Comment posted by Barbara Graham on March 31, 2011 at 7:13 PM
Cristina, I've never tried stacking, but to me this looks perfect. Beautifully sharp in the larger version.
Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments
Comment posted by Pat Sampson on March 31, 2011 at 7:26 PM
Christina,
I certainly don't see any artifacts from the stack. I like the image, particularly the composition. For me these plants are really hard to shoot. Beautiful image.
pat
Registered on May 19, 2007, 953 Posts, 15989 Comments
Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on March 31, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Cristina:
Azaleas are in full bloom in HK as well and they are all so colorful and cheerful. Like Pat I find this flowers difficult to compose and I like what u have shown here. The drops are refreshing.
You did not say how many images were in your stack. To me, this will require quite a lot more images to get all the petals sharp. The top petals and anthers look really sharp but the bottom ones could be sharper. It is interesting that you used F2.8 and F16 as well; I normally use a fixed F-stop, turn to fully manual mode to get even exposure for shot to shot and just change the focus from one shot to the next. What software did you use for the stack?
Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments
Comment posted by Bob&Charly Nelson on March 31, 2011 at 9:25 PM
I really like this Cristina, no signs of stacking to me, and this shows great depth. I think I might clone out the two small spots at the 4 o-clock position of the main bloom, but not a big deal. Superb effort and reward.
Bob
Registered on October 27, 2005, 289 Posts, 4202 Comments
Comment posted by scott lanz on March 31, 2011 at 10:37 PM
Interesting DOF choice for stacking. The entire front petal looks perfectly sharp with no sign of stacking. Nicely composed image.
Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments
Comment posted by Cristina Strudthof on April 1, 2011 at 8:37 AM
Thanks for all the comments.
Gary - since this was my first shot at stacking, I wasn't entirely sure how to go about it. It wasn't until I got back in front of my computer that I realized I should have used the manual mode to keep the exposure the same. Luckily though, the shots all seemed fairly close when viewing them on the computer. But I definitely will try the method you suggested next time. I use CS4 for my photo editing.
Registered on January 14, 2011, 53 Posts, 363 Comments
Comment posted by Ian Wolfenden on April 1, 2011 at 11:04 AM
I think you've got the stamens and central droplets perfectly, Cristina. I guess it might have been possible to get the further droplets sharp too with a stack ( assuming you wished to, of course ), without compromising the oof background. I find I can generally do that if I take all the images at f8 or f9 - but I have never tried your method of using different apertures. Stacking apart, I like this a lot - the composition seems just right, and the lighting is perfect for me.
Registered on May 18, 2007, 1108 Posts, 7647 Comments
Comment posted by Morris McClung on April 1, 2011 at 6:06 PM
Nicely done as I find the dof to be very pleasing. Beautiful shot.
Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments
Comment posted by Bill Fach on April 3, 2011 at 4:20 PM
Cristina: Very good effort and with some tweaking of technique you'll be an expert in no time. Well done.>=))>
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments
Comments
9 commentsI certainly don't see any artifacts from the stack. I like the image, particularly the composition. For me these plants are really hard to shoot. Beautiful image.
pat
Azaleas are in full bloom in HK as well and they are all so colorful and cheerful. Like Pat I find this flowers difficult to compose and I like what u have shown here. The drops are refreshing.
You did not say how many images were in your stack. To me, this will require quite a lot more images to get all the petals sharp. The top petals and anthers look really sharp but the bottom ones could be sharper. It is interesting that you used F2.8 and F16 as well; I normally use a fixed F-stop, turn to fully manual mode to get even exposure for shot to shot and just change the focus from one shot to the next. What software did you use for the stack?
Bob
Gary - since this was my first shot at stacking, I wasn't entirely sure how to go about it. It wasn't until I got back in front of my computer that I realized I should have used the manual mode to keep the exposure the same. Luckily though, the shots all seemed fairly close when viewing them on the computer. But I definitely will try the method you suggested next time. I use CS4 for my photo editing.