As I was going through some photos this morning I realized that I have a lot of photos of the Yellow Garden Orbweaver spider (Argiope aurantia). I have posted quite a few photos, but most have shown the spider with a prey. I came across an image of the spider by herself and started playing with it in Photoshop Elements. This first image is the result of my experimentation—it is cropped and rotated and focuses on only part of the subject. I think it is a little more dramatic thank the original image. (You can get a higher resolution view of all of the images if you click on them.)
Creeping spider
You can see below the original image after a minor crop. I remember when I took the shot that I had to twist my body around to get the desired angle of view of the spider in the center of her web, waiting patiently for prey. This morning I initially liked the image a lot and was going to post it, but then decided to rotate it 90 degrees to see what it looked like.
Side view of spider
After the rotation, it looked like the image below. It seems to me that by simply shifting the plane of view, the spider appears like more of a predator, like she is more aggressively stalking her prey rather than waiting for it to arrive. I keep going back and forth in trying to decided if I like this image more than the cropped image that I started with. What do you think? Which of the three images do you like most?
Creeping spider (full body)
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I like image #2 best because it feels the closest to motion.
I have one of these hanging out by the porch, weaving between the porch upright and the wood pile. Hopefully we won’t have to bother her web anytime soon.
I vote for #3. The image is sharper, and I like the rotation.
I also vote for #3, she looks more impressive when you rotated the picture and it’s nice to see the whole spider and the zigzag web she’s made.
I like number three as well.
I like # 3 the best. Great detail in all the photos. What type of camera and lense?
Thanks. I am using a Canon Rebel XT DSLR and for these shots I was using a Canon 55-250mm zoom lens.
I have a Canon Rebel T3i with a 75-300mmm zoom lens and I really struggle with macro shots. I can do better with my Canon point and shoot. 🙂 Problem with it is I have to get much closer to whatever I am shooting.
I managed to get pretty good close-up results with the 18-55mm lens that came with my camera, but I had to be really close to the subject (which scares a lot of insects because I often cast a shadow on them). Now if I am really careful with my zoom lens, use a tripod when I can, and manually focus when necessary I can get pretty good results (but you can’t move physically too close to the subject).