Trying to get macro photos of small animals (with a reverse ring) 1/3

I’ve got a reverse ring for my 18-55 mm lens two years ago. With this I was able to take macro photos and when I took my first series of cacti I was satisfied. I used this technique mostly for flowers and plants since I couldn’t imagine how one can take macro pictures about insects and bugs. Because you need a bit longer shutter speed to get enough light into your camera (even with fully opened aperture), which means the insect or bug must remain motionless during shooting. But they won’t stay in place because for a macro picture you have to get really close to your subject which will scare them and they’ll fly or run away leaving only a blurry picture in your camera. When I use longer shutter speed I also need a tripod because my hands are not stable enough. So when I see a bug or insect I have to move slowly to the small animal and not to scare it away, I have to set the height and angle of my tripod, then set the sharpness and press the release button of my camera. At the end I only can hope that the insect won’t move for the last one and a half second which I need for a sharp picture. But if the insect moves during any part of my preparations then I have to start everything from the beginning, set the tripod, the sharpness etc. until the insect remains still for long enough and I can finish the preparations and take the picture. It seems to me like an impossible mission. Still there are tons of amazing macro pictures on the internet so I decided a month ago that I’ll try my best to get some good macro pictures of small animals.

My first challenge was a little bug. He moved a lot so I always had to follow him. After an hour I was exhausted and gave up. When I saw my pictures on my computer I was glad that there is at least one picture which I can share. So here is the bug:

Here is a picture with a middle sized painted egg and the bug, so you can see how small the bug is:

If you would like to read more about macro photography with reverse ring you can find great infos here.