Please advise!

I have been an ardent reader of

for the last few years and have benefited a lot from the articles that taught me a lot about shooting. I graduated to a D-SLR a year back, with Nikon D5000, 1855mm lens ( kit lens) and the 55-200mm f/4-5.6 lens. I have a few questions: 1. I want to purchase a macro lens for photographing flowers and insects, as also for some portrait photography (the main aim is flower and relatively large sized insects). Which macro lens would be ideal for that? 2. I plan to start night photography, like taking pictures of cityscapes at night using very long exposures. For that, I plan to buy a remote shutter release. Which shutter release should I opt for? 3. For both night photography and macro photography (and many other types of photography as well), I need a sturdy tripod. Can you please suggest a tripod which is sturdy, but not exorbitantly priced? Subhajit Chaudhuri, Agartala 1. Considering the equipment you have, I suggest a AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8G ED ( Rs.36,450) lens, which will be equivalent to 90mm on your D5000. This can also serve you as a portrait lens. If not, consider the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro lens (approximately Rs.23,000), which will be equivalent to 135mm on your D5000. Alternately, buy 52mm close-up filters (+1 and +2) of any good make (Cokin or Kenko. Should be available within Rs.1000). 52mm filters will fit both your current lenses. Attaching both the filters (always attach the +2 first) will get you a +3 equivalent. Generally, it is suggested not use close-up filters with zoom lenses, but I have seen some great close-up images using the mentioned combo. Once your interest in close-up photography grows, you may consider buying a dedicated macro lens. 2. The idea of using a remote shutter release is to avoid the possibility of camera movement when the shutter release button is pressed. You could set your D5000 to the self-timer mode (either to 2 or 5 seconds) and save yourself some money. After setting up the selftimer, press the shutter release on your tripod mounted camera, let go of the 3. You could buy a Manfrotto 190 series tripod ( legs) with a suitable ‘ head’, but I would suggest getting a Manfrotto 055XDB model (aluminium legs) instead, with a 496RC2 ball head. The reason I am suggesting the 055XDB over the 190 series is that sooner or later, you may buy a longer (and heavier lens). That time too, the suggested combo will serve you well. The combo is not too expensive.