Prevent "crud" from ruining an image.

[ScottH]

This may be a beginner question but what tricks can I use to keep crud (dust, spider webs, string, etc) from ruining close ups? I've recently moved beyond 1:1 and increasingly I am running into issues with little surprises in my images especially when stacking. Some of this stuff is practically invisible until you hit it with a flash or start to stack.

Thanks

Scott

[AndrewC]

This may be a beginner question but what tricks can I use to keep crud (dust, spider webs, string, etc) from ruining close ups? I've recently moved beyond 1:1 and increasingly I am running into issues with little surprises in my images especially when stacking. Some of this stuff is practically invisible until you hit it with a flash or start to stack.

Thanks

Scott

No magic bullets I'm afraid. Keep a couple of very fine sable art brushes and an air blower handy for removing dirt. It can be worth investing in a dissecting binocular microscope to use for preparing/cleaning specimens - only works with static subjects !

Andrew