with a 550d and a Canon 60mm macro

And a 13 sec exposure! wowbeautiful:)

nice one with small aperture. I wonder if it had been better with a black background? or green maybe?

Very nice! Thanks for sharing! -- YogiWhen you get down to the nuts and bolts of photography, the results depend on the 'nut' behind the camera!See the 'Plan' in my 'Profile' for my current equipment.

I second that. The shot is nice but I think a darker background ( black?) would be better. Too much light behind distracts from the subject.Regardsraptorxwrote:nice one with small aperture. I wonder if it had been better with a black background? or green maybe?

Thanks for that

f22? Jesus. I'm wondering if such a small aperture was really necessary?

I start seeing too much diffraction effect at anything over f13 with this lens/body.I try to shoot at f8/11/13.Fred

In your exploration with your macro lens, I suggest you try varying your aperture settings. You'll likely find that using f/11 and smaller f/numbers will provide a sharper looking image. With very small apertures such as f/22 youmayget more depth of field while sacrificing detail and sharpness.

Depth of field tables are worth a look but it might actually be better to see the effect of aperture and distance and depth of field in practice by taking shots and examining them.I tend to use an aperture which covers the depth of field that I want and no more. For example if you need a depth of field of four inches an aperture that gives you ten inches may just cause negative issues and give you nothing in return.Inches or yards, it's all the same, and I see little point in using an aperture which gives more depth of field than the scene requires unless of course you are going for a longer exposure.Soz if you know all this already, OP. Good shooting though.

thanks for the advice everyone i shall experiment a bit more as regards to apertures

for wide DOF in macro it's necessary this aperture or a closer one. A white background emphasizes the appearance of this beauty. Black or green background can be used for different purpose. Well done!