Chironomid Midge at 2X Magnification: This is an uncropped photo of a 5 mm adult male of the Chironomidae family of midges with his tell-tale plumose antennae. They superficially...

sscnxy

This is an uncropped photo of a 5 mm adult male of the Chironomidae family of midges with his tell-tale plumose antennae. They superficially resemble mosquitos because to the naked eye they look very similar when flying around or after alighting, but unlike mosquitos, Chironomids don’t bite. Trout fisherman know their importance to that fish’s diet, especially the aquatic larval or pupal stages of this tiny insect’s life cycle. For the still-water fly fisherman, there is an old adage: When all else has failed, tie on a midge pattern.

A reversed lens on an extension tube overcame the limits of 1:1 magnification with a regular macro lens, but the DOF is exceedingly narrow with higher magnification. I haven’t progressed to focus stacking yet and would appreciate recommendations on a simple, inexpensive, but dependable focus stacking program for a beginner macro-ist like me. Thanks to all the experts here.

NMY

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dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Although the DOF is very shallow you have submitted a great photo of the chironomid. Well done.
The narrative was excellent too.

Dennis

Don, the 2nd son Loc: Crowded Florida

dennis2146 wrote:

Although the DOF is very shallow you have submitted a great photo of the chironomid. Well done.
The narrative was excellent too.

Dennis

Love midges and their plumes! Difficult to capture a good pic. They spook easily so a longer focal length lens is helpful. I use the Raynox 250 on a 150mm trying for success. Patience and practice, practice I tell myself.

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

What a capture and one to be proud of. Displays great in DDL

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Excellent job as well as an excellent find. They are so small and with very little color they most often get passed by. CombineZP (freeware open source software) is a trusted Windows 10 program that works quite well for focus stacking.

https://windowsreport.com/software/combinezp/

sscnxy

dennis2146 wrote:

Although the DOF is very shallow you have submitted a great photo of the chironomid. Well done.
The narrative was excellent too.

Dennis

Thank you. I like learning from everyone on this forum also. Knowing how shallow the DOF would be at this mag, I had to position the shot to be parallel to its body.

NMY

sscnxy

Don, the 2nd son wrote:

Love midges and their plumes! Difficult to capture a good pic. They spook easily so a longer focal length lens is helpful. I use the Raynox 250 on a 150mm trying for success. Patience and practice, practice I tell myself.

Thank you for your thoughts and ideas. I haven't used a Raynox yet because I'm just trying to stretch my current gear to see what the max performance with them can be. What I've found with reversing a sharp prime lens is that image quality and resolution are not compromised at all, only the working distance, and because of magnification, the DOF is much thinner. I'm still on the uphill learning curve.
Take care.

NMY

sscnxy

Curmudgeon wrote:

What a capture and one to be proud of. Displays great in DDL

Thank you for your encouraging comments. May I ask, what is DDL?
Take care now.

NMY

sscnxy

sippyjug104 wrote:

Excellent job as well as an excellent find. They are so small and with very little color they most often get passed by. CombineZP (freeware open source software) is a trusted Windows 10 program that works quite well for focus stacking.

https://windowsreport.com/software/combinezp/

Hello Sippyjug. You're such an incredible mentor on UHH. Thanks once again for another tip. I'll be sure to check it out and give it a try the next time I get an insect that'll sit still for about 6 shots at least. This midge flew off after half a dozen shots.

NMY

napabob Loc: Napa CA

👍🏻