Posted by David Sewell on June 28, 2009 at 10:16 AM
When the number of heath fritillarys about this year made it into the Telegraph yesterday, I knew I had to go and see for myself. Sure enough, our local site was crowded with them, and going late in the day they were relatively easy to photograph.
This particular posting is a combination of three shots stacked in Capture ZP and processed using the pyramid stacking option. It is the first time I have got the process to work satisfactorily, but if anyone more experienced in the technique than me would like to offer some advice on how to improve it further it would be welcome.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
David
D200, 150mm Sigma, 3 images, all 1/90th, f7.1, 250 asa
Posted by Dawn Monrose on June 28, 2009 at 10:59 AM
I don't know too much about stacking I'm afraid, but I do know this is a great shot! Lovely complimentary colours and lots of detail. Very nice!
Posted by Craig Jones on June 28, 2009 at 11:18 AM
Like the colours, very nice composition,I'd clone out the OOF area bottom left as my eyes are draw by it, lovely image though
Posted by Dennis Alden on June 28, 2009 at 11:39 AM
Lovely image - Craig has covered the only nit I would have.
dennis
Posted by Kim Connolly on June 28, 2009 at 1:48 PM
Its a nice Heath Frit David but the composition doesn't sit comfortably for me, can't quite put my finger on why.....
When stacking you can afford to open up , I think f3.5 of 4 would have worked here and would have given you a smoother bg, I always shoot a blank frame, focus on the nearest point I want in focus, then focus on the farthest, I then refocus on the nearest point then run a number of exposures adjusting the focus slightly between the two points, I then shoot another blank frame, with practice you can become very quick at this.... the rest is down to the software or your skill in PP.
I'm afraid I have to go with Phil on this one, the composition looks very awkward and lighting looks quite harsh at different points. I can't comment on image stacking as it's not a subject I've moved into yet but I wonder if you can't achieve the same result by stopping down the aperture to about > f11. These are such amenable little critters that I think you would get better results by trying that. I would also wait for one to be in a an area of little clutter in the BG. I was at the same site at the weekend and it does happen..
Discussion
9 repliesThis particular posting is a combination of three shots stacked in Capture ZP and processed using the pyramid stacking option. It is the first time I have got the process to work satisfactorily, but if anyone more experienced in the technique than me would like to offer some advice on how to improve it further it would be welcome.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
David
D200, 150mm Sigma, 3 images, all 1/90th, f7.1, 250 asa
dennis
When stacking you can afford to open up , I think f3.5 of 4 would have worked here and would have given you a smoother bg, I always shoot a blank frame, focus on the nearest point I want in focus, then focus on the farthest, I then refocus on the nearest point then run a number of exposures adjusting the focus slightly between the two points, I then shoot another blank frame, with practice you can become very quick at this.... the rest is down to the software or your skill in PP.
All the best
Cheers, Brett