sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Okay, this one may be a bit difficult to identify what one may be looking at however it is the narrow connection of the wasp's waist. It is a focus stacked image that I staged using a bright yellow sample paint swatch placed underneath it. In addition to its narrow waist and connecting structure the image also shows how the wings are attached to the muscle structure on the back of its thorax.

(Download)

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

Wow!!!! Fantastic image Gary

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Thanks, I saw the ice storm that you posted and I hope that it did not leave you in harms way.

tinusbum Loc: east texas

thats different,good job

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Thanks, Tinusbum. I was surprised to see that there is a connecting member that looked like a "backbone" of sorts. I suspect that it gives the connecting tissue strength that holds the thorax and abdomen together.

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

A new perspective from the master.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Thanks, Kpmac. Exploring different views with some of my specimens and sharing them with others.

fjwallace

That's a fun shot! Thanks for sharing all your images and experiments! Jon

ecobin Loc: Paoli, PA

The variety of shapes and structures in nature is amazing. Great work Gary.

RLSprouse Loc: Encinitas CA (near Sandy Eggo)

Fascinating details. Great work, as always!

~ Russ

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Thanks ever so much.

Gianfranco47 Loc: Senoia GA

Hi I’m Gianfranco I’m organizing everything to try to get some decent shots following your previous and precious suggestions , could you tell me some brand of electronic sliding ramp to buy in order to produce dozen of shots with different focal plans and a good software to all photos together
Thanks again and regards
Gianfranco

RLSprouse Loc: Encinitas CA (near Sandy Eggo)

Hi Gianfranco,

What you are looking for is a motorized focusing rail with an electronic controller. The premier commercially available rail system is made by a company called StackShot. Another very good option is made by a Chinese firm called WeMacro. These systems will help you shoot carefully controlled sequences of shots that can then be merged together with image processing software to create images with extreme depth of field.

While you can accomplish this focus stacking with Photoshop, better results can be obtained more easily using software specifically designed for this task. The two leading programs are called Helicon Focus and Zerene Stacker.

A quick Google search will locate all these companies. I hope this gets you started in the right direction. Good luck on your adventure!

~ Russ

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Gianfranco, I truly enjoy sharing what I do and how I do it. I started out with an inexpensive manual 4-way focus rail that was a rack-and-pinion movement..not the best by far. Then I moved to a manual low profile screw drive focus rail which worked great however getting consistent camera movement over a several hundred shot session was very time consuming and less than consistent however it did produce some very nice sessions.

Then.....I did much research and visited forums of those that do masterclass work and I found that WeMacro made an excellent motorized digital focus rail and that William with WeMacro was great to work with and his prices are the best. Here's the link to the WeMacro digital focus rail and later I bought the stand to go with it that can convert to horizontal or vertical camera arrangement.

https://www.wemacro.com/?product=wemacro-rail

https://www.wemacro.com/?product=vertical-stand

Be sure to inform WeMacro of the make and model of your camera so that they send the correct shutter release cable to go with it.

You can also visit YouTube for videos on the WeMacro focus rail. It operates via a PC, Tablet or a SmartPhone. It also has a battery pack so that you can take it to the field mounted on a tripod should you care to.

I've had mine for two years now and I shoot a session or several sessions nearly every day and I have never had a single issue. Later on I purchased the extension tubes, Raynox DCR-150 lens and the 4X and 10X Infinite objective package from WeMacro.

AND.....I now reverse mount my enlarger lenses on that set of extension tubes with the Raynox DCR-150 lens which equates to the two lenses in series. Camera...extension tubes...Raynox (reverse mounted)....enlarger lens (reverse mounted).