Welcome to Shutter Notes, our weekly community feature. Shutter Notes gives you the chance to get to know our community members a bit better. Each member will share a little bit about themselves and their chosen image.

Stephen is a retired IT Project Manager. His initial training was as an analytical chemist. He has been interested in photography pretty much the whole of his adult life and has practiced the art for over 20 years.

Stephen Thackeray orb weaver spider and web
Nikon D500 DSLR, Sigma 105mm macro lens. Aperture was f/8, ISO 200 and shutter speed 1/500th sec.

Why and how Stephen created this image

Stephen created this image near where he lives in South Yorkshire, United Kingdom. His favorite genre of photography is macro photography and he is truly happy and at peace when he is in the midst of buzzing insects and creeping spiders!

He always shoots his macros hand-held and usually with natural lighting. Photographing insects and spiders at such close range can be tricky. Patience is crucial and a certain amount of “fieldcraft” is necessary — avoid rapid movements, don’t cast shadows on your subject and don’t disturb nearby vegetation.

He spends a lot of time shooting macros but will have a go at pretty much any type of shot. He took about six frames of this spider and liked this one the best. Stephen always edits his images after shooting. Usually, there are minor adjustments such as Clarity, Sharpening, Saturation and Cropping.

By submitting this image Stephen would like people to overcome any fear they have about “creepy-crawlies” and just marvel at their color and detail as they go about their business.

Please join us in the Photofocus Community and find the complete description and instructions on how to submit your image for consideration here.

Please only submit one image at a time and for now only one submission per person. We’ll ask for more at a later date if we need them. If you have any questions, comment here or send me a message within the community. We look forward to your submissions.

If you have any photographer friends you know would enjoy or benefit from being in the Photofocus Community, be sure to invite them!