Going to feel stupid for asking..but... AF question

[MiracleB]

Okay!

So, I do not normally shoot intentional still life.

Today I am attempting to shoot a collection of crystal clusters I mined in Arkansas. 

I have a light box set up, all the proper staging - but I am having issues with shooting the clusters.

I have the full set of focus points active, but when I go in to shoot no matter what I do the camera chooses to focus on one or two points to one side of the cluster leaving the rest of the cluster fuzzy. No amount of re-focusing or moving seems to help.

I need every focus point active 100% of the time (unless I choose to change it).

Is there a way to force every single focus point to be active 100% of the time... a setting I am missing??

There is probably a very obvious answer to this, but I am having a very blonde morning.

Many thanks in advance.

[ebiggs1]

"If there is no better option I shall reserve it for the prettiest of the collection."

I doubt you need more than 3.  In that example of the barn, which has an extreme amount of f-stop range, it took only 3.  It is automatic and really is painless.  No matter what Bob from Boston claims. I swear it is easy.  Besides, if you are not post processing you don't truly want the best image possible. 

I use Lightroom mostly but there are others, some are free.  It is just a few mouse clicks as it is automatic in LR as well.

On my camera I tell it to bracket a shot.  It takes three shutter button releases. You can leave it in P mode if you want to. After the camera automatically reverts back to single shot.  I import in LR.  Tell LR to stack the three shots and 'bingo' there it is.

All the LR adjustments are now available for any other magic your heart desires.

The decision is yours.

[ebiggs1]

MiracleB,

This shot below is quite impossible without stacking.  It is not only possible to get it though but it is quite easy to do.  You can expose for either the barn or the outside.  You can not get both in one shot.  Your situation is not this drastic so it will be quite easy to get everything in focus and exposed correctly.

Sample of a stacked photo.  

This is not even new. It was done a day or two after photography was invented.  Around 150 years ago!