Phalaenopsis Mini Mark and Focus Stacking

[ronaldhanko]

Originally Posted by RosieC

Thanks Ron,

Good to understand what it's probably doing... well sort of understand anyway... am I right in thinking it has to narrow the apature for the depth of field and then has to have a longer exposure to get enough light through the narrow appature?

I find it really amazing that it can get such clear closeup shots when the shutter stayes open and I'm just holding it in my hand (so it's not particually still).

Orchids are actually making me get more interested in Photography as well. Trying to get that perfect shot of my orchids has made me play with all sorts of settings on the camera.

Hi Rosie,
You are right - narrower aperture give greater depth of field, but then you need a longer exposure. What's most confusing, however, is that the larger the number the smaller the aperture (f/16 is larger than f/32). But the smaller the aperture, the less light is getting in, so you need a longer exposure. That's why when you are shooting at a very small aperture you either need a tripod because you can't hold the camera still long enough or you need to compensate in other ways.
I generally like the background well blurred (good bokeh), but that means a large aperture and little depth of field, thus the use of a program like CombineZM.
Image stabilization is a great thing, though. It really helps when you don't have a tripod.