Hi Alan,
First, welcome aboard!
Your image seems very good for a first attempt with a lens like the Canon MP-E 65mm. But agreed, you can—and surely will—get much better results out of this lens.
A few thoughts come to mind:
I’ve ordered a Yongnuo Ring Flash (all I can afford for now). This shot was taken with the 7D's on board flash and a couple of incandescent lamps.
Is it too late to cancel this order? If money is tight, you can’t afford to waste it. I’ll venture an opinion that may be controversial: Ring lights produce horrid light, and usually make for unsightly photographs. The specular highlights are circular and very unnatural-looking. Shadows, which are important to showing the shape of the subject, fall behind the subject, where they don’t belong. Results often look as if the photographer went out at night and viewed the subject with a flashlight, held much too near his eyes. Much better that you spend your money on an ordinary flash or two, and make diffusers for them.
I have a ring flash, and rarely use it. And I have it only because I borrowed it for testing from a friend who so heartily dislikes it that he has never permitted me to give it back.
On board flash and two incandescent lamps.
Mixing flash and incandescent lighting is a recipe for trouble. For one thing, you get different colors of light (the official term is “light temperature”). Also, to get significant contribution from the incandescent lighting, you need a slow shutter speed, which invites vibration problems.
I like your intent to move from a wooden floor to a concrete floor--a sound decision.
I used a Velbon Super Mag Slider on a Manfrotto tripod (141RC head) It's a bit wobbly where the Focus rail attaches to the tripod.
From this description, it’s hard to discern where the problem lies. But of course, anything wobbly is bad news. As you surely know, you want zero wobble. I have a Velbon slider like yours, and do not love it. It’s not a total disaster, but also not nearly the equal of much better (though also more expensive) things I prefer to use.
?
Was this a focus stack? If so, can you share details?
Fly was found dead. (Probably dead for quite a while) It's a bit dusty. I tried cleaning it with a soft paint brush.
I don’t do bugs—unlike many members of this forum. But I have a strong sense that most bugs found dead are likely to look as if they’ve been rode hard and put away wet. Perhaps a fresh bug for your next effort?
Mirror Lock up and 2 second timer.
Are you not using EFSC? If not, I’ll suggest you start doing so. This prevents the shutter curtain from jolting your camera and softening your image this is not a likely issue with flash exposure--but for combined flash and continuous light, it is.
All this said, a solid start!
Cheers,
--Chris
