Pretty nice image. The composition is alright. I have a bit of arachnophobia.

All of the green is a bit unnerving for me, I can see that it was probably unavoidable in the background, but the addition of it in the border is a bit too much for me.

The spider is really blurry, would be better if the head was in focus.

I wish it wasn't cut off in so many places.

I have to wonder why "a pretty nice image" deserves 2 points. I don't ever recall giving someone 2 points unless the image was a total mess. I'd prefer you just commented and didn't vote at all. 2 ... let's see, that's an F on a school paper if I recall.
In macro photography, there is a limited DOF by being so close. The focus was on the face and eyes and not on the back of the head. Concerning the legs .... if I had included the entire array of them, the photo would lose its macro qualities and just be a snapshot of a spider.
Here's a tutorial for you Rose so that you may better understand the concept ...

http://www.bmpt1.com/

Thanks for your 2 vote. It was clearly done as an insult. Except for the zero bombers ... this must be the lowest score I've ever received on am image here. Perhaps it's just because I'm an Elite Photographer here and that my images do not meet your elite standards.

Wow! a 2 score!! Nice... or not! Well, at least you have comments, Gfx is starting to be a bit of a drama these last few days!
Back to the photo! Wow! I'd love to have the chance to take such a photo, never saw a spider like this and in this state. I like to do a bit of trekking, well not really trekking, just long walks away from civilisation, and I never came across one of these.
I may look a bit shaky but that is due to the low focus field of macro shots. I think I would have gone for a black fame, but I just don't like colour frames. Still Very very very cool shot! You wont be getting a +2 from me!

Ouch, thats some harsh voting !
I think its an excellent shot soo well captured. Its not every day that you can capture beautiful creatures like this...to those of you who do have arachnophobia, sorry but yes it is a very beautiful creature to me
Anyways, its a very successful macro, although there is some blurriness, but really I couldnt give a damn about that, the photo is too attractive
Great shot
+10

Good work .
The only thing I don't care for is the green frame.
Too much bright green.

Geez, you don't realize how hairy spiders are unless you see something like this. Almost makes you want to pet it. I dig the green background, because it's clean and has a very springish, cheery color, which is quite unexpected given the subject. Also, the sharpness looks good to me.
Now, I don't know if you have any more room to maneuver on the sides, but a hair more space might work (what is this, off-center fetishism?!), particularly since the spider is tilted.
You mentioned the overexposure on the egg sac, but I think the benefits of seeing the texture in such detail make the strong lighting a good choice.
Oh, and the obligatory border comment: a solid white might nicely complement her sac, but everyone has different preferences.

kick ass cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great work!

Tommyguns

Spectacular! If all my nightmares look this good, well then, bring 'em on. It would be nice if the cropped legs on the right were there, but the image is still good compositionally. I like the crop at the left and bottom. I prefer this image more flipped horizontally.

Wow that is an intimidating shot

I like the plain green background gives the spider more presence
That egg sac is really disturbing I can imagine all those baby spiders ready to burst out, I hope they don't eat mom, which happens now and then among certain species.

I think Andydude should see this his arachnaphobia is infamous hehe

+ 10

holy mother of god!

I am typing this whilst NOT looking at the screen...I saw a spider on top of an egg sac I think but I can't be certain due to the micro second glimpses I am giving it!!!!

Very good from what I see...very quickly great colours and I like the tilted angle of the spider.

That is enough now

A great macro Michelle. It's in perfect focus as always. I see no signs of shake at all. As you stated it is only the limited DOF that accounts for the more blurred areas. I agree a black border would work better with this. Very nice work!

The exposure you have mentioned. The rest is excellent. The sharpest 'really blurry' spider I have seen in a while.

This is a great macro michelle I love the dof. if possible I would give 100.

Amazing Capture!
I Hate the spiders
cool macro and cool details +10

Nice sharpness, detail and colours.

This is in all aspects a macro that deserves a high score...

Pathetic to give a 2 score...

The focus is spot on ie the eyes!

The green frame is a bit cheesy... lol

Very nice work. Very cool to see something that you would normally never see.

Also about the 2 score. I can see the extra stats or whatever, but the first commenter may have just forgotten to vote and somebody else voted around the same time. Could be completely wrong though too haha Either way, deserves much more than a 2.

A really nice picture !!! :
Very good detail!
Would have loved it more if the other legs were in the scene ..

Beautiful green with the little monster. I like this contrast!

this is a top score artwork...however not sure about the green frame...I would go for a grey one to contrast the green...concerning about the 2 score...well simply it's a little bit infantile considering the quality of this work!

This is a pretty cool find. Did you just find it in nature, or was it at some kind of "spider habitat" or something?

I like the composition, and the colors are great. I'm not thrilled about the two legs being cut-off, it creates the same kind of awkwardness as cutting a person off at the elbows or knees. I don't know if waiting would have resulted in the spider putting them down or not. I'd have to assume you waited a while, since it seems nature photographers have a unparalleled amount of patience

Was the green background added / tweaked? It looks good.

Perhaps an unsharp mask would help this seem a bit less blurry. Despite everyone insisting that it's in perfect focus, I'm noticing a bit of blur as well (around the "mandible things" and upper leg areas -- and it's not DOF blur). It's not really a bit deal though.

The frame is a bit of a distraction. Maybe if the white line was reduced a bit that'd help, I don't know... digital frames are not my strong suite.

I'll give this a +7

Keep shooting

The shot was taken in a natural area and not at a zoo or spider farm. I spent 2 hours with this spider and took several shots of it. One is already in my gallery and was posted last summer. A note about macro . as I said earlier ... if you want to get close, then you must be willing to give up something. In this case it was the legs. If I had backed up in order to capture the entire spider, then we wouldn't be able to appreciate the detail in the face. It's a trade off. ... similar to the woman in your latest. Simple as that. There was a very slight breeze that day. The movement created by the breeze was magnified through the 180mm lens which is likely the cause of the slight blur you see in the mandibles.

Wow, nice shot!

Perfect Macro!! Beautiful capture!!! Great work, Michelle!!

Very nice macro Michelle.... and a great find.
John

It is excellent really. The success tongue. I am congratulateing you. I am expecting you will succeed.

Wonderul details & comp
+10

Firstly thanks for your comments on my artwork...
Great detail to the shot...always said you surly have an eye to catch that detail...its kindda creepy but I love the details...
keep em coming
regards

a little "bit of drama" for you this time around Michelle ? sorry 'bout that....your spider eyes are spot on!!

I've never seen a thorny spider before and 2 inches is 1 3/4 inches too big for me. but I love seeing the egg sack. only comment I'd make is personally for me its a bit too much green. otherwise nicely done!!
*/9

Awesome photo.
And thanks! It's not every day I get to make someone run away screaming because they saw a picture!!!

Oh I hate closeups of spiders! They are soooo nasty! You captured it's nastiness very well - in a pretty way. Good shot!

Absolutely Insane!!!

Z

I have read some of these comments and a lot have comments about the blurriness, maybe i'm just an amateur, but i actually like the blur, it brings the focus on all the eyes. It might just be me, but it looks like the spider is trying to eat the egg sack. very nice picture!

well done michelle, this time I even like the border ;p
don't worry bout the +2, though. we all get them.

looks like it's sitting on a golf ball

fantastic shot Michelle
the frame is a bit cheesy indeed but its unrelated to the photography anyway
the overexposure of the sac is minor really
excellent work, very scary lol
don't mind the +2 lol, GFX is a drama queen , we all know it , don't bother thinking about stupid peoples we have here and their stupid votes lol, we are used to them now they are just jealous
+9

i hate spiders ... great shot though

Wow!!.....excellent capture!
It gives me the creeps but is a wonderful image!
Top marks Michelle!
Carlos

What a freaky thing! Wonderful capture!

Dear Michelle, sorry for the delay in evaluating this shot.
I should give you the top score only for the braveness I cannot do some picture like that with my 60mm cause I should be to close to that scaring guy you have at least 3 times far than me!
I have to say that I cannot find overexposed part, texture of egg is perfect and the spider mama quite interesting.
In reality i can see some little problem on spider eyes, but i can suggest that it is some problem due to the high contrast of parts and chromatic abberation of lens. probably you can fix it from the raw file.
About the -2 of Jerika aka Purplerose... I think that she is enough frustrating by taking picture of his fishtank so if you have at least one bubble in your picture the vote is decreased LOL If you want to laugh about blurry not blurry focus and so on take a look her comment on my work Superfly

oh... for me +10!