My second macro

[Manfred M]

After a day of digesting my initial results and ruminating a bit, I tried another subject. This time a small sample of Dioptase crystals that my wife picked up at the Tsumeb Mine in Namibia that she had made into a small broach when she got home.

Four stacked shots using Zerene PMax.

[pschlute]

I have to say I find a black background works best for product shots like this

[Manfred M]

I have to say I find a black background works best for product shots like this

I suspect that you are right. I'll have to drag out my roll of black seamless and put the white away...

[DanK]

Looks good. At this low resolution, I can't see any obvious artifacts.

Since you are trying out Zerene, you might find it worth comparing the two methods. I only raised the fact that PMax is less susceptible to halos. It is also best for preserving extremely fine detail. However, it doesn't do as well in preserving colors. After playing with both, I settled on Dmax as my default for things like flowers; I use PMax composites to repair the DMax ones if necessary.

[Manfred M]

I suspect that you are right. I'll have to drag out my roll of black seamless and put the white away...

Of course. Photoshopping the background takes a lot less time...

[Manfred M]

Looks good. At this low resolution, I can't see any obvious artifacts.

Since you are trying out Zerene, you might find it worth comparing the two methods. I only raised the fact that PMax is less susceptible to halos. It is also best for preserving extremely fine detail. However, it doesn't do as well in preserving colors. After playing with both, I settled on Dmax as my default for things like flowers; I use PMax composites to repair the DMax ones if necessary.

Thanks for the suggestions Dan and Peter.

I can't either but for this shot I was a bit too far away and the shot was cropped quite a bit. It's early days and on the steep side of the learning curve.

I'm going to have to change my approach a bit as I suspect there is a touch of camera movement when I press the shutter release. With tethering I can do this remotely, so that will help there. I'm only turning the focus ring a few degrees and suspect I would invest in a proper follow focus rig if I ever got into this form of photography seriously.

[bje07]

After a day of digesting my initial results and ruminating a bit, I tried another subject. This time a small sample of Dioptase crystals that my wife picked up at the Tsumeb Mine in Namibia that she had made into a small broach when she got home.

Four stacked shots using Zerene PMax.

the stacking is not enough for me, the two white stones at the top and bottom seem to be out of the depth of field. It's strange because the tip of the central crystal seems clear?

[bje07]

Thanks for the suggestions Dan and Peter.

I can't either but for this shot I was a bit too far away and the shot was cropped quite a bit. It's early days and on the steep side of the learning curve.

I'm going to have to change my approach a bit as I suspect there is a touch of camera movement when I press the shutter release. With tethering I can do this remotely, so that will help there. I'm only turning the focus ring a few degrees and suspect I would invest in a proper follow focus rig if I ever got into this form of photography seriously.

I'm lucky with my Fuji X-T3, I just have to tell him what the nearest point is and how many views I want and he takes the series of pictures by himself.
All that remains is to load them into the desired software

[Manfred M]

the stacking is not enough for me, the two white stones at the top and bottom seem to be out of the depth of field. It's strange because the tip of the central crystal seems clear?

I think it is due to camera movement, but not in the way we think about it traditionally. I have the camera sitting on a geared head, but when I press the shutter release, there seems to be a bit of movement of my setup. I am using flash to light the scene, so the movement is not during the exposure per se, but rather a minor shift that could change the focus plane.

I will be changing my setup before my next test.

[Manfred M]

I'm lucky with my Fuji X-T3, I just have to tell him what the nearest point is and how many views I want and he takes the series of pictures by himself.
All that remains is to load them into the desired software

I understand that other cameras, like the Nikon D810 do that as well, but I am not sure if the focus is fine enough for macro work. It certainly is for landscape photography.

[DanK]

I have the camera sitting on a geared head, but when I press the shutter release, there seems to be a bit of movement of my setup

I use a remote release for this reason when doing studio macros.

[Manfred M]

I use a remote release for this reason when doing studio macros.

Thanks Dan for confirming this. That's what I am planning to do the next time I try some macro work.

[billtils]

I use a remote release for this reason when doing studio macros.

Likewise.

[rpcrowe]

I do like the black background better...

How did you set up this shot?

When shooting a subject like this. I like to have the primary plane of the subject parallel to the focal plane of the camera.

Easiest for me to shoot is to have the subject flat on the background with the camera straight overhead facing down. In fact, during film days I had a setup that I jury-rigged from an old enlarger column, on which I mounted an SLR camera in lieu of the enlarger head. This was a really nice setup and very quick to shoot, since the only adjustment I needed to make was the height of the camera and focus. I liquidated that setup because of space constraints...

Now, I will often shoot the subject on a background that is tilted so that my cameras sensor is parallel. This works equally as well. In fact. I now have a small pedestal (I use the term "pedestal" for lack of any other way to describe it) that is made from some scrap wood and is slanted so I can easily match the angle of the sensor to the angle of the subject matter. I usually cover the pedestals with a background fabric of some type.

When I ran a Navy photo lab, we had a variety of pedestals of different types, sizes, and different angles in our studio...

Any other ideas will be appreciated...