Well, I think you did an excellent job on the DOF considering that the fly was the subject and it's very clear and the background fades and does not distract...so as a macro it works beautifully. So you're studying from the ground up, eh? You'll know it all by the time you're done. Photoshop will seem a breeze to you after developing your own, although I know there is a scanner for negatives and photos that you might be able to get cheaper with academic pricing, but perhaps you know all about that :) :)

♥PJ♥

This is a really interesting photograph. The noisiness just does something for me -- not too much, but enough to be artistic, captivating. I can easily imagine this wall size, or small and framed. Great image!

I agree, you've done very well with the DOF here :) I would also say that the composition is an intelligent one: the fly is almost centered, just enough to make it visible without being boring. I also love the leaves that seem to encircle it, and the DOF does the trick as the leaves go from being very sharp in the bottom left corner, to fade into "fuzziness", all in favor of this little fly. As Scott says, this is a very interesting photograph, well done Michael!

Terrific job, Michael, just as PJ described.