Yesterday I visited Niagara Falls with my wife, and took the opportunity to create some Floral Showhouse HHFS (handheld focus stacked) photographs.

All of the images featured in this article were captured handheld using an M.Zuiko 60 mm macro f/2.8 lens, along with the in-camera focus stacking technology resident in my E-M1X . I had my camera set to record and combine 10 photographs per capture, with a focus differential of 4.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.

I still enjoy using other lenses like the M.Zuiko PRO 40-150 mm f/2.8 zoom for some of my flower photography. From a creative stimulation perspective I do prefer using a macro lens in combination with handheld in-camera focus stacking. I love the freedom and flexibility that this combination affords me… especially when shooting indoors.

As you look through these Floral Showcase HHFS photographs that follow it may be instructive to review the corresponding EXIF data. What you’ll find is that all of these photographs were captured at base ISO-200.

Many of the Floral Showhouse HHFS images featured were captured wide open using an aperture of f/2.8. The maximum aperture I used for any of the photographs in this article was f/4. Handheld shutter speeds varied from 1/640 down to 1/30.

Being able to shoot handheld and have my E-M1X capture and combine 10 images in-camera is a testament to the effectiveness of its IBIS technology.

As is my standard practice when photographing macro subjects with in-camera focus stacking, all of the images were composed using the rear screen of my camera. The majority of images were created while sitting on a small, collapsible stool.

Since the output from my E-M1X’s in-camera focusing stacking technology is a jpeg, it somewhat limits the latitude available in post. This makes getting a good exposure upfront even more critical.

Being able to see the exact exposure that will be achieved on the rear screen of my camera is very useful since I regularly and purposefully underexposure macro images of flowers.

This technique can make colours deeper and richer, and also can help achieve good subject separation. When doing flower macro photography I shoot in full Manual, including ISO.

Even though the in-camera focus stacking output is a jpeg I would much rather use this technology than creating a standard photograph. I can eliminate the need to significantly stop my lens down to achieve my desired depth-of-field. This helps me avoid potentially pushing my ISO up by 3 or 4 stops.

As regular readers will know, I hate using tripods. Being able to create these Floral Showhouse HHFS images handheld at base ISO-200 suits my shooting style perfectly.

When I first bought my first E-M1X I was initially skeptical about the useability of its in-camera focus stacking technology. I have become a convert over time. Now, when photographing flowers with a macro lens, using handheld in-camera focus stacking is by far my preferred approach.

It should be noted that I used a single auto-focus point for all of the images featured in this article. I never use manual focus when doing macro photography.

Technical Note:

Photographs were captured handheld using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. Images were produced from out-of-camera jpeg files using my standard approach in post. Each featured image was created by combining 10 photographs in camera. A focus differential of 4 was used for all of the photographs. Images were resized for web use. This is the 1,215 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

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