Araneidae: Argiope aurantia
This spider was spinning his web on the front porch to my house. The nerve! He is smaller than my pinkie nail and the photo captures him about 3 times life size. The critter is one of the “orb” spinning spiders common in the northeast. Probably an Argiope aurantia of the “yellow and black garden” variety.
I took a variety of shots with my Canon 100 f2.8 macro on a tripod. This one captures his body and head in focus, as well as some of his legs. The web is virtually invisible but there is a trace of it below his body. If you look carefully, you can easily see his eyes.
Click on the photo for a larger version of the image.