Macro photography and focusing

[Penny Rinker]

I am posting a photo below and my question is this: I have a Nikkor 85 mm macro lens and I seem to be having trouble getting the "whole subject" in focus. Does anyone have any suggesstions for me? I had the VR on and usually use a tripod but I didn't use one for this shot. I had to track it so to speak so a tripod wouldn't work. I was thinking maybe it was because I was too close? If I back off a bit will I lose the magnification? Thank you and I appreciate any help.

[bancroft]

Hi!
I joined a week ago.This is my first reply.The closer your lens is to the  subject the shallower the depth of focus.You could move back and crop image later in Photoshop or other system.Using a smaller aperture increases depth of focus but means using a slower speed.Hand held you need at least 1/125 second at least to avoid blur. As you do not wish to use a tripod this is difficult to achieve other than by  using flash - perhaps a ringlite.
Macro photography is very difficult out of studio.if you do not use a tripod.
Keep trying!

[Penny Rinker]

Thank you for your reply! I wondered if it had to do with the aperture setting. Later it crossed my mind that the DOF was so shallow and that was probably why it only focused on a tiny part. I'm surprised though because this spider was the size of the head of a straight pin. Very small. That was my first attempt at using the macro lens and I will defintely try again and keep trying until I get it right. I didn't even know the thing had eyes as it was so tiny. I really appreciate your response, thank you. Oh, and I knew I should have had a tripod but with the thing moving so fast I couldn't track it so that's why I hand held the camera. I wonder if a mono pod would work better for situations like that. I have a ring flash on my wish list. (smile)