Shamrock Spider

Fall is the time for big spiders, especially the big-assed Shamrock spiders that hang around my house in Vancouver, BC. This one was in her web in a tree in front of my house on a windless day - important because if the web flutters even a tiny bit, it is impossible to focus on its owner.

She was about the size of the end of my little finger and very pretty, if you like spiders.

I used a Pentax K20D with a Tamron 90mm macro lens and a Pentax AF160FC ring flash. Using the flash allowed me to stop the lens down to f32, enabling maximum depth of field. The tiny aperture and 1/180 second exposure makes everything but the spider appear dark, even though it was a bright afternoon.