“F
ocus stacking is the key to
tremendous depth of field which makes your images pop like no other micro- technique.”
Mark Spear W
e’ve all used macrophotography and microphotography to get close to our subjects. But there
are limits to what these tools can do for us. Macro lenses are harder to use at higher magnification. Microscopes limit what you can do with sample positioning and lighting. Te goal is to keep our images tack-
sharp. At higher magnifications, that means a checklist of requirements including: Low ISO; Bright and well- positioned lights; Shutter speeds no slower than 1/5th of a second; Very steady mounting of camera and subject; Focus stacking. Tese requirements led to the
development of the Extreme Macro Rig. For years the entomologists have been using their rigs to capture those stunning giant images of tiny bugs. But why should the bug guys have all the fun? Tere are already stunning extreme macro images online of slime molds and tiny mushrooms. So how hard can it be? In this article we review the main ideas
and provide a starting point for anybody who wants to dive into this fascinating and challenging technique (Figure 1). To date, there appears to be no ready-made solutions so this is a DIY project.
Figure 1. Example images from the Extreme Macro Rig. Top Left: Cross section of Ganoderma fruit body. Stack of 12 shots; 10x. Bottom Left: Single photo without focus stacking; 20X.
34 FUNGI Volume 19:2 Summer 2026
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