Shooting and blending multiple focused images

Hi all,

In one of Marc Adamus images he talks about how he took two images, one focused for near objects and focused to infinity. I'm interested to find out more on this technique. My big question is this: Once you set up the composition and make the initial focus, how do you change the focus points without moving the camera? Do you just use the viewfinder and focus manually on the near point...take the shot and then use the viewfinder to focus on the far points without worrying about the near focus? I know that you use blending techniques to bring them together in Photoshop...it is mainly the field technique I need to learn. Has anyone done this with success and if so, how do you do it? Do you also bracket at the same time for exposure?

Thanks,
Jack

http://goodlight.us/writing/digitalscheimpflug/digitalscheimpflug-0.html

Guy

In the tutorial that Guy linked, the Take Pictures chapter covers many of the aspects of what you need to do in the field to make things work. I've been using Helicon Focus--not Photoshop actions or plug-ins--to stack focus-bracketed exposures (landscape and macro) for the past year or so with pretty good results. The most important in-field key is selecting a scene that will work. If you have anything that moves--flowers, foliage, etc.--it can be very difficult to obtain a pleasing end product unless it's dead calm or virtually so.

Along with what Guy and Kerry said, check out CombineZM, a freeware focus blending app. It works really well. One thing Kerry mentioned stands out though - if anything in the scene is moving, you won't get good results.