Moon rise

I was out this week to try and catch the moon rise. This was my first attempt to use Helicon Focus to put together a focus stack. The wind was blowing a little too much and I didn't get the foreground flowers as sharp as I would have liked, but overall I was happy with the results.

The foreground flowers, to me, ARE the attraction. The moon is just a pleasant addition.
Nice work.
Now, what is a Helicon Focus???
the fisch

Nicely done Scott.

Thanks Larry and Larry!

Larry F.: Helicon Focus allows you to create a 'focus stack' to extend DOF. I focused on the flowers in the foreground and took a shot, then focused on the moon and took shot and had helicon combine the two so everything would be sharp.

Nice work with the Helicon Focus, Scott. I have tried this on several macro shots with some success. Scott, did you do this with the actual Helicon software or in Photoshop?

Thanks Tom! I did the focus stack with Helicon. I had to use the "retouch" brush in Helicon to clean up some movement around the flowers in the foreground. That could have easily been done in PS though.

I'd like to know how PS4/5 would compare to Helicon Focus for this type of blending.

Hey Scott, I like it. Great effect and great subject. I think it would be outstanding as a straight shot with the flowers in focus and the moon slightly out of focus. The lighting on the close hills combined with the green on the second hill adds a lot to the overall shot.

The wind is ok on the flowers, I think it really needs a grad to open up the foreground more.

Thanks for all the input.

Darren, I think you are right. I opened the foreground up some in this version.

nice shot Scott, I have played with Helicon and it requires some patience. Usually more than I have.

Nicely done, Scott - especially with the processing. It must have been a challenge blending both the exposure and focus. Great composition too!

Thanks Bill! This was only a focus blend, I didn't try and exposure blends with this shot. Someday I want to work up to exposure by focus blends though. Not sure I pay enough attention to detail to pull that off very well...

The lighter version is nice Scott. The moon makes a big difference to me. I suppose if I were to ever try an exposure blend AND a focus blend, I would start by making two separate focus-blended images ( a light one and a dark one), then I would blend those two.

Of the two I like the lighter one. Really nice work Scott.