Scales

A worker at the zoo gave my son a deceased butterfly for him to turn in at the nature exchange. Unfortunately because it came from the zoo's property they couldn't accept it, but he did get points for learning about the wings. After seeing the scales on the microscope, I decided to see what I could do with a macro setup.

It almost looks soft and carpeted:

Using the reversed lens trick, the scales are easily distinguishable:

Both of these images were lit with nothing more than a 3-D mag-light fitted with an LED replacement bulb. Shot at ISO 1600. I was quite happy that it provided enough light for me to photograph.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler - Albert Einstein
7D, 40D, Sigma 10-20 EX HSM, Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 SP XR Di II, EF 50 F1.8, EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS, Sigma 1.4x TC, Kenko Tubes, Sigma EF-500 DG ST Flash
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http://www.flickr.com/​photos/lordv/
http://www.lordv.smugm​ug.com/
Macro Hints and tips
Canon 600D, 40D, 5D mk2, 7D, Tamron 90mm macro, Sigma 105mm OS, Canon MPE-65,18-55 kit lens X2, canon 200mm F2.8 L, Tamron 28-70mm xrdi, Other assorted bits

Canon 6D
Canon 70-200 F4L, Canon 24-70 F4L

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler - Albert Einstein
7D, 40D, Sigma 10-20 EX HSM, Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 SP XR Di II, EF 50 F1.8, EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS, Sigma 1.4x TC, Kenko Tubes, Sigma EF-500 DG ST Flash
Flickr - Blog

Canon shooter (7D, 40D). Lightroom & Photoshop user.
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5D Mk IV & 7D Mk II
EF 16-35 f/4L EF 50 f/1.8 (Original) EF 24-105 f/4L EF 100 f/2.8L Macro EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L[/FONT]

sdo wrote in post #10599886
Cool. How do you hold the reversed lens on? By hand? Are you holding it right up against the lens of the 70-200?

A series of step up/down rings and a reversing ring. If you're lucky, you can find a ring that does the reversing and the stepping all at once. In my case, I think it's a stack of about 3 rings. If I'm not careful with focal length, I can get some pretty serious vignetting on the corners.

Here's a ring that reverses and steps directly to the appropriate lens sizes:

http://www.google.com …ring+52mm+67mm&​hl=en&aq=f

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler - Albert Einstein
7D, 40D, Sigma 10-20 EX HSM, Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 SP XR Di II, EF 50 F1.8, EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS, Sigma 1.4x TC, Kenko Tubes, Sigma EF-500 DG ST Flash
Flickr - Blog

They call me Bruce
Canon EOS Rebel T3i. 18-135mm IS; Canon 75-300 4.5/5.6; Canon 50mm 2.5 compact Macro+ Canon Life-size converter +10 Close Up. Meike MK-14 EXT Ring-Flash.