Hi Denise. I like these little guys too, but don't have any decent images of them. This is a Spiny-backed Orb Weaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis). I like your comp here, but would wish for a bit more light on the front of the spider to bring out the bright red of those spikes.
Hi Lady Denise,
I like your composition, image and capture...not bad for your first spider...:D
see if this rendition sits well with you...I boosted the saturation and contrast just a tad...and ran noise reduction in the background...:cool:
Nice spider Denise! I think you did very well with the 100-400 (man, do I want that lens!) but would have loved to have also seen a macro version - I bet those red spikes are really something up close and personal!
Hey Denise, very cool critter I would have never guess it to be a spider. Good job on the details and I think the backgroud has some real nice colors. I think Gus's contrast makes the web pop a little more, but don't care for what it did to the BG, I liked the original BG better as its softer.
Very interesting spider, Denise. So much so that I agree that I would have liked to see it up close and personal with a macro image. But I understand that you have to work with what you have with you at the moment.
Have you considered (or do you have) a Canon 500D close-up lens (actually more like a filter). I have one that I take with me when I am shooting with my 70-200 2.8 or 400 5.6 (both 77mm). The 500D does a good job on close-ups in a pinch.
On another note, we were down the North Shore last weekend. Nothing terrible exciting, Closest we saw was a Merlin perched on a rooftop just behind the lighthouse.