Spectacular. Any idea what sort of spider these are from?

Hi Charles, Only a very few so far. I have a long way to go (especially in the area of specimen handling). http://www.flickr.com/photos/spongepuppy/sets/72157632112433624/ I grapple with the ethical implications of killing organisms for photography too. I generally find that putting them in the frid...

Hi Charles, As someone having no skill with tools (and no tools), I am intimately familiar with your situation. The StackShot servo rail from Cognisys is a product I can wholeheartedly recommend. I'm very much at the beginner stage myself, and going with a motorized rail has taken a lot of the frust...

Hi guys, I've taken a look at my lighting technique, and I think I may have overestimated the extent of my problems with colour shifts. In particular, I've increased the amount of diffusion I am using, which seems to have helped considerably - thank you all for your advice. As luck would have it, my...

I'll dig up some examples this evening - stuck at work at the moment

Rik: Thanks for pointing me at the right post, much appreciated. David: Thanks also for pointing me at your post. It may be that I should be looking at the 5x as an entry point. How much of a difference in longitudinal aberration is there between the Nikon and Mitu objectives? The reason I ask is b...

Does anyone on the forum have experience with pushing this objective (10X Mitutoyo Plan Apo Infinity LWD) to lower magnifications via a lower power tube lens? I understand that this is possible with certain Nikon objectives (as has been covered in detail by Rik), but I am unsure if the same is true ...

Spectacular!

I've done shots of a similar lacewing species, but my own results were somewhat worse than your own. Much, much worse.

I'll second that - tbe yongnuo yn-560 mkII's that I am currently using will do over 1000 flashes at around 1/16 to 1/4 power easily with 2300mAh nimh cells. For $70, they're spectacularly good value! Having said that, the ttl preflash on the sb800 would no doubt add some extra load, but not to a hug...

Thank you for your kind words.

As luck would have it, a second stag beetle made my acquaintance last evening while I was filling my car (initially prompting the "oh my god, get it off me" dance). I'll have another go at taming the specular highlights sometime this week!

Disclaimer: I'm working on the assumption that your camera isn't modified for IR shooting. If that's not the case, then ignore the following post. It's also quite possible that 'infrared' has a different meaning in the context of microscope objectives. Based on my own experience with IR vs visible l...

Hello all! I've been lurking on the forum for a few weeks now, and I've finally mustered the courage to post some images. As you can probably tell, I'm struggling with highlights on some images - any tips from the experts would be most appreciated. All shots taken with a Hoya EL Super 40mm f3.5 @ 5....