HHFS Frog Images

This article features a selection of handheld focus stacked HHFS frog images that were captured at the Royal Botanical Gardens using an M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens. As noted in a previous article, my E-M1X was set to 10 focus stacked frames with a focus differential of 4.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.

OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro, f/2.8, 1/30 ISO-200, handheld in-camera focus stacking, cropped to 2772 pixels on the width, subject distance 720 mm

Since captive frogs in public display cases tend to be fairly static, I decided to use my E-M1X’s in-camera focus stacking capability when capturing handheld macro images of these frogs. For the most part I tried to keep my ISO at base ISO-200.

OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro, f/2.8, 1/50 ISO-200, handheld in-camera focus stacking, full frame capture, subject distance 730 mm

I had inadvertently picked a local ‘PD’ day at the local school board for my visit, so the display area had a lot of traffic that included many small children. This resulted in the surface of the glass display cases becoming quite soiled from the inquisitive youngsters. Bringing my lens right up to the surface of the glass enabled me to shoot through the surface smudges and fingerprints.

OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro, f/2.8, 1/20 ISO-200, handheld in-camera focus stacking, full frame capture, subject distance 600 mm

Some of the display areas were quite crowded which made getting in tight difficult at times. I ended up doing a few circuits of the various displays and capturing whatever HHFS frog images I could based on the position of the subjects and the space available adjacent to the displays.

OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro, f/2.8, 1/50 ISO-200, handheld in-camera focus stacking, full frame capture, subject distance 295 mm

This had the unintended benefit of giving me a few different vantage points from which to capture my HHFS frog images of individual specimen.

OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro, f/2.8, 1/20 ISO-200, handheld in-camera focus stacking, cropped to 3960 pixels on the width, subject distance 660 mm

One of the decided benefits of using my E-M1X (or similarly spec’d Olympus/OM System) camera for handheld macro photography is being able to leverage its outstanding IBIS performance in combination with in-camera focus stacking. Quite often this combination of capabilities allows me to use a wide open aperture like f/2.8 in conjunction with a slower shutter speed. Both of which help to enable the use of base ISO-200.

OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro, f/2.8, 1/20 ISO-200, handheld in-camera focus stacking, cropped to 4589 pixels on the width, subject distance 445 mm

The crop factor is another important benefit of using a M4/3 format camera for handheld macro photography. Using a shorter focal length lens like the M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro gives me an equivalent field-of-view as a 120 mm full frame macro lens. As we know… a shorter focal length will have more depth-of-field than will a longer focal length lens when shot at the same aperture, from the identical distance to subject.

OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro, f/2.8, 1/20 ISO-200, handheld in-camera focus stacking, cropped to 3922 pixels on the width, subject distance 635 mm

Being able to confidently capture handheld images like the one above at f/2.8. 1/20 , ISO-200 by taking advantage of my E-M1X’s outstanding IBIS performance and in-camera focus stacking technology continues to amaze me.

OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro, f/2.8, 1/60 ISO-200, handheld in-camera focus stacking, cropped to 4661 pixels on the width, subject distance 835 mm

Using the in-camera focus stacking function takes some experimentation and ongoing practice… especially if one’s intent is to use the out-of-camera jpeg output.

OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro, f/2.8, 1/40 ISO-400, handheld in-camera focus stacking, cropped to 4456 pixels on the width, subject distance 285 mm

In many ways the technological capabilities of my E-M1X have  caused me to become quite spoiled. I find that I seldom capture ‘standard’ macro photographs any more. It is so much more challenging and enjoyable to use handheld in-camera focus stacking (HHFS) or handheld hi res (HHHR) for macro photography.

OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro, f/4, 1/60 ISO-400, handheld in-camera focus stacking, full frame capture, subject distance 475 mm

A standard macro image still has its uses of course. It’s like a bowl of vanilla ice cream. It can still be nourishing and enjoyable… but it is still just vanilla!

OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro, f/4, 1/15, ISO-800, handheld in-camera focus stacking, cropped to 4300 pixels on the width, subject distance 300 mm

I suppose that’s one of the risks of computational photography technologies. These new capabilities significantly expand our image creating potential and raise our expectations accordingly. They can make the traditional approach to photography of ‘one frame for one photograph’ seem rather old, antiquated and ho-hum.  In some instances simply boring.

OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro, f/2.8, 1/4, ISO-200, handheld in-camera focus stacking, cropped to 4160 pixels on the width, subject distance 280 mm

I loved capturing these HHFS frog images featured in this article, and leveraging the technology resident in my E-M1X. Creating a handheld macro HHFS frog image like the one above at f/2.8, 1/4, ISO-200 gives me a feeling of photographic adventure that I never felt with my full frame gear. Be forewarned that it can become addictive!

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. The in-camera focus stacking of my E-M1X was set to 10 frames with a focus differential of 4. This is the 1,248 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

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2 thoughts on “HHFS Frog Images”

  1. Beautiful pics! I think that this series of photos shows that focus stacking is not only about getting all of what you want in focus in focus, but also about being able to achieve those very defocused backgrounds that draw your eye to the subject. I’m guessing that in many cases if one had used a smaller aperture to get the same depth of field, the backgrounds would have been quite distracting.

    1. Hi Stephen,

      I’m glad you enjoyed the images!

      You’re assessment is spot on. Being able to use a more wide open aperture with in-camera focus stacking does help to get a good amount of the subject in focus while still achieving separation with the background. Obviously the distance to subject and the subject distance to background can still come into play in terms of subject separation… even with in-camera focus stacking.

      I love the creative options that computational photography technologies like in-camera focus stacking and Handheld Hi Res provides with handheld macro photography. Outstanding IBIS performance is the glue that brings everything together. There’s more experimentation ahead… not sure where it will lead.

      Tom

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