sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Thanks, UTMike. I stage them so that the image fills the frame so it's not always possible to view the entire head depending on the size of the subject.

mundy-F2 Loc: Chicago suburban area

Very nice!
Mundy

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

Fantastic!!!!! Gary

angler Loc: StHelens England

Excellent.

akamerica

Amazing work and WOW results. I am going to attempt to do some macro this summer with my D850 and the Nikkor 105mm.
Would you share the details of your "setup?" A picture of the bug
How do you "off" the bugs in your pill bottle?
what does your physical setup to take the focus stack look like? Tripod? How are the bugs held in place? Lighting that is so perfect?
And how many focus settings? Number of exposures in the stack? (forgot the exact term)

Thanks in advance
Art

JRiepe Loc: Southern Illinois

Wow! I wasn't aware they had those hair like protrusions.

jimvanells Loc: Augusta, GA

Well done, but closer than I ever want to see them.

Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

Excellent capture, Sippy.

CLF Loc: Raleigh, NC

Sippy, excellent as usual.

Greg

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Thanks for asking and I enjoy sharing what I do and how I do it.

I've attached an image of my tabletop macro rig. The camera is a little mirrorless Fujifilm X-T20 APS-C crop sensor. It is mounted on a bellows that is used to provide the desired amount of magnification. The lens that is used in this setup (I change it on a regular basis) is a 5X-power microscope objective. All of this is mounted on a manual screw drive focus rail used for focus adjustments.

The number of shots taken in a stack of images and the distance the camera travels for each one is done with a digital motorized focus rail that is controlled by an old laptop PC.

I use constant LED lighting for my focus stacking sessions and I use a wide variety of materials to diffuse the lights. In this image it is packing foam. I use a laboratory scissor jack to elevate the subject before the camera and it is mounted on a slide table that can move forward and back and left and right which comes in handy when staging the specimen before the camera. I can add a colored sample paint swatch behind the subject if I want to create a colorful background rather than black.

The next image shows how I use a furniture caster as a way to stage the specimen in front of the camera. It can be fully rotated including pitch and yaw. A dab of modeling clay provides something to stick the mounted specimen into.

I use an old pickle jar as the "kill jar" by placing cotton balls in the bottom and a few folded paper towels on top of them. I saturate the the cotton balls with Klean Strip M.E.K. Substitute https://www.acehardware.com/departments/paint-and-supplies/chemicals-and-cleaners/paint-thinners-and-solvents/1474469 and when the insect is placed in the jar with the lid closed it expires in a matter of seconds which is quite humane.

The number of shots required for a session is related to the amount of magnification the lens produces. The higher the magnification the more shallow the depth of field. For example, the 5X-power microscope objective that I most often use has a depth of field of only 0.017mm so most often nothing more than a tip of a hair is in focus at a time. The image of the Yellow Jacket required over 300 images to be taken.

I shoot with the lenses wide open and I adjust the shutter speed based on what I see in the histogram to be slightly underexposed to avoid blowing out any highlights or bright colors the specimen may have. I shoot at the lowest ISO which for this camera is 200 and I set the white balance to auto. There is no "autofocus" in this method of focus stacking with the focus rail. Many new cameras have a focus shift mode and when used with an autofocus lens they can produce focus shift stacks of images. These are quite fantastic however it is not applicable to the method that I use with this setup.

I process the stack of images in Zerene Stacker into the single resulting image and from there is it treated as any other image off the camera would be.

(Download)


(Download)

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Thanks for viewing.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Thanks for stopping by.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Thanks, JRiepe. How hairy insects are that appear to be smooth always amazes me too.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Thanks, and I can surely relate for it is an exciting adventure to capture them. As it is often said, "Sometimes you get the bull and sometimes you get the horn!"

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Thanks, Earnest. I appreciate the feedback.