Played around with the macro lens this afternoon.  Not too pleased with the ring shots but that's what happens when I didn't have a vision to begin with.  I have about 10 of them but most of them weren't very sharp.  The actual focus point is lower than what I expected.  I focused on my engagement ring rock, but as you can see from my second picture, the wedding band got the focus.  I'm not sure if it's something i didn't do right, or something's wrong with the lens or the camera.  I used a tripod.

Constructive criticism is welcome!

lens: EF 50mm 1:2.5  Body: Canon 20D

I happened to be working on a doll, so took some shots of her too:

I was trying to portray how much work it was to make her dress, but couldn't figure out a composition that tells a story and aesthetically pleasing at the same time.  This one, for example, is way too busy for my taste.  So I made it B&W to quiet it dwon:

I really like the contrast of two fabrics I picked for her:

More pics of the craft are here

Can you pinpoint what it is about it that you aren't happy with?  Other than the POF? 

I noticed with mine, when I get back away from the subject and then zoom in while on macro, it does a LOT better.

I think these look really good, but I am by no means a macro expert.  Maybe someone with a little more experience with macro can help you identify what it is you're not happy with...

I'm mostly unhappy with the focus. Background-wise, I like the pink tulle the best. But because of the focus problem, I could only pick one, which I had to sharpen.

I'll try your trick next time.  What kind of macro lens do you have?

I don't, I just use the macro setting.  It works decent enough for as little as I've used it (twice, I think?), although your post has got me wanting to go out and try tomorrow, lol.

this is from the second time I used it.  I was just playing around so I didn't pay much attention to the details in the background, lol. In other words, ignore the fuzzy blanket, lol.  Ths was taken with the rings at camera level.

macro lenses are built differently. the dof are extremely thin. You don't really want to shoot the lens wide open. You want to close the aperture a bit and you'll see more of your subject in focus.

Here is my macro shot from today...it took a lot of hard work!

Great shot summer!

I feel like it is not as clear as I would have hoped...I don't know what the heck I did wrong. I didn't tripod it and it is 100mm macro so I had a ton of camera shake!

That's a great shot, summer.  What's the surface?  It looks intersting.  What was the shutter speed?