To really see this image, I would recommend clicking on the image to enlarge it. I took 98 images of this cactus, while changing the focus very slightly between exposures. I then used HeliconFocus to combine the images … the software takes the parts of each image that are in focus and combines them into a single image. That combining took the computer over 20 minutes of processing time.
When you see this type of image large, they often look almost unrealistic in their sharpness. When we look at an object, our eyes may focus on the details of one part of the object. The other parts of the object are then not in focus … So, when we see an image like this, it seems a little unnatural, because we are expecting the primary subject to be in focus and the rest to be less so. (at least, that’s my opinion)