Spiders are equally fascinating and repulsive, at least for the majority of people. Repulsive probably because we see them as invaders in our homes, we do not study them, we do not approach them in the wild with the curiosity needed to grasp their role in our environment and the food chain and life cycle of the world we live in. They are fascinating because of their variety, their complex design and their habits.

Pictures like these, attempting to show detail of these often misunderstood creatures might provoke fear or disgust in some, but they show us how advanced nature is and what great things it holds in store for us to discover. Spiders, photographed up close, are a magnificant thing to look at. (They are also in real life, I think, but thats another story).

Still, pictures like these also require an considerable amount of technical finesse or the photographer and a lot of experience. Sharpness is very important when it comes to macro shots like these, also focus and image composition. And thats where there is a lot of room for improvement.

First of all, the picture lacks sharpness, While you can clearly determine a point of focus, there is no real sharp part of the spider or the rest of the image. This does disturb the display of this beautiful subject.

Also, I am not really fond of the arrangement of the frame. The spiders legs at the top are cut off. A similar border like at the bottom would have worked miracles here. I do like the background though, it has a nice, subtle coloring and fits the whole scene very well. The angle is good and the overall composition is favorable, apart from the few flaws I pointed out. A slighty larger depth of field and a steadier hand would work very well with this picture.

Still, a very good choice of subject and a step in the right direction regarding execution.