Big Red
With macro photography the viewer often looses perspective and without a reference point does not know just how big the subject being photographed is. It becomes proportional to its surroundings. So a subject a millimeter long may appear to be meter in length. This can be used to the photographer’s advantage in giving the viewer a sense of wonder.
This may not be most viewers’ ideal subject; my wife said “yuck” when I showed this to her, but it is a superb macro shot. When I first saw this photograph I thought this was a huge tarantula spider. But on closer examination of the size of the leaves I came to realize the true proportions of this tiny creature.
I like the diagonal graphic of the red and white stem crossing from the top left hand corner to the lower right. The green leaf blocks the end of this graphic at the bottom corner but that adds interest and depth to the image.
The photographer had excellent control of the focus. You can see every hair on this handsome fellows body and legs. The viewer has the sense that they could reach out and feel the fur. Now that’s a nice thought isn’t it?
Click on Image 
June 20th, 2008 at 9:36 am
James, thank you for your critique. This was a hard spider to photo because of how small he was. He was smaller then my pinkie nail. I believe he is a jumping spider. I understand that a lot of people do not care for spiders let alone look at a photo of one. I myself am afraid of spiders but maybe photo graphing them might help my fear subside. I do find some species of spiders beautiful to look at. Spiders and snakes, OH MY!