Taking pictures of tiny things, Macro Photography.

If you have ever looked at a 3 dimensional object under a microscope you probably noticed that you could not get the entire item into focus at the same time, but had to step up or down to see the various features. This is due to the shallow depth of field associated with magnification. Macro-Photography suffers from the same problem, a very shallow depth of field. Fortunately there are at least 2 computer programs that are capable of showing the entire item, provided a series of pictures are taken with very slightly changed focusing distances. To accomplish this a focusing rail is extremely helpful. More on the actual picture taking in a bit.

The program that I use is called CombineZM, and is freeware available on the following page: CZM There is also a Yahoo Group for users of this software at: combinez We have to thank Alan Hadley for making this program available to us. There is also a program named Helicon Focus that is available at: heliconfocus Click on any picture on this page to see a larger view.

Equipment The cameras: Maxxum 5D The Minolta Maxxum 5D with short bellows and 75mm enlarger lens. The 5D as used in photographing the flower. The first picture was taken focused at the furthest area that we were interested in. The remainder in the sequence, a total of 51 images, were stepped back by slightly moving the camera away from the flower using the focusing rails. In this case the bellows was not extended, but could have been with a resulting increase in size of the flower's image. The entire set was transferred to the computer and processed through CombineZM. You can see the results below, and the first and last pictures in the next column. An example of a "stacked image": Finished Stacked Chain of Hearts flower.

The first Photograph in the stack. The last Photograph in the stack. Because most bellows or extention tubes lack the ability to control the automatic features of lenses, taking the actual picture requires some knowledge of your camera's operation in manual modes. The Maxxum 7D must be set to enable shutter release without a lens being present, while the 5D apparently does not. Usually I will let the camera determine shutter speed by switching control to Aperture mode. The iris opening (f-stop) is set manually. Being digital, feedback is instant, and adjustments to the exposure can be easily made. A sturdy tripod is also a must, as vibration can ruin a picture. Again the Maxxum has some help here with Anti Shake, and the 2 second shutter locks up the mirror well before the shutter is released, but undampened vibrations can be vexing.

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© Earl English 2007
last modified 12/24/09