Need Spider ID

[ThunderLund78]

Found this guy in my bushes. I've never seen such a bright colored spider around here before. I know there's at least one spider expert on here from time-to-time, any idea what he is? Venemous? Sorry about the quality, my point & shoot sucks and it was dusk. No matter what I did the shutter would stay open just long enough to get blurry. He was sitting in the middle of a huge traditional spiderweb but he also made that zig-zag pattern in the middle which I've also never seen before. I'm glad he's in my bushes eating bugs and not in my house. With leg span he's about as big as a silver dollar.

[jeffreyd]

looks like a garden spider to me. huge body and very large web. pretty cool not many here in az but remember them as a kid in nebraska

The spider species Argiope aurantia is commonly known as the Black and Yellow Garden Spider, Writing Spider, Banana Spider or Corn Spider.

[Birdsong]

I took photos of one like this last year and was told it was a garden spider. They are beautiful! Kind of a scary looking pattern on the back, and yes, a zigzag in the large web. Harmless I believe, but I didn't do much research on him at the time.