I've been building a macro platform a little at a time for the past few months and it's finally nearly done! The primary goal is a stable platform for the subject, camera, and lighting to minimize shaking/vibrations. When taking photos at high magnification the vibration of someone walking by can cause motion blurr in photos. Things really need to be solid. The second goal was for it to be compact enough to be usable on the RV once we get back on the road. One of the biggest struggles was getting good lighting on tiny subjects, but I think I've finally got that solved. In the photo you can see that I'm using a 4x microscope objective lens. Attached to the lens is an extra-large ping-pong ball. The subject is held inside the ball and I hit it top and bottom with a couple of flashes which gives me 360 degrees of smooth, diffuse light. I've included my first test shot as well - a focus stack of 78 images. I've got a diffusion issue making things look a little soft, but the lighting is exactly what I was looking for. Metallic beetles are gonna look awesome! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ #bbcwildlifemagazine #photooftheday #instagood #naturebrilliance #natgeoimagecollection #artofvisuals #amazingphotohunter #earth_shotz #usaprimeshot #naturfotografie #ignature #nature_captures #photography #picoftheday #travelphotography #wanderlust #geoexplore #roamtheplanet #nomads #photowalk #natgeoyourshot #redditphotography #macro #macrophotography #diy https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ8druInOgu/?igshid=shk67raqhty2