This Week in Macro: Purpose, Precision, and Post-Production

Before we begin this week’s update, I’d like to take a quiet moment to acknowledge the significance of today.

Memorial Day, for many, marks the turning of the season — the start of summer plans and outdoor gatherings. But its deeper purpose is a solemn one: to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives in the course of military service. I don’t say this in celebration of war or valor, but in recognition of absence — of brothers, sisters, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, wives and husbands, of friends, teammates, and coworkers, of neighbors, of lovers, and of complete strangers.

Regardless of one’s views on conflict or country, the human cost of war is something we ignore at our peril. Today is a day to hold that truth gently, to remember those who left too soon, and to honor them with quiet thoughtfulness and gratitude.

Let me tell you what is coming up this week…

Tuesday @ 8PM CT — Macro Talk: Purpose, Planning, and Presence

This Tuesday, I’ll be diving into a topic that sits quietly beneath almost every good photograph: the balance between purpose, planning, and presence.

Whether you set out with a clear intention or find yourself stumbling into beauty unannounced, most meaningful images arise from some fusion of intent and openness. We’ll unpack the role of:

– Purpose — knowing why you’re shooting

– Planning — structuring how you’ll shoot

– Presence — staying receptive to what the moment actually gives you

Along the way, I’ll offer practical exercises and practical challenges you can incorporate into your next shoot, no matter your subject or gear. This is one for both the thinkers and the wanderers.

Here is your link to the Livestream… https://youtube.com/live/zLZCjbbLTio?feature=share

Thursday @ 2PM CT — Macro Talk Too: The Illusion of Precision

On Thursday, we’ll turn our attention to something a little more technical — and something I don’t think I have talked about in this setting before.

As some of you know that I’ve spent the past couple of years converting old Olympus and Nikon microscopes into ultra-precise, motorized focus stacking platforms. These rigs can theoretically step in increments as small as 0.0625 microns for the Olympus and down to a crazy 0.0312 microns for the Nikon. But here’s the hard truth: there’s no affordable way to confirm that’s actually happening.

I spent most of the last weekend testing each of the four focus rigs I am currently working with. I am not going to send one of these devices out to its new owner without making sure that my claims regarding the precision and accuracy of the conversion are demonstrated. But how? So this livestream is about the limitations of measuring precision in a setting other than a metrology office or laboratory, with the goal of answering these questions …

– Why micro-stepping values don’t always mean real movement

– Why dial indicators, even good ones, fall short in the sub-micron range

– Why visual tests are often more reliable than mechanical ones

– And how to earn trust through transparency, even when the numbers can’t be unequivocally proven

If you’re building or modifying your own focus system, or are just curious about how deep this rabbit hole goes, you won’t want to miss it.

And, as always, your link to the livestream is here - https://youtube.com/live/0E3okQi8lIU?feature=share

Saturday @ 10AM CT — AfterStack 24

We’ll wrap the week with AfterStack 24, this week’s episode our twice-monthly post-processing conversation on Zoom. This is a casual but highly engaged session where Bud Perrott and I lead a discussion in which we explore all things post-production in macro photography. Bring your latest stack, your thorniest artifact, or just a question that’s been bugging you and let’s see what this awesome group of macro minds can do to help. Here is your invitation - the meeting is free and everyone is welcome!

Allan Walls is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: AfterStack 24 with Bud Perrott

Time: May 31, 2025 10:00 AM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6916802815?pwd=TS9tZi9ZL1NXeVUvOUF4eTg5YjdlZz09&omn=86040185988

Meeting ID: 691 680 2815

Passcode: 678122

As always, everyone at any skill level is welcome. It’s not about perfection — it’s about curiosity and craft.

I hope to see at one or more of these events, but if not, have a fantastic first week of summer anyway!

Allan

Planning Ahead

Studio starting to look a lot better!

Summer is half over andI have no idea where the first half went - but I have a feeling the second half is not going to go by any slower. So this probably the perfect time to start thinking about the rapidly approaching “off-season” for insect photography. If you, like me, want to plan for a productive winter in the studio, the time to do so is now. For the first time in many years I have had to come to grips with the reality of an honest to goodness winter season - and I am not talking about the kind of winter that I am used to - the kind that consists of a week or two of temperatures in the mid-fifties. In just a few more weeks I will be faced with some of the harshest winter weather that the North American continent can produce. The Midwest is well known for its long, cold, wet ,and windy winters, with heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures being absolute certainties.

Every year, in the early fall, I will devote a little time to talk about the changing seasons but it has always been with a sort of academic detachment - like I was describing the conditions one might expect to encounter during a visit to one of Jupiter’s smaller moons. This year I feel a slightly greater sense of urgency and have decided to tackle this question both earlier and more thoroughly than I have in the past. And with this in mind our preparations for the coming winter kick off this week with a two part livestream titled “Planning Ahead”.

In  Part I, on Tuesday July 23rd, I am going to lay the ground work for a series of more detailed and specific discussions that will deal with exactly how we can get the most out of the coming winter. In this first session I will talking mostly about the things we can do to  extend the insect photography season, though later on I will  be getting into several other macro disciplines that also require some careful planning. Here are a few of the specific issues I will discuss on Tuesday:

Setting realistic goals

Making a “Catch List”

Dry cleaning vs. wet cleaning

Pre-posing cleaned subjects

Dealing with eyes

The importance of maintaining an up to date “catch catalogue” and shooting schedule

Stocking up on supplies

Planning for bycatch

Dealing with soft bodies and the role of taxidermy

Storage for shipping vs. storage for shooting

Live storage

Never wet and never dry subjects

Avoiding stress

Chemical consequences

Purchased specimens and the difference between commercial drying and home drying

Size matters

Don’t forget the background

To Kroil or not to Kroil?

Sounds like a lot to cover? It is - but that is why I am starting this discussion earlier than I have done in past years. And most of these topics will covered separately and in more depth in future livestreams and video presentations. But for now, here is your invitation to the livestream… https://youtube.com/live/J3aulAGOWDI?feature=share

The first of these deeper dives  will be presented on Thursday when I get into to the very practical matter of pre-shoot temporary storage of posed and unposed specimens.

This is a subject I have not previously presented at such a granular level, but just exactly how do you store cleaned and posed insects for future photography? In this stream I will show you the storage methods that I personally use and I will also show you exactly how I make the storage vessels I prefer. Think of it as a mini-DIY tutorial  - easy to do and extremely helpful. Here is your invitation to the livestream… https://youtube.com/live/YDUkWV0kg0w?feature=share

If you are waiting for the recording from Saturday’s  Pzoom livestream, it is posted over on Patreon - and it was a good one! I have also posted a copy of the chat, which is packed with useful links and other cool information.

But if you are waiting for the release of the “Tangent - 3D modeling livestream”, it was released today and can be seen by following this YouTube link, or you can simply click the video link https://youtu.be/L2r4ziTplXo, and just watch it from here…

This is a non-Pzoom weekend coming up, but that means it is time for another “After Stack” post-production workshop and roundtable discussion with Bud Perrott and yours truly.

This week we are going to be taking a closer look at all the different ways that we can refine masks in Photoshop and other non-destructive phot-editors. If you have not come to one of these events in the last, this would be a great time to change that as this promises to be an extremely practical and helpful session for anyone doing their own macro photography editing (in other words, for everyone). Don’t miss it - Saturday morning at 10AM. This is a Zoom event so you will need a copy of the invitation to attend - and here it is -

Allan Walls is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: After Stack with Bud Perrott and Allan Walls

Time: Jul 27, 2024 10:00 AM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6916802815?pwd=TS9tZi9ZL1NXeVUvOUF4eTg5YjdlZz09&omn=88626705185

Meeting ID: 691 680 2815

Passcode: 678122

The July Macro Competition is wrapping up next week, so if you have not submitted your entry for the month you need to be thinking about getting that done before NEXT THURSDAY! The theme is “It Came from the Grocery Store” - a macro photograph of something you could find at the local grocery shop - shot at 1:2 or greater magnification. You can submit up to two images unless you have previously won this competition, in which case you may only submit a single entry. Harold Hall is my guest judge for this event and I am really looking forward to this one!

Lastly, I am trying to get a headcount for the upcoming “First Annual Midwest Macro Picnic and Livestream” - if you are interested in participating in a free, live, wide-angle macro workshop, somewhere in Illinois during the first or second weekend of September, you need to let me know how many people you are bringing and where you are coming from (so I can choose a venue that is maximally convenient for everyone). You can message me through the Walls App (https://www.walls-app.com) or the Patreon messaging system, but you need to do it right away - I have a lot of arrangements to make!