I do believe that the great shots are a mixture of luck and skill. Luck for being in the right place at the right time, and skill for knowing how to get the shot. With Funnel Weavers I must add a third explanation; speed. These guys move fast and they see you coming.
Their eyes are arranged in a six front and one each side pattern, their eyes are photosensitive, noticing changes in light, therefore they can see you coming. The Tegenaria Domestica also known as a Barn Weaver are commonly found in barns, houses and bushes- this is where I found quite a few. They spread their tensioned web across an wide area and build a funnel at one end. The slightest knock sends tremors though the web, guiding the spider to his prey. They tend to move quickly and in short bursts and if they feel threated, they will retreat to the mouth of their funnel.
ISO 400 1/125 sec f8 focus stacked in Photoshop Editied in Lightroom and Nik Color efex.
I was walking in the park when I found a bush covered in webs, as I moved closer to the bush I noticed spiders sat on the webs close the mouth of large web covered holes. As I spotted a spider, it would dart back into their funnels.
To get any shots I had to move in quick and quietly, trying not to disturb the web as I poked my lens at the web. I would generally get three or four shots off before they ran. With this spider I was quite lucky to get in close take a few shots focusing on a few areas before he noticed me.
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Aperture64 
Wow great shot. And you stacked in PS. I hear that is hit or miss.
Staking in photoshop can be hit or miss. But it sometimes can surprise you. I have a trial for helicon but I need to really sit down with.
Hey Ben wonderful image … Handsome spider 🙂
Thank you Julie, I photographed quite a few and he was one of my favourites.
Ben whats stacking?
Stacking is when you place layers on top of each other, just like stacking books. However with this picture I used focus stacking, placing layers on top of each other and then using only the in focus portion of each image to make up the picture. This allows you to widen the depth of field from a few mms to a cm or more.
Nice capture.