Lunch is Served (Nephila plumipes - Coastal Orb Spider)
Interrupted from her lunch, this lovely lady with her yellow knees and hairy thighs is a beautiful female specimen of Nephila plumipes (Coastal Orb Spider), a native to Australia.
This Arachnid portrait was photographed along a rainforest track at Diamond Head, part of the Crowdy Bay National Park, about a one hour drive south of Port Macquarie, NSW, Australia, on a hot and humid summer day.
Fuji S9600: RAW, Macro, f/6.4 @ 1/80sec, ISO80, Hand held.
S7RAW & Photoshop CS.
Visit the Insects & Spiders collection in my BubbleSite Gallery for more eight legged critters.
UPDATE: 29-1-09
The Arachnids Group has featured this lunching lady.
[1743 views as of 21-11-09]
Enjoy!
SPIDERS
(Click the links!)
Nephila plumipes – Lunch is Served
Nephila plumipes – Suspended Animation
Nephila plumipes – Time Tunnel
Nephila plumipes – No-one Home
Argiope Kaiserling – Dragon Slayer
Deinopis subrufa – Net Casting Spider
Diaea evanida – Flannel Flower Defender
Diaea evanida – Dinner at Five #1
Diaea evanida – Dinner at Five #2
Araneus bradleyi – Enamelled Spider
Lunch is Served (Nephila plumipes - Coastal Orb Spider) belongs to the following groups:
Arachnids and THE 500 TO 5000 VIEWINGS GROUP Available for sale asGreeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints and Framed Prints





Maximus
Dennis the Ord spiders are fascinating. :)
Dennis Gay replied
G’day Max,
The “Orb” spiders are pretty good too! ;-)
(Doncha just wish there was an edit function for these comments???
Thank you for your visit and your interest in my inverted lady.
So glad she caught your eye.
GB
Dennis
Stevie Mancini
Man thats awseome, great compostion, colour and contrast.
Gives me the creeps tho lol :)
Great work Dennis, you sure know how to capture these creepers!!
Take care bud
Stevie
Dennis Gay replied
G’day Stevie,
Thank you so much for your ”...awesome…” comment for this spidery effort. As creepy as you may feel she is, it’s good to see you stayed for a good look. ;-)
GB
Dennis
Alf Caruana
This image is so crisp and I love the colours…excellent capture Dennis
Dennis Gay replied
G’day Alf,
I was out with a very experienced and very good photographer that day and boy, does that lift you game!
A big THANK YOU for your ”...excellent…” wrap for my arachnidal (?) efforts. So happy you have enjoyed the experience mate.
GB
Dennis
Maximus
With one hand Dennis I am subject to lots of typos, which I don’t always pick up, sorry, I beg you current and future forgiveness.
max :)
Dennis Gay replied
Max, Max, max!
I was only having a dig at you. You should see all the corrections I have to make before I hit the Enter key, especially late at night when I suffer greatly from “Fat Finger Syndrome”. 8-)
You’re doing well mate and it is so good to see you enjoying photography. As you are restricted in your movements and in your outings start to think inside the sqaure. Look for the photographs within scenes close to you. You may begin to see your world slightly differently and your photography can reflect that. Many a good abstract can result from this approach. I wish you well.
GB
Dennis
johno4280
Great shot Dennis, very clear and perfectly lit.
Took a good long look at the large image to try and work out if you had used fill flash… then noted your spec’s for the shot… “low powered red flash”
Red? flash…
Teach us “O” wise spider man !
Love the hairy legs :)
debsphotos
Creepyly clear image Dennis…just the view you get before you walk into them!!!! yukkkk!!!!
Dennis Gay replied
G’day Deb,
They’re not creepy!!!!! I have met human beings more creepy than an orb spider. Whenever we do run into them, (literally), it’s hard to tell who is the most scared – us or the spider as we both “bugger off” as quick as we can. 8-)
Brave girl! Many thanks for your much appreciated interesting comment for my Spidergirl effort.
GB
Dennis
Dennis Gay
G’day Johno,
If you had read that correctly it would have read, ”...low power red flash…”, not ”...low powered red flash…” as you preceived. It is what we call in the photographic world an “Ooops!”, “Typo!” or “Dammit!”
I have since amended the text to read ”...low powered flash…” By this I mean the pop-up flash was set at its lowest power and from that distance was enough to just give Madame Spider a good dusting of fill flash. Had I been closer and/or if it had been darker I would have slipped on my home made diffuser to further soften the light.
Your “Great shot…” wrap for this forest trail effort is much appreciated mate. Thank you for your interest and keen eye.
GB
Dennis
GailD
You do have an eye for the ladies Dennis.
The colours of this orb spider look slightly different from the ones here.
I’ve just taken one recently for a comp.
Great with the detail.
Dennis Gay replied
G’day Gail,
This one is the Coastal Orb Spider and they all have bright yellow/orange “knees”. I think yours is a different species.
A big THANK YOU for your “Great…” wrap for milady arachnid. So glad she caught your eye.
GB
Dennis
Cory Frantz
Beautiful shot, what detail and color! spectacular!
Dennis Gay
G’day Cory,
Many thanks for adding this work to your favourites and for leaving such a great wrap for Mrs Spider. So glad she caught your eye and imagination.
GB
Dennis
Anne Smyth
stunning!!
Dennis Gay replied
G’day Anne,
Queen Spider and I thank you very much for your “stunning!!” wrap for her portrait. Glad you enjoyed the experience and were not so “girly” about the subject as some I could mention. ;-)
GB
Dennis
Anne Smyth
Oh, I am very “girly” unless I have a camera and then I will get right in their faces. This really is a beauty.
Dennis Gay replied
G’day again Anne,
Oh I know what you mean! If I see something that takes my eye and I have my camera with me I just HAVE to make the shot!
GB
D!
Prasad
Fantastic EYE ;-) Dennis, on this creepy lady. VWD!!
Dennis Gay replied
G’day Prasad,
Your “Fantastic…” comment for this leggy lady is greatly appreciated. So glad she caught your eye.
GB
Dennis
pryere
Superb study, do they bite, does it hurt/kill?
Dennis Gay
G’day Pryere,
While these large spiders could give you a bite they much prefer to get away from you as quick as possible. They won’t kill you but you will probably end up with a very sore bite with a lot of swelling though.
Your “Superb…” comment for this eight legged tree dwelling lady is much appreciated.
GB
Dennis
Dennis Gay
G’day Marueen Bloesch ….. wherever you are …..,
Thank you for adding this work to your favourites. I can only assume by this action that you like it. Please fell free to return any time to let me know just what it is you like about it.
GB
Dennis
Mary Campbell
I see your the real Spider Man.. great capture..
Dennis Gay replied
G’day Mary,
Good to see you along the trail on my rainforest hunt and that you have spotted this lunching lady.
Many thanks for your encouraging ”...great…” wrap for my spidery efforts.
GB
Dennis: aka Spiderman ;-)
Anne-Marie Lad...
Superb capture, Dennis! :)
Love all your work on Oz flora and fauna! Brilliant!
Dennis Gay replied
G’day Annemarie,
So nice to have you along the trail on my rainforest hunt and that you have spotted this lunching lady.
Thank you very much for your most encouraging ”Superb…” wrap for my spidery efforts and your flattering remarks regarding my Aussie works.
So glad you are enjoying the journey. 8-)
GB
Dennis
Pete Costick
Great capture, super image, and we’ve featured this in Arachnids group, well done
Dennis Gay replied
G’day Pete,
So good to see you along the trail on my rainforest hunt and that you have spotted this lunching lady.
Many thanks indeed for your most encouraging ”Great…super…” wrap for my spidery efforts.
My utmost thanks too for featuring this lovely Aussie lady. It is greatly appreciated.
GB
Dennis
Dennis Gay
UPDATE: 29-01-09
The Arachnids Group has featured this lunching lady.
My utmost thanks to the Hosts and to all who have supported this work.
GB
Dennis
Normf
Congratulations on your well earned feature in the group Arachnids Dennis!
Dennis Gay replied
G’day Norm,
Glad to see you along the trail on my rainforest hunt and that you have spotted this lunching lady.
Thank you very much for your most encouraging ”…well earned…” wrap for my spidery efforts and the feature.
GB
Dennis
nishagandhi
wow
Dennis Gay replied
G’day NISHAGANDHI!
Great to have you with us on the Crowdy Bay track and to see that you have spotted this lunching spider.
Your most succinct yet very encouraging “wow” wrap is much appreciated.
GB
Dennis