PART 3 FOCUS STACKING
If a narrow aperture doesn’t achieve the required sharpness, try focus bracketing
PRO SHOT
Black-veined White butterflies
Focus stacking can achieve pin-sharp shots, such as these Black-veined White butterflies taken in Bulgaria.
Shooting with a narrow aperture (and a distant background) and orienting yourself so the sensor is parallel to the plane of the insect may be enough to get the subject fully sharp. However, in most cases, this is not sufficient. That’s why so many macro photographers use the technique of focus stacking.
The first step is focus bracketing – taking shots focused at different distances, from the front of the subject to the back. In none of these is the subject fully sharp, but within the set, we will have full coverage of sharpness, meaning that there is no part of the subject which is soft in every image.