My first attempt at combining macro shots
Recently I have been thinking a bit about combining shots to achieve a greater depth of field. When I noticed that some of the shots I took today of a spider with its prey were similar but had different parts in focus, I decided to give it a try. The following is the end result.
![](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3200/2834732758_78ca9973cf_o.jpg" width="533" height="800" alt="spider_composite" /></a>)
Continue for more on how I did this.
The following are the two shots I used to make it.
![](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3278/2834732666_8f0b9c83ac_o.jpg" width="533" height="800" alt="IMG_4594" /></a>)
In this shot, the spider is in focus but not the prey.
![](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/2834732616_a3ca80b7b3_o.jpg" width="533" height="800" alt="IMG_4592" /></a>)
In this shot, the prey is in focus but not the spider.
I would have liked to use a program like CombineSZ, but the problem is the shots are not aligned. Therefore I used the following steps to combine them.
1) I copied the entire shot with the OOF spider.
2) I then pasted it over the shot with the IF spider, creating a new layer in the process.
3) I then reduced the opacity significantly of the new layer, enabling me to see through it. Using this mode I aligned the spider and prey as best as possible. The spider had moved a bit so I made more of an attempt to align the prey than the spider. When finished, I changed the opacity back to 100%.
4) Using a small eraser, I carefully erased the OOF spider in the top layer, which had the effect of displaying the IF spider underneath it.
5) I then merged the layers and concentrated on the areas (particularly of the web) that looked a bit strange.
6) I used the cloning tools in replace mode to redo the parts of the web near the feet.
7) I had some problems with the right foot, so I copied the foot from a third image not displayed here.
I’m sure there are better ways to do this, but this is my first attempt and I rather like how it came out. This isn’t the first shot of a spider with prey that I have taken (these spiders are very common around our house) but it is the one with the best depth of field.
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Tags: combine, depth of field, macro, photography, prey, spider
Very cool. Is combine SZ a free program? I’ve always wanted to try this technique.
Tom
You could use layer masks in Photoshop.
On the orher hand, I don’t know for Canon, but for Olympus SLRs you have manual focus bracketing so you can shoot a short series and be sure the spider didn’t move as much as by manual refocusing (one of the advantages of focus by wire).