when I'm shooting, I use different techniques. With this moth, I was on my woodworking bench with sort of a portable studio setup. The moth was captured and cooled for a moment in the refridgerator. Most of the time the moth will stay put for awhile as I capture the images. Right after I finish shooting, I let the moth go.

Usually I have a leaf or a small piece of wood to place the specimen on. For the side and dorsal shots, I rest my left hand on the workbench while holding the end of the lens. My thumb and index finger act as sort of a yoke to hold the lens. My right hand is holding the 40D on the grip. I don't go beyond 2x magnification.

For these close up shots at 2.5-5x, I will actually pick up the leaf and very carefully hold it with left thumb and index finger while resting the end of the lens on my hand. The right hand is on the camera grip. A balancing act for sure, but with lots of practice, you will get results. This is something I really like about the close working distance of this lens. One can hold the subject very near the front element making for easy positioning.

Out in the field, things are a little different. Learning to hold the camera as steady as possible while you get as many frames of your specimen as you can before it leaves the scene. I usually don't go beyond 2x magnification when shooting in this fashion.

Sometimes I get lucky in the field and find a critter that won't leave when I take hold of the plant or whatever it is perched on. Then I can use the same technique that I use when I am getting the close up head shots of the moths.

I hope this helps you as I would have much greater success actually showing you these methods. I've seen your images and they are looking great. Just keep at it!

These are the very same methods I use. I'll make one addition, I use diffusers on the twin flash. This means I can't get quite as close to the subject without the diffuser touching the ground (or leaf or whatever the creature is on). That actually helps me stabilize the lens. When I've used 5X plus extenders for photos of 0.3 mm mites, I was actually pressing the flash (tilted toward the specimen) into the dirt.

Puffer diffusers on my MT-24 flash. They work pretty well and I hot glued them on so they will stay put. Unless I break the glue bead which is easy to repair.

My flash is the ring light version, not the dual head, this could cause some problems with this method, but I'll definitely give it a try.... not tomorrow though, I REALLY need to stop playing with bugs and gets some reading for class done! 25+ books this semester, it's crazy!