Amaryllis

[Mitch Carucci]

Image stack with Zerene (over 60). Sigma 60mm 2.8 (old style) @5.6.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I really like it the details are excellent, the stacking looks very good indeed. Quite apart from the pollen I am very impressed with the curved stamens they are beautifully shown.
What was your technique - a focus rail or did you focus through the subject. How did you decide on the incremental advance, I feel I could learn a lot from this image. You chose 5.6 as opposed to a smaller aperture - I guess there is good reason for this.

[Mitch Carucci]

Thanks Jonathan. I focused through on this. I bought an inexpensive rail a while back, but it is useless. It jumps all over the place. I guess there is a reason why good rails are so expensive... I chose 5.6 in order to get the shutter speed up a bit. The floor in this room has some give and every time I moved I could see the camera shake a bit. Also, 5.6 seems to be a good spot for this lens. I tried more exposures than usual, as I have been disappointed in the past having soft areas (missed focus). More seems to be better, and with extreme close up, it is easy to miss a plane of focus. I am still learning focus stacking, but when it works out it is a lot of fun!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks Jonathan. I focused through on this. I bought an inexpensive rail a while back, but it is useless. It jumps all over the place. I guess there is a reason why good rails are so expensive... I chose 5.6 in order to get the shutter speed up a bit. The floor in this room has some give and every time I moved I could see the camera shake a bit. Also, 5.6 seems to be a good spot for this lens. I tried more exposures than usual, as I have been disappointed in the past having soft areas (missed focus). More seems to be better, and with extreme close up, it is easy to miss a plane of focus. I am still learning focus stacking, but when it works out it is a lot of fun!

Thanks Mitch - much appreciated.

[John Mack]

The stacking is superb. Love all the detail on those stamens. Colors contrast well.

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Mitch, I like the pattern and the color. I wouid not mnd seeing it a bit brighter.

with love, artie