@dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world replied with a link to their excellent focus stacking guide. If you crack this post open again you'll find it. Between that guide and my post you should have plenty of content to rabbit hole (eg focus stacking, lighting, framing, depth of field, gear, etc).

As with all things hobby, if you want to get good at something you need to going out and do it. You'll learn a ton by trying and asking questions. The information you seek will become a lot more meaningful because you'll be able to relate it to your own insights.

Deciding how to approach macro photography is no different than any other area in photograph - it greatly depends on your current gear, budget, and what you intend to photograph. If you're on a shoestring budget and all you have is a cellphone, odds you can start getting up close and personal with that alone. For $20-50 you can get an external lens to start making some pretty good macro photos. If you already own a dedicated camera you can get an extension tube (cheap), reverse lens mount (cheap), diopter (still pretty cheap), and/or a dedicated macro lens (pricier to expensive).

Your gear will influence how you approach macro photography. Two easy examples:

• Some cameras can shoot a quick burst with focus bracketing. This makes capturing a series of photos for focus staking a lot easier
• The smaller your sensor the more depth of field you'll have. If your camera has a larger sensor you'll likely need external lighting (flash, etc) before someone with a smaller sensor would

How you approach macro photography also depends on what you want to photograph. Focus bracketing may become impractical in some situations (eg bugs, etc), so stopping down and using a flash may be be a good approach. If you plan on walking around and finding interesting subject you don't need to worry about bringing a tripod, a stick or dowel will be just fine. You can also freehand with flash or go without one completely. If you dig through my posts you'll find a number on !beebutts@lemmy.world that were handheld with no flash.

As a parting thought, keep in mind that macro photograph opens the world immediately around you to tons of interesting photo opportunities between getting a lot more up-close-and-personal to a subject than people are normally used to, a much greater ease of controlling things like lighting, and the ability to completely eliminate backgrounds in photos thanks to tight framing and shallow depth of field.

First of all, I'm offended that you would suggest a catapult over the far superior trebuchet. Second of all, niether a catapult or a slingshot can go pew pew.