Garden insect macros (Image heavy!)

You've chosen a difficult subject here Andrew, Bees are just about the busiest insects in the garden and move so quickly. I would recommend trying some slower moving stuff first and concentrate on the following:

- Composition

- Exposure

- Focussing Accuracy (moving your body and the camera is often the best approach, rather than using the focussing ring on the lens)

- Lighting - you need a more diffused light source as the flash on these is a bit harsh

I know you've been trying out smaller apertures to increase the DOF and this is evident here, but if anything there's too much DOF in these as the background has not blurred out, which makes it a bit distracting. Macro is one of the hardest photography disciplines, not only because of the difficulty in getting sharp, well exposed images, but also because it's hard to get composition and personality into the shots. This is something I work very hard to try and achieve, but I end up throwing away most of my images as they just aren't good enough. Here's one I took last year with a very similar setup to the one you have used, except there was no flash:




I would recommend also that you have a look at the work of Charlotte Fabian (charlotteF) and darkskies, two of the members on here who have posted some cracking macro images.

Regards
David

The wind is a constant issue - you'll find it's virtually impossible to get a still day outdoors in the UK and even the slightest breeze seems like a gale at high magnifications. Despite this, I love the challenge of taking shots in these conditions, I don't like dead subjects, it must be natural and 'in the wild' for me.

There's no substitute for practice, experience and experimentation, so keep at it and your style will develop as your expertise grows.

Regards
David

Not a bad start and with time I'm sure you will improve.

You've listed all the reasons why I've more or less given up on macro David

A lot better than my first attempts.

Choose a cloudy sunny day - when the sun goes behind a cloud the insects slow down and you don't get the nasty harsh light.

Keep at it - when you get 'the shot' it makes all the hard work worthwhile. Promise.

I won't post images on here as it's your thread but take a look at My PPG
You may or may not find it useful - if I can help you with anything then just send me a pm - as I don't post on here very often.