Photographer's 200-Image Focus Stack of Ant Ruined When Ant Moves on Frame 199

Macro photographer Paulo Diffraction has reported the loss of a 47-minute focus stacking session after his subject — a carpenter ant positioned on a section of oak bark — moved its left mesothoracic leg approximately 0.2 millimeters on frame 199 of a planned 200-frame composite. 'One leg. One frame before completion,' Diffraction said, reviewing the ruined stack on his monitor. 'The motion blur on the tarsus makes frames 1 through 198 completely unusable for compositing. You can't blend a sharp leg with a blurred leg. The software interprets it as two different legs. Which, philosophically, it might be.' Diffraction had positioned the ant using a cooling technique, placing the insect in a refrigerator for several minutes to reduce its metabolic rate before transferring it to the shooting stage. The ant remained motionless for 47 minutes as Diffraction advanced his motorized focus rail in 10-micron increments, capturing one frame per increment. 'At 5:1 magnification, 10 microns per step, 200 steps — that covers the entire depth of the ant's head and thorax,' Diffraction explained. 'It's a millimeter-by-millimeter portrait. Every sensillum on the antenna was in focus. Every compound eye ommatidium was crisp. And then the leg moved, and all of it became garbage.' The ant, which Diffraction returned to his garden after the session, appeared untroubled. 'I don't blame the ant,' Diffraction said, though his tone suggested otherwise. 'Ants don't understand focus stacking. They don't understand that their left mesothoracic leg is attached to a tarsus that is attached to my sanity. The ant was just being an ant.' He has begun the setup for a second attempt with a new ant, which he has named 'Please Don't Move.' 'I'm doing 250 frames this time,' he said. 'With a buffer.'