First attempt at stacking

[bugmeister]

No bugs indoors (the bathroom spider declined the invitation) so I had to play with something larger.

 

I laid an old watch flat on the worktop about 30-35cm from the lens (Sigma 105) Set to f2.8 so the depth of field is very narrow, and shot a whole series of pictures before combining them.

 

I didn't quite get the far edge in focus but i'm not too displeased with the first attempt.

 

Near edge

Far edge

Stacked

 

Interesting effect from the second hand which was moving during the sequence

 

Now to find something with a better defined far edge to play with...

[annie]

you make it sound so simple.....tut!

[Kobione]

Good one, Bugs. I haven't tried stacking for ages, perhaps I should give it another go.

[NannyFerret]

Very good, bugs.

It's very clever ( and I always thought that these illustrators for books were such perfect photographers )  

[FUJI]

A great effort Bugsy.......Focus Stacking isn't difficult as long you get your focus points right ......using a tripod makes it much easier, but that rules out most living subjects.

Dozy or dead insects ....or.......very obliging or hypnotised subjects might help......Annie is good at insect hypnotism so she shouldn't have any bother;-)

A few unethical focus stackers cool or even freeze insects and bugs, But I strongly disagree with that.

The free sacking software is very easy and logical to use.........it is shooting each frame accurately that takes skill and care.

More please.

FUJI

[Guest DaveW]

There are probably three stages of positioning equipment needed for focus stacking as the magnifications increase:-

 

With lower magnifications you can sometimes hand hold the camera or more usually mount it on a tripod and simply step through the stack by rotating the lens focusing ring.

 

As magnifications get a little higher it is best to move the camera itself backwards and forwards on a focusing rail rather than turn the lens focusing ring since that alters the subject magnification. Focusing rails come in varying degrees of precision:-

 

http://savazzi.freehostia.com/photography/focusing_racks.htm

 

With really high magnifications, where depth of field may be only a couple of millimetres or less, even more precise slides are needed which can move the camera in sub-millimetre increments. Then micro adjustable rails like the following are used:-

 

http://hydracarina.org/915

 

However I don't think any of us have reached that last step yet.