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Salvia Composite
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Salvia Composite

by Jim Erhardt

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted November 14, 200317,016 views18 comments
This flower is located in one of our backyard gardens. I thought it would make a good subject to use with this tecnhique.

This image is a composite of three different images, each with a slightly different point of focus. Two of the images were shot at f/8, and the third was shot at f/3.2. The three images were superimposed as layers in PhotoShop 7.0, and I used the eraser tool to reveal the sharpest part of the flower on each layer. The layer shot wide open was used for the background. The result as seen here produced an image with great DOF on the subject yet held the background to a pleasant out-of-focus blur.

As always, your comments/questions are welcome!

Canon G3 with 250D close-up lens
Bogen 3001/Kirk BH-3

Comments

18 comments
Comment posted by Bill Fach on November 14, 2003 at 7:54 PM
Jim: Makes me feel fuzzy all over :biggrin: Nice technique and a very pleasing image.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments
Comment posted by David Gottlieb on November 14, 2003 at 8:49 PM
seamlessly done..it really does work
Registered on November 1, 2003, 436 Posts, 1790 Comments
Comment posted by Ronnie Gaubert on November 14, 2003 at 9:47 PM
Jim,

Beautiful image!!!! I realize the technique is great but the final product is even greater. That blue really jumps out in front of that nice background. Very pleasing image to view.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 810 Posts, 3495 Comments
Comment posted by Mark Plonsky on November 15, 2003 at 1:59 AM
Excellent. I know the technique well and you have implemented it with perfection. I agree with Bill that the image creats a nice mood and with Ronnie that the color is just awesome.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 23 Posts, 224 Comments
Comment posted by Edwin Brosens on November 15, 2003 at 6:07 AM
great image Jim, the colors and detail are excellent
this technique works well, :toast:
Registered on November 1, 2003, 60 Posts, 593 Comments
Comment posted by Michael Bates on November 15, 2003 at 7:53 AM
WOW - you have perfected the technique for sure, Jim! Beautiful image and the seamless layering isn't evident at all!! EXCELLENT!

Michael
Registered on November 1, 2003, 149 Posts, 2381 Comments
Comment posted by Sven Bernert on November 15, 2003 at 8:11 AM
Simple and beautiful. The light is also very nice.

Best,
Sven
Registered on November 1, 2003, 14 Posts, 125 Comments
Comment posted by George Forrest on November 15, 2003 at 10:12 PM
Glad you reposted Jim, I haven't seen this one before. Without question this is a very beautiful image. (Hope you have a print framed in your home.)
Very clever technique employed here as well.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 26 Posts, 443 Comments
Comment posted by Eric Isley on November 15, 2003 at 11:12 PM
Nice work assembling the images here Jim this does have a wonderful background and a very detailed soft blue things Not sure what you call the fuzzy blue things here. Nice work and thanks for sharing the process you used to put this image together also..
Registered on November 1, 2003, 24 Posts, 422 Comments
Comment posted by Lee Badrick on November 16, 2003 at 6:07 AM
Very nice Jim. There's something about a blue flower that sets it apart. :toast:


Lee.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 2 Posts, 27 Comments
Comment posted by Terri Norris on November 16, 2003 at 7:20 AM
Lovely blues against the green background, Jim. I wonder how it would have worked with a slightly more diagonal placement in the frame. The texture detail is superb.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 395 Posts, 2402 Comments
Comment posted by Tom Whelan on November 16, 2003 at 10:14 AM
Vibrant colors, no seams evident. Great way to overcome the background problems you often get with those nifty short focal length digicams.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 35 Posts, 116 Comments
Comment posted by Herman Blockx on November 17, 2003 at 6:59 AM
great capture! really flawless technique! i serched in vain for sings of stitching but cannot find them! cool shot!
Registered on November 1, 2003, 238 Posts, 760 Comments
Comment posted by Danny on March 5, 2004 at 9:03 PM
Heck who's Jim :smile: Fine example and an excellent finished image M8t.

All the best and very well done.

Danny.
Registered on November 25, 2003, 165 Posts, 1345 Comments
Comment posted by Marshall Black on March 9, 2004 at 5:28 AM
Interesting technique Jim, with a very nice result. It's got me wondering about a couple of how-to do it questions though, even though I haven't gone digital yet.....

1) Do you need to do this indoors out of the breeze? Obviously if the subject moved between exposures matching them up would be dificult, also lighting could be controlled.

2) Do you move forward/backward from the subject or refocus for each frame? The reason I ask this is that for a larger subject there could be a change in perspective due to changing the focus of the lens.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 28 Posts, 180 Comments
Comment posted by David Taylor on May 4, 2006 at 4:20 AM
Excellent portrait of a beautifully blue flower. It would be nice to know how long it took to produce this great image using the technique you describe.

:toast:
Registered on April 24, 2006, 101 Posts, 837 Comments
Comment posted by Alan Bryant on July 30, 2006 at 12:10 PM
Superb :cool:

And clever Photoshoping

:toast:
Registered on March 31, 2006, 473 Posts, 1081 Comments
Comment posted by Carol Hyman on April 11, 2007 at 8:35 PM
Jim, What an interesting technique.

Your wonderful fuzzy flower reminds me of a blue holiday tree--complete with a star on the top.

A lot of work.

Carol
http://hy-tec-training.com
Registered on January 18, 2007, 597 Posts, 8062 Comments