Photographing spider webs on a cold morning is one of winter's big camera opportunities

(Image credit: Matty Graham)

Autumn has turned into winter, bringing with it colder temperatures, later sunrises, earlier sunsets and an increase in activity in our gardens.

Step out of the backdoor into your garden and you’ll likely be greeted by a fantastic display. Tiny spiders weaving their intricate, beautiful webs adorn your shrubs and trees and, if you don’t have a garden, a short walk to a local park or nature reserve will present you with plenty of chances to capture a webbed wonder with your camera.

Watch video: Spin a wicked web this winter

Now, simply pointing and shooting at a web may return results you won’t be pleased with. Instead, a little consideration into lens choice and other factors will elevate your images into something worth sharing. By their nature, Spider webs are small and easy to miss, particularly if your framing is somewhat on the loose side.

This is where a macro lens can come in handy – most offer a 1:1 magnification ratio so your subject is captured in ‘real life’ size, enabling you to get in much closer than you thought possible. Macro lenses can be expensive, but one solution (even if you are using an RF mirrorless camera) is to pick up used lenses like the EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro. Mirrorless shooters can make use of these EF lenses when paired with an appropriate adaptor, and this older glass represents good value for money. However, if you don’t have a macro lens, even the long end of your kit lens will suffice as these can typically focus to around 25cm from a subject.

Adding the final layers of craft and polish to the photo may require some DIY ‘special effects’, and for this, you will need nothing more than a water sprayer bottle, which will help replicate the look of morning dew.

1. Use a tripod

A man setting up a camera on a tripod to shoot spider webs in a garden — A tripod allows you to take your time when composing and also helps eliminate camera shake (Image credit: Matty Graham)

You’ll be making fine adjustments to the focus and composition as we’ll be fairly close to our subject. Make your life easier by attaching the camera to a tripod so you can keep everything steady and take your time to achieve the perfect composition.

2. Dial in your settings

A close-up of the mode dial on a Canon EOS R6 showing the mode is set to Av — Aperture priority is a semi-automatic mode that allows you to adjust the aperture and ISO, while the camera works out the required shutter speed for a well-exposed picture (Image credit: Matty Graham)

Select Av (Aperture Priority) from the mode dial. In this mode, you select the aperture and the camera works out the shutter speed for you to deliver a correctly exposed frame. Select f/4, which will blur the background without softening your subject too much.

3. Take control of focus

A close-up of a macro lens showing the focus switch is set to manual — For ultra-precise control over the sharpness in your scene use manual focus (Image credit: Matty Graham)

While Canon cameras offer exceptionally accurate AF systems, there’s no substitute for Manual focus when it comes to precision for macro photography. Switch between AF and MF modes using the switch on the side of the lens.

4. Get a little help to focus

The menu on the back of a Canon EOS R6 showing the Focus Peaking options — Focus Peaking puts a brightly colored outline around sharp areas in your scene so it's easier to see where you've focused when shooting in MF mode (Image credit: Matty Graham)

Some Canons feature Focus Peaking. This feature will highlight where the focus is in the frame with a colourful overlay on areas of contrast. This will help you really take your time to make sure the thin lines of the web are properly in focus so they are pin-sharp in your photographs.

5. Unleash the spray

A man in a garden set up next to a camera on a tripod holding a water spray bottle and spraying water on to a spider web — If you don't see any dew you can fake your own with a water spray bottle (Image credit: Matty Graham)

Wait until the last moment before giving your web a spray with a mister bottle. Take your image quickly before the droplets disappear and fall from the web. You can also activate the 10 Sec Self-timer mode to free up your hands so that you can spray your mist while the camera fires.

6. Add some punch in post

A screengrab of Photoshop CC showing a spiderweb image with the sharpness and contrast being boosted — A few easy tweaks can be made in Photoshop to make your spider web shots really stand out (Image credit: Matty Graham)

The fun doesn’t have to stop when the shutter is clicked. If you have image-editing software such as Photoshop CC you can take your images further. Here, I boosted the sharpness and contrast to help the web pop from the background, and I balanced the exposure, too.

If you're serious about scenery, take a look at the best cameras for landscape photography along with the best lenses for landscapes.

Matty has worked for a number of photographic magazines including Professional Photo, Digital Photo and Digital SLR magazine. He is an accomplished car and lanadscape photographer, who runs his own video production and content creation business in Lincolnshire.