Figure1 – Gossamer dancer, Salem Halloween Parade 2019. (c) DE Wolf 2019.

One of the most beautiful sights at last week’s Salem Halloween Parade was a group of dancers in gossamer dresses, who twirled dramatically and magically in the darkness, their dresses capturing and reflecting the streetlights. The image was relatively tough to get, even with the iPhone XS’ wonderful night photography capabilities. The swirls of light captured the sense of motion beautifully. But what bothered me most was the pixelation of the dancers’ faces. I tried various “tricks” to eliminate this. But in the end, I hit upon stylizing in PRISMA, which perfectly accomplished what I was trying to achieve and I am quite happy with the final result shown in Figure 1.

Ultimately the word “gossamer” refers to delicate sheets of spider silk, released by spiderlings in an often suicidal leap into the air currents, called “kiting,” that can carry them thousands of miles away even out to sea. It is appropriate to this October time of year and to our association of spiders with Halloween. It is in autumn, when days become noticeably shorter and the fall frosts begin to occur that this phenomenon happens.