I had a specific idea in mind for this collection of photographs, an idea which I will be expanding on in the future. These are all set up single light images which have been focus stacked. I almost really like the last of these images with the daisy. However I can’t get it to look quite right. There is a reason it is called filename-Edit-edit-3.tif.

Theses shots were all taken with a studio flash head and a manual macro rail. Adjusting the focus, waiting for the vibrations to stop, taking a photo, adjusting the focus… takes a long time. I’ve since built an automated focusing rail which is much more accurate and leaves me free to make a cup of tea.

The depth of focus in macrophoto is tiny. It is even narrower when using a microscope. In microscopy ‘optical sectioning’ is a vital tool in resolving 3D structure. However, in macrophotography we often want to take front-to-back pin-sharp images. For this, we take hundreds of photos, align them, and merge them so that only the in focus details are included. Luckily, there is software for this, but if you look at the photo of the daisy up close, you’ll see how this can go badly wrong.