A few months ago I found myself shooting one of the more common arachnid species found in Australia. Sparassidae or the Huntsman spider are a common sight in suburban Perth and can give people quite a shock due to their size and tendency to crawl up household walls in search of food. I’m sure many a person has slowly retraced their steps after distractedly walking past a wall in order to investigate that odd mark that their subconscious registered on their peripheral vision only to discover it was a Huntsman, legs splayed all eight eyes focused intently on them.

This particular one scared the bejeezles out of my ex-girlfriend after climbing up her screen door. After I carefully transplanted her onto one of the Frangipani leaves out the back (the spider, not the ex) I grabbed my camera and started nervously framing some shots. Huntsmans present no serious risk to humans but they can still give a nasty bite.