At 08:00 PM 12/15/2003 -0500, you wrote: >If I recall correctly, others have offered various tricks and tips in the past >to establish macro focus where you want it, like putting a gray card the same >distance away as the subject, locking the camera's focus on it, and then >recomposing the shot on the plant to take the picture. Mark, and All. Having been previously spoiled by the focusing and exposure control of my 35 mm SLR, I have been trying to find ways to achieve the same quality with the LCD viewfinder of my digital camera. The method you outline is quite similar to my favorite "field method", in which I place the palm of my hand in the same plane as the subject, then lock the exposure and focus. If there is not room in the composition for my temporary hand, I hold it next to the subject, so that the only re-composition necessary is a slight shift of the camera. For highly contrasting subjects such as Massonia pustulata, (blooming right now) I try to compensate with a digital paint program. Besides the Massonia, Sinningia leucotricha and sellovei continue to push a new blossom occasionally, but there's not much else going on. Jamie