Your opinion? 16 Stacked photo of Blue Bottlefly

Helix_2648 said:

I agree to Jack about the overexposure. I would recommend to take about 50-80 pictures for such a magnification.
That should be enough to get all details. Does Sony suports integrated focus bracketing in the meantime? Or have you used a macro rail?

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rcorteschile said:

Good image! It's difficult to make stacks with moving subjects. I can give you a few tips:

• Put your camera & subject on the same surface (for ex. a sturdy table) -> For studio stacks.
• Best image is accomplished with the lens wide open or with one step closed.
• If you use continuous or flash, depends on your setup, movements, etc. Try and check what gives to you the best results. Pay attention to color temperature.
• In terms of mathematics, there are two formulas called "Lefkowitz formula" and "Nikon microscopy formula" to calculate the number of optimal shots given a distance & magnification. In my case, I just do my calculations based on my experience: for 5X, I use 30um steps. The number of steps will depend on the size of this subject, that is to say, in how much of the subject you like to be in focus. For 4X, I use 40 um steps, for 2-3X, 45 to 50 um steps.
• You can modify the curve of that image to darken the shadows, avoiding that "milky" background.
• And most importantly, the light, the light, the light. Try to diffuse the light as much as you can, using paper, foam, any translucent white surface can do the job, so you avoid those burnt parts due to light reflection.

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