Mold on a Raspberry
At 7x magnification, this “alien landscape” of sprouting mold spores looks much less fuzzy.
Gledhill used 35 individual shots taken in 40-micron steps to create this photograph.
To create similar focus-stacked macrophotography, Gledhill first used a homemade, hand-powered macro rail with a camera mount attached to it.
By turning a dial attached to a fine-pitch screw, he nudged his camera closer to tiny subjects and snapped one in-focus slice at a time. After the shoot, he merged the photographs with software.
It was tedious work, so Gledhill now uses Cognisys’ StackShot macro rail — another computer-controlled piece of equipment that he pushed DeZeeuw to create. With a bit of programming, its stepping motor can inch a camera along in movements as small as 10 microns.
“You’re basically building a master image one slice at a time,” DeZeeuw said. “If you try to go out and get a microscope with [focus] stacking, you’re looking at tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now we can get that capability with several hundred dollars.”
Gledhill’s setup (below) uses two StackShot computers to control the vertical and horizontal movement of his camera, lens and flash units.
Images: Flickr/Linden Gledhill (top pane, bottom pane)
