Photo Tips and Stories (Page 16)
I had a backpack full of new gear that needed an in-the-field workout and the right timing for waterfall photography happened – a forecast for very cloudy skies with a strong percentage chance of rain combined with recently prior rains (to provide waterflow).
So, I took advantage of the opportunity, photographing in Watkins Glen State Park.
While I knew this could be a busy park, I thought that going on a mid-spring weekday with a weather forecast that most would consider dismal would solve that problem.
I was wrong.
While I don't know what a normal day is like in this park, the gorge trail had plenty of people on it.
Watkins Glen is a beautiful park but being limited to the trail (mostly stone and concrete) makes it especially challenging to photograph the best scenes without random people in the composition.
I spent well over an hour trying to capture this Cavern Cascade and Spiral Tunnel image.
Apparently tour bus groups were being dropped off at the gorge trail's upper parking lot and being picked up at the lower lot as hundreds of people were going in the downhill direction.
At one point, I decided to leave and come back later.
That approach worked especially well because, in the evening, the path light in the tunnel (very dark) better-balanced with the ambient daylight.
I noticed that the tunnel walls were dark in some areas and opted to use my phone light to paint the walls slightly brighter.
I bracketed this exposure to ensure that I had the right brightness options available for HDR processing.
The final image is mostly two captures with the longer exposure providing the brighter tunnel.
A larger version of this image is available on Flickr.
ISO 200
7952 x 5304px
by Sean Setters
I took a shot yesterday that I thought looked interesting, so I thought we'd have a little fun with it today.
Can you guess what the subject of the photo is? You can click on the image above to download a higher resolution version for analysis. Then scroll down for the answer.
Answer: It's the seed head of a grass plant.
Backstory
I really wanted to create a macro focus stack image, but I was having a difficulty coming up with an idea for an interesting subject. As I often do when I'm experiencing a mental block for a macro subject, I strolled around my lawn to see what I could find. It had been raining off and on in Savannah, GA for several days, so I hadn't been able to mow the lawn in quite some time. Some of the grass had gotten very tall, and one such plant drew my attention. I marveled at the plant's seed head as I inspected it closely, and decided my search for a macro subject was complete. Now onto the photography bit.
I attached stacked Kenko extension tubes and a Kenko 1.4x Teleconverter to my Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM and mounted it all onto my EOS 5D Mark III (tripod mounted, of course). Two studio strobes were already set up in my studio with one firing through a 4 x 6' (1.2 x 1.8 m) and a 3' x 8" (0.9 x 0.2 m) gridded stripbox, so I simply used those for lighting. A bottle provided a nice stand for the stem the grass plant.
I originally shot it without a background which caused the background to be completely black. However, while the light colored part of the seed head stood out very well, the black portions (unsure what their name is), understandably, did not. So, I searched my home for something that might provide a suitable background color for the subject (I didn't expect to see recognizable details in the macro shot because of the limited depth-of-field and camera-to-subject and subject-to-background distance). I found my answer donning the wall of our kitchen – a calendar someone had given us for Christmas.
I attached the calendar to a backlight stand via a reflector holder and positioned the calendar so that the pictured flowers were directly behind the seed head. So here's what the setup looked like:
And here's a closeup with the flashes illuminating the subject:
I captured 36 images with the Focus Stack feature of Magic Lantern (installed on the 5D III) which were compiled in Helicon Focus. EXIF settings for the individual images were f/6.3, 1/160 sec, ISO 100.
After compiling the images in Helicon Focus and a little bit of editing in Photoshop CC, I arrived at the image below.
At this point, I was pretty happy with the image. But as I as I began to look at it in detail, the black parts of the seed head reminded me of trees. With that in mind, I rotated the image so that the stalk portion of the seed head was horizontal and cropped it so that the other half of the stalk (and the mirrored portion of the seed head) would remain unseen. Unfortunately, I didn't give myself enough leeway in the original framing to allow for the background to cover the entire frame at such an extreme angle of rotation. Therefore, I had to recreate the background (using content aware fill) in the areas where no background existed. But after that, the image you see atop this post was finished.
For what it's worth, I'm consistently amazed by the details found in readily available (very common) subjects that await capture with a macro lens and (sometimes) the higher magnification made possible by extension tubes and teleconverters.
I was in coastal Katmai National Park primarily to photograph brown bears feasting on salmon, but the landscape was also very impressive.
As the light faded on the bears, clouds settled into the mountaintops and the setting sun brightly lit the clouds not shaded by the mountain.
Direct sunlight just before sunset (or just after sunrise) is warm in color and very significantly warmer than the light in shaded areas.
I often like that difference in color.
While I carried a wide angle zoom lens along with me on the bear treks, primarily to use for landscape photography, it was not the right lens choice for this scene.
My subjects were mountain tops and I wanted them large in the frame.
Meeting this goal calls for telephoto focal lengths and the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Lens I primarily intended for wildlife use worked perfectly here.
Sometimes capturing a great landscape image with a telephoto lens seems too easy.
While the 100-400 L II is not a small or light lens, it is usually with me when photographing landscape exclusively.
This is an extremely versatile lens that delivers very impressive image quality.
A larger version of this image is available on Flickr.
ISO 100
8688 x 5792px
While some fences can be great photo subjects themselves, they often contain another photo subject, including captive wildlife and those participating in sporting events (and sometimes subjects that the paparazzi are chasing).
I'm going to primarily focus on the wildlife photography aspects of fencing today, but the same tips are applicable to many through-the-fence situations.
For wildlife, not everyone can afford a safari to Africa and not everyone can take enough time off of work to track down more-locally-occurring wildlife such as a wild mountain lion.
Zoos make these great animals readily available for observation and enjoyment.
Photographing the animals in zoos, however, remains a challenge and the biggest challenge is usually the fence.
A key to a great zoo animal photo is avoiding any signs of the fence, including a patterned background blur, in the photo.
To that goal, here is a list of photography tips relevant to fences.
- The most important tip: move the lens as close to the fence as possible. Doing so aids immensely in the foreground fence becoming blurred out recognition. Getting against a fence, at least at some exhibits, may require attendance at a special program designed for this access (ZooAmerica's Photography Tour in this case), but others are readily approachable. Removing the lens hood permits a closer-to-the-fence position, but caution is required to avoid scratching the lens. A UV/Clear Protective Filter can help minimize the risk of damage to your lens' front element.
- The second most important tip: use a wide aperture, allowing the shallow depth of field to obscure the obstruction, including both the foreground and background fence.
- Similarly, use a long focal length to enlarge the blurred obstruction, making it less obvious. Though an ultra-wide angle lens may cause a background fence to be so small that it is barely visible in the frame, wide angles are more likely to leave even a practically-against-the-front-element fence very recognizable. So, use a long telephoto lens to blur both the foreground and background fences away.
- Dark-colored fences (dark colors absorb more light than bright ones), remain more obscured in an image than bright silver fences (very common). If you have a choice, go for dark.
- Avoid brightly-lit fences. For the same reason I prefer dark fences, I prefer shaded ones. If you have a choice, opt for fences in the shade (including in the background). If the sun is behind you, the opportunity to create your own shade exists and the lens with your hand around it may be all that is needed to accomplish this.
- Attempt to align your subject inside the fence so that there is a natural background, avoiding the background fence that most fenced enclosures have. This may mean shooting from a low position to look over the background fence or aligning the subject with flora (as seen here). Using a long focal length lens provides a narrow angle of view that makes smaller background scenes easier to work with.
- Shoot from over the fence. While the looking-down angle is not often my favorite for wildlife, it may be the best available option.
- Find the widest opening available in the fence and center the lens in it. Finding a hole to shoot through (do not create one unless you own the fence) can be a great find. Take advantage of existing fence damage to gain a larger portal for photography purposes. Quality fencing likely has all-identical-sized openings and this tip will not be helpful in that scenario.
- Use the fence as a steadying aid. While the fence may detract from your image quality by some amount, if the subject is stationary enough, you might be able to shoot braced against the fence with longer shutter speeds than otherwise possible, enabling lower ISO settings that improve image quality through lower noise levels.
- Avoid fence shadows falling on your subject and in your backgrounds. This may require shooting at a specific time of the day or even a certain time of the year. Cloudy skies are often optimal for this reason.
- Lighting, subject pose, the background and all of the other important requirements for a good image are still in place. Don't lose sight of what makes a good image just because a fence is obscuring your view and/or the subject is unusual for you.
- Low contrast and low saturation are likely image quality issues with photos captured through a fence. Consider adding these adjustments during post processing.
- A last resort for removing fencing in the frame is via photo editing software with Photoshop's healing brush tool being especially helpful if individual fence wires remain visible.
Have any photography-through-a-fence tips? Please share them with us!
A larger version of this image is available on Flickr.
ISO 2000
5304 x 7952px
The ideal height to photograph wildlife, especially birds not flying (perched, standing, walking, swimming, etc.) is most often when the camera is level (pitch) and the bird is properly framed.
Basically, this is the same level as the subject.
If the bird is on the ground and the ground is flat and void of visual obstructions, getting flat on the ground is a great option and a ground pod is a great support for this position.
If the bird is in or on the water, getting to their level immediately becomes more complicated.
The embankments of most water bodies are raised at least somewhat over the water and that makes it hard to get down to bird-level from outside of the water.
If possible, and you are OK with the risks involved, getting in the water can be a great way to get down to close to the ideal level.
Still, the comfortable/safe height of the camera (and likely the tripod head) above the water usually leaves the bird at a still-lower elevation.
The next option is to get farther away.
If the bird is near you, the camera will be angled downward more than if the bird is farther away.
Of course, moving farther away means the bird is smaller in the frame.
That is, unless a longer focal length is used.
Very long focal lengths are ideal for bird photography for a couple of reasons.
The obvious reason is that they make the bird appear large in the frame from a less-frightening (mattering only to the bird usually) distance.
The other reason coincides with one of the reasons for shooting from a level: to strongly blur the background.
Long focal lengths magnify the background blur, giving images a more-strongly blurred background that makes the subject stand out.
Aside from the perspective making the bird look good, shooting from a lower position pushes background farther into the distance, farther outside of the depth of field and making your long focal length lens blur powers even more magical.
For this image capture, I was wearing chest waders and a Gore-Tex coat and sitting in the water up to my elbows (where the Gore-Tex jacket became an important part of the wardrobe).
The temperature was in the 40s F (single digits C) on this day, so I had many layers on in addition.
The tripod was positioned so that the apex was just above the water line and I was bent over to reach the viewfinder.
Note that I'm not saying that a low shooting position is comfortable, especially after over 4 hours of not moving.
But, what is comfort when making a good image is at stake?!
Being as low as I could go and using a long focal length (840mm) on a full frame body provided a great background blur right out of the camera.
Of course, it is hard to take a bad picture of a subject as beautiful as a wood duck.
A larger version of this image is available on Flickr.
ISO 2000
7621 x 5080px
Making the long backstory short, my wife gave my father-in-law a Jack-in-the-pulpit seed for Christmas.
My in-laws planted it in the spring and it grew, only to be dug out by an animal.
It was replanted and the next year it was crushed by a bear.
After installing three different types of fencing around the vulnerable plant, their Jack bloomed splendidly this year.
That led to the phone call from my mother-in-law, suggesting that I might have interest in photographing the plant.
I was nearing the completion of a review and really wanted stay heads-down until it was finished.
But, I felt the strong encouraging and started asking questions and for location pics via text.
Flowers do not often stay at their peak appearance very long (and who knew what might try to destroy this plant overnight).
With the initial assessment leaning favorably to decent image potential, I went over with a MindShift Gear BackLight 26L full of gear, including a multi-off-camera flash setup and reflectors.
One of the challenges I faced was the background.
Winter seemed to hang on forever this year and only a few days earlier a warm spell finally and very quickly accelerated leaf growth.
Still, the available leaves, able to add a green color, were minimal and mostly brown was the surrounding forest and ground color, with dead leaves on the ground and bare tree trunks primarily visible.
My tongue-in-cheek suggestion that we cut the flower was not found humorous.
Another challenge was the lighting.
Good lighting is always key to a good picture.
As the forest canopy had barely started growing leaves, I expected mottled direct sunlight to be a problem.
The flashes and reflectors (able to provide shade as well as reflected light) were my insurance, ensuring that I could create my own lighting if necessary.
Also, waiting until the sun set would give me full shade and completely even lighting.
As the background did not compare in attractiveness to the plant, blurring the background away was going to be a high priority and that meant long focal lengths and wide apertures.
I contemplated taking the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM Lens with a 25mm extension tube, but the sloping ground was not going to give me optimal positioning from the subject distance that focal length would have required.
I needed a shorter telephoto lens and opted to take the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro
and the Canon TS-E 135mm f/4L Tilt-Shift Macro lenses with me.
While the macro lens may be an obvious good choice, the tilt-shift lens has a 0.5x maximum magnification and with a narrow aperture desired, I thought the movements feature could be useful.
That turned out to be a good choice as in the end, I only used the tilt-shift lens option.
Upon arriving on the scene, I found the sunlight to be mostly diffused on the plant with some of the background being touched by direct sunlight.
Shade is typically cool in color temperature and late day sunlight is usually warm.
That means a properly white balanced subject in the shade results in the sunlit background turning especially warm and that scenario often works well.
The composition was a bit of a challenge.
I wanted to see the full flower without obstruction and the large leaves growing on two sides immediately limited the available angles.
I also wanted to see the curved top of the jack in the frame and from the side or front of course.
Upon working the scene, I saw that, with a low/level camera position, a pair of background trees were framing the Jack and keeping some border around those trunks framed the trees.
The inside of the pulpit (the spathe) and the Jack (spadix) of this particular Jack-in-the-pulpit are very bright in relation to everything else in the frame.
Thus, my exposure goal was to make just a tiny part of the Jack blinking overexposed in the image review.
I wanted the background to be as blurred as possible, emphasizing the Jack-in-the-pulpit in the image and that meant using the wide open f/4 aperture for this lens.
I was using a tripod and wind was not an issue, so ISO 100 was selected for the lowest noise levels with the camera's mirror lockup and the self-timer mode being used.
The shutter speed was adjusted until that small portion of the Jack was blinking during review on the camera's LCD.
As I worked the scene, adjusting/refining the camera position, I captured some bracketed exposures in case I wanted to the background to be brighter in the final image.
In the end, I opted to use the original exposure for most of the image and dropped the Jack and pulpit by 1/3 stop to bring the brightest details down on the tone curve, slightly increasing contrast and bring a small amount of detail out on the nearly detail-void Jack.
Notice the tiny fly with red eyes sitting on the Jack?
It is difficult to see at this resolution (I'll share a larger version on my Flickr account).
Fortunately, I think he was only parking and not eating.
Flies are attracted to Jacks by smell and in turn do the pollinating.
He was an incidental subject that I didn't notice while photographing and he was only in a few frames.
I liked the additional point of interest and opted to not stamp him out during post processing.
For this image, I used the tilt-shift lens as a normal lens with the movements in their zero position.
But I did use movements for some images including this Jack-in-the-pulpit image.
As I was leaving, my mother-in-law mentioned "If they turn out well, I want to have a metal print made."
Phew, going to take the pics was definitely the right decision.
A larger version of this image is available on Flickr.
ISO 100
5792 x 8688px
by Sean Setters
Before I get into the five tips for hood-mounted camera photography, it's important to note that having a reliable method for attaching your camera to the hood of an automobile is a requirement for this type of photography. The best tool I have found for the job is the RigWheels RigMount X4 Camera Platform with one of the magnetic mounts replaced with an RMH1 RigMount with Ball Head. The duo allows you to securely mount the X4 platform supported with 3 RML1 Long Magnetic Mounts on one side and the Ball Head Magnetic Mount on the other side, which can be adjusted to provide a secure magnetic connection on the side of the car.
With the absolutely required gear out of the way, let's get rolling (pun intended) with the tips.
1. Wash the parts of the car that will be visible in your image, including the hood.
I'm leading off with this tip because a) you'll want to complete this step ahead of time because washing a car with a camera attached is not advisable and b) it's something I forgot to do before taking the shot above. I did wipe down the hood with a cloth to get most of the loose dirt off the hood, but I completely forgot about the windshield. Dirt on the windshield will really stand out when light is reflected at certain angles and can cause a less clear/hazy view into the car's interior. Do yourself a favor and wash [minimally] the parts of the car that will be within the lens' field of view. Doing so will ensure you can easily see your subject/the car's interior and will reduce the amount of time needed for spot removal in post-processing.
2. Use a fisheye lens.
So why is a fisheye lens important? First, a fisheye lens gives you a very wide angle of view which makes the hood of the car look bigger/more prominent while also allowing any details on the hood (like a hood scoop) to be fully framed. And second, the fisheye lens' distortion makes the lines of the hood curved, leading to a much more intriguing, almost futuristic-looking image.
Note that one downside to using a fisheye lens is that such lenses do not accept front filters. Therefore, in order to obtain a slow enough shutter speed for optimal motion-blurred surroundings, shooting when the ambient light is minimal (in other words, at night) will be necessary.
3. Park under a street light to figure out your framing and exposure.
The best way I've found to figure out the best exposure values and obtain focus is to park under a street light. This has several benefits. For one, as street lights will likely be the primary source of illumination for the car, it makes sense to use a street light to dial in your exposure settings. As the hood will not be constantly exposed by a single light source in any of the desired moving images, it's best to set your exposure so that the hood is slightly overexposed in testing. Doing so will help account for the time the car is less illuminated between light poles. Of course, not all of the images the camera takes will be optimally exposed, but by using the street light to dial in your desired aperture, shutter speed and ISO, those images that are well-illuminated by one (or two) street lights will likely be in the ballpark of your test exposure.
Another benefit of parking under a street light is that you can usually set manual focus on the lens by using any light that is illuminating the car's interior and 10x Live View magnification on the camera.
And last but not least, the street light will help you set your desired framing. In most photography disciplines, getting your camera level is an optimal technique. However, significantly tilting a hood mounted camera makes it look like the car is traveling on an angle, sort of like a NASCAR stock car in a banked turn. Using Live View, experiment with different angles to see which one you think looks best.
4. Use a remote flash to light your subject(s).
While the car is an integral part of any hood-mounted image, a well-lit subject will provide a necessary focal point for the viewer. However, the subject will not be well-lit from the ambient light without the car being overexposed (especially with lighter exterior car colors). What you need is a remote, radio-triggered flash inside the car to illuminate your subject(s) during the exposure. It can be tricky to position your flash so that it is flattering to your subject yet remains unseen from the camera's position, so you may have to experiment (and problem solve) to figure out a plausible flash mounting solution, especially if you want to include a modifier in the mix. Also, be sure to choose an interval setting that includes a buffer time between images so that your flash has adequate time to recharge before the next shot.
5. Compositing can help you get the "perfect shot."
One of the great things about this type of photography is that there's an unavoidable random quality to the images that are captured. The look of the images can change dramatically based on the speed of the vehicle and the types of lights affecting the scene. You could drive the same stretch of road a dozen times with the same camera settings and no two images would look the same. On the one hand, that means you'll always get something unique. On the other hand, nailing the perfect shot takes a decent amount of luck and/or a bit of Photoshop. Because much of the image is static (never changes) and with the changing parts being motion-blurred and mostly unrecognizable, you can easily combine those areas from several images using a soft edged brush to blend desired areas of each image together.
About the Shot
Not too long ago, I installed Magic Lantern on my Canon EOS 5D Mark III so that I could test out a particular feature of the firmware add-on. While I ultimately found out that the feature didn't work as I had expected (and, therefore, was useless to me), the other benefits of having Magic Latern installed on the camera led me to leave it installed on my memory cards. One such feature, an full-featured intervalometer, made me want to recreate my favorite driving self-portrait, except using the full-frame camera instead of the EOS 7D Mark II + Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye. The EOS 7D Mark II features a built-in intervalometer, making it really easy to use when mounted to the RigWheels RigMount X4 for the rolling car shot. However, the full-frame 5D Mark III was better at resolving fine details. With the intervalometer feature enabled by Magic Lantern, all I needed was a fisheye lens that would enable me to simulate the perspective of the Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 on the APS-C camera.
Considering that this would be a lens I intended to use sparingly, purchasing a used model seemed to make a lot of sense. Therefore, I started keeping an eye out for full-frame fisheye lenses in B&H's used inventory as well as eBay. After a couple of weeks, I ran across a Rokinon 12mm T3.1 Fisheye auction going for a very reasonable price and watched it carefully. For my intended use of the lens, autofocus was not necessary; a manual focus lens would work just fine. I ended up winning the auction with a bid significantly less than half the retail price, so needless to say I was very happy with the acquisition. Of course, there are some risks in buying a used lens, which is why I wanted to give it a thorough test after it arrived on my doorstep. Thankfully, it performed excellently.
The Setup
To get the shots used for the composite above, I mounted the Canon EOS 5D Mark III + Rokinon 12mm T3.1 Fisheye on the passenger side corner of my hood with the lens set to T4 and focused where the driver would be. The camera was set to Manual mode with a 2.5 sec. exposure at ISO 200. I used the Tungsten white balance setting because most of the streetlights in Savannah emit a very warm colored light. To light myself in the driver's seat, I used a background light stand situated in the floor of the passenger side with an umbrella swivel supporting a radio triggered full CTO gelled Canon Speedlite and Lumiquest Ltp softbox mounted on top. The flash and modifier were positioned as high as I could get them without the softbox being visible to the camera for more of a side light (as opposed to an under light) and the CTO gel allowed the color of the flash's output to closely match the light emitted by the streetlights, easing the color correction process.
With all the camera gear in place, I set Magic Lantern's intervalometer dialogue to take a picture every 6 seconds with a 20 second delay before the first shot. These settings gave my flash plenty of time to recharge between shots while also not wasting shots as I returned to the driver's seat after starting the sequence. After exiting the ML settings (triggering the start of the intervalometer), I hopped in the car and headed to downtown Savannah where I did a loop before returning home. In the relatively short drive, I captured 176 images.
Post-Processing
My ideal shot would meet the following requirements:
- The subject would not be motion blurred or blocked by a street light's glare on window.
- The hood would be well-lit without the camera's shadow detracting from the image.
- The surroundings would be adequately blurred and interesting-looking.
Unfortunately, none of the 176 images captured met all of those requirements to my fullest satisfaction. However, several of the images met some of the requirements, with the net effect that all requirements could be met by combining a few of the images in post-processing.
Here was the base image:
I chose the above for the base image because the hood was well and evenly lit without an obvious shadow being cast by the camera rig, my facial expression was suitable and generally liked the background blur. However, I thought the area along the right side in the blurred area was lacking interest, so I found an image where I liked that part of the frame better.
After masking the second image and blending the desired areas of the frame, I ended up with this:
However, I still wasn't satisfied with the image. At this point, I didn't really like the dark area on the left side of the frame and I decided I wasn't completely happy with my facial expression and the direction of my gaze. Coincidentally, I had captured another image that solved both of those problems.
After blending in the desired parts of that image and a bit of spot healing, I ended up with the final result:
You can see a higher resolution version of the image on my Flickr photostream.
So who would be interestd in these types of images? Anyone who owns a car that they are proud of (or has a sentimental attachment to). You probably already know someone who spends evenings and weekends working on their pride and joy. Potential clients also abound at car meetups and race events.
Here's a recap of the gear you may need to create dynamic car shots:
- RigWheels RigMount X4 Magnetic Camera Platform
- Camera with a built-in intervalometer or intervalometer accessory
- Fisheye or ultra-wide angle lens
- Shoe-mount flash, radio trigger & small softbox
Relevant Article
When there is a choice, I nearly always go after the elk with the nicest antlers.
While everyone has opinions on what "nicest" means, I generally look for overall size (bigger is better with age, genetics and nutrition aiding this aspect), symmetry (or character if something unusual is present),
shape (classic shape with long curved tines and a big whale tail) and color (dark with ground-polished white tips is perfect).
This bruiser checked most of those boxes and in this position, his primary flaw, a missing G2 (second point from the base) on the left side, is nicely hidden.
This 6x5 had not long ago lost a fight with a bull with antlers that were smaller overall.
In the battles, it is often the size of the elk's body that matters most and this one needed to go eat more.
He is still talking to the nearby herd with a bit of food still in his mouth.
This pursuit started not too far from the car, but I eventually ended up on a ridge a good distance from where I parked.
When a light rain ensued, I was thankful for weather sealed gear as I did not bring a backpack and would not have been pleased to have to leave a subject as nice as this one.
I usually use a shutter speed faster than 1/400 second when photographing elk.
But, elk usually move slowly while bugling.
So, I grabbed some immediate insurance shots and then rolled the shutter speed down to go after lower noise images.
Manual mode was selected with a wide open aperture and auto ISO adjusting for the shutter speed change I made.
A larger version of this image is available on Flickr.
ISO 400
8153 x 5435px
In Shenandoah National Park, early June brings bright green flora that provides a great environment for wildlife photography.
Ferns are one of my favorite sources of bright green and there is no animal that stands out in starker contrast to ferns than a coal-black black bear.
This mother bear paused her food hunting task to look intently toward her two cubs, treed high in a large pine tree nearby.
While the green flora is very helpful in compositions, it also adds challenges.
One flora challenge is that it frequently obstructs the view of the subject with small animals (including fawns and cubs) being most-easily obscured.
While an eye-level shooting height often works well for wildlife photography, a higher level may sometimes be needed to clear the obstructions.
Another flora challenge is AF-related.
The contrast and brightness provided by the green leaves and grasses along with their closer-to-the-camera position often gains the camera's AF system preference, causing a strongly front-focused image.
The bottom line is that the eyes (minimally the closest one) must be in focus.
While MF may sometimes be required to work around obstructions, they can often be worked around by selecting a focus point off of the animal's eye, on a nearby part.
Which nearby part depends on the animal and its head position.
If the animal is looking sideways in the frame, much of the head, from nose to ear, may provide a sharp eye.
If the animal is facing the camera, the challenge is often greater with long noses also being a big AF system lock-on favorite.
Parts that situationally may work include the forehead, the base of an antler or the base of an ear.
Carefully watching what is sharp immediately upon focus lock can help identify any series issues in that regard.
For this frame, focusing on the eye worked fine.
I have had the privilege of photographing a large number of bears and know that they are not equally attractive.
Within a species, they have somewhat different shapes and especially their coats are not all the same.
This one; however, was a quite beautiful specimen.
A larger version of this image is available on Flickr.
ISO 400
4618 x 3079px
Whitetail fawns are cute and curious – and they are bundles of energy (when not sleeping).
This one abruptly stopped after leaping around, intently watching something of interest.
Alert poses are one of my favorites for wildlife with the ear position usually being ideal.
From a compositional standpoint, the direction of the gaze adds weight to the side of the frame being gazed toward.
That means this fawn works well being positioned toward the left side of the frame to provide overall balance.
Of course, the beautiful SNP spring green landscape nicely compliments the colors of the fawn.
Fawn photography at this location can make use of all available telephoto focal lengths, from short telephoto to the longest super telephoto focal lengths available.
The flexibility offered by a zoom lens has its advantages and, in this case, the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens' built-in 1.4x extender was especially helpful.
I have a unique, limited opportunity for you: I'd love for you to join me for "Whitetail Fawns and More", a Shenandoah National Park Instructional Photo Tour.
Our goal is to photograph these beautiful little creatures along with many of the other great subjects found in Shenandoah National Park while actively learning photography skills.
Read the just-linked-to detailed description to learn more.
A larger version of this image is available on Flickr.
ISO 2000
4308 x 2872px
by Sean Setters
About 8 years ago, I purchased a 4' x 6' (1.2 x 1.8m) softbox from eBay (they aren't even available anymore) and really liked the soft light it projected onto my subjects. However, the more I used it, the more I realized how impractical it was. The biggest problem was that the softbox's weight was too heavy for my studio strobes' spring loaded mounting fingers. The softbox would mount to a studio strobe under ideal conditions, but any movement of the softbox (repositioning, small gust of wind, etc.) would cause the it to dismount from the strobe and [usually] break the modeling light and/or flash tube in the process.
And even if the softbox stayed connected to the studio strobe, the studio strobes positioning handle couldn't be tightened tight enough to prohibit the softbox from slowly inching its way downward at the pivot point. The problems inherent to the weighty modifier meant that it was rarely ever used. That is, until I recently came across a solution to the problem.
Shown above is a Mountable Speed Ring, and it works with any soft box that features a traditional speed ring and spoke design (it won't work with collapsible/umbrella-like folding ones). The mountable speed ring features a threaded insert that can attach to a 3/8" stud which is mounted in a traditional umbrella swivel. This setup relieves the strobe's mounting fingers from supporting the weight of the modifier; instead, the fingers only have to support the weight of itself.
The mountable speed ring will be especially helpful for anyone suspending a large softbox above a subject or with the modifier pointed downward at a significant angle as gravity will be pusing the strobe into the mounted speed ring instead of pulling the speed ring away from a traditionally mounted strobe. However, if planning to do this, it would likely be best to permanently affix the 3/8" stud to the mountable softbox with epoxy/glue. The mountable speed ring's risk-reducing design may be the most economical insurance you ever buy.
There are three versions of the mountable softbox currently available for compatibility with Paul C. Buff/Alien Bees/White Lightning, Bowens and Profoto. However, while I cannot confirm that this is the case, if you have a similar non-mountable speed ring with interchangeable mounts (most third-party speed rings are designed this way), then you may be able to swap out any of the mounts available to make it compatible with your own strobes.
I had been watching this pair of red fox kits (what baby fox are called and not to be confused with the kit fox species) at a relatively close distance, within photo range, for perhaps an hour with essentially no good images captured.
They were running, resting, wrestling, eating (the mom or dad would occasionally bring them captured food), nursing and simply being extremely cute.
While I was thoroughly enjoying watching the adorable babies, I of course wanted photos to take home.
The problem was the thick brush including vines, trees, limbs, grasses, etc. constantly obscuring the view and creating hard shadows that were nearly as problematic as the obstructions.
There were very limited unobscured areas to shoot into at this location and the kits seemed to seldom go into these.
At one point, the kits started running together in a big circle.
I saw that the arc, if followed, was going to lead them through one of the small openings.
I told the small group I was with to get ready, followed my own advice and when they hit the opening, I hit the shutter release.
The result of anticipating the shot was one of the few images worth processing I captured on the trip and anticipation is often the key to successful wildlife photography.
Wildlife is frequently moving and determining where that movement will correspond with a good composition is often what is required for good results.
A larger version of this image is available on Flickr.
ISO 160
5901 x 3934px
What is the cutest animal on the face of this planet?
Whitetail deer fawns are at the top of my list.
These adorable fawns decided they were going where I was and I was thankful that I could zoom out wide enough to keep them in the frame while they were going.
In the field, scenarios can change fast and keeping photography strategies simple can mean the difference between getting a good photo and getting nothing.
That said, selecting an exposure must always be part of the strategy.
Most North American deer are brown and brown is a friendly color for a camera's auto exposure algorithm (unlike the color of most black bears).
Green is another friendly AE color and that is the most-common background color at Shenandoah National Park in late spring.
Thus, I commonly use AE when pursuing this subject with little need to monitor changing light levels.
Though using AE, I am still using the camera's Manual mode with Auto ISO providing the brightness adjustment.
The fawns are often in fast motion, so I want control of the shutter speed being selected with a fast speed being normal.
When the subject pauses, I roll the top dial to select a longer exposure, resulting in a lower (less-noisy) ISO setting being automatically selected.
The aperture setting works similarly.
If I have a single subject, I can roll the aperture value to a wider setting, again with the ISO setting being reduced and a stronger background blur created.
If multiple subjects become part of the composition or I decide that the background should be more recognizable, I simply dial in a narrower aperture.
There are obviously many more factors that go into a wildlife image capture but having a solid exposure strategy that works in many scenarios helps keep the strategy simple.
Currently, turning my mode dial to Custom Mode 3 instantly provides this setup.
A larger version of this image is available on Flickr.
ISO 2500
3168 x 4752px
This large bull elk is singing my favorite Rocky Mountain song.
I took a little time to process a few images from my fall Rocky Mountain National Park trip and thought I would share one that I liked.
When elk are standing, their antlers rise far above their heads, meaning that wider framing (longer subject distance or wider focal length) is required to fit the entire animal within the image borders.
However, when elk bugle, they tilt their heads far back, bringing their antlers much closer to the rest of their body, allowing a tighter portrait to be created.
Although I was positioned for a tightly-framed image of a standing bull, I was still able to crop modestly for a large-in-the-frame elk.
Most often, the head is facing forward, positioning one antler on each side of their body.
For this bugle, the elk's head was turned to the side, allowing both antlers to fit comfortably into a tight portrait.
I liked how that pose came together with a beautiful animal in great light.
Of course, the Canon EOS 5Ds R and Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM Lens
delivered amazingly as well.
A larger version of this image is available on Flickr.
ISO 125
7721 x 4873px
By Sean Setters
While on vacation in Pigeon Forge, TN, my wife and I decided to tackle some easy-to-moderate trail hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Being spring break for many primary school students, the park was more crowded than usual. With that in mind, we decided to avoid all the paved trails which are typically popular for family hikes. While we had a few trails in mind, a stop at the Sugarlands Visotors' Center and a talk with one of the rangers proved vital to determining which trails we would ultimately traverse as the ranger provided previously unknown information like temporary road temporary road closures, likely crowd sizes and the types of things we might see on each trail. In the end, we settled on the Porters Creek Trail / Fern Branch Falls at Greenbrier and Cucumber Gap Loop at Elkmont.
Photography was not a primary goal for these hikes; spending quality time with my wife who thoroughly enjoys hiking was. However, going on the hikes without a camera seemed unimaginable to me, so I decided to pack a small kit with the intent of pausing our hike periodically so that she could meditate to the tranquil sounds of the wind in the forest and the gently flowing creek. At least, that's how I sold the idea to her as she watched me pack my small camera backpack.
I knew that our hikes would follow a couple of creeks and their smaller tributaries. I wanted to use long exposures to capture silky movement in the water, which meant that an ND filter was necessary. I decided to bring my Singh-Ray Vari-N-Duo filter because its variable neutral density filter and circular polarizer combination seemed well suited for photographing flowing water. Note that I didn't say "perfectly suited" as I own the standard version of the filter which is very thick (it extends .69" / 17.54mm from the end of the lens) and causes significant mechanical vignetting at focal lengths wider than roughly 50mm on the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM (mounted on a full frame EOS 5D Mark III) that I took with me. In short, the tradeoff for getting an ND + polarizing effect was the loss wide angles of view.
Using exposures long enough to capture ample motion blur in the water necessitated a stabilized camera, and that meant I needed to bring a tripod or alternate method of stabilization. My primary tripod and head weigh in at nearly 6.5 lb (2.9 kg) and when compacted, are still 27.75" (70.49 cm) long. The size and weight of the tripod made it an inconvenient and cumbersome choice for the hikes, especially considering the small camera backpack I planned to take on the trips.
In place of the primary tripod I opted to take my Feisol TT-15 Carbon Fiber Tabletop Tripod. Even with a small travel-style ball head attached, the tripod and head weigh less than 1 lb (0.45 kg) and are only 8.38" (21.29 cm) long when folded down. The combo's small size and minimal weight made carrying the tripod a breeze yet it allowed me to capture the long exposures I was hoping to get. That said, there was one significant drawback to the diminutive tripod, which is that the framing and composition options available at any given time depended on the surfaces (and especially the height of those surfaces) available at any specific location. There were several locations that I thought looked interesting but couldn't find a suitable platform high enough to get the composition I wanted. But in most cases along the Smoky Mountain Trails we traversed, a large rock bordering (or in) the water or a fallen tree trunk provided a sufficiently high enough platform for pleasing compositions.
In the end, I was extremely happy I had the Feisol TT-15 Tabletop Tripod in my kit. Consider picking one up if you plan on hiking moderate-to-long distances and want to reduce the weight you bear with every step.
While the full moon is a great and highly-popular photo subject, I'm just as big of a fan of photographing the small crescent phase.
Just after the new moon phase, the moon starts trailing the sun into the western horizon and very soon after the new moon, the brightly-visible shape of the moon is a tiny crescent and it descends into sunset colors.
The opposite is also true.
Just before the new moon, catch the waning crescent moon on the east horizon just before sunrise.
On this day at this time, the moon was 2.4% visible.
The night before, I could not locate the .2% moon as it set due to its too-close proximity to the sun.
The 7.2%-visible moon also looked great the next night, but the higher the moon is, the farther it is from the greatest likelihood of sunset color.
Photographing the moon is easy, but to get the moon in a photograph requires the moon to be visible.
For the waxing crescent phase, a clear view of western sky just after sunset, or the eastern sky just before sunrise, is minimally required.
Clouds can provide some interest and add color, but they can block the key subject.
A clear sky nearly assures a visible moon and a bright orange horizon.
While the weather is long-term unpredictable, moon phases are highly predictable.
The moon takes 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 3 seconds to complete a lunar month.
If this subject interests you, set a calendar appointment.
If one attempt does not work out, just wait for the next opportunity to come in about a month.
A consideration for a moon photograph is the foreground.
Moon photos can work well with only sky in them, but in this case, I went for a clean mountain range as the base of the image.
Something interesting silhouetted in front of the sky also works very well (consider the depth of field required for this).
Artificial lighting can be used to change the silhouette to a fully-lit subject.
Which focal length should be used to photograph the moon?
That depends on how big you want the moon to be.
The longer the focal length, the larger the moon will be rendered in the frame.
A 1200mm full frame angle of view renders the moon only about 1/3 of the narrow dimension of the frame.
Use wider focal lengths to include more sky color and additional elements in the frame.
The Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Lens is an excellent choice for this purpose, providing a nice range of focal length options.
Remember that lunar photography is not extreme low light photography – the illuminated portion of the moon is in direct sunlight.
Avoid overexposing the moon.
Balancing the brightness of the sky with the brightness of the moon simply involves timing.
Start photographing prior to the optimal time and continue until the lighting is past your desired result.
I opted to slightly crop the original capture during post processing, making a minor adjustment the overall balance.
From a white balance perspective, I warmed the bottom of the frame, cooled the overall balance and added some saturation to pull out the colors.
Overall, this is a simple image to capture and having Venus available (that is not a white dust spec on your screen) was a bonus on this particular evening.
A larger version of this image is available on Flickr.
ISO 200
5591 x 8387px
Fifty mm lenses are useful for many subjects and one of the great uses for tilt-shift lenses is architecture.
From a previous Philadelphia visit, I knew where this focal length would work well with plenty of architecture in the frame.
The procedure for capturing this image is a rather standard one for me.
Scout the location (already had this step done).
Show up before sunset with a pair of cameras, lenses and tripods.
Set up both using two significantly different focal lengths (cropping can effectively handle smaller differences in focal length, especially when using a 5Ds or 5Ds R camera) and begin photographing the city using a level-on-both-axes camera and a sharp f/8 aperture as the sun sets.
When the lights come on, I adjust the aperture to f/16 to gain the starburst effects from the lights.
This aperture is not as sharp as f/8 due to the effects of diffraction, but details remain sharp enough (ideal would be to merge the areas of an f/8 image with the star effects of an f/16 image).
Also, soon after the lights come on, I begin capturing an underexposed frame periodically so that I could later use it to pull the brightness of some of the lights down (the gridded triangle roof top was especially bright).
I adjust the exposure as necessary as the sky darkens and when there is nearly no color left in the sky, I usually pack up and head home.
In the end, I usually archive most of the earlier-captured images as the images captured within the ideal 5 minutes of the blue hour are usually my most-preferred.
Usually, the perfect timing exposure is f/16 for 30 seconds at ISO 100.
A larger version of this image is available on Flickr.
ISO 100
8688 x 5792px
By Sean Setters
Take a look at the picture above and try to guess which color gels were used to create the in-camera effect. Then read on.
Backstory
Last week, Patrick, a friend of the site, emailed us asking for advice on how to photograph school children, in costume, for an upcoming performance of Peter Pan. Patrick said that he would be photographing about 70 kids and would be creating formal portraits in a gymnasium before the kids' initial performance. He had all the necessary equipment, but he simply wanted some guidance on the lighting setup.
During our email exchange where we discussed different ideas and setups, I suggested that Patrick might use 2 CTO (orange) gels on his main light and set his camera's white balance to a very cool Kelvin value to get a warm main light against cool (ambient or ungelled flash) fill and/or background light that might simulate theatrical lighting, the same technique that I described in a post from last year.
In the end, Patrick decided to go with a more traditional lighting technique that yielded great results. But the email exchange got me thinking about how opposite colors, like orange and blue, can be used to create intriguing images.
With a single (or stacked) CTO gel(s), you can vary the color intensity of the gelled light – even to white – in-camera by how much you shift your camera's white balance to blue (for example, using a low Kelvin white balance setting). That means you may be able to neutralize any color by shifting the white balance opposite direction (that's exactly what Auto White Balance does). But that also means that we can shift the color spectrum of our image to the opposite color of any gel by telling the camera that a neutral color target lit by the gelled light is actually neutral with Custom White Balance.
With that in mind, take a look at the image atop this post again. What gel (or gels) were used to create the in-camera color effect?
Gelling a Flash to Produce the Opposite Color
To test out this idea, I flipped through my collection of color gels until I found one that intrigued me – dark green (not the much lighter Plus Green). I honestly couldn't remember what the opposite of green was on the color spectrum and had to ask Google to help me out. The answer, of course, was red. I set up a tripod-mounted Canon EOS 5D Mark III and EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, a couple of Canon Speedlites and a mottled gray background for a self-portrait.
The first thing I needed to do was photograph a neutral target using the gel. But instead of gelling the flash, I decided to gel the lens. Why the lens? Because my gel was big enough to cover the front element of the lens I was using and, if I had to illuminate a large [white] color target with multiple lights (for example), it would be easier to gel the lens rather than each individual light. I had never tried gelling a lens before, but it seemed to make sense for this purpose. I photographed a white target that filled the frame, illuminated by a bare Speedlite (very low power), using the green-gelled lens. I then used the image to set a Custom White Balance in-camera.
I put a flash grid on a Speedlite and pointed it at the background. A few test shots proved I was on the right track; the illuminated areas of the background were red. Now it was time to tackle the main light. I decided to use a gridded 24" collapsible soft box (similar to this) and positioned the soft box so that its light didn't contaminate the background (camera right, slightly behind me, pointed slightly toward the camera). I attached two gels to this flash, the green gel that I had used to create the custom white balance (in essence, turning the flash's output white) and a full CTO to provide some warmth.
As for the fill light, I decided to simply open the curtains on the windows behind the camera and let the daylight ambient light left the shadow areas. I reasoned that the indirect sunlight would be close enough in color to my bare flash that the effect would be similar, and even if they weren't, exact/precise color balance wasn't necessarily the point of this exercise. As long as the result looked interesting and illustrated the concept sufficiently, I was going to be happy. However, a few test shots confirmed that the color of the fill light looked similar to the light on the background, at least as far as this colorblind photographer was concerned. I also know that adding the additional CTO to the main light likely caused a less pronounced difference between its color and that of the background, but I thought the less dramatic color shift would make the image look a little more organic. After it was all said and done, I had a portrait with a red background and a red fill light with a much-less-red-tinted main light – in camera – without using a single red gel. EXIF for the image was f/4, 1/160 sec, ISO 800. In hindsight, I could have easily used a slower shutter speed and a lower ISO, but I was so used to using 1/160 second when using off-camera flashes with radio triggers to kill the ambient that I didn't think to adjust the shutter speed when I actually wanted the ambient to play a supporting role in the lighting.
When might this concept come in handy? Well, if you wanted your overall scene to be a certain color, but you didn't have that color gel in our kit, you could use the opposite color to shift your white balance to get similar results. Or, if you simply don't have enough gels for a multiple light setup, you could again shift the color spectrum of all your lights using a gel of the opposite color. This won't likely be a technique that gets you out of a jam, but... it can certainly be a fun technique to experiment with, and thinking about color balance and how to manipulate it in different ways may prove beneficial down the line.
B&H sells color gels for flashes.
by Sean Setters
I spent this past Saturday morning at the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge with the hopes of photographing a few birds while I was there. Unfortunately, opportunities to photograph my intended subjects were few and far between as it's just past the peak season for waterfowl in the area.
However, as the image atop this post illustrates, there were definitely other subjects that deserved my attention. It seems that I wasn't the only top-level predator who was interested in the waterfowl.
There were plenty of warnings in the visitor's center that alligators were present in the refuge, but reading a warning doesn't invoke the same heart rate increase as seeing a pair of eyes and a snout just above the water line within 20 feet of you as you walk along a pathway.
And that got me thinking. When photographing birds, it's often ideal to photograph them from ground or water level, which means you will likely be positioned near the water's edge and in a rather defenseless, prone position. Unfortunately for us photographers, that's the same area where alligators find their easiest meals.
Of course, it's important to put hazard into context – attacks by American alligators are very rare. Since 2010, there have only been 6 confirmed deaths attributed to the species. However, I'd suggest taking a few precautions to ensure you're not the next unlucky one.
When you're photographing in a marshy area/wetland within the American alligator's range, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Avoid the water's edge and especially don't crouch down next to it. An American alligator can sprint at about 11 miles per hour (17.7 kph) for short distances. Alligators don't like chasing after prey, so the farther away from the water's edge you are, the less appealing you'll appear even to a particularly hungry one.
- Stay alert. You are most vulnerable when looking through the viewfinder, so look around before doing so and try to minimize viewfinder usage as much as possible.
- Alligators, like crocodiles, often work in teams. If you see one, there's a good chance there's another one (or more) nearby.
- Alligators are most active from dusk to dawn, so try to avoid traversing alligator-prone areas during those times.
- If you are attacked by an alligator, make as much noise as possible and fight back by hitting, kicking and poking it in the eyes. Alligators will often release prey and retreat when they cannot easily overpower it. Of course, seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Of course, you may find yourself in the same situation as me where the alligators prove to be the most interesting subjects available at the time. By staying away from the water's edge, remaining alert and minimizing use of your viewfinder, you can relatively safely photograph alligators using the same equipment ideal for bird photography; that is, a very long telephoto lens.
by Sean Setters
Before we delve into the different techniques for capturing focus stack images, it's important to understand why focus stacking is an important tool, especially in regards to macro photography. Focus stacking allows you to gain more DOF (depth of field) so a larger portion of your frame can be in sharp focus. Your DOF is determined by the relationship between format size (full frame or APS-C), focal length, aperture and focus distance. Macro photography, especially as magnifications of 1.0x (or greater) are achieved, necessitates focusing on very close subjects, which in turn produces a very shallow DOF even at relatively narrow apertures.
For instance, using a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and an EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro lens set to f/5.6 with a subject distance of 11.8" (the lens' minimum focus distance), your DOF would be approximately 0.08" (2.03 mm). Switch out the 5D Mark IV for an EOS 7D Mark II and the DOF would change to 0.05" (1.27 mm). Note that if a 7D Mark II were used and the framing remained identical between the two cameras, the APS-C 7D II's DOF would be greater than the full frame 5D Mark IV's (see FOVCF).
With such a shallow DOF at f/5.6, why not just use a much narrower aperture to gain more DOF? There are two main reasons. The first is that even if you used f/16 with the 5Ds R under the shooting conditions listed above, your DOF would only increase to 0.23" (5.84 mm) which still won't be enough DOF to cover your subject under a lot of macro shooting conditions. And the second (probably more compelling) reason is that the cameras listed above have DLAs (Diffraction Limited Apertures) of f/6.7 and f/6.6, respectively. Noticeable sharpness and contrast penalties are incurred when using apertures significantly narrower than a camera's DLA, so shooting at f/5.6 allows you to obtain the sharpest image within your DOF.
In short, focus stacking allows us to obtain exactly the DOF we desire in a scene while maximizing sharpness at the same time (assuming an aperture wider than the camera's DLA is used).
Now that we've established why focus stacking is important in regards to macro photography, let's dive into ways you can capture the images necessary for focus stacking.
Fixed Focus, Variable Camera Position
A perennial favorite for macro shooters is the use of a focusing rail to move the camera forward/backward at set intervals. Focusing rails are typically adjusted by rotating a screw on which the camera platform sits (or otherwise the platform freely slides along the rails until clamped into position) with markings provided to make precise interval shooting a breeze.
Move the camera forward so that the new plane of sharp focus overlaps with the previous shot and activate the shutter button. Repeat as necessary until the desired DOF has been captured.
If you prefer an automated solution, Cognisys, Inc.'s StackShot Automated Macro Rail can be programmed to do the work for you.
Note that if your macro lens features a tripod ring, you could attach an inexpensive macro plate (one with scaled markings) to the tripod ring and manually slide the camera, clamp, shoot and repeat to capture your focus bracket. This approach isn't as convenient and won't likely be as precise as using a geared macro rail, but it is much less expensive.
One issue that you may run into when using macro rails is that your perspective changes as you move the camera. However, most focus stacking programs are designed to properly align source images even with the perspective change.
Variable Focus, Fixed Camera Position
For this technique, the camera is mounted to a solid support system (typically a tripod) and images are taken as the lens' focus distance setting is changed to move the plane of sharp focus forward or backward. This can either be done manually by very carefully and minutely rotating the focus ring in between shots or the process can be automated through various camera remote platforms (CamRanger, CamFi, DSLR Controller). For the sample image atop this post, I used the Canon EOS 5D Mark III and EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro (and some extension tubes) to capture 17 RAW files while manually adjusting focus from the nearest in-focus element to the farthest.
Varying focus does not lead to perspective change. However, if the lens exhibits focus breathing (many do), the scene will be framed slightly tighter or looser as focusing is adjusted throughout the imaging sequence, making details larger or smaller in the frame. This change isn't typically an issue for most focus stacking programs.
Which focus stack capture technique should I use?
As a lens's maximum magnification is only achieved at its minimum focus distance, moving the camera position will enable you to achieve the lens' max magnification throughout your image sequence. Also, manually moving the camera via a macro focusing rail can enable you to capture a more precisely spaced set of images compared to manually varying focus (automated systems would likely be equal in that regard).
A focusing rail will not work as well for scenes with a lot of depth as your camera's travel distance will be limited to the length of your rail. In those cases, varying focus will be your only option. If you are on a limited budget and want to give focus stacking a try, the variable focus method doesn't require an investment in specialized equipment, making it much easier to just hit the ground running when the inspiration strikes.
Which focus stacking software should I use?
There are a few programs dedicated to focus stacking and at least a couple of general image editing programs have a focus stacking feature built-in. I decided to try three of them with the same stack of images to see how they compared.
To capture the stack images, I used the variable focus technique, manually adjusting focus between shots. Here's what the nearest focused and farthest focused shots looked like in the 20 shot sequence at f/5.6:
After processing, here were the results:
Adobe Photoshop CC - Auto Aligned, Auto Blend Layers (Stack Images with Seamless Tones and Colors)
Affinity Photo - Focus Merge
Helicon Focus - Pyramid
Helicon Focus - Weighted Average (Default settings - Radius 4, Smoothing 2)
Each of the programs used did a decent job assembling the in-focus areas of the focus stack, but there were some notable differences. Photoshop seamed to do a great job assembling the in-focus areas, but it didn't handle the transitions to out-of-focus areas very well, especially in regards to areas showing depth. Affinity Photo seemed to do a better job handling the areas that troubled Photoshop, but it produced noticeable halos throughout the image.
It's important to note that Photoshop and Affinity Photo have very limited (if any) focus stacking options to allow for tailoring the stacking algorithm to best suit a given set of images. Affinity Photo provides no customization options for focus stacking while Photoshop CC gives you the option of Automatically Aligning the source images (highly recommended) in the Scripts/Load Files Into Stack dialogue box and provides two checkmark options – Seamless Tones and Colors and Content Aware Fill Transparent Areas – in the Edit/Auto Blend Layers/Stack Images dialogue.
On the other hand, Helicon Focus provides three separate algorithms for stacking – Weighted Average, Depth Map and Pyramid. And if you choose Weighted Average or Depth Map, you can choose specific Radius and Smoothing settings. The Radius setting adjusts how large of an area is analyzed around each pixel. Low Radius settings enable fine details to be better resolved, with an increased risk that halos will appear in the image. The Smoothing setting dictates how the in-focus to out-of-focus transitions will appear, with higher settings enabling a softer transition.
In the end, I liked the Helicon Focus Weighted Average result best, and with the ability to adjust its algorithms' variables, Helicon Focus will likely prove most adept at producing pleasing focus stacking results. But if you already own Photoshop CC or Afffinity Photo, give their focus stacking features a try to see if they work well for your needs.
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