A New Tool for Stacking

Those that know me here will know that I enjoy a bit of 'focus stacking'.  For the uninitiated this is a method of creating extended depth of field in macro images by taking lots of photos at slightly different focus points and combining them (by using software) to create the final image.  

Previously, I would either have to change focus manually or use a tablet tethered to the camera and use a program called Helicon Remote that takes control of the camera's focus mechanism to take a series of shots.  I was watching a You Tube video about an Olympus Lens last night and saw that a new firmware for the OM-D cameras had come out with a new feature, focus bracketing.  I just had to have a go.

Technique:  The camera is set on a tripod, bracketing is chosen and then you choose the number of shots you wan't to take and the focus differential (this is a bit hit and miss and really means how wide the focus steps are).  You take a photograph at the near point and the camera automatically takes the other images, changing the focus slightly for each image.


I combined them using Helicon Focus (though there are other tools including auto blend in Photoshop, that do a similar thing).  For those that use Helicon Focus I found the Pyramid setting worked the best for this image.


This is such a help with this type of photography.