True that

Hmm, sounds like an addiction.

Probably. The first image is when you, Kim and myself took a trip to SCBG very near the beginning.
The second one is the one I took 1st place in against you in a photo contest....

I haven't been shooting for a while for various reasons but, I was looking through some of my older images and it reminded me of how things were at the start of my Macro adventure and the feeling I had when I felt I had actually "nailed" a shot.

The Lady Beetle larvae eating a Aphid was to one.

I also included "one" of my favorites that happened much later.

Downloads are a must.....

1st time I got that "Nailed it" feeling

(Download)

Appling some of what I learned over time.

(Download)

Brenda, you have come so far in the last few years... Are you certain the one "attacked" the other, or was it just Spider foreplay...?

Here in SoCal, we pray for cold and specially rainy days. One of the reasons I haven't been shooting Macro for a while now is the lack of subjects, which is due to the lack of rain. Feel fortunate that you live in a wetter climate.

For whatever it's worth... My first impression of the images you provided, was extreme diffraction. I say that because it appears very much like the results I got from not compensating for a tele converter by opening up the aperture to compensate.

The second thing to come to mind is...how clean is the objective lens, as these can be quite difficult to clean since the surface area is so small. One teeny speck can cause big problems.

Perhaps not the exact cause, but something along those lines to at least consider.

.....just a thought.

It's simply yet just another mutation from your backyard.

Who's projecting now?

Consider yourself lucky to have critters to shoot. Douglass and I have no bugs around here for the last few years. We expected the rain we got to bring them back but, it seems that has not been the case.
Please keep indulging us with your endless supply of weirdness. No one has the variety that you come up with from your yard.

Boring or not, at least you are taking pictures and posting them. I haven't seen much from Douglass.........

Fake or not, I still bet you could find one it Tim's (Tinusbum's) backyard.

I believe these easily qualify as Macro, rather than "close ups". Unless, of course they are taken with a cell phone. Then, they may not "technically" be Macro. However, these are very nice Macro shots in my view.

I have posted various spiders missing legs, though I didn't notice until someone else pointed it out then, I couldn't un-see it

It looks as though this spider has lost it's two front legs. If you download and enlarge image 4, you can see the stubs (first joint).