Focus Stacking & HDR to get Maximum Depth of Field

[John Freeman]

I was looking at several of you all's photos yesterday. Didn't see anyone using Focus Stacking or HDR. This is method of taking a series of HDR photos focused starting at nearest part of subject and ending at furthest point you want in focus. These are some shots I did this morning. Canon 5D3 using Canon 24-105 f-4.0 lens (capable of macro focusing) and a Promote Control to control camera as it shot the series of shots. I used Oloneo PhotoEngine to do HDR processing and Helicon Focus 6 to do the focus stacking. Photoshop also has the capability to do both steps but I find that the two mentioned programs do a better job. This method will only work with very stationary objects. (Note Bubble Coral in background of 1st photo was moving slightly so appears out of focus or blurred..)

 

[McMullen]

No idea what you said but great pics!

 

[TheEngineer]

There are some free focus stacking tools for the Mac. I use Huggin. I haven't tried stacking exposures yet though.