Focus Stacking - a macro photography technique

[dongbuka]

thank you so much for this learn

[voltageclamp2001]

@ConnorHamlet You run into the diffraction limit losing sharpness.

[cowgirls8]

Thank you :-)

[MDCCCLXXIV]

Well Helicon Soft costs about 15 quid...but what the narrator forgot to tell: Its for a one year license. For a lifetime license its ard 120 quid.

[TuRboCrutchez]

1:31 long shitter speed which may not be appropriate LOL

[Lincoshop]

Let us share the resources about photograph with each other,sub me ,thank you.

[grygon]

I see a lot of negative comments, wow. Just wanted to say thank you! Not everyone can afford to upgrade their gear so I've found this technique plus Combine ZM software very useful for my Nikon D70 and Photoshop CS1. :)

[35683989]

useless thing to do.. now a days u got BSS i.e BEST SHOT SELECTOR which automatically does the job what u did in 4.38 mins

[gfgfinlayson]

@35683989

Dumbass. BSS is a Coolpix camera feature which picks the most in focus shot from a bunch of shots and saves that to the memory card. This is a dedicated macro technique for DSLRs. In macro photography DOF is very limited. To get an entire image in focus, you have to photograph a series of in focus slices, and then stack those slices using specialist software.

[MDCCCLXXIV]

@gfgfinlayson also for coolpix DOF is very limited and you can do nothing about it because you cant even determine the point of focus because its all AUTO.

You can use that method only with a camera where you can determine the point of focus....so, manual focus....

[rishikiran]

I photograph my own jewellery and have it cut out and enhanced by a third party.

This technique has resulted in a vast improvement in my images.

Thank you as this video has helped me a lot.

[jimmyjohanes88]

in darker condition, you realize you cannot use small aperture, but you need lot of things go sharp.

[dollfacepersians]

Does the lighting matter much?

[obsidiannnnn]

@dollfacepersians

Lol....the lighting *always* matters

[beliefmail]

how about just stand further away and zoom in at f6 then crop in, wont this make life simpler?

[vvneagleone]

@beliefmail Then you'll get a small, detail-less, non-printable photo.

[vvneagleone]

@beliefmail And there's no f/6...

[pianoman6639]

Many thanks will help me out and seems a really good technique the video is also really interesting and well presented thanks again

[dannyday58218195]

yeah... but how "practical" is focus stacking? i mean ive got a 100mm lens and ive got some quality pics of lady birds bugs whatever random things i find -

they friggin move around that quick, unlike a watch, they aint gonna stop and stand still whilst i take about 10 different shots with a different apature and depth of field each time... its just not realistic...

so how do the "proffesionals" do it with bugs like dragonflys and insane macros eg using mpe 65mm???

[lancenewman1978]

@dannyday58218195

my personal recommendation is to "rapid fire" a lot of photos along with maximum shutter speed

you may have to comb through a few photos once you get back to the shop, but it should work.

with nature you will obviously have to wait for that "right" photo which is why so few images and photographers are acclaimed because of the timing it takes to get those "just right" images/videos

now that I think about it if you can take an HD video and crop out images "d90" has HD vid

[MrShayneOneill]

@dannyday58218195 Its like anything, you'll not get HDR photos of bugs and twichy animals and stuff either. Right tool for the right job. That said I managed to do a HDR photo of my cat sleeping. Crazy looking photo, not so sure of its artistic merits though lol.

[Detjo]

@dannyday58218195

The 'professionals' encourage the bugs to co-operate :)

Put them in the freezer for 5 mins - doesnt kill them and takes them about 5-10 mins to warm up enough to move. Gives you enough time to take some pics.

Or capture them in a jar with a little cotton wool soaked in acetone. Puts them to sleep for 5-10 mins. Good luck!

[argoshammersmith]

your good

[hassoun6]

1:35 An indirect way for this guy to let the ladies know that he's looking.

[aussiedave24nsw]

i just bort a slid rail 4 my macro lens can any1 help me 2 understand how 2 use it plese

[themanlion1]

4 minutes and 38 seconds that could have easily been 1 minute..... maybe less.. 

[BfoSHIZnats]

Best for watches that don't have second hands

[maddogharper01]

Speak up dude. I can hardly hear you.....

[RoyalPCmods]

thanks that will actually help me alot

[youngmers]

How can you stack 10-100-200 picture's of an insect if it's not dead. Surly you can only stack multiple images if the camera is on a tripod and the subjects not going to move at all?or dose the software do all the work after?

[orielmano]

CAN ANYBODY HELP ME I GOT A FULL HD CAM AND I CAN ACTIVATE MY MACRO BEFORE I START RECORDING VIDEO BUT IF ITS RECORDING I CANT TURN THE MACRO ON AND OFF HELP?

[MonkeyManBlues]

Thank you for this tutorial. I was able to use what you taught in this video on a set of photos I took of a ring on some red paper. Using Combine ZM, I was able to get a decent shot. Thank you once again.

[roninseattle]

better to move the camera each frame (using a focus rail), to avoid "lens breathing"

[bananarama666]

I realize your good intention but it is safe to say that anyone who has invested in the lenses and solid support necessary to do focus stacking macros is aware of the thing called "depth of field"... no need to drag on with a two minute explanation of it.

[DJTamasH]

or buy a pro camera like CANON 7D!!!!with a pro lens!

[KzLovesNey]

@DJTamasH Because buying a 'pro camera' with a 'pro lens' will fix what he is discussing with one photo.... :P

[julianh100]

what if you are taking picture of a flower outside that if moving ever so slightly even if you are using a tripod? What technique should you use then?

[bestamerica]

'

how come this camera CANNOT take 2 clear focus

[jellowfx]

good thing the clock isn't moving eh?

[svtcontour]

Very nice tutorial. I must give this a shot. I just picked up a 100mm macro so i've been playing with it a bit. Will try some focus stacking soon :)

[carloss1960]

I noticed the same thing when I was photografing a grass-hopper on macro, the face of the bug was sharply in focus but the back-end was blurred. Tell me, how do you change the focus point throughout the cameras multiple shots? Do you do it by hand?

[sirpau1]

Video took 5 minutes to explain a concept that could have been taught in 1 or 2.

[GoAndGetALife]

@sirpau1 The video could have been nothing more than some text explaining what to do in a few lines that might take 30 seconds to read. I think epzPete's video is very clear and informative, and if more tutorials/informative videos took longer than absolutely necessary but were as clear and informative the world would be a better place, and we would all be better informed people.

Grow some patience, sirpau1, and thanks for the video, epzPete.

[sirpau1]

@GoAndGetALife alright lol. Although I do stick to my original point, I have to admit I am very inpatient. I guess it depends on the person. I do appreciate the vid although it (for me) is a little too lengthy.

[googlephi]

Have you tried the free program, Interactive Digital Photomontage? It is a bit dated, but the range of features looks quite impressive.

[XDCaptainAwesomeXD]

hahaha 1:33 read the news paper ad!!!

[24Tyson]

1:36 "Men seeking Women...for fun on the phone..."

lol oh and great video. I didnt know about photo stacking till this. Thank you!!!

[Plasma08]

your camera sound effect is covering your words i cant really hear what you are talking about.

[prometeochile]

I allways learn something new from this videos! thx a lot, nice photos. Even if it kills the macro photography´s beauty, its really helpfull when you actually need it!

cheers!

[PzSniper]

not a good tutorial.. waste of time, bad audio, bad presentation

[lukejpearce]

Sorry but I think normal macro of anything (ie the little watch thing) looked better! Thanks for showing a creative new way of photography! :)

[takforalt]

I found this vid very interesting. Thanks so much from a newbie to macro.

[squishy949]

I've just found 'zerene stacker'

it stacks as well as combineZ-series, but has a very useful post stack brush tool that allows you to replace any part of the stacked shot with the aligned section of any of the original shots.

It makes eliminating artifacts waayy easier

[Photomagigger]

yeah, you can do this, but if you shot it in 4x5 you could just scheinpflug it all

[CandlesBook]

Thanks for this great video ! Awesome...Will definitely try this technique out and check on the Helicon Focus digital imaging processing software you recommended to try to solve depth of field .( DOF) problems in shooting. Seems to be a great resource. Cheers.

[LathanM]

This is a cool technique. I will definitely have to try it out.

[chompychomps]

4x5 view camera set back farther=all in focus and extra resolution, even after cropping :)

[theotrian]

Nice technique, but with such sharp focus you seem to lose some of macro photography's beauty, the chance to focus only on the point of interest and leave everything else vague...

[gumonthepants]

@theotrian Yes, focusing on a certain point of interest is beautiful and evokes emotion and it certainly has its place but this video is dedicated to a different aspect of macro photography - Focus Stacking and it too has its place - here in a video dedicated to the subject.

[zasvedogovore]

@theotrian this technique is very useful when you shoot for a client.

[grygon]

@theotrian but this is an excellent resource for crafters! :) We usually want people to see every little detail of the things we make. And you can always leave the background vague. ;)

[Necromax3]

@theotrian that's why this is a tool not a restriction.

[MrJeffsVideos]

Hello, not trying to be rude, just trying to get exsposer

[JuryDutySummons]

Not trying to be rude... but it sure is funny how "not trying to be rude" is always followed by something rude.

:P

[AndyBJ]

Good video, nicely explained, thanks.

If you didn't have this software, and you were any good with Photoshop you could also try using selections and lens blur filters to create a similar effect (if you shoot at a smaller aperture to get more depth of field that is).

[peace153]

Thanks for sharing that.

johannesrousseau(com) also has some very nice macro photos.

[TheAristoi]

do you move the camera to change the focus or do you change something on the camera?

[AndreasFehrm]

You're saying that the bad thing about using a small aperture, so that more gets into focus, is that it requires a long shutter speed.

Well, since you're using a tripod when you're doing this weird technique you could make the aperture smaller as well and just take one shot. I can't see why you aren't doing that instead..

[FatPlus1]

One reason you don't just open it up is to preserve the background rendition. Opening to f8+ can render the background more than you want it. So to keep the nice boheh you shoot wide and stack :)

[sumitino]

@AndreasFehrm

he is demonstrating the technique and he says that using a higher f/ratio might not be the best for all situations. sure he could use that on this shot but then he woulsnt have a focus stacking video now would he :)

[xjoncamposx]

Because smaller apertures bring a thing called "diffraction" into play.

[mixmaxdix]

@xjoncamposx that is true... check the-digital-picture image quality charts to see how much diffraction can appear when a lens is stopped all the way down. Also depends on the camera, (more megapixel on the same sensor size normally means more diffraction )

[xjoncamposx]

I actually never thought about if diffraction would be worse if the mp size was larger on the same sensor. Thanks for the info!

[mixmaxdix]

@xjoncamposx U welcome!

[roninseattle]

@AndreasFehrm he explained in the video why you wouldn't want to do that! 

[monkeyrobot]

that was great help, cheers

[jayeshchoudhari]

that was cool

thanks

[hotboipnoi]

camera came out in 2006, its not a "very old" camera...idiot!

[alimagics]

very old camera

[osusana]

Thanks, I'll try it!

[Fredmanwoah]

I like pointing out the differences between you and I. For instance, instead of saying idea, you say idear. Obviously, the American language didn't get taught in your school. If you are going to try to speak Ameriglish Language, please try harder. I feel I should now let readers know that my comment if pure foolishness.

[abumuhannadh]

this is good info, thanks

but if i have to put the cam on tripod either way, then i don't think slow shutter speed would be a problem, so you can just choose a small aperture and click the shutter and wait. saves all the work.

[bliksemafleider]

@ abumuhannadh: nope! even the smallest aperture isn't enough to do the trick. Plus: when your lens is set at the smallest aperture the diffraction makes the picture unsharp, even with the most expensive lenses. It's a matter of balance between sharpnes and DOF. With stacking you get sharpness AND DOF

[shadowblack1987]

Won't work for real close macro. Product shots is ok, but as soon you get really close you'll see even a small small aperture number won't cut it, and even when it does, you'll have long shutter speed and other annoying problems that come up.

[eaglefish007]

that was cool, I will try that, thanks for the tips

[54spiritedwill54]

Very informative.

[jesoby]

actually you get better resolution stacking at say f8 rather than using a single shot at f22

if you have a Mac - Helicon is good stacking software.

[svtcontour]

Very cool. I must try this

[ChuckEMong]

small aperture = larger depth of field = more stuff in focus

[TempleClause1]

wouldn't a large field of depth do fine as well ? so a large f number and longer shutter time ?

Greetings

[glebec]

Sure... if you have a ton of light (macro ring flash, midday sunlight, etc).

[ScottAtwood]

Even with a lens stopped all the way down, at macro range distances, the depth of field will only be a fraction of an inch. Focus stacking allows you to achieve more depth of field than would otherwise be possible with the optics alone.

[zerg1276]

interesting... thanks.

[bangtwister]

Top info! Thanks for sharing.

[PhotoRelax]

can't do that with Compact T_T but could do it slowly

[raphaelbouhnik]

thanks!

[impu]

Excellent Tutorial!  Thanks!

[zarathustra551]

Very informative. Thank you for this guide