Posted by Craig Strand on September 3, 2011 at 9:12 PM
Since the local Dahlias started blooming the variety and colors just seem to get better and better. Ned Fenimore, whose florals I really admire, and I met at 6:30am to capture dew covered dahlias as the sun made it's morning stretch over the hills of Washougal.
This has got be one of my favorites, a 13 image manual stack with gorgeous colors sprinkled with dew.
canon 7D live view used for comp and manual focus stacking
canon 100mm f2.8L IS USM
F/2.8 1/250 ISO 125
tripod, cable, CS4, LR2, NIKs suite
John, "Thanks" for the comment on my first EP, appreciated!
Posted by Pete Jacks on September 4, 2011 at 1:36 AM
Hi Craig, Love your photo. I have a question. What do you mean by manual focus stacking? Pete Jacks
PS. I sometimes use a mixture of glycerin and water from a spritser to add dew drops.
Posted by Joseph Campisi on September 4, 2011 at 1:57 AM
Beautiful Craig, looks like it's glowing from the inside!
Posted by Craig Strand on September 4, 2011 at 2:03 AM
Hi Pete,
I have been experimenting with image stacking for about a year and learning the ropes. I purchased an electronic "motorized" rail which works great. With it you can focus and set the beginning (usually closest) and ending points of say a flower and then set how many shots it should take between those 2 points and it will then do it with precision and automatically. I also purchased the rechargeable battery for it for use in the field. I have had good results shooting indoors but am finding outdoor image stacking to be a pain at times as you are carrying the camera, tripod, battery, controller and 3 wires for the control unit (power, rail, shutter.) That wouldn't be so bad but after a couple of early morning hours the breezes start and makes stacking a real challenge even with using plamps to hold the flower. So I find it often easier to leave the rail, etc. in the car and manually focus each shot. I use the cameras live view mode to compose the shot, then find the petal closest to the camera and thru live view use the "+" button to zoom on that point and manually focus. Then thru live view toggle the focus point to the next petal/area and do the same until you have take a series of shots front to back that encompasses the whole flower. You will probably shoot with AV priority and have to experiment with an aperture setting that provides adequate DOF with each shot so that an overlap in DOF is achieved in processing.
I hope this explains "my" difference between a manual and automatic image stack. I finish with processing the stack with Helicon focus software by Helicon Soft.
Craig
Posted by Pete Jacks on September 4, 2011 at 2:27 AM
Craig, Thanks for the fast reply. Pete
Posted by Jack Graham on September 4, 2011 at 4:07 PM
love the patterns and BG---you are making me want to go process dahlias and I have a lot more to get done!---great shot.JG
Posted by John Williams on September 8, 2011 at 6:39 PM
That is soooooo beautiful Craig. You are really taking off on image stacking, and I just love the dof your getting. How are these looking as larger prints?
As to the EP, congrats again. I've been meaning to keep an eye on the picks and post a congrats thread, but don't have the habit down yet. My apologies; I'll add a belated one next. As to it being your first, I have to admit I've been expecting you to have an avian one for a _long_ time now. Cudos to Bill for recognizing your amazing talents.
Posted by Craig Strand on September 8, 2011 at 10:47 PM
Hey John,
Thanks for the great comments. I just got several of the Dahlia prints back as 12 x18's on Metallic paper (WHCC's sale last week.) They look incredible and I am really impressed with the matallic processing... my first time trying it.
Thanks on the EP too, who knows after several years of nothing I get 2 in a couple of weeks.
Posted by Bruce King on September 10, 2011 at 7:59 PM
Awesome floral light here Craig and congrats on the EP.
Discussion
8 repliesThis has got be one of my favorites, a 13 image manual stack with gorgeous colors sprinkled with dew.
canon 7D live view used for comp and manual focus stacking
canon 100mm f2.8L IS USM
F/2.8 1/250 ISO 125
tripod, cable, CS4, LR2, NIKs suite
John, "Thanks" for the comment on my first EP, appreciated!
PS. I sometimes use a mixture of glycerin and water from a spritser to add dew drops.
I have been experimenting with image stacking for about a year and learning the ropes. I purchased an electronic "motorized" rail which works great. With it you can focus and set the beginning (usually closest) and ending points of say a flower and then set how many shots it should take between those 2 points and it will then do it with precision and automatically. I also purchased the rechargeable battery for it for use in the field. I have had good results shooting indoors but am finding outdoor image stacking to be a pain at times as you are carrying the camera, tripod, battery, controller and 3 wires for the control unit (power, rail, shutter.) That wouldn't be so bad but after a couple of early morning hours the breezes start and makes stacking a real challenge even with using plamps to hold the flower. So I find it often easier to leave the rail, etc. in the car and manually focus each shot. I use the cameras live view mode to compose the shot, then find the petal closest to the camera and thru live view use the "+" button to zoom on that point and manually focus. Then thru live view toggle the focus point to the next petal/area and do the same until you have take a series of shots front to back that encompasses the whole flower. You will probably shoot with AV priority and have to experiment with an aperture setting that provides adequate DOF with each shot so that an overlap in DOF is achieved in processing.
I hope this explains "my" difference between a manual and automatic image stack. I finish with processing the stack with Helicon focus software by Helicon Soft.
Craig
As to the EP, congrats again. I've been meaning to keep an eye on the picks and post a congrats thread, but don't have the habit down yet. My apologies; I'll add a belated one next. As to it being your first, I have to admit I've been expecting you to have an avian one for a _long_ time now. Cudos to Bill for recognizing your amazing talents.
Thanks for the great comments. I just got several of the Dahlia prints back as 12 x18's on Metallic paper (WHCC's sale last week.) They look incredible and I am really impressed with the matallic processing... my first time trying it.
Thanks on the EP too, who knows after several years of nothing I get 2 in a couple of weeks.