focus stacking
Oct 31, 2016 13:15:10 #
Having had limited success focus stacking flowers, (so limited I binned them) , I was wondering how people keep insects still enough to stack without the aid of glue or pins.`
Oct 31, 2016 13:36:07 #
Oct 31, 2016 13:37:24 #
Norm.P wrote:
I suggest you ask your question in the "True Macro section". Many there including myself that stack various subjects fairly regularly. I'm on my phone and short of time.......Having had limited success focus stacking flowers, (so limited I binned them) , I was wondering how people keep insects still enough to stack without the aid of glue or pins.`
Bill
Oct 31, 2016 13:41:06 #
Norm.P wrote:
Having had limited success focus stacking flowers, (so limited I binned them) , I was wondering how people keep insects still enough to stack without the aid of glue or pins.`
No idea. I've had trouble with motion of insects in a "normal" single shot close-up or macro. Without using flash it is hard. Now, I've tried focus stacking flowers. I've too had limited success at that as well. During the time it took to do say 25 exposures mm by mm "thru" the flower the thing wilted a little. This appears as motion to the optical system and software. Using Photoshop for this I get weird looking stacked flowers, motion or not, that look unnatural even if they seem to have vastly increased depth of field. Yet I know some photographers get beautiful focus stacks. It seems it is an advanced technique. I for one will need to research and work at more to get pleasing results.
Oct 31, 2016 13:41:33 #
Norm.P wrote:
Having had limited success focus stacking flowers, (so limited I binned them) , I was wondering how people keep insects still enough to stack without the aid of glue or pins.`
Lower their body temperature by placing in fridge. Hunt for them early in the morning before they warm up also works. If you are not achieving results with stationary subjects like flowers, don't move up to inverts yet.
Remember patience is as useful tool as equipment.
Oct 31, 2016 13:43:50 #
wdross
Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado
Norm.P wrote:
Having had limited success focus stacking flowers, (so limited I binned them) , I was wondering how people keep insects still enough to stack without the aid of glue or pins.`
Shooting when it is cold tends to provide slower insects. Using dry ice to blow cold CO2 on them may help. Otherwise it back to faster shutter speeds. Or just choose the sharpest image of the insect, remove all the other signs of the insect from the stack, and put that one image of the insect back in. Good luck with slowing down the insects.
Oct 31, 2016 13:45:14 #
A lot of the real close-up insect photography you see have been shot with fixed (dead) insects. For certain types of stacked macro's it's the only way to do it.
Oct 31, 2016 13:46:57 #
lamiaceae wrote:
No idea. I've had trouble with motion of insects ... (show quote)
I have found that taking too many shots spoils the stitching process. Try shooting fewer frames and the total time between 1st and final frames is less. There is less time for components to have shifted. I shoot about f11 with most stacks.
The spider and flowers were live organisms. The number of images was between 4 and 8.
Oct 31, 2016 14:23:27 #
Several photographers in the UHH Macro-Photography Forum at http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-102-1.html , are quite adept at hand-held shooting live insects for focus-stacking. It is a skill best attempted after learning hand-held multiple-photo technique on stationary (fixed) subjects. David Bozsik (above) has the right idea.
Oct 31, 2016 16:19:58 #
Thanks for the replies. I'll take the advice about sticking to flowers till I get the hang of it.
Oct 31, 2016 16:40:07 #
I capture insects and small critters and put them in the freezer till I get around to "shooting" them
Norm.P wrote:
Having had limited success focus stacking flowers, (so limited I binned them) , I was wondering how people keep insects still enough to stack without the aid of glue or pins.`
Nov 1, 2016 05:25:27 #
focus stacking is a better option than resorting to hyperfocal distance which is more subjective.you can use focus stacking not only for macrophotography but it works well for landscape photography.what you need is a tripod,an automatic remote shutter release device.you have to use manual focus and do not change your other settings like ISO,aperture,shutter speed and your composition.you need to change the focal distance in your camera to different values up to infinity and take multiple shots and export them to photoshop and photoshop will do the rest of the job for you by merging all of those images.it is not that difficult to do,joseph
Nov 1, 2016 07:55:27 #
Bozsik wrote:
I have found that taking too many shots spoils the stitching process. Try shooting fewer frames and the total time between 1st and final frames is less. There is less time for components to have shifted. I shoot about f11 with most stacks.
The spider and flowers were live organisms. The number of images was between 4 and 8.
The spider and flowers were live organisms. The number of images was between 4 and 8.
Excellent images!
Nov 1, 2016 10:55:37 #
ronichas wrote:
Excellent images!
Thanks. I posted them just to illustrate that you don’t have to take 50 exposures to have the stack work for you.
Nov 1, 2016 11:06:39 #
mchroust wrote:
Put them in refrigerator for a while.
Cruel treatment
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