Common Bagworm Moth - Larvae crop, Heesch, Netherlands

Although the result may not be that shocking, I'm very happy with how this turned out as it's a very tricky shot.

This is a lengthy subject (> 1cm), which means when doing a frontal it is very deep. Given the tiny step size at 5x magnification (20-30 μm), just getting the above limited depth of field is already a 100 photo stack. This in itself is fine, as it's a largely automated process.

Much more problematic is the tiny focus distance between lens and subject. Which means I couldn't actually see the case entry or the larva. I didn't even know if it was in there, or where exactly. It's equally difficult to get any light directed exactly into the case entry, as you just don't have room to maneuver.

Hence I was happily surprised to see the larva at all in the end result. You can actually see it twice, as it moved during the stacking process. I could have Photoshopped that away, but decided to keep it.