I was outside on a sunny day and found a Red Back Jumping Spider hunting flies along the top of a brick wall. These little guys are curious and have excellent vision. I've found they have little fear of people, unless you make sudden moves or loom too much. This is one of those spiders that with its red and black coloration immediately sends the ignorant packing with fears of black widows, which of course resemble these only in color. It would be like confusing a cow with a zebra. I've handled dozens of these and have only been bitten once (by a pregnant female).  It made my finger a little numb for an hour or so but I had no other side effects at all. This one was nearly full grown, and was curious enough about me to come right up to the edge of the wall and slaver for the camera. If you look in her eyes you can see my reflection, as well as the wall beneath her feet. Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi Lens: EF-S60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Shutter Speed: 1/200 ISO: 100 Aperture: 4.5 Post Processing: A  contrast boost, a bit of sharpen. Cropped it for composition.

Why such a handsome cat should be so photo-shy is beyond me. Taking pictures of Kernal is a lot like taking pictures of most people, he starts looking shy or walks up to stand next to me as soon as he sees the camera pointed his way. The key is getting the shot set up while he is distracted and then getting the shot as soon as he takes notice. There are times when having a good portion of the photo out of focus is desirable. In this case, the feel of the dandelions on a sunny afternoon in the background comes through strongly, but without all of the distraction it would cause the foreground if it was full of crisscrossing little details. Keeping track of your depth of field can be the difference between beautiful and distracting. Most good cameras have a depth of field preview button somewhere, on mine it is right below the lens release. Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi Lens: EF-S60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Shutter Speed: 1/160 ISO: 100 Aperture: 4.5 Post Processing: A tiny contrast boost, a bit of sharpen, and I clone stamped a piece of lint off of his left ear. Cropped it for composition.