This is probably one of my favourites from my collection of raft spider images. It was taken on an overcast day which meant there is a nice even reflection on the the surface of the water, really making the subject stand out. These spiders are such a joy to photograph especially when they rest on the surface such as this one. The ambient light gives a pleasing effect with the surface tension. From my observations they don’t stay long in this position, they prefer to have contact with over pond material such as sticks weeds and other vegetation (this can be seen several blog posts back).

To get this shot i had to kneel at the side of the pond and lean over. Using “live view” on my camera i was able to hold my camera at arms length and fine focus.
Shot at 1/80 sec f9 ISO 800. Another benefit of using “live view” is that it is the same as mirror lock up, so you can get vibration free images an lower shutter speeds.