Thomas Ellaby Photography

Thomas Ellaby Photography Brisbane based photographer sharing love of nature, macro and wildlife photos amongst bits and pieces of other things...

05/09/2026

I decided to try somewhere different this time in my hunt for Jumping Spiders and ended up in some bushland out near Capalaba here in Brisbane. They are such amazing little things and they all have their own personalities.

🕷️ So on that note meet the ant hunter. This little Salticidae (jumping spider) has evolved to specialise in hunting ants, no small feat considering ants bite back and often travel in numbers. Jumping spiders rely on incredible eyesight for their size, up to four pairs of eyes, letting them stalk and pounce with pinpoint precision.

Some species even mimic ants themselves to get close enough for the ambush. Nature's tiny assassins, hiding in plain sight.

📍 Brisbane Koala Bushland, Burbank, Brisbane QLD
📷 Shot on Olympus EM1 Mk2, 60mm Macro Lens and diffused flash

I decided to try somewhere different this time in my hunt for Jumping Spiders and ended up in some bushland out near Cap...
05/09/2026

I decided to try somewhere different this time in my hunt for Jumping Spiders and ended up in some bushland out near Capalaba here in Brisbane. They are such amazing little things and they all have their own personalities.

🕷️ So on that note meet the ant hunter. This little Salticidae (jumping spider) has evolved to specialise in hunting ants, no small feat considering ants bite back and often travel in numbers. Jumping spiders rely on incredible eyesight for their size, up to four pairs of eyes, letting them stalk and pounce with pinpoint precision.

Some species even mimic ants themselves to get close enough for the ambush. Nature's tiny assassins, hiding in plain sight.

📍 Brisbane Koala Bushland, Burbank, Brisbane QLD
📷 Shot on Olympus EM1 Mk2, 60mm Macro Lens and diffused flash

🍄 Found this little beauty tucked into the mulch at Mt Coot-tha, believed to be Pluteus petasatus, a saprotrophic fungus...
05/09/2026

🍄 Found this little beauty tucked into the mulch at Mt Coot-tha, believed to be Pluteus petasatus, a saprotrophic fungus that thrives on decaying wood and woodchips. That cream-coloured cap and salmon-pink gills only show up once the spores mature, so catching one at this stage is always a treat.

Macro photography has a way of turning something you'd walk straight past into a tiny alien landscape. 🌿

📍 Mt Coot-tha, Brisbane
📷 Shot on Olympus EM1 Mk2, 60mm macro lense and lighting diffusers

🕷️ Grey Huntsman Spider (Holconia immanis)Taken at Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens recently.📷 OLYMPUS E-M1MarkII - OLYMPUS M...
01/09/2026

🕷️ Grey Huntsman Spider (Holconia immanis)

Taken at Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens recently.

📷 OLYMPUS E-M1MarkII - OLYMPUS M.60mm F2.8 Macro - 60mm | f/10 | 1/160 | ISO 200

🕷️ Gray Wall Jumping Spider (Menemerus bivittatus)50 images stacked and edited with MacroStudio📷 OLYMPUS E-M1MarkII - OL...
29/08/2026

🕷️ Gray Wall Jumping Spider (Menemerus bivittatus)

50 images stacked and edited with MacroStudio

📷 OLYMPUS E-M1MarkII - OLYMPUS M.60mm F2.8 Macro - 60mm | f/5.6 | 1/8 | ISO 640

Snapped this one up at Mt Coot-tha, a Tachinid fly, most likely from the genus Rutilia, one of the larger and more colou...
25/08/2026

Snapped this one up at Mt Coot-tha, a Tachinid fly, most likely from the genus Rutilia, one of the larger and more colourful genera in the family here in eastern Australia.

You can usually pick a Tachinid by its heavily bristled body - those stiff black spines covering the thorax and abdomen are a key identifying feature entomologists use to sort out different genera. This one's got a striking mix of a dark, checkered thorax and a golden, almost metallic bristly abdomen, plus those deep red compound eyes that dominate the head.

Always amazes me how much detail is hiding in something this small once you get in close with a macro lens. 📸

📍 Mt Coot-tha, Brisbane

20/08/2026

A highlight of recent macro flower shots.

A little colour from the plant side of things - this Garden Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) caught the light just right, with...
20/08/2026

A little colour from the plant side of things - this Garden Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) caught the light just right, with those delicate pink petals framing a burst of gold. 🌸

~📸 Olympus EM1 mkii
~🔍 OM system M.Zuiko Digital 60mm Macro
~💡 Godox TT350O
~💭 KR Macro Diffuser
~ 🥞 single shot, handheld
~ 🌏 photographed at Mt Coot-Tha Botanical Gardens, Brisbane QLD

Meet Mopsus mormon - those eyes don't miss a thing, and this guy's got more colour going on than most beetles. Emerald g...
20/08/2026

Meet Mopsus mormon - those eyes don't miss a thing, and this guy's got more colour going on than most beetles. Emerald green, deep maroon, and a fuzzy white "moustache" to top it off. 🕷️✨

~📸 Olympus EM1 mkii
~🔍 OM system M.Zuiko Digital 60mm Macro
~💡 Godox TT350O
~💭 KR Macro Diffuser
~ 🥞 single shot, handheld
~ 🌏 photographed at Mt Coot-Tha Botanical Gardens, Brisbane QLD

This little jewel is a cotton harlequin bug. Nature clearly wasn't holding back on the colour palette here. That iridesc...
19/08/2026

This little jewel is a cotton harlequin bug. Nature clearly wasn't holding back on the colour palette here. That iridescent teal armour against fiery orange never gets old to photograph. 🐞✨

~📸 Olympus EM1 mkii
~🔍 OM system M.Zuiko Digital 60mm Macro
~💡 Godox TT350O
~💭 KR Macro Diffuser
~ 🥞 single shot, handheld f/9.0, 1/250s, ISO 200
~ 🌏 photographed at Mt Coot-Tha Botanical Gardens, Brisbane QLD

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