Recently I tried the technique to shooting hand-held macro photography - it was so liberating! No longer restricted by the degree to which I can set my tripod legs, or the angle that my lens can tilt to once attached to the tripod, being able to quickly move my camera around to catch fast-moving insects, don't you feel tempted by all this freedom? I certainly do!

With this new-found freedom, I was able to poke my camera lens into the flowerbeds, entering into the world of insects that I otherwise may have missed. Here are a few fantastic scenes that I found in the garden.

First I caught a black ant climbing around leaves searching for the perfect part to cut out and take back to its colony. The serrated edge of the leaf adds interest to the image.

Then I found this four-lined plant beetle attempting to camouflage itself among the yellow flower, but its dark black stripes gave it away!

Finally I was lucky to find this caterpillar on display. Usually I'm not a fan of caterpillars, but I've never seen such a colourful one, covered with blue and brown dots, and tufts of hair along its body. A rare thing for me to say, but what a beautiful caterpillar! Added to this is the vibrant flower on which it rests!

A minor drawback to this hand-held photo technique is that quick bursts of shots are needed to increase the success rate. But with the current camera technology and memory card speed/storage capacities, it is easily doable and well worth the effort to capture these beauties in the world of insects!