Suspended Animation

THE SUBJECT:
Here in all her glory, a very fine female specimen of Nephila plumipes (Coastal Orb Spider) strikes a sexy spidery pose and shows of her attractive orange knees against a background of cloud reflected in a lake.

THE LOCATION:
Photographed among the line of Allocasuarina verticillata (Drooping She-oak Trees) at the water’s edge at Lake Cathie, NSW, Australia late on a winter afternoon.

THE MAKING OF ‘Suspended Animation’:
While looking for locations between the trees to get some shots of the resident Egrets I almost literally stumbled into this lady’s web.
After some mumbled apologies to her for disturbing her afternoon siesta I decided a portrait was in order.
She agreed to an informal sitting so I prepared Milady Fuji for a close-up session with diffused flash.
The diffuser was a pocket handkerchief wrapped over the flash unit.
This spider was at the same place for all my visits to the lake but sadly she was gone the last time I was there.
Fuji S9600: RAW, Macro mode, Manual settings of f/5.6 @ 1/320sec, Manual focus, Pop-up flash at lowest power, ISO80, Hand held.
Lightroom 2.2 & Photoshop CS3.

Visit the Insects & Spiders collection in my BubbleSite Gallery for more eight legged lovelies.

UPDATE: 30-8-09
This long legged sexy spider was awarded POTD on Shutterbugs in the Macro/Abstract section.

Enjoy!

SPIDERS
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Nephila plumipes – Suspended Animation