Eek! An Unexpected Visitor Amongst the Lilacs

My friend down the beach gave me some lilacs which looked great in a bud vase on the table. But then, I noticed this little guy and rather than scream and run, I ran but it was to grab my macro. Not the best shot of its eyes but I liked the movement of the legs.
Thanks to LisaY for the identification: european garden spider

[Savanna]

It gave me the creeps!! This is soo cool!!

[Lisa Stein]

Very cool shot! Great job with your macro, Spiderwoman!

[Susan]

Yep! You got that creep factor down!!

[Mike Gifford]

Spiders! Great looking little guy!

[LisaY]

Wow! You got some great detail on his coloring! Now I want to find out what kind of spider this is.

[LisaY]

I think it's a "european garden spider"

[Taffy]

@lisay Lisa, thanks for taking the time to sort this out for me! I added the info in the commentary and acknowledged my expert source!

@mikegifford @spair @pflaume @svank16 Glad you liked the 'ick' or 'eek' or 'yuck' factor!!

[Ness Santvoort]

Nice capture, it's funny I too now get the camera before worrying about the creepy crawly, amazing how a camera in my hands has made me so brave, lol

[Jawo]

Another brave capture...love the details when viewed large..

[Taffy]

@ness50 I know - - it's crazy, but I'm looking for bugs and the like, instead of shying away. Glad to see I have company!

@jerwinkie Ah, I love that you saw this as brave!! My thoughts exactly!

[Jan K]

Gaaaak! Brave woman to post it!

[Yao RL]

I like your discription, we 365 photo hunters forgot the fear and instinctively grab our carema for this opportunities. How big is it?

[Annie D]

He is gorgeous - I think my daughter would have fed him a cricket and added him to her menagerie lol

[Judith Johnson]

Well captured - considering your surprise!

[alia_801]

Great capture of him! I love the markings on his abdomen.

[judith deacon]

Nice one! great dof and so much detail. I agree with comments above, a camera makes you feel so brave at times!

[Daryl O'Hare]

And here I thought you had set up the shot with a cloth back drop and everything! Favtastic.

[Taffy]

@darylo So funny!! Yes, I got the spider to pose for me in different ways as I changed backdrops. It did get tired after awhile and asked to take a short break. When I got back, he had disappeared so I suspect will pop up again when I least expect!

[Taffy]

@jankoos Back at you -- loved your bee shot and you were clearly close. And they sting!!
@yaorenliu It actually was pretty tiny or I would have freaked out more. Less than half an inch on the body and the legs maybe about the same so no bigger than an inch and probably a lot less.

[Taffy]

@annied He was so tiny a cricket would have made a meal of him! Or it or she...

[Taffy]

@busylady @alia_801 @judithdeacon Probably if I'd thought more about it, I'd have just asked Jim to get rid of it. My first reaction was, a photo for 365 today! Funny how differently we all think now.

[Kim]

Amazing detail!

[Jnadonza]

cool catch

[Alison Hewitt Bailey]

Great close up and details. Love how the spider co-ordinates with the cloth too!

[joey d.Muli]

EEeeeeeeklly cool-hA !!:)

[Barb Smith]

Nice one! You just never know what you may find. Nice of him/her to stick around while you grabbed the right lens!

[Taffy]

@barbsmith @jodimuli @dulciknit @jnadonza @kimshots
Thanks all! I'm kind of wondering where he is at the moment -- I don't see him getting our doors or windows open to leave!

[Elaine]

I think this is a great capture Taffy, love the detail.

[Taffy]

@elaine55 Thanks Elaine! Bugs have been so much more interesting since joining 365!

[Ann H. LeFevre]

I would never look at spiders until 365! I don't go looking for them, but if one crosses in front of the lens now, I'm more likely to take a shot now than not. Great macro!

[Boxplayer]

Ha ha - missed this one, does indeed look like one of our garden spiders (they have those distinctive abdominal markings) - they're always ending up in our house when we bring the washing in during the early autumn months, you find them wandering round the house in confusion.