During the last few days I tried a technique where you take several exposures of the same subject at different plains of focus. This technique is to get a virtually unlimited DOF.
What I did:
- I placed the cicada on a white sheet of paper and took 10 exposures (raw) hoping to get every piece of the body into focus on at least one exposure
- created a CS3 file with 10 layers using PHOTO MERGE
- used layer masks to eliminate the areas OOF on each of the layers
Next I downloaded a trial copy of a software I read about in the OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHER and ran all 10 raw files without changing settings through this piece of software.
Here the link Helicon Focus
You can see the results of the merging process here.
But the difference between the manual process and the automated is amazing.
Here the comparison file (not prepped for challenge submission):
I used the 100mm macro lens
F8, 1/4 sec at ISO 100 (aperture prio), + 2/3 correction to address the white background
I used my gorilla pod so there was a little shake and movement while I modified the focus on each exposure. Remote trigger.
The bug is about 3 inches long
The blue tones come from the blue sky
What I learned:
- use a more stable tripod and not the gorilla pod (shake)
- try to reduce the shutter speed (shake)
- use the sweet spot for focus of the lens for maximum sharpness
- make sure to cover all areas of your 'model" (I missed a few spots which are now OOF). Plan for this by looking from the top and predefine spots that represent a good plane of focus. Don't try to 'wing' it while you shoot.
- the software does a much better job than me, less effort and time.
- make sure there is no hairs, dust on the subject
- software cannot be used if there is the slightest movement of or around the model. Than manual work is better. I saw that in an other series of captures with real bad results
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Very cool! Spectacular color and amazing detail. At first glance I thought "over the op processing!", but having stared at it for a few minutes, I think the processing works really, really well in this image!
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