A bit of (attempted) Macro

Macro is one of those areas of photography I would really like to be able to do well at, but just can’t get the knack of.  I have a great deal of respect for those who are good at it, it’s not like photographing a Roe Deer or a Kingfisher, it’s a whole different skill.  With the sun out and nothing larger at hand to photograph, I attached my 105mm Macro lens and attempted to photograph up close the many Blue Damselflies that were around. The first problem was getting near them.  They were like very twitchy song birds, so like song birds, I thought I'd let them come to me which, after a lot of patience, worked.  Next problem, getting even closer so as to get a ‘real’ macro image which on the 105mm lens means  getting within centimetres of them.  Then there was the focusing – they kept moving, not helped by the wind that also moved them.  The worse was trying to focus so that it would be sharp -  the depth of field was literally millimetres only!  Even my breathing was moving it in and out of focus.  Finally, there was camera shake.  I was trying to compromise between having a decent shutter speed, low ISO and as great a depth of field I could.  I ended up with around average of f8 at 1/125 sec. The resulting images are the best of the bunch, not great and definitely I need more practice and experience.  One scary looking spud up close.  I wouldn’t like to be on its menu!