DSLR Macro tip - Using your aperture to get more in focus.

I thought getting as much light in the lens was a good thing, though it can affect your focus if you are doing macro photography.

I used a f/3.5 aperture which gives me fast shots or to bring alot of light in the lens but affects its focus.

By stepping up the aperture, I can get more in focus across the whole scene.

By stepping my aperture to f/13 I am now able to get just about everything in focus in the image.

Great right? Yes for normal visible light photography, but not so much for infrared and ultraviolet photography. As hotspots can form in the images. See below for examples:

f/16 above aperture and a hotspot at the top of the leaf.

f/2.8 above which stops the hotspots but now I have a narrow focus. As you can see most of the overall plant is not in focus, just the tips of the top branches.

I have been told certain filters can cause this, so in the future I may need to invest in better filters. Until then theres a fine line between hotspots and macrophotos with more in focus.

thanks to @nevlu123 for making me this animation.