Nightmare macro I just can't grasp it.

I love the art of macro so I bought myself a while back....

Nikon d3200 with 18-55 lens.
nikon 55-200 vr
raynox dcr 250
tamron 70-300 lens with macro function
extender tubes
macro ring flash
and a few other bits.

I don't have the money to buy a specialised macro lens, so I thought the above stuff would maybe help a little.

I just can't get a decent picture no matter how hard I try.
I believe the 70-300 needs to be further away from the subject to get the focus, but the rest I thought you needed to be close and personal?

I can get decent flower shots and other bits, but I wanted closer shots of bugs and water droplets etc
I have a tripod and remote shutter cable but just can get decent focus.
is there a guide to taking these bloody shots?
if not what's the best way?

I'm in a similar situation, but have alot less kit than you. Might be worth having a read about to understand what macro really means. I believe in layman's terms it is the magnification of a subject to 1X its actual size. Its achievable without a dedicated macro lens, it just takes a little more trickery.

I've been practising macro with a lens reversal ring. I've also tried stacking my kit lens onto my zoom lens, which gives some crazy magnification much higher than a macro lens, but the DOF is non existent so it can be tricky, but its possible. To be able to get close enough with your 70-300 you'll need a ring of some sort.

http://www.school-of-digital-photogr...otography.html

I read a good article a while back about a guy who sold his expensive macro kit in favour of the lens stacking technique.

A few shots with a reversed kit lens.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...fe3bbf6d5cee81

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.n...b852c0a83d294b

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.n...fcb12d16508138

Gives you an idea of how close I can get, but without a dedicated flash, I struggle with DOF. Stll learnin', still learnin'.

Nice shots there love the wet wasp / bee.
I may have to get a coupler adapter after a few months of trying to suss out the basics.

Have a look at this thread set up here on Talk Photography. If you have to register, go ahead and do so. Quite a few guys use Macro setups without using dedicated lenses. As I use a dedicated lens I don't have the full knowledge on everything that's required to do it well with reverse adapters / Raynox's etc. however this thread may provide some advice.

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/thr...-macro.551944/