A sweet sweet 1mm Aphid (Plant lice) prepares to feed on a sap of phloem vessels in a plant using it's Stylets (that long sucking thingi
The technique is more or less the same in each one, I use Canon 450D with a combination of: Full set of Extension tubes Canon F2.8 100mm Macro lens Reversed mounted Canon 1.8 50mm (in that order)
I shoot inside a light box with one flash in order to flood the box with light, the extreme magnification with the flash and colorful flowers/backgrounds gives a very vivid result.
shutter is set to around 1/200 Aperture on the 100mm lens is on F14 (as a balance between a grater DOF (around 1mm) and still keeping it sharp (diffraction with this combination is very enhanced) the 50mm lens focus is set to infinity, and the aperture is open wide. focusing is done by moving the camera backward and forward, and the magnification is set by the focus ring on the 100mm lens.
I prefer shooting Aphids since they are pretty still and don't move that much or that fast, plus, since they are about 1-2mm so they can fit into the extremely shallow DOF (and they are extremely cute!) the average magnification with this combination is around 3:1, This photo is with two full sets of extension tubes and the magnification is about 6.5:1
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btw i have stumbled your site long ago when I just started. great site and great works!