This obviously works a lot better than I expected.
Thanks for the tutorial Moose.
...Wayne
-----Original Message-----
From: olympus
[mailto:olympus-bounces+wayne.harridge=structuregraphs.com@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
] On Behalf Of Moose
Sent: Tuesday, 19 April 2016 2:47 PM
To: Olympus Camera Discussion <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [OM] Stupid Stacking Tricks [was PESO -- Turn me On]
On 4/17/2016 9:19 AM, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
> Pretty close. My DoF calculator says 2.88" (or less if I tighten the
> CoC a bit)
Yeah, about that . . . I was thinking, so I acted. I'm forever thinking
about how to accomplish things photographic. And one regular theme is
questioning the ways of doing things that we inherit from the past. Some of
them turn out to be technique based on working with the limitations of the
gear of the time.
We all know that the advent of digital has made focus stacking practical;
Oly has even started adding it as an in-camera function.
And we know how to do it: sturdy tripod, unmoving subject, focusing rail,
i.e., lots of time and trouble, totally impractical on a casual basis in the
field.
So, I tried something different, 2-4 hand held shots, fairly small aperture,
using AF to focus on different parts/depths of the subject. Which means I
re-aim the camera, press half-way and reframe for each shot. So the shots
aren't identically framed, sometimes the light is even different between
them.
And . . . IT WORKS! Here's an Iris, about as deep a subject as the faucet,
and even closer, 11.4'/3.5 m, vs. 12.6'/3.9 m. Two shots, combined in PS,
are all it took to give very deep DoF.
<http://galleries.moosemystic.net/MooseFoto/index.php?gallery=Tech/FocusStac
king&image=_A004568-59croofm.jpg> Another, using three shots.
<http://galleries.moosemystic.net/MooseFoto/index.php?gallery=Tech/FocusStac
king&image=_A004614-16oofm.jpg>
Not too shabby, IMO!
This approach only adds a couple of seconds in the field, and is not
necessarily troubled by breezes.
Now, how does one do it? Here's an example.
<http://www.moosemystic.net/Gallery/tech/Focus%20Stacking/_B003645-46.htm>
As you can see, I didn't line up the shots very well. :-)
1. Stack. There are two ways:
a. File=>Automate=>Scripts=>Load Files into Stack
b. With only 2-3, I open them all and copy from one onto the other.
(Make sure to rename the Background layer.
Background is locked so the command doesn't affect it.) 2. Align.
Edit=>Auto-Align Layers. Choose "Auto" option..
3. Merge for focus. Edit=>Auto-Blend Layers. Choose "Stack Images" and
"Seamless Tones and Colors" options.
For most I've tried so far, that's worked perfectly, without further messing
with the automated masks.
I have probably overdone the FM sharpening for many tastes. That's
intentional, to show how far one may go without the image falling apart.
And, esp. for Mike, another done with the 100-400.
<http://www.moosemystic.net/Gallery/tech/Focus%20Stacking/_A004637-38.htm>
This shows the exact contribution of each shot.
As the whole process depends on software that can effectively align images
with subjects framed quite differently, merge focus and adjust for lighting
differences, I have no idea how to do it in other apps, nor how well they
might work. This is part of why I think the $10/mo. is worth it.
Not So Dumb Moose
--
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
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