@thepictures A good lens (I have a 100mm) , good light and a tripod also works, if you find that you don't have a tripod , then steady hands and holding your breath helps a lot ;-)
I like to do abstract images when doing plant macros
When photographing things from home, the macro lenses manages to pick up things the naked eye doesn't see so well...tiny dust specs being one thing which is the bane of my life.
Good light and a VERY steady hand or a tripod! The number of shots I've had at the extreme end of what my equipment can do, but failed because my hand wasn't steady enough.
Depth-of-field is a massive challenge for macro work. If you like lots of detail you need to shoot with a narrow aperture, often the smallest available (though you sacrifice some sharpness due to diffraction). In that case you'll almost certainly need to use flash, though it is possible to work with a tripod, just not in the wind. To do it on the cheap google "home made ring flash". Alternatively, you could investigate focus-stacking techniques to obtain extended or unlimited depth of field, without losing sharpness.
Personally, I like very shallow DOF and lots of blur so hand holding isn't usually a problem.
Alex, You have the Micro nikkor? Nikon have more than one 200mm. but only one of them I am aware of is a true macro lens.
Assuming you have this, @dieter gave good advice. I would add experiment with your lens to see where increased depth of field is offset by the diffraction. Every lens has a different sweet spot.
@lilbudhha good point :) and if you don't have a true macro you could try looking into extension tubes or reverse lensing before investing $$$ in a real one
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I like to do abstract images when doing plant macros
When photographing things from home, the macro lenses manages to pick up things the naked eye doesn't see so well...tiny dust specs being one thing which is the bane of my life.
Good luck and enjoy :-)
Personally, I like very shallow DOF and lots of blur so hand holding isn't usually a problem.
Assuming you have this, @dieter gave good advice. I would add experiment with your lens to see where increased depth of field is offset by the diffraction. Every lens has a different sweet spot.