I initially took these pictures to explain to Anna Yu the very cheap and simple Macro set-up I used on my Everyday Objects gallery, but then thought they may be of general interest as it overcomes two of the major hurdles to people trying macro for the first time, namely the high cost of ; 1. A true macro lens (1:1 ratio or greater) 2. A macro or ringflash set-up.
The set-up comprises; An extension tube, which can be seen as the 'extra section' with the blue release button fitted between the rear of the lens and the body of the camera. Available in sets of three these are relatively inexpensive, Mine were about £30 for canon ef albeit a few years ago and can be used singly or in combination. This allows the camera to focus much closer than the lens used separately, whilst maintaining AF and AE function. More-or-less any lens can be used including zooms, although wide-angle lenses require absurdly short subject to lens distances, making lighting tricky.
The next part is the lighting which I achieve using a piece of aluminium foil wrapped round the head of any hotshoe mounted flashgun to form a tube which is then taped in place. The end of the tube is eased open as shown, and curved round slightly to flood the area in front of the lens with light and bingo there you have it!
Set the camera to manual, the white balance to flash, and the ISO to100 and you're ready to go. As you're shooting digital you can simply arrive at the correct exposure by trial and error, typical settings for me are 1/60 sec at f 5.6-8
Focussing is most easily achieved in Manual focus mode by; Zooming (this also affects framing), or by moving the camera backwards and forwards with the shutter button depressed halfway to give you focus confirmation. In most cases indoors there will be insufficient ambient light to register as blur when hand-holding so I dispense with the tripod and can shoot very quickly.
The foil reflector also makes a very serviceable portable portrait light providing quite strong modelling without harsh shadows. The affect can be modified quite extensively just by moulding the foil into different shapes and sizes. If your flashgun has a tilt facility this can be used as well.
Enough rambling! I hope this is of benefit to some people who may be inspired to try macro for the first time.