I find macro photography very fascinating and at the same time quite difficult. Many of the subjects are small and very agile insects that seem to enjoy flying away or moving around just when you have them in focus. And because you get so close to your subject, the part of the subject you get sharp in the photo is very small and the foreground and background quickly out of focus. Sometimes that is the effect you want to achieve, but at other times you want just a little more of the subject in focus. For subjects that move more quietly or even stand still, I often use focus bracketing. My Olympus camera (now OM Systems) has the focus bracketing function built in, and because I have placed it under a quick-selection button it is also quickly accessible.
Now I have used the word focus bracketing several times but what exactly does this do? In short, with this setting, the camera takes a number of shots with a slightly different part of the subject in focus each time and then assembles these images in the camera into 1 photo. In doing so, the camera ensures that precisely the sharp parts of the images are used. The result is a photo in which a larger part (in depth) of the subject is in focus.
Besides focus bracketing, there is also focus stacking. With this technique, you take several images manually, or using a function in the camera, in which the focus point is shifted slightly each time. Then, using special software, you combine these images on the computer into a single sharp image. The advantage is that you can create many more images and have more control. The disadvantage is that it is more work and you can only judge the end result after you have processed the images on the computer. For now, I limit myself to focus bracketing, as I find this difficult enough :-).
The above example clearly shows how the final photo is built up. The first photo is mainly sharp at the front and then the focus moves backwards for each shot. A total of 8 images with different focus points, merged in the camera to form the final image (last photo).
The large photo shows Mealy pixie-cup lichen(Cladonia chlorophaea). This is a lichen from the family Cladoniaceae. It occurs on dead trees, tree trunks and tree branches, on the ground, on stone and on wood. It is found all over the world, on all continents, including Antarctica and Greenland. It grows in coniferous and mixed forests, as well as in open areas, mostly on wood, but also on bryophytes and on sandy or humus soils. In the Netherlands, it is fairly common. Source: wikipedia
Focus bracketing is (fortunately) not completely automatic. Among other things, before you shoot, you decide how many frames the camera should take (in my camera this goes up to a maximum of 8 frames). The choice depends partly on the desired depth-of-field effect but also on the subject. In addition, again, the aperture chosen has an effect on how much you end up getting sharp in the photo. So it remains a matter of a lot of practice and trial and error and I am still working on that.
In a future blog, I will dig a little deeper into this topic and share my experiences.
The photo of the Mealy pixie-cup lichen was taken at the end of January on the edge of the Zilvense heide near Eerbeek/Loenen in the Netherlands, a beautiful area with lovely cycling and walking paths. The blue frame in the photo above shows approximately where the Mealy pixie-cup lichen was. So very low to the ground and also very small. I had my tripod with me for the first time and I was very happy with it. The shutter speed was 1 second (per photo) and if the camera then takes 8 photos and then merges them, it is not possible to do this hand-held without moving.
1 comment
Fascinerend, zowel de uitleg als de uiteindelijk prachtige foto! Heel leuk om ook de verhouding te zien ten opzichte van de omgeving doordat je de situatiefoto hebt bijgevoegd.