Opa, you are going to have to learn to share! Congrats on your new buddy.

Canon 430EXll, manual mode , used different power settings 1/32 1/16 and settings in between. I think you hit the nail on the head about the background, after all I had a chance to pick and choose since I had to chill the cat to slow it down. I used a purple colored leaf off of a neighbors tree. I thought the light colored cat would go nice with the leaf. I guess I need to consider ALL parts of the setup. A lesson learned.
Douglass thank you so much for the time you spend sharing your expertise with us rookies in macro photography.

Thanks for your comment. I was using diffused flash. Need to improve my flash understanding.

Thanks Douglass. I have been trying to teach my grandson to leave unfamiliar bugs and such alone. He is very inquisitive and wants to mess with everything.

found this guy in one of my shrubs. Quite active, had to chill it down. returned to shrub unharmed. The feet on this thing brought to mind the pads on the lunar lander.

full body about 20mm long

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detail of feet

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Thank you so much Dixiegirl.

Thanks, Ron. Always like favorable comments. But constructive criticism is appreciated also.

Steve, no I have not varied the apertures, these were shot at 11or 16, can't remember right now. I have not been much for abstracts, guess I don't have an artistic side. But that is something to explore. Thanks Steve for the advice.

Thanks, Bret glad you liked them.

Thanks for your comment. The three shots were an attempt to get the best focus that I could get of the same bug. There is only seconds between shots. The third shot was a real surprise to me when I took a look on the computer. I think in focus or not the third shot is quite comical.

Thanks Dook.

Thanks, Linda!

just out looking for things to shoot

lilly

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old magnolia blossom

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flowers in my wifes garden

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Was out practicing focusing my technique, which needs a lot of work. Its hard enough to get one shot in focus let alone hand stacking. I am really envious of many of you folks and your skills. But any way I was stalking this critter and startled him I guess. The first and second shots the focus is getting close I think, but the third shot what can I say, not even close. He just got outta Dodge!

#1

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#2

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#3

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A tripod will only hold your camera still, you will still have to pay attention to your horizon and adjust for it. You can also correct it in PP , but you will loose some of your picture depending how far off level you are. I see you are shooting with a T3, you might want to refer to your manual and see if the camera has a level indicator in it. But you really need to pay attention in the view finder.
PS: I'm from NY but now live in NC. Love the mountains in upstate NY.
PPS: just looked at your photos again and you have some really neat shots!
REMEMBER TO WATCH YOUR HORIZON LINE AND KEEP SHOOTING