I have that lens and it’s awesome because you can get a tiny sliver of stuff in focus. It’s also difficult to work with because a tiny sliver of stuff might be all that’s in focus, and you can’t really see that sometimes until it’s on the computer as the LCD (lovely though it is) just isn’t big enough for that kind of fine detail.

I don’t want to be “that guy” who blathers on forums, so I’ll just kinda stop, but if you have any questions, feel free to email me. I’ve had a variety of Canons over the years and have done some pretty decent macro photography and am usually pretty decent at not being too technical and blathery when trying to explain things.

Seriously though, there is no shame in giving in to auto-focus. I discovered very quickly that it makes life much easier. And AP mode should definitely make your shots a bit closer to what you’re accustomed to. My camera (an Olympus e-volt 500) has a setting for doing extreme close-ups also,sort of a psudo-macro effect. If your camera has an equivalent setting, you might want to give it a try while your becoming accustomed to the manual settings.

My cilantro bolts like a motherfucker, too. I’ve given up.

I think your photos look far better than any of mine!

rob, i think so? i have aperture priority mode, which i think is called ADep on the camera mode wheel of fortune. i’m working on it while i make good friends with autofocus.

amy, we always have awesome luck w/our veg, even tho we don’t have a lot of space. enrich the dirt with cow poop every year and reap the benefits.

also: i suck in aperture priority mode as well.

kristin, heh. these were the best out of many craptacular shots. they were also doctored before seeing the light of day. let there be no illusions.

fuzzy, yes, but we have our dignity. well, most of us do.

She’s been laughing her fool head off for a long time, all the way to the bank, every day…

And awesome tomato shot. I’m so jealous you’re capable of growing those in your yard.