I like spiders. They come in a great variety of shapes and colors and display a wide variety of interesting behavior. They are also often pretty calm and easy to photograph, so I photographed quite a few spiders through the years.
The species I'll show you today already appeared in quite a few of my older posts accompanied by their scientific names and a bit of information found on the Internet, so I won't talk about that stuff today. I won't talk much about anything, to be honest. I imagined this as a purely visual thing in which you can explore a variety of spiders and maybe, get amazed by their shapes and colors. I mean, that's more of an excuse than it is a reason. It's very hot. I feel my brain melting into a barely functional brain-like gue inside the skull. Uploading photographs without having to think about what to write under or above each picture can be a surprisingly pleasant experience on a day like this. It's easy for the mind and doesn't require much effort from the body either.
And that's it. Have a good viewing.
Despite the number thirty mentioned in the title, the photographs displayed in today's post are actually thirty-three. They were all taken during the spring and summer of 2008. I was using the Canon EOS 350D, my first digital SLR camera in combination with the 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. A long time ago, as a kid, before starting my macro photography hobby, I liked insects but felt repulsed by spiders. I mean, I liked their colors, the amazing webs they build, and the interesting survival strategy they use, but there was no way I would let one of those little crawlers let crawl around my hand or arm. Today, after years of observing them through the macro lens, I have no problem if a spider happens to crawl across my face, which happens relatively often while I'm walking along narrow paths that lead through the woods here in my area. One specific species, Araneus diadematus, builds many webs across those paths and the webs are usually at the right height to come in contact with a passerby's face. On those occasions, I get especially grateful to the macro lens that has somehow cured my arachnophobia.