66 Nebraskaland • November 2022
THE LAST STOP
Sometimes, a photographic opportunity
just presents itself, and all I have to do is take
advantage of it.
I take a lot of crab spider photos. A good portion
of my life is spent looking at flowers, both for
work and on my own time. Crab spiders like to
sit in ambush on flowers, waiting for insects like
bees, flies or other flower visitors to come by. As
a result, I spot a lot of them, and it's hard to resist
photographing a little spider with its long front legs
extended wide, ready to snap shut on unwary prey.
Sometimes, I'm lucky enough to spot a crab
spider that has just captured a fly, bee or some
other food item. I have to photograph that scene
quickly because spiders usually like to slip beneath
a leaf or flower petal to hide while they eat. That's
a smart tactic for the spiders but not great for
photographers.
On this particular day, however, that hiding
behavior worked out for both the spider and me.
I'd spotted a crab spider and its captured fly on
the lip of a shell-leaf penstemon flower. By the
time I got my camera out, the spider had taken its
prey into cover. While that ruined my initial plan,
when I peeked inside the flower to see where my
subject had gone, I perked right up. The spider had
framed itself perfectly for the shot I hadn't known
I wanted.
I took it, and the photo has become one of my
favorites.
By Chris Helzer
THE PHOTO I DIDN'T KNOW I WANTED
