Spiny Orb Weaver Spider (Gasteracantha canciformis)

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image at Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County, Florida, yesterday. I am posting it only to show a critter that viewers might not have seen before. Conditions for photography were difficult, deep shade, low shutter speed, camera on a monopod, spider moving around the web, etc.. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 400mm
1/500 F/7.1 Matrix Metering +1/13 EV ISO 18000 AWB, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC 2017
Cropped for composition and presentation

[Jonathan Ashton]

Joe, I certainly haven't seen anything like it before so it is a very interesting shot for me. Interesting composition and I cannot understand the spiky body - very unusual!! The background of ground glass lends itself very well to the image - yup it works for me!

[John Mack]

Pretty cool looking spider. Small in the frame works well here. Im sure the spider wasn't very big.