Kip’s Comments - February 22, 2026

Expanding My Skills (This is a photo-geek post)

Lately I have been reading and watching YouTube videos to learn how I can, with little or no cost, use “Focus Stacking” on appropriate images.

Focus Stack Test - Image 1064852

Focus stacking involves superimposing a series of images - each with their focus point different in each image - so that my end file is sharp nearly throughout.

Why would I want to do this? I will refer to today’s images. I wanted both trout flies to be sharp without a sharp background. And, since both flies were tiny, I was using macro equipment to make each fly larger than they really are.

If i stop down my camera lens for increased sharpness (depth-of-field), the background will lose its softness. If I don’t stop the lens down to maintain a pleasing soft background, my flies will not be sharp from front to back. So, I focus stack.

Focus Stack Test - Image 1064848

Both images shared today were a compilation of images focus stacked. I like the results and am anxious to try this on other compositions!