These were all shot during two afternoons at a birdhouse in our yard. And I thought bird seed was nasty. Do you see what these guys are eating??
All were shot with a Nikon 300 f4.5 ED with 36mm of Kenko extension. Shooting distance was between 5-7 feet--the Kenko extension gets me down to the 5 ft range. All images were shot at either f11 or f16, and the camera and flash were on a tripod for all but the solo mom shots at top.
BTW, the Nikkor 300 f4.5 ED can be bought used for under $200, and it has great sharpness and close-focus ability. Couple it with an extension tube and you have a great near-macro capability for a song.
Eric