Still Life Series - Focus Stacking
Derek Smith • 25 March 2020
Focus Peaking
Photo By: Derek Smith
f/2.8
Photo By: Derek Smith
f/22
Photo By: Derek Smith
Stacked Image
Photo by: Derek Smith
Still Life Series - Stacked Images
Good evening to all of our readers, we hope that everyone is keeping safe and well during these strange times that we now find ourselves living in.
Tonight's meeting should have been a practical evening working with our cameras to practice "Still Life" photography, as all of our meetings are cancelled until further notice I'm creating this online series discussing different aspects of this genre of photography.
Choosing the correct lens aperture can be more difficult with still life photography than any other, for example in portraiture choose a fairly fast aperture f/1.8 - f/4 focus on the eyes, and the image should look good. For landscape photography stop the aperture down to f/8 - f/16 either use a hyperfocusing distance, or focus on the distant hills, and again the image has a good chance of being sharp from the foreground to the background. However, when photographing objects close up the depth of field falls away the closer to the object the camera is. I've taken one image of a TV remote control at f/2.8, and the depth of field is very shallow, the image at f/22 is still not usable.
For still life photography if the depth of field is too shallow, then a technique called "focus stacking" may well be the answer. The aperture to use is a mid range optimum aperture which will vary with camera, lens, and sensor size. Apertures in the range of f/5.6 (micro four thirds) to f/14 (full frame) should provide a good sharpness, front to back of the object to be photographed.
For this technique to work the camera should be mounted on a tripod, set the camera to Manual control, and manual focus with focus peaking turned on. My settings on the Sony A7II, with the Tamron 28-75mm lens were 1/8 shutter, f/8 aperture, 100 ISO and the lens at a 28mm focal length. Take a series of photographs focusing at one point on the object,take the shot then move the focus point, taking care not to move the camera, taking a photo each time until the whole object has been photographed. In my case I had 7 .jpg images, the images were loaded into my photo editor, which for me is Serif's Affinity, and from the File menu choose "focus merge", load the images taken, click ok, and watch the magic happen as each image is blended together to create a single sharp focused image from front to back.
I will post two more in this series, "Using Flash", and "Scenes", take care out there, and enjoy your hobby.
Good evening to all of our readers, we hope that everyone is keeping safe and well during these strange times that we now find ourselves living in.
Tonight's meeting should have been a practical evening working with our cameras to practice "Still Life" photography, as all of our meetings are cancelled until further notice I'm creating this online series discussing different aspects of this genre of photography.
Choosing the correct lens aperture can be more difficult with still life photography than any other, for example in portraiture choose a fairly fast aperture f/1.8 - f/4 focus on the eyes, and the image should look good. For landscape photography stop the aperture down to f/8 - f/16 either use a hyperfocusing distance, or focus on the distant hills, and again the image has a good chance of being sharp from the foreground to the background. However, when photographing objects close up the depth of field falls away the closer to the object the camera is. I've taken one image of a TV remote control at f/2.8, and the depth of field is very shallow, the image at f/22 is still not usable.
For still life photography if the depth of field is too shallow, then a technique called "focus stacking" may well be the answer. The aperture to use is a mid range optimum aperture which will vary with camera, lens, and sensor size. Apertures in the range of f/5.6 (micro four thirds) to f/14 (full frame) should provide a good sharpness, front to back of the object to be photographed.
For this technique to work the camera should be mounted on a tripod, set the camera to Manual control, and manual focus with focus peaking turned on. My settings on the Sony A7II, with the Tamron 28-75mm lens were 1/8 shutter, f/8 aperture, 100 ISO and the lens at a 28mm focal length. Take a series of photographs focusing at one point on the object,take the shot then move the focus point, taking care not to move the camera, taking a photo each time until the whole object has been photographed. In my case I had 7 .jpg images, the images were loaded into my photo editor, which for me is Serif's Affinity, and from the File menu choose "focus merge", load the images taken, click ok, and watch the magic happen as each image is blended together to create a single sharp focused image from front to back.
I will post two more in this series, "Using Flash", and "Scenes", take care out there, and enjoy your hobby.
Louth Photographic Society
We held a print competition at our meeting last night with the categories of "Curves" and "Open". Our judge for the evening was the very competent, and accomplished Diane Seddon. Diane gave excellent critique of the prints, and one of the main themes that Diane highlighted was the presentation of the prints, siting print sizes, mount sizes, mount colours, and more thoughtful cropping of images selected for printing. Definitely food for thought, and addressing those issues will improve members points scoring in future competitions. All the prints submitted into this competition were of a very high standard, however, it was Dave Turner who swept the board with 1st, and 2nd placing in the "Open" category, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd placing in the "Curves" category, it was a well deserved placing with some stunning prints. The Competition page of our website has been updated with the full results. Thanks to Diane Seddon for judging the competition, and Dave Mann for the refreshments.
Dave Turner, and I attended the LPA Fosters Challenge at Nettleham. The judge for the competition was Sue Wilson from Clay Cross. Axholme took first place with 19 points, Grimsby 2nd, and Cleethorpes 3rd. Louth was awarded 13 points, consisting of: Damselflies Mating – Graham Harrison 4pt Saltwick Bay – Tony Gaskins 4pt The Thinker – Keith Rossington 3pt Muted Swan – Harry Kerman 1pt Pier Number 9 – Dave Turner 1pt It was an interesting competition with some amazing images, a big thank you to Dave Turner for selecting the prints and submitting our entry into the competition.
Good Morning All Last week at the club member Chris Birchmore took us back in time with old photographs and a very interesting talk on one of Louth's old shops Platts stores. Platts stayed traditional for many years but as like most of the old shops eventually disappeared along with it's upside down sign. There is a blog on our website as well to look at. This week, Wednesday 16th April, we will hold our Print competition with the categories of "Curves" and "Open" to be judged by Diane Seddon of Cleethorpes. Harry is also now taking entries for the local PDI competition, with the categories of "Local Events" and "Open". Regards Graham
Our member Chris Birchmore gave an illustrated talk last night titled "The Shopkeeper and his Assistant". Chris related details of his family origins, and family history in Louth, in particular his connection with Platts Provision Store in Eastgate. It was a very interesting talk which evoked many memories with those members who had themselves been raised in Louth. Many thanks Chris, the preparation, and talk was excellent.
Good Morning All With all this warm weather some insects are out and about to photograph, I took this photograph in our garden with a Sigma 105mm lens to get close in on the bee. It is another month now, so you need to think about your "Prime Time" project, if you are taking part. Last week at the club Brian McCarthy FRPS showed us his personal journey in photography, Brian takes most of his photographs in his shed building models with lighting and creating photographs that most of us would never think of. This week, Wednesday 9th April, our member Chris Birchmore who will be presenting a historical talk entitled "The Shopkeeper and His Assistant" specifically talking about a relatives memories of working for Mr. Platt the Shopkeeper. For those who have prints for the next competition, with the categories of "Curves and Open", you need to send Dave Turner a list of your entries and bring the prints in this week. Regards Graham
Good morning, All Last week we held our spring committee meeting, we discussed many topics including the new program which will be available to you all soon and did some preparation for the AGM. This week, Wednesday 2nd April, Brian McCarthy FRPS will be coming along to show us some more of his work. Brian is an ex-member of our club but has more recently been a member of Grimsby Photographic Society. You can also now start sending your print titles for the Curves and Open competition to Dave Turner. Regards Graham
This year’s project is “Prime Time”, simply one photo taken each month with the same prime lens. The resulting 12 images will be shown to members on our “Project Night” next January. Why a prime lens? Well, a lens with a single focal length, a prime lens, provides a photographer with creative options. Composition of the image when using a lens such as this is essential, a photographer must choose a subject and move around that subject to obtain the photo. Every photographer should have a prime lens in their bag, and it doesn't need to be expensive. I recently switched from Fuji cameras to the Olympus / OM Systems camera ecosystem. Now, I use the OM Systems OM-1 camera with two zoom lenses and three f/1.8 prime lenses. For the “Prime Time” project, I'll creatively use the Olympus 45mm (90mm full-frame equivalent) f/1.8 lens, this lens is typically employed for portraits. This tiny, sharp lens, which captures beautiful portraits, was bought used for £149 from a reputable dealer.
Good Morning All Last week at the club we held our PDI competition for March, with the categories of "Including the Moon" and "Open" judged by Mike Bennett. It was a very good night with some excellent photographs entered in the competitions, especially the Open. There were three twenty points awarded out of twenty photographs in each subject, Tony Gaskins had a very good night winning both the subject and the Open. All the results are on our website under competitions. The NEMPF PDI Inter - club competition went ahead recently, not so many clubs entered this year, I think there were only three LPA clubs who had entered, Louth came 11th, I'll leave it there. Thank you to Harry for organising our entry. This week, Wednesday 26th March it is a committee meeting for committee members only to attend. To keep you busy though you could prepare your prints for the next print competition, with the categories of "Curves" and "Open". Regards Graham
At our meeting last night we held our Projected Digital Image (PDI) competition with the categories of "Including the Moon", and "Open". The judge for the evening was Mike Bennett. Mike skillfully judged the 33 submitted entries in the "Open" category, providing excellent feedback on the various images. After the break Mike appraised the 18 images in the "Including the Moon" category, this had been a difficult subject for members to photograph, and was also challenging for the judge. Congratulations to Tony Gaskins for his first placements with "Moonbell, Mablethorpe" in the "Including the Moon" category, and "Dawn, Whitby" in the "Open" category. As is usual, the Competition page of the website has been updated with the top three placements in each category, and full results. Many thanks to Mike Bennett for judging the competition, and Dave Mann for providing the refreshments.
This morning I took my used OM Systems OM-1 camera, and the used Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 75-300mm, f/4.8 -f/6.7 lens, recently purchased for £249, with me for a photographic walk around the nature reserve at Gibraltar Point. The weather was excellent, and I'm pleased with the resulting images of the various birds to be seen. I believe the bird reflected drinking from the pool is a Common Chaffinch, and the other bird perched on a log appears to be a Dunnock.
