One of my excuses for buying the Olympus OMD EM5Miii and the 12-45mm zoom was so that I could do focus stacked macro without taking the 100-400mm zoom off my OM-1. I have a December trip to Costa Rica that features at least 2 macro photography outings. 🙂 And I have not done much real macro while using the Sony RX10iv as it did not lend itself to really close work (and did not have in-camera focus stacking anyway). For those who do not know, focus stacking takes 8-10 exposures, automatically moving focus by a set increment, and then combines those images in the camera to produce an image that has much greater depth of field than a normal exposure…so that macro subjects in particular where depth of field is a real issue, can appear sharp from the very front to the very back. These are a few mushrooms I found along the Bridle Path in Kennebunk last week. I have a little, light weight Sirui carbon fiber tripod that I bought for this purpose exactly, and it works really well. Olympus OMD EM5Miii with the 12-45mm zoom at various focal lengths. Program mode with focus stacking. The only issue is the mosquitoes working this close to the ground for any length of time 🙂
American Goldfinch: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — Though it looks like it might be an exotic, this plant is growing, thriving in fact, in a display of native plants at a local reserve…It is Joe Pye Weed, and it is the perfect setting to show off the bright yellow of this fall Goldfinch. As you can imagine there is an interesting story behind the name of the plant. It is named for the Joe Pye, who, legend has it, was a New England tribal medicine man who treated typhoid among early European settlers with native plants…though not, probably, the Joe Pye Weed…though it has been used to treat fever, among other ailments. It is a great host plant for bees and butterflies, and, apparently the Goldfinches enjoy it as well. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 1600mm equivalent (2x digital tel-extender). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 250 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.