>>4288210Do you have a tripod? If not, go get a tripod. For macro of live subjects (insects really) I can't say it will help as much, that's coming down to aperture, flash and diffuser, etc. The attached photo for example, I should've actually manually focused that image and tried to get the whole caterpillar body in focus rather than just its head segments.
But for something static like fungi or plants, you should get a tripod in play, and preferably trigger your camera via the bluetooth app and then just work settings until you get a smooth stack. That also means you can do something like a 150 image stack which would let you get every single piece of your image in focus.
>>4289219Long macro lenses are generally pretty solid portrait lenses. Any 'clinical' aspect to their rendering can always be solved in post or via a filter.