Hi glenngosack, tough I do touch up some of them, most of my photos are presented in their unadulterated original format. When i do touch them up it usually involves something such as blurring excessive noise, etc. I'm pretty good a photo manipulation but I generally don't. My equipment is average at best.

Panosonic Lumix DMC/FZ8 with close-up lens.
Nikon D-50 with a 60mm macro lens, assorted diopters.

My secret (aside from patience) is simply this, I take about 20 or 30 photos with different exposures, etc and pick out the best one. Even with this method I sometimes don't acquire a shot I'm happy with. That's what makes digital cameras so great, you can afford to experiment until you get it right.

Also my friend, remember, you can take great photos with average equipment. Trust me on this.

For clarity in macro. Use a tripod of something else to steady your camera, at these shallow fields of depth even a slight movement can throw it out of focus.

Thanks for your interest and appreciation.