The other side...

...of King George.

Continuing my mission to learn more about macro photography, I wanted to try 'focus stacking' today. I don't use Photoshop very often, so had to find some tutorials to follow. If you know what focus stacking is, you can miss the next bit...

In a macro, the depth of field is extremely shallow and a single shot of a subject like this can't keep the close and more distant areas in focus. Photoshop has a routine that blends several images with slightly different focus points to create a sharp final image. Here there are 11 different shots where I moved the focus from front to back. The eagle-eyed will detect some 'artefacts' at the back edge of the coin, but it's not bad for a first attempt.

This is the obverse ('tail') of a King George V 'Crown' coin. A crown was worth 5 shillings (a quarter of a pound sterling) in pre-decimal money - a paltry 25p today. In 1935 £1 was worth the equivalent of nearly £60 today. Here we see Saint George on his steed after having slain the dragon. The coloured background is printed cotton fabric, not carpet and the coin measures exactly 1.5 inches (39mm) across.

Lens: Asahi Pentax Takumar 55mm 1.8 with 25mm extension tube on Fuji X-T1 (the EXIF shown is incorrect).