I
always wondered how some macro photographers achieved amazing dept of field in their images. I
discovered one way they accomplish this is by combining multiple images to create one sharp image. I experimented with it
for the first time tonight using some of my old BYU WAC Championship and Holiday Bowl rings as my subjects.
This is the final product of my Photo Stacking efforts.
Here is what I did.
Using a tripod, I took multiple images of my subject adjusting the focus slightly for each image. My goal was to have every part of my subject in focus in at least one of the images. I want Photoshop to be able to pick out the sharpest parts of each image and combine them into one.
Once I had all my images on my computer I did the following in Photoshop:
1. Opened all the files of the series in Photoshop.
2. On File menu I selected “Automate” and then chose “Photomerge”
3. Clicked the “Add Open Files” button
4. Made sure “Blend Images Together” “Vignette Removal” and “Geometric Distortion Correction” were NOT checked
5. Set the Photomerge option to Auto
6. Pressed “OK” and Photoshop combined and aligned all the images into a single file.
7. With my new image on the screen I selected all the layers in the Layers Palette.
8. From the Edit menu I selected “Auto Blend Layers”
9. On the Auto Blend Layers menu I chose “Stack Images” and pressed OK
10. Photoshop did all the work.
11. From the resulting image I flattened and saved as JPEG.
This is one of the many files I used in creating the final product above. As you can see the focus is on the front of the ring with the back remaining out of focus. This is generally what all my macro pictures looked like before I learned about Photo Stacking.
Here is a more subtle example:
Without Photo Stacking:
With Photo Stacking:
I think the results are worth the effort when depth of field is important.
F-35A Lightning II assigned to the 56th Fighter Wing
Here is a picture of the newest kid on the block as it flew by us at Luke AFB. The F-35 is replacing the Air Force's F-16 fighter. It was great to see this amazing machine close up.
I have more images on my website along with photographs of the Thunderbirds performing. You can see them here: azdewphoto.com
Here is an article about the official ceremony they held this same day:
This is one of those moments where everything came together. Some things happen so fast that to capture them there is a HUGE degree of luck involved. This is the result of one of those moments with a heavy dose of luck.
I spent a Friday afternoon at Luke Air Force Base with coworkers. It was Friends and Family day. It’s also a day the Thunderbirds do a run through of their show before the official air show on Saturday and Sunday.
I knew there would be an opportunity or two to capture a crossing shot during the show. I setup the camera the best I could to give me a fighting chance to capture this moment in time. I set aperture at f/8 for good sharpness and ISO at 1250 so I would get a fast shutter speed. The camera set it at 1/8000.
The announcer pointed out the planes that were approaching from opposite ends of the runway. I picked the one on the left to pan with as they approached. That way I would at least have one plane in the picture and focused. I kept the camera on the first plane and watched out of the corner of my eye for the other one as it closed quickly. I fired off a shot that I thought was early and this was the result. Not too early this time! I could try for the rest of my life and never get one timed this good. These planes are moving along at a pretty good clip and are only together like this for a fraction of a second.
The camera was good to me yesterday!
This was one of my other attempts at this... as you can see I was a little late.
