[Click image to view in a lightbox.]

I haven’t had a chance to do much photography lately. Work has been busy and our lives at home have been disrupted by a 4-6 week kitchen remodel. I had several days off this week though, and I was able to do a fair amount of photography, both at home and on a camping trip near Mount Hood.

This week I also started experimenting with a new macro lens. Today’s photograph is actually a composite of 12 images blended together, a technique called focus stacking that is used to get an entire scene—in this case, an orchid in our house—in focus. The final merged image was nearly 3 GB in size and took several minutes to save. I then exported it as a much smaller JPG to use here and on Instagram. There are other ways to get a whole object in focus in macro photography, if that’s your goal. (I love the way selective blurring can help craft an interesting image, perhaps especially in macrophotography. Examples of that tomorrow.) I’ve wanted to try focus stacking for a while and now plan to do it more.

Location: Silverton, Oregon

Exposure: 1.3 seconds, f/11, ISO 100

Focal Length: 105 mm

Gear:

• Camera: Nikon D850

• Lens: Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens