Some macro shots
 

My macro lens is probably one of the best purchases I've ever made. I don't regret one minute having spent money on a decent one. After owning it for 6 months I'm finally mastering the beast; on orchids, insects, and other things. I mostly do insects because of my work. All are shot handheld, no flash. This Christmas I think I'll offer myself a tripod (and some ND grad filters for a different lens, for landscape photos!), and after that I'll decide what I want in terms of flash. What an expensive hobby! :biggrin:

Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook have see all of these before...

My masdie Selphi Orion
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5491/1...786266959b.jpg

Some insects, and a spider!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8266/8...1e5ce79156.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3708/1...03dd37d26b.jpg

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5473/1...452542b088.jpg

5th instar Pieris brassicae (a species I work with)
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3749/1...ee97244f96.jpg

Same caterpillars, as freshly hatched first instars in our lab colony. To give you an idea, the eggs are about 2mm tall.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3681/1...33759a1d4f.jpg

Coccinella septempunctata larva, feeding on Brevicoryne brassicae aphids (another insect I work with)
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3745/1...0bc34a1164.jpg

Coccinella septempunctata
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5514/1...a5c85cb0f5.jpg


Some little tiny mushrooms (the dead pine needle in front of one gives an idea of the size of them)
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7393/1...8102878581.jpg

Some more small mushrooms:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7450/1...7d68b93ee3.jpg

Absolutely bloody awesome. As much as I love all the blooms and bugs, my favorite is the first picture of the tiny mushrooms, that is just stunning, I love the focus on that picture, the fact only mushrooms are sharp and the rest blurry is exactly what I would love to have on that pic!

Thanks! :)
One of my favorite mushroom photos with this lens is this one, though not a macro since the shroom is quite large...

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7357/1...669ae998_c.jpg

Oh, and I didn't mention it, the macro lens is a Tamron 90mm f/2.8

AWESOME!!! I love this mushroom! Poisson as well:-) Amazing colors on that pic!

They are all beautiful. You are getting some gorgeous compositions and shots.

Gorgeous pictures, they look like they belong in a magazine! I especially love the 2nd one (the insect looks like he's posing for you) and the red mushroom.

Wonderful photos! They are just beautiful!

Thanks all! I'm happy to finally get some good photos with it now, during the first months I was getting a lot more bad shots than good ones. Getting most of the insect in focus is hard.

It's a Tamron 90mm f/2.8.
Now how I picked it... with difficulty! I could afford a mid range lens (the really good ones have prices in the 4 digits, or close to it). Because I knew I would do a lot of work with insects I needed something with a good focal distance. Canon has a nice 100mm macro lens. But the price was stretching my budget a bit. Then I discovered the Tamron, and according to most of the reviews I read, the glass is very sharp and very good quality, pretty much equal to the Canon one, but 150€ cheaper!! AND comes with a lens hood. For Canon lenses you need to buy it separately.

And I'm happy with this lens. The AF had a tendency to hunt around a lot, but mostly in lower light conditions (since I shoot handheld I need a bright sunny day anyway). So I do the focus manually in those cases, then use AF just to 'lock in' on the sharpest focus.

I am so impressed! What terrific pictures. I'm getting a camera a lens for Christmas :). I can't wait to try it out. I think I'll try to find a class or two to jump start my new extension of orchid growing. I'll have to learn fast as we going to Costa Rica in January!