Focus Stacking

In Chapter 6, you learned how to use the Nikon J1’s focusing features. Now I’d like to introduce you to a technique called focus stacking, which is useful if you are doing macro (close-up) photography of flowers, or other small objects at short distances. In such cases, the depth-of-field often will be extremely narrow, even with a camera with a relatively small sensor like the Nikon J1. In some cases, it will be so narrow that it will be impossible to keep the entire subject in focus in one photograph. Although having part of the image out of focus can be a pleasing effect for a portrait of a person, it is likely to be a hindrance when you are trying to make an accurate photographic record of a flower, or small piece of precision equipment. One solution to this problem is focus stacking, a procedure that can be considered like HDR translated for the world of focus—taking m....