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Giants in Saguaro National Park, Tuscon, AZ "Focus-Stacked"..!
May 23, 2018 12:42:02   #
kskarma Loc: Topeka, KS
 
The Saguaro National Park is very unique in that it consists primarily of desert plants...tons of Saguaro..(duh!) as well as a wide variety of other cacti, yucca, ocotillo...on and on... There are 2 sections to the park, one to the west of Tuscon, and this one, the Rincon Park that lies to the east, the total area is nearly 140 square miles. There is a great driving road..(one-way..hurrah..!) that takes the visitor on an 8 mile meandering path over and through a lot of photo-worthy areas.

This photo is actually comprised of two separate, but aligned images..both of them hand-held, FYI. I wanted to show both the immense size of these magnificent plants as well as the detailing of their spiny structure. These shots was taken with my Nikon D750..mounting a 28-300mm lens, f13, 1/300 sec. for those who might like this EXIF data)...both of the images at a 135mm setting, but focused first on the closer plant on the right....then the second shot was taken after refocusing on the distant pair of Saguaros. I was fortunate also, to be there during some of the "Magic Light" of early evening.

This is a 'focus stacked' shot that combines those 2 separate images... CombineZP was used to blend the 'in-focus' portions of the two images together so that there is 'front to back' sharpness...a bit of amazing digital Magic....!! This image had to be downsized to fit in this forum, the original is over 25meg...and is...pardon the pun, 'needle' sharp...!

For those unfamiliar with "focus-stacking", it's a technique that allows multiple images taken at incrementaly focused distances, to be 'blended' together. These incredible bits of software are able to determine the sharpest sections of each separate image and then blend those segments together seamlessly. I have used this technique...and the program "Combine ZP", to 'stack' as many as 44 separate images....

(Disclaimer...I have no connection with CombineZP, but would be open to a small monthly fee....[G]..!)



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May 23, 2018 13:10:01   #
Saleavitt10 Loc: Maine
 
Beautiful!

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May 23, 2018 15:01:51   #
ejones0310 Loc: Tulsa, OK
 
kskarma wrote:
The Saguaro National Park is very unique in that it consists primarily of desert plants...tons of Saguaro..(duh!) as well as a wide variety of other cacti, yucca, ocotillo...on and on... There are 2 sections to the park, one to the west of Tuscon, and this one, the Rincon Park that lies to the east, the total area is nearly 140 square miles. There is a great driving road..(one-way..hurrah..!) that takes the visitor on an 8 mile meandering path over and through a lot of photo-worthy areas.

This photo is actually comprised of two separate, but aligned images..both of them hand-held, FYI. I wanted to show both the immense size of these magnificent plants as well as the detailing of their spiny structure. These shots was taken with my Nikon D750..mounting a 28-300mm lens, f13, 1/300 sec. for those who might like this EXIF data)...both of the images at a 135mm setting, but focused first on the closer plant on the right....then the second shot was taken after refocusing on the distant pair of Saguaros. I was fortunate also, to be there during some of the "Magic Light" of early evening.

This is a 'focus stacked' shot that combines those 2 separate images... CombineZP was used to blend the 'in-focus' portions of the two images together so that there is 'front to back' sharpness...a bit of amazing digital Magic....!! This image had to be downsized to fit in this forum, the original is over 25meg...and is...pardon the pun, 'needle' sharp...!

For those unfamiliar with "focus-stacking", it's a technique that allows multiple images taken at incrementaly focused distances, to be 'blended' together. These incredible bits of software are able to determine the sharpest sections of each separate image and then blend those segments together seamlessly. I have used this technique...and the program "Combine ZP", to 'stack' as many as 44 separate images....

(Disclaimer...I have no connection with CombineZP, but would be open to a small monthly fee....[G]..!)
The Saguaro National Park is very unique in that ... (show quote)


If only "store original" had been checked we could all enjoy the sharpness.

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May 23, 2018 15:26:51   #
kskarma Loc: Topeka, KS
 
ejones0310 wrote:
If only "store original" had been checked we could all enjoy the sharpness.


Thanks for your comment...I actually did that when I made the first post....I think this site won't accept files over 20 meg...and this one is 25 meg... I just tried attaching it again after your post...and I got the same thing....but I'll check the 'rules' again....

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May 23, 2018 16:40:32   #
ejones0310 Loc: Tulsa, OK
 
kskarma wrote:
Thanks for your comment...I actually did that when I made the first post....I think this site won't accept files over 20 meg...and this one is 25 meg... I just tried attaching it again after your post...and I got the same thing....but I'll check the 'rules' again....


I can't recall the size limit t, but I'm certain it's less than 25 Meg. I thought it was 23 Meg, but 20 Meg could be correct.

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May 23, 2018 17:58:24   #
kskarma Loc: Topeka, KS
 
ejones0310 wrote:
I can't recall the size limit t, but I'm certain it's less than 25 Meg. I thought it was 23 Meg, but 20 Meg could be correct.


OK...here's my story...the "Resizer" in Windows seems to not be able to resize to larger than slightly less than 10meg...after several tries with different parameters, the biggest I could generate was 9.65 meg. There is a new resizer that I just downloaded for Windows, so I can't recall what the max size the former one would do...
SO..be that as it may, what I did was to reopen the image in PS CC2018 and change the "Image Size" there...this one is 19.4 meg and loaded with no problems, so I think the 20 meg is the limit here....and that is what the 'rules' state...maybe there is NO exception for Panos, etc?


(Download)

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May 23, 2018 18:21:53   #
ejones0310 Loc: Tulsa, OK
 
kskarma wrote:
OK...here's my story...the "Resizer" in Windows seems to not be able to resize to larger than slightly less than 10meg...after several tries with different parameters, the biggest I could generate was 9.65 meg. There is a new resizer that I just downloaded for Windows, so I can't recall what the max size the former one would do...
SO..be that as it may, what I did was to reopen the image in PS CC2018 and change the "Image Size" there...this one is 19.4 meg and loaded with no problems, so I think the 20 meg is the limit here....and that is what the 'rules' state...maybe there is NO exception for Panos, etc?
OK...here's my story...the "Resizer" in ... (show quote)


Thanks for saving the original. After downloading I was able to zoom in for more detail. Images are much sharper than I originally thought. I'm going to have to check out the software you used. Thanks for your efforts.

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May 23, 2018 21:31:56   #
Swamp-Cork Loc: Lanexa, Virginia
 
Beautiful image!

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May 24, 2018 00:42:42   #
patrick43 Loc: Los Lunas,NM
 
To my uneducated eye the picture is beautiful even without the download, but thanks for your extra effort.

Reply
May 24, 2018 14:55:42   #
RickL Loc: Vail, Az
 
kskarma wrote:
The Saguaro National Park is very unique in that it consists primarily of desert plants...tons of Saguaro..(duh!) as well as a wide variety of other cacti, yucca, ocotillo...on and on... There are 2 sections to the park, one to the west of Tuscon, and this one, the Rincon Park that lies to the east, the total area is nearly 140 square miles. There is a great driving road..(one-way..hurrah..!) that takes the visitor on an 8 mile meandering path over and through a lot of photo-worthy areas.

This photo is actually comprised of two separate, but aligned images..both of them hand-held, FYI. I wanted to show both the immense size of these magnificent plants as well as the detailing of their spiny structure. These shots was taken with my Nikon D750..mounting a 28-300mm lens, f13, 1/300 sec. for those who might like this EXIF data)...both of the images at a 135mm setting, but focused first on the closer plant on the right....then the second shot was taken after refocusing on the distant pair of Saguaros. I was fortunate also, to be there during some of the "Magic Light" of early evening.

This is a 'focus stacked' shot that combines those 2 separate images... CombineZP was used to blend the 'in-focus' portions of the two images together so that there is 'front to back' sharpness...a bit of amazing digital Magic....!! This image had to be downsized to fit in this forum, the original is over 25meg...and is...pardon the pun, 'needle' sharp...!

For those unfamiliar with "focus-stacking", it's a technique that allows multiple images taken at incrementaly focused distances, to be 'blended' together. These incredible bits of software are able to determine the sharpest sections of each separate image and then blend those segments together seamlessly. I have used this technique...and the program "Combine ZP", to 'stack' as many as 44 separate images....

(Disclaimer...I have no connection with CombineZP, but would be open to a small monthly fee....[G]..!)
The Saguaro National Park is very unique in that ... (show quote)



Excellent shots, I love ten minutes from there. One of our favourite places to photograph

Rick

Reply
May 24, 2018 17:28:07   #
kskarma Loc: Topeka, KS
 
RickL wrote:
Excellent shots, I love ten minutes from there. One of our favourite places to photograph

Rick


You're lucky to have so many places and subjects so close to your home....I went as far south as Ramsey Canyon on our trip...had a great time...!

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May 24, 2018 19:51:35   #
Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY
 
Beautiful.

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