Submitter's name:	Daniel Sepke
Title:	Spider
Gear used:	Tripod mounted E-1 with Zuiko 85mm f2
Diaphragm:	F2.8
Shutter speed:	1/125
Film used:	ISO 400 RAW
Technical information:	Shot in later afternoon is shade from a tripod with vibration reduction on and in RAW. RAW developed in Olympus Viewer and adjusted in Photoshop Elements 2. RAW adjustment included a slight exposure adjustment (+0.4 EV), slight boosts of saturation and sharpening. Final resharpen in Photoshop post of resizing to 800x600. This is my first work with the 85mm on the E1 and it seems to work quite well. Because of the angle I was working at the bottom left corner is not within the limited DOF I needed to keep the background blurred. If I was to do it again I would try to get the spider to be on the other side of the web which would have allowed me to keep the camera closer to parallel with the web. There is a small amount of noise in the background caused by the higher ISO setting but I do not find it distracting and to my eyes it is film grain like.
Subject information:	This beastie lives in the back garden of one of my neighbors and was initially a little shy of the camera but soon returned to the center of the web while I was setting up. He is about 3 1/2" long and if anyone knows the species please feel free to post below what he is. The white stripes above and below him are extra webbing which I guess must be a lure of some kind. There are currently three of these with large semi-permanent webs in this garden and are they reportedly found there every year. This picture is of the largest of the three and the web he is in the center of is around two feet in diameter.
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Comment left by: Olaf Greve (no e-mail specified)

Lovely shot, and that must be a BIG spider!

Comment left by: Ollli (no e-mail specified)

As a macrophotographer I can give credit to this photo. The colours on the spider are vibrant. Still I would have liked to see a little different composition. I mean that the spider could be located in a corner or the thick white thing could be more diagonal.

Comment left by: José (no e-mail specified)

I like this splendid Spider. I think is very 'instructive' beast:)(I hear the army does research with the 'silk' of the web).TFS and in harmmony for my seeing

Comment left by: Martin Edwardes (martin.edwardes@btopenworld.com)

Excellent picture. Photographing spiders is something I'm interested in, too. I think this is a black-and-yellow argiope (Argiope aurantia). Audubon's says it's common throughout North America apart from the Rockies and the Northern Territories.

Comment left by: Andrew McPhee (macca@maccastuff.com)

Nice bokeh, good colors and sharpness. As much as I dislike spiders I really like this one.

Comment left by: Chris Barker (no e-mail specified)

Excellent "catch".

Comment left by: Charles Sdunek (csdunek@comcast.net)

This is a great photo of a Black and Yellow Garden Spider, or Argiope aurantia. Very Nice!

Comment left by: Piers Hemy (no e-mail specified)

What a perfect contrast between pin-sharp image of the subject, and well aligned out-of-focus background. Pretty damn good!

Comment left by: Ken N (no e-mail specified)

That's close enough, thank you. (shudder)

Comment left by: Scott Gomez (no e-mail specified)

This is the sort of shot that can easily be the "type photo" for a critter guidebook. Very nicely done!

Comment left by: Duncan Paterson (no e-mail specified)

The focus is bang on and the bokeh is lovely. Great shot!

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