Io moth

This is an io moth which is native to North America. Even though I used the smallest lens aperture on my lens, f/32, I made sure the back of the camera -- i.e. the plane of the digital sensor -- was as parallel as possible to the plane of the moth's wings to maximize depth of field. That meant I had to be above the moth shooting straight downward. I took this with a 50mm macro lens, and I used a Canon ring flash to illuminate the insect. A ring flash, when placed inches from the subject, simulates diffused ambient light by enveloping the subject with light. I usually prefer shadowless lighting for macro subjects because this reveals all of their remarkable detail without any dark shadows obscuring certain areas. My settings were 1/160, f/32, and 200 ISO, and I hand held the camera.