I’ve already posted a few pictures from my recent backpacking trip to Crystal Cove State Park (flowers, self-portrait, rattlesnake mating). But as I was photographing dew-covered flowers on the foggy morning, I couldn’t help but notice the spiders in their spiderwebs.
![Orb weaver spider This orb weaving spider is standing so that it appears to have only four legs. Its cephalothorax is also covered in fine white hairs. Seen on a beautifully foggy morning in Crystal Cove State Park, there are a few drops of dew on the spider itself and its web is covered in drops. My best guess is that this is in genus _Argiope_. I have a shot of this with better depth of field (all of the web's water droplets are in focus), if you would prefer that (but the background becomes distracting). (Marc C. Perkins)](http://www.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000AhjBKz3NOJQ/s/600/400/20110815-Crystal-Cove-Lower-Moro-camping-hiking-IMG-2550.jpg)
I had to get up closer, of course:
![I'm not a spider. Really. This orb weaving spider is standing so that it appears to have only four legs. Is it trying to pretend to be a vertebrate? Its cephalothorax is also covered in fine white hairs. Seen on a beautifully foggy morning in Crystal Cove State Park, there are a few drops of dew on the spider itself. My best guess is that this is in genus _Argiope_. (Marc C. Perkins)](http://www.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000rC0j9Q.jHeo/s/600/400/20110815-Crystal-Cove-Lower-Moro-camping-hiking-IMG-2480.jpg)
And, you know me, I’m not satisfied unless the subject is spilling out of the frame, but I’ll spare you from a third picture of the same spider in the same post.
Since I know spiders are everyone’s favorite critter, here’s another one I saw that morning:
![Down into the web A brown and tan orb weaver spider stands on its dew covered web in front of an orange background. (Marc C. Perkins)](http://www.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000GWIxAOeLORE/s/600/410/20110815-Crystal-Cove-Lower-Moro-camping-hiking-IMG-2260.jpg)
But I saw more than just spiders that morning. After the fog burned off, the day warmed up and a ton of insects came out to go about their business. Chief among them were dozens of bees buzzing around this plant:
![Food everywhere! A honeybee (_Apis mellifera_) forager samples the wares at an all-you-can-eat buffet of white and purple/yellow spike-inflorescence flowers in Crystal Cove State Park. (Marc C. Perkins)](http://www.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000OGpJfKAn34Y/s/600/400/20110815-Crystal-Cove-Lower-Moro-camping-hiking-IMG-2654.jpg)
While most of the spider and flower shots I’ve already posted used my new macro lens on a tripod, the rest of theses shots tested out how the lens performed hand-held with fast-moving subjects. It worked very well, auto-focusing quickly and allowing me to get decent depth of field with shutter speeds fast enough to freeze motion:
![Honeybee forager A honeybee (_Apis mellifera_) forager sticks her antennae and forelegs into a small purple and white flower at Crystal Cove State Park. The bee's pollen basket (corbicula) on her hind legs are stuffed full with tan pollen. (Marc C. Perkins)](http://www.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000lleB7mKSce4/s/600/400/20110815-Crystal-Cove-Lower-Moro-camping-hiking-IMG-2747.jpg)
Of course there were more than just bees and spiders out. My hiking partners spotted this cabbage butterfly flitting around on the trail, and the macro exceeded my expectations by allowing me to capture this image in the few seconds I had before the butterfly flitted away 1:
![Lunch A white butterfly stops for a meal on a purple and white flower at Crystal Cove State Park. I love the butterfly's black and grey eyes, and the speckled pattern on its wings. I believe this is a cabbage butterfly (aka small white; _Pieris rapae_) in family Pieridae. (Marc C. Perkins)](http://www.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000pIpb16RNWvk/s/600/400/20110815-Crystal-Cove-Lower-Moro-camping-hiking-IMG-2771.jpg)
The next butterfly looked perfectly normal, until I looked closely at the image while trying to identify the insect and realized that it appeared to have only four legs:
![Rest break A brown and white butterfly takes a break on a leaf at Crystal Cove State Park. The butterfly has brown and black speckled eyes, and is missing an antenna (it appears to have only the left one). This is probably in family Nymphalidae, as the butterfly appears to be lacking its two front legs (they're greatly reduced in that family); my best guess is that it's a Lorquin's Admiral (_Limenitis lorquini_). (Marc C. Perkins)](http://www.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000e_DF_dIHn8c/s/600/426/20110815-Crystal-Cove-Lower-Moro-camping-hiking-IMG-2758.jpg)
A few insects popped up while I was working on other subjects. While I was photographing the bees, this hemipteran briefly wandered out to stand on a nearby leaf:
![Black orange and white hemipteran A black, orange, and white hemipteran (true bug) stands on the end of a green leaf looking away from the camera into the distance. (Marc C. Perkins)](http://www.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000ZIqANTpCFlo/s/600/360/20110815-Crystal-Cove-Lower-Moro-camping-hiking-IMG-2679.jpg)
While I was working on some of my flower closeups, this little insect wandered out onto a nearby prickly pear cactus pad. Thank goodness for quick-release tripod mounts!
![Hi there! A cute little insect walking on the surface of a prickly pear pad (_Opuntia_) in Crystal Cove State Park. (Marc C. Perkins)](http://www.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000OE5Z46tPTUo/s/600/381/20110815-Crystal-Cove-Lower-Moro-camping-hiking-IMG-2286.jpg)
I’ve now done a decent amount of work with my new macro lens (Canon’s EFS-60mm), and I’m very impressed. Almost all of the pictures in this post and my flower post were taken with the lens 2. It focuses fast enough and is light enough to be easy to use hand-held with insects who’ll let you get close in good light, and is just a pleasure to use when mounted on a tripod for plant and lichen work in any light. It’s incredibly sharp in the middle of its aperture range, and being able to open it up to f2.8 is great for low-light shooting and beautiful creamy bokeh.
1 And the image is uncropped.
2 The only picture in these two posts not taken with the lens is the non-closeup of the bee on the flowering plant. If you’re evaluating depth of field, keep in mind that for still subjects I will sometimes exposure blend to get additional depth of field.
More pictures
To see more pictures from the trip, head to my Crystal Cove State Park Wilderness Gallery.
Getting There
Crystal Cove State Park: Located along Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) between Corona Del Mar and Laguna Beach in Orange County, California. I camped at the Lower Moro Campsite, which is about a 2 mile hike in from the parking lot. Parking is plentiful at a new parking lot and picnic area past the Moro Campground (for RV’s), but you must pay either a day use fee for the state park or an overnight fee. The park is currently open from 6am – sunset; their website has lots of good information on it.
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