Well long story short I took some images of a jumping spider on a dandelion. It was very cooperative so I decided to go straight for a large stack. As usual I started from the front legs and moved my way back. Well right before I reached the eyes the dang thing moved ruining the entire stacking process...... and that was that. I did get a test shot to nail down the settings with the eyes in focus, but at F/5.6 the DOF was very shallow. It was originally a trash bin shot but I uploaded it anyway onto flickr for people to learn from this, and start doing living creature deep stacks from the most important point on so if something happens at least the eyes are in focus

Sure enough the image made explore and has had quite a large number of views/favorites for a day, and especially for a shot that was originally trashed Its currently sitting at 348 views, 45 * legitimate* comments (I delete all of the self promoting copy paste crap), and 59 favorites

Anyways here's the image:




El nikkor 50mm F/2.8 @ F/5.6 reversed on bellows.

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as a side note here's another image I just took but in this case of a very small grasshopper:




100% crop




could be better, im having trouble with sharpness with the bellows fully extended

same lens as about, same settings, just this time a fully extended bellows. 33 images stacked with the last frame being at F/8 for smoother bokeh/OOF blur transition. This is my first attempt at this technique. What do you guys think?

[Ash]

Good detail anyway in the grasshopper shot Tanner.
The spider shot is cool anyway particularly how the reflection of the lens in his eyes looks like a cartoonish eyeball.
Thanks for sharing this experience.

[Clavius]

Very very cool!

Do you do handheld stacks of live critters??

I'm still working on upgrading my equipment to match the hints and tips you gave. If I can reach quality like yours, I'd be very happy.

Waiting for all the tubes and rings to arrive is excruciating!

[imtheguy]

Find your shots facinating as always. Quite sure that #1 was called 4-eyes all through grade school.

[yeatzee]

Find your shots facinating as always. Quite sure that #1 was called 4-eyes all through grade school.

Thanks Yeah that jumper's eyes certainly pop, especially with the diffuser I used and their abnormally large size!

Very very cool!

Do you do handheld stacks of live critters??

I'm still working on upgrading my equipment to match the hints and tips you gave. If I can reach quality like yours, I'd be very happy.

Waiting for all the tubes and rings to arrive is excruciating!

I usually do, but in this case I used the tripod/linear stage. I haven't used the bellows for handheld stacks, still got to get used to its bulk

If you have any questions, or anyone else, feel free to PM me I have no issue with helping people out

(some things I will force you to learn on your own though, i.e. diffusers. Thats half the fun, making and creating ones to fit your needs )

Good detail anyway in the grasshopper shot Tanner.
The spider shot is cool anyway particularly how the reflection of the lens in his eyes looks like a cartoonish eyeball.
Thanks for sharing this experience.

Thanks ash

[jswillems]

I would be quite happy if I could get some shots that were half as good as your "trash" shots! Amazing work as always. Guess I should go scour the garden for bugs to practice on tomorrow!

[daacon]

Very cool don't you hate it when they don't coperate - good points about the eyes.

[yeatzee]

I would be quite happy if I could get some shots that were half as good as your "trash" shots! Amazing work as always. Guess I should go scour the garden for bugs to practice on tomorrow!

Time and practice is all you need

Very cool don't you hate it when they don't coperate - good points about the eyes.

Thanks, and yes very much so Yes guys please remember this and learn from me so you dont lose and great shots.

[Frogfish]

I can see why the JS shot works (don't you just love them !) sometimes isolating a feature is what makes the shot and in this case the eyes of a JS are a great feature to isolate as they have such 'character'. The colour doesn't detract either

Lovely shot indeed.