One of the problems of close up photography is getting a good depth of field throughout the image, i.e. being in focus from front to back. One way I have got round this problem is to Focus Stack several images and combine them in Photoshop.
For this image I took 3 photographs. In the first image the focus point was the left hand leaf. In the second photograph it was the rear one. In the third photograph it was the right hand leaf.
All 3 photographs were opened and aligned as layers in Photoshop. Next the 3 layers were blended together to give me the final result. You can still see some slight blurring at the edges. I could have cropped this image tighter but decided to leave it as is.
This has been challenge number 8 in Paul’s Photography Challenge
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Say It With A Camera 
great photo, I need to experiment with this kind of thing.
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It’s easier for me probably as I can attach a focusing rail to my tripod
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hmmm…clever stuff….never occurred to me to try this.
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I’ve used this technique a few times now Paul with a Raynox DCR 250 close up lens attachment. Works quite well
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Lovely image and smart applications of Photoshop. I like this one a lot.
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Great photoshopping in this one. I believe the real art comes with knowing where to stop or draw the line. This is a beautiful example of restraint.
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The only reason I used photoshop was to stack the the three images…..it didn’t need anything more.
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Very interesting approach – well done Mike!
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Thought I’d try something different…
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Mike, have you tried Helicon Focus for stacking. Its not cheap but far faster than Photoshop. It does not seem to Image Align as PS does but if you are using a rail on a stable tripod it should be fine.
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Hi Andrew – I haven’t tried it but I was only stacking three photographs so photoshop did a good enough job this time. To be honest it was just a trial, to see if it would work. If I really got into it I would do a lot more photographs and try helicon focus. However I will have a look at it as I’m always happy to try anything new..
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Thank you so much for the information on Layering, Mike. The results in your image are fantastic!
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Glad I could be of help Cheryl
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