Spider.

We were doing a spot of gardening today whilst trying to avoid damaging the froglets. Gardening was probably the best thing we could do to benefit them as we were maintaining a presence and thus deterring the birds.

Before we started on the garden, I noticed a spider's web across the path - about 18 inches off the ground. It was a nuisance as, not only did I have to keep walking around it but, I also had to keep stopping to inspect it. Eventually I felt I had to do something, so I fetched the camera and fitted it with a +10 close-up lens and flash. The spider wasn't too co-operative - insisting on sitting there facing the ground so, to have him the right way up and to have the flash from the right direction, I had to hold the camera up-side-down; this, in turn, meant operating the shutter with my left thumb - not the ideal tool for the purpose.

A few shots worked out quite well to the extent that, in the original, one pair of eyes is quite sharp while the others are hidden (most spiders have 4 pairs), I don‘t know whether they will be visible in the uploaded version though you can, if you wish, download the original; I‘m not squeamish about copyright.
Of interest (to me, at any rate) is that the centre of the web is untidy and irregular while, another picture shows its outer reaches to be neatly arranged; this isn't a phenomenon I've noticed before - but then I've never looked.

The definition of "macro" is not very clear, it's usually given as being at or about one to one ratio between object and image sizes (within an order of magnitude either way?); this only comes near to making sense if you consider the size of the final viewing image rather than the size on the sensor. I've been hankering after some decent images from insect sized creatures for a while. This is my first attempt and it has immediately become apparent that I need work on technique, I've seen stunning results on Blipfoto of far more active little beasties than this spider.

Note: The blackcurrant looking thing at the sharp end appears to be lunch, at first sight I thought it was a cluster of eggs. I also notice a serious deficiency in the leg department.