Shooting 5 images just to get one shot right

When it comes to toy photography, I want a sharp image throughout. The problem with toy photography though is that the toys tend to be smaller, and even if I work with a smaller aperture such as f/16, I will still get bokeh or soft focus on the farthest edge.

They may look the same but they are not.

These 5 images are not the same. The focus point is not at the same spot. Instead, with every shot, the focus moves from the nearest point to the farthest. This technique is called focus stacking or focus bracketing. In the post-processing stage, we will use apps such as Helicon Focus.

One of them is sharp, the others aren’t but that’s because the focus has shifted to other parts of the figurine.

Before beginning on focus stacking, make sure you set up your shots first. Get your lighting right, get your toy’s pose right, etc. Once you start, you cannot afford to move the toy at all!

Getting your setup and lighting right before commencing focus stacking procedures is of paramount importance!

Here is how you do focus stacking/bracketing in camera:

Focus on the nearest point of the product/subject to the camera, and take a shot
Adjust focus further by a bit, and take another shot
Repeat until you shoot the furthest point of the subject away from the camera

Some cameras have focus stacking feature built-in. For example, the Phase One XF body is capable of doing focus stacking out of the box.

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It’s up to you to decide how many shots you want. The more shots you have, the better your details. Some cameras have built-in focus stacking functions. My Sony A7RII has to rely on a third-party application from the now-defunct PlayMemories app built into the camera.

Above: My Sony A7RII doing automated focus stacking with the Focus Bracketing app. It’s slow, but at least it gets the job done.

Helicon Focus identifies the sharpest points in the image and stitches everything together for you when you hit the Render button. It’s a very useful software that runs in tandem with Capture One Pro 12 via its plugin. Imagine the work needed to stack them in Photoshop instead.

The interface of Helicon Focus is simple. On the left is your original image selected from the browser on the right, and in the middle is the final rendered focus stacked image.

Using the Loupe function on Capture One, I can easily see if the image is sharp and in focus.

If we have just focused on Mark VI’s head, we will get this. As the hand is closer towards the camera, it’s no longer in focus.

Notice how the hand is not in focus but the head is. This is how it is even at f/16.

With focus stacking this is not an issue. It’s sharp all around.

With focus stacking, everything is sharp.

And now, to retouch and add special effects. I use Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 with Retouching Toolkit to get the look I want before a round-trip back to Capture One.

Retouching Toolkit makes retouching so easy.

Shot with the Sony A7RII + Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro G OSS Lens; lit by Broncolor Siros L 400 + Move 1200L with 2x MobiLEDs
ISO: 50 | Shutter: 1/160 | Aperture: f/16 (focus stacked)

Hope you enjoyed this tip! If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

You can get Capture One here: bit.ly/2EyGPu5

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