Meet Archie McArthur, an Aussie entomologist visiting AMNH for a week before heading up to Harvard on Sunday. Archie was a farmer for most of his life and took an interest in ants when he retired, since becoming a world authority on certain species.  He even wrote a book. Oh ya, did I mention that he’s 89 years old?  Click to enlarge.

So in order to take the macro shot of different ant species under controlled conditions, Archie, who was a radar repairman during WWII, built his own rig complete with 4 independently controllable flashes on top, bottom, and sides. As well as a ring of LEDs which act as a ringlight to set focus. He shoots tethered into Nikon Capture and then uses a utility to merge the depth of field of a series of shots. It’s nuts and this guy thought of everything, amazing stuff.   You wish you were half as cool as Archie on your best day.