I'm an American network engineer working in the Campania region of Italy, currently living in Lago Patria. So I'm pretty much just a geek with a macro lens. I've been shooting single frame macro hand held for 15 years, and if you have any questions about macro photography or light I'd be happy to help! Just don't ask me about focus stacking 
Several people have asked about the magnification that I include with my images and if I'm including the crop factor of the sensor. Cropping an image, either with a smaller than full frame sensor or in post, creates an enlargement and does not change the magnification. The MP-E 65mm macro lens that I use has magnification markings on the barrel and that's how I can tell what magnification I'm shooting at. The depth in my images is due to the way that I twist my wrist to lay the area of acceptable focus over the curve of the critter's face. After 15 years of shooting macro hand held I've built up a lot of muscle memory.
Trachusa interrupta, male.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F14, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (3x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Denoise AI and Clarity in that order. I held the grass stalk close to a wall to keep the background from being black.
View attachment 15527Snoozing Resin Bee II by John Kimbler, on Flickr
Several people have asked about the magnification that I include with my images and if I'm including the crop factor of the sensor. Cropping an image, either with a smaller than full frame sensor or in post, creates an enlargement and does not change the magnification. The MP-E 65mm macro lens that I use has magnification markings on the barrel and that's how I can tell what magnification I'm shooting at. The depth in my images is due to the way that I twist my wrist to lay the area of acceptable focus over the curve of the critter's face. After 15 years of shooting macro hand held I've built up a lot of muscle memory.
Trachusa interrupta, male.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F14, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (3x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Denoise AI and Clarity in that order. I held the grass stalk close to a wall to keep the background from being black.
View attachment 15527Snoozing Resin Bee II by John Kimbler, on Flickr
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