Juan Jesús Gonzalez Ahumada's Image

The moment he saw the skeleton of a prickly pear cactus leaf Juan wanted to photograph it.

A small spider – less than a centimetre across – hiding in a gap in the dried framework gave him the focal point. Conditions were good. It was a mild January day, and the prickly pear was on a sunny slope on farmland in Andalusia, Spain. But the skeleton leaf was in the midst of other vegetation. To isolate it, Juan positioned a sheet of white card behind the leaf, taking great care not to disturb the spider. He then composed his image, shooting in black and white so that nothing would distract from the shapes and texture.