enthrawled with the way the sun shone through and illuminated the legs of the spider, almost as if it was glowing.  I just happened to have my camera with me, so I snapped a few shots for your enjoyment.

Canon 7D

Canon 50mm f1.8 II