Problem with focus stacking layers

[Mermaid]

Hi there,

I've been trying to do the macro focus stacking tutorial on page 89 of Digital Camera issue 10. I used the supplied images, and had no trouble, but I've encountered a problem when trying to use my own images. I took several shots of a flower against a plain background, which is very simila to the cornflower in the tutorial, but when I blend them, I get a rather trippy looking image which is not very well blended and has psychadelic colours as shown.



The colours should be light green on a darker green background, not yellow and bluish..

I don't think my PC has been taking LSD, so does anyone have any idea what the problem could be? I wonder whether the flower is too deep, and the shift in focus makes the out of focus areas too far way from the positions of their in focus equivalents. I don't think it's camera shake, as I left the camera to settle for quite a long time, and there is no shake visible in the individual photos.


Thanks in advance,

Mermaid

[Mermaid]

This one shows the effect more clearly

[chris-p]

What program are you using to focus stack?

Also what lens? It looks like the image has moved (although this will happen upon focusing anyway).

[hssutton]

I'm guessing that the photos used for stacking where handheld, resulting in the alignment being to far out for the program (CombineZM ?) to correctly align them, or possibly the alignment process stage wasn't carried out.

It's far better, but not essential to use a tripod when taking photos for stacking.

Here's an example of an handheld "stack".

Harry

http://www.photoradar.com/files/imag...lton-house.jpg

[Mermaid]

Sorry, I should have given these details in the original post, must remember not to post late at night again!

I used Photoshop CS4 to do the focus stacking.

I used a tripod and a 50mm Nikon prime lens at f22 with an extension tube, images taken in raw format.

I've tried some further experiments, and the only example I've been able to get that didn't have the overlaid image effect was of a flower taken from further away, which meant that virtually all of it was in focus, and that the processed image only had a fraction more depth of field than either of the two originals.

Has anyone else tried focus stacking, if so, can they offer any pointers for getting good results?

Thanks

Mermaid

[hssutton]

Focus stacking is essentially for increasimg DOF in macros, using such as f/22 will cause a lack of sharpness due to defraction, but DOF would be quite adequate in most cases. An ideal f stop for macros would be around f/5.6-f/8. Unfortunately in many situations the DOF would be to shallow, hence focus stacking.

I assume you are using the "Stacking" software correctly i.e with all layers selected you first "Align" the "Stack" The again with all layers aligned you Auto Blend the "Stack" followed by cropping the iregular edge.

This being so all I can think, is that you are adjusting the focus with extra large steps.

Ideally you should be using around f/8, adjusting the focus ring by just a couple of mm per photo.

LordV (Brian) one of the countries best macro photographers as prepared a tutorial on focus stacking, albeit with CombineZM, I used Combine ZM for a number of years, but switched to CS4 when it was introduced.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/macrovi...iscuss/163367/

Harry

Originally Posted by Mermaid

Sorry, I should have given these details in the original post, must remember not to post late at night again!

I used Photoshop CS4 to do the focus stacking.

I used a tripod and a 50mm Nikon prime lens at f22 with an extension tube, images taken in raw format.

I've tried some further experiments, and the only example I've been able to get that didn't have the overlaid image effect was of a flower taken from further away, which meant that virtually all of it was in focus, and that the processed image only had a fraction more depth of field than either of the two originals.

Has anyone else tried focus stacking, if so, can they offer any pointers for getting good results?

Thanks

Mermaid

[Cutter]

Hi Mermaid I did this last week , it was a tutorial from the DC magazine and I found it quite easy. My first one wasnt though I fogot to align all layers and came out with a fuzzy picture, but this was my second attempt.
I focused on near and Far taking about 6 photos.