Focus Stacking

Macro shot of ruby specimen with shallow depth of field

Collecting rocks was a hobby I got into some time ago.  I stopped collecting and had several drawers of specimens hiding in the closet.  I decided to make photographs of the specimens and ran into a problem with depth of field.  The images were sufficient to show off the rocks except portions of the rock were out of focus.  The solution was to use a technique called “focus stacking.”

I shoot the rocks in a light box on a tripod and used a Tamron 90 mm macro with a 2x converter. The converter allowed for auto focusing.  For the focus stacking project I used extension tubes instead of the 2x converter and manually focused each slice. I used the focus ring to carefully move the focus point.  A shutter release was attached to the camera to prevent shake.

Starting from focusing on the front of the specimen I shot a frame, then moved the focus ring to focus on the next section of the specimen. This was repeated for a total of seven frames.  I shoot in RAW then convert all the frames to PSD.

ON1 doesn’t utilize a convenient focus stacking method so I used Photoshop CS5 to perform the task.  I understand that this method was available since CS2. 

Seven RAW frames

 The RAW frames are stored in a separate folder then processed to PDF without any corrections applied.  In Photoshop click on “File”, then” Automate,” then “Photo Merge.“  Either “Add Open Files” or “Browse” to load in the frames.  Be sure the Layout choice is “Auto” and none of the check boxes are selected before clicking “OK.”

Photomerge Dialog

This will take a few moments for Photoshop to process.  This process automatically aligns all the photos in case the camera moved a bit.  For a large amount of frames it will take a longer time.  Open up the Layers window to see all the frames in separate layers.  Select all of these layers then from the “Edit” menu click on “Auto Blend Layers.”  Then on the “Auto-Blend Layers” dialog select the “Stack Images” selection.  Then click OK.  Again Photoshop will take some time to blend these images. When the process is complete, the resultant image is displayed.  The “Layers” window will show the masks created for each of the layers.  Each layer masks out what is out of focus.  This is why focus stacking software is required.

The image is ready for enhancements, cropping, etc. if desired.

The final image is completed and fully in focus. Note this specimen is 3/4” long and approx. ¼” diameter. There is a bit of care and work involved but in the long run it is worth it.

If you don’t have Photoshop available the following software is available for either free or purchase: 

Affinity Photo $49.99 Raw editing, HDR merge, Panorama stitching, Focus stacking, Professional retouching, Batch processing, PSD editing, Digital painting, 360° image editing, Multi-layered compositions https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/

Zerene Free for 30 Days. Personal license $89, Prosumer $189. https://www.zerenesystems.com/cms/stacker

Combine ZP is both free & reasonably capable. Originally written for use with microscopes but seems to work fine at lower magnifications too.

Picolay Free Focus stacking - slim and fast - stereo images from a single z-stack - image processing - slide shows - animated gif images etc. - portable freeware - easy installation - http://www.picolay.de/ (May be difficult to use, noted some users)

Gimp Free https://www.gimp.org/downloads requires to download separate plugins. Search the internet with “Gimp focus stacking plugin” for more information.

HDR and Panorama in ON1 Raw 2018

There has been a lot of talk about substitute software to replace Adobe post processing software. My preference for post processing software is ON1.  I am using Adobe Photoshop less as ON1 updates its software. For 2018 ON1 has added HDR merging and panoramic stitching amongst other features like cataloging your images such as what Adobe Lightroom does.

High dynamic range or HDR is a technique to reproduce a greater dynamic range of luminosity than what is possible with standard digital imaging. ON1 software automatically aligns your images and removes ghosting from motion between exposures.  Panorama stitching is the process of combining two or more images to form one cohesive image.  ON1 goes one step further to embed panoramic metadata for Facebook panning so you can show 180 degree views!

The reason I make panorama images is to simulate a medium format (or larger) camera.  Instead of holding the camera horizontally to make one long narrow image, I hold my Nikon full frame vertically and stich two or three frames to produce a nice sized image. My Nikon creates 6,016 w x 4,016 h pixel images.  By holding the camera vertically and taking three consecutive shots I can stitch them together to make a possible single 12,048w x 6,016h pixel image if I use a tripod and keep the horizon level and the ends of the scene just meet that would be impossible to achieve.  I hand held my camera for the shot above so the alignment of the three images created a cropped size.  Yes! I hand held my camera to take all the images required including the HDR frames.

To take the picture above with a 50 mm lens, I set my camera for aperture priority at f/11 and a three frame bracket of -.07ev, 0ev, and +7ev at an ISO of 400.  I had to compensate for the shade and didn’t want too low of a shutter speed for the higher ISO.  I also set the camera for continuous shooting so I can get three rapid shots.  I shot the first three frames for the right most image, then moved the camera for the center three shots, then moved the camera for the last three shots on the left.

                                         -0.7 ev 1/30 sec                                 0 ev 1/50 sec

                                                                 +0.7 ev 1/20 Sec

In ON1 Browse, I select the three images I want, then from “File” select “Create HDR”

The dialog has sliders for the Tone & color tab and HDR tabs that you can adjust the image to where you want it.  I just saved the image with the default settings.  After I stitch the images together I’ll process the final image later.

                 

The overlap is quite evident here which will cause this image to smaller in width.

 Add 1, 2, and 3 at the start of the title in each HDR images to help with your ordering then from the drop down “File” menu select “Merge to Panorama...”   Then the “Create Panorama” dialog shows.  You can now set “Edges” to crop, wrap to fill, or do nothing for edges; select “Open in browse, develop, or effects; and select “Add Panoramic Metadata.”

I set mine to “Crop” and “Open in Develop” for final processing.

Above is another panorama image using three frames which resulted in a 10200 w x 6600 h pixel image or 34” x 22” at 300 ppi. The image above needs to be cropped to show less lawn.

Above is another HDR example of the camera hand held in three frames 0.7ev, ISO 1000, 50mm, f/4.5.

ON1 Raw 2018 simplifies the tasks of creating HDR and/or panoramic images.  It also allows me to do landscapes, stills, and other slow moving scenes without the need of an expensive medium format camera.

Macro and Depth of Field

Tourmaline in quartz schist, The tourmaline is about ½ inch long.

Getting really close to a subject is not only more interesting it can be fun and frustrating.  I have used extension tubes attached between the camera body and the lens, and close-up lenses attached to the front of a zoom lens.  The results weren’t too bad but I noticed the depth of field (DOF) was noticeably shallow. Extension tubes worked best on something where the depth of the object wasn’t that deep.  I thought that maybe if I had a macro lens I could get different results!  After all there are plenty of images out there to prove it even though some were focus stacked.

After considerable research I decided to purchase a used macro lens from mpb.com.  The price of the used lens was half of a new lens supposedly in excellent condition so I opted for the Tamron 90 mm macro.  If this didn’t work out the loss wouldn’t hurt my pocket too much. It turned out that this was the best decision I made.  The lens performs beyond my expectations!

Of course I immediately started shooting everything from bolts and nuts to flowers, insects, and my rock collection.  I did notice that the depth of field changed as the distance from the camera to the subject increased or decreased.  When the distance was at its smallest the DOF was the shallowest. The other thing I noticed was the DOF would change when the aperture changed. By how much did it change I wondered, so I did a little experiment.

In my light cube, I placed a ruler vertically on a slant at an angle of about 20 degrees where the far end of the ruler laid towards the back of the light box,  then marked off the focus point with a piece of tape.  I then took four images at aperture settings of f/4.5, f8, f18, and f36 with the lens at about 14 inches from the mark.  I didn’t use a tripod but the camera was hand held with my arms braced at the edge of the platform.

 

                f/4.5 1/8" DOF                                                                          f/36 2" DOF

After processing the images I filled a table with my observations where the endpoints were in focus just before it went soft.

I then plotted the four points in Excel and used a two degree polynomial to connect the points.  Excel gave me the formula y = 0.0014x² + 0.0009x + 0.1155 which comes pretty close to my actual data.

 The conclusion is the smaller the aperture opening the DOF is wider.  However, this comes with some caveats.  Depending on lighting conditions, if the light is lower than full sunlight, the camera may not be able to reach the smaller apertures if your subject requires it.  Of course with the smaller aperture the shutter speed decreases.  If the shutter speed is too slow, use a tripod and/or increase the ISO.  Too large of an ISO increases sensor noise.

The bottom line is the macro lens is the less painful way to go for macro photography.  The challenge begins when you go from stationary objects to moving objects!

Carpenter Bee

Civil War Reenactment & PP Software

Civil War reenactments are popular from Spring through Fall held in many towns and cities in the U.S.  The one I attended was sponsored by the Lombard Historical Society at the Four Seasons Park in Lombard Illinois.  There were artillery demos, skirmishes, battles, drills, plus the encampments of the rebels and union soldiers.

These events are a photographic delight, a challenge, and loads of fun!  Both woman and men wore period costumes. What was really cool, is the actors did not pose for any of the shots.  They just went about their business as if you weren’t there.  That made images more authentic looking.

Rebels on a march

The best part is left to the last.  Post processing all the images by adding layers and converting to black and white with sepia and other tones, scratches, and other effects to give the image a period effect. 

Naval escort for Abe

The Navy making plans for the day

Besides, Adobe products, ON1 Photo Raw and NIK, there are a few other photo editors worth looking into.

GIMP is open-source and free. It does a decent job of replicating Photoshop’s recomposing and manipulating your photos, applying effects, and cropping and resizing images. GIMP supports editing PSD files, and its arsenal of tools: Filters, brush tools, text tools, layers, distortion and color-correction tools, cropping, resizing, and effects options. GIMP doesn’t match up to Adobe’s editing software when it comes to advanced features and color management but does have a selection of plug-ins including content-aware painting (removing strange objects) and RAW support.

Officers have their privileges family, servants and kids

Corel PaintShop Pro features a full array of photo-editing tools including layers, filters, one-click HDR and other filters, retouch tools, and more RAW-format support than any of the free packages (including 16-bit RAW). Corel PaintShop Pro can create vector graphics and exchange brush tools.

                    

Portraits of individuals doing what they do best, posing.

Cyberlink PhotoDirector has features similar to Lightroom providing tools to make raw conversions and process JPEGs, TIFFs, and PNGs, layers, cloning tools, HDR, presets to apply effects and more.  Cyberlink PhotoDirector will import up to 4K (UHD) video to capture still images, and create panoramas.  The best part of course is it is very affordable from $35 on Amazon.com.

Those black powder rifles are awesome

The Western Japanese Garden

Chicago Botanical Gardens

Water is a major component of any Japanese garden.  The ponds and waterfalls are located in precise orientation with respect to the sun to determine how it will be reflected by the water.

The sound of waterfalls adds to the soothing nature of Japanese gardens.  At the Chicago Botanical Gardens (CBG) the cascading waterfall is very unique.  You start at the top and take a path down to view separate parts of the cascade. Take the bridge to the island then turn around and observe the waterfall from further away.  Along the path you come across a fountain with slow dripping water from a bamboo pipe.  It is located in a dark corner for you to contemplate the sound and observe ring pattern and light from each drop.

In Japan, the house and garden are meant to have a certain integration, with the building being positioned to frame the garden scene. The garden in a Japanese traditional context is an unfolding work of art. It is not intended in which to relax or play. 

Note the rocks and stones in the garden, stream, or pond. They anchor the garden to the ground and give it personality. Rock and stone play a major role in a Kaaresansui garden. 

Gravel is raked into patterns representing waves and rocks or mounds may represent a mountain or an island.  The Kaaresansui garden at CBG contains stepping stones for your eye to travel to the edge of this garden leaving you with a mysterious feeling.  Plantings and lanterns are also used in the Kaaresansui garden.

A pond isn’t complete without water lilies or lotus. The water plants as well as land plants are associated with moving thoughts and the universal forms of life. Water lilies float on the surface while lotus grows with a strong stem anchored at the bottom of the pond.

The Anderson Japanese Garden (AJG) in Rockford IL has some excellent features. It also is a top rated garden in the U.S.  You enter their garden through an enormous gate.  Note the stone pagoda in the entrance.  It echoes the roofline of the gate.  Although not a traditional Tori gate it is representative of a Mas Imazui gate.

Below the waterfall at AJG, the pond contains what are known as living flowers or Koi. Koi are a colored form of Amur carp crossbred for over 100 years. Koi can live a long time; some can live up to fifty years. In Japan they are a symbol of strength and tenacity.

Anderson Japanese Garden

Old Cars and Hot Rods

You know its summer time when the community opens the streets for antique and specialty cars!  Downers Grove in Illinois is no exception.  Every Friday night “Cruise Night” presents a different theme including live music.  Sometimes the cars overflow onto more than one street and parking lots.  You can shoot full body images of the vehicles like the one above but I prefer to shoot close-ups and details.

Interior shots are great because of the diffused lighting.  Shooting through glass can be troublesome and sometimes not possible but, if you get the angle right and close enough to block the reflections without the lens touching the glass you will be rewarded for the effort.  You could have a partner hold a dark cloth to block the reflections or setup a tri-pod.  The biggest obstacle is people especially when the show attracts large crowds.  In that case patience is required.

Shooting close at a different angle presents the opportunity for specific detail like the hot rod above.  I could have got down on my knees for a shot of the grill but my interest was in the flames.  Besides, I didn’t have knee pads to protect my pants and knees from street grime, stones, and rough surfaces.  The next time I will.

Some images look great in color but others are better in black and white.  In all cases post processing of images is necessary. Not only for converting to black and white or enhancing color but also to remove unwanted reflections and spots for a cleaner look.

Getting really close for more detail of ornamentation especially chromed parts is best in black and white.  Other times color adds more impact like the Crosley emblem below.

Wheaton Illinois has Friday night car night with a DJ playing select tunes.  Those nights are also themed for different vehicle classes.  You can find available shows on the Hemmings site for your area, https://www.hemmings.com/calendar/   or simply search for “classic car shows”.

When someone parks an antique beater that is rusting or just plain messed up be sure to shoot that car at different angles for color contrast, composition, or plain awesomeness.  I couldn’t believe it when this guy parked the car above.  Almost looks like modern art!  Don’t you think?

I hope he doesn’t drive too fast!

Making “The Quintet” Altered Reality

The Quintet

I took a photograph of my collection of wooden bird sculptures with the idea of creating a new acrylic painting. When I cut the figures out and placed them in a 20 x 16 canvas, I changed my mind and decided to go nuts!

The first thing I did was to create the 20 x 16 canvas then crop the image to fit nicely onto the canvas then make a duplicate layer.  I cut out the birds using Topaz Remask with the result replacing the duplicate layer.  I deleted the original layer then moved the duplicate layer to the upper half of the canvas.

The birds are standing in water so a copy of Layer 1 is renamed Layer 2, rotated 180 deg., then flipped horizontally.  The layer is then moved down to line up with the legs in Layer 1.  Finally, Layer 2 brightness is reduced.

Layer 1 is selected and the magic wand outlines the birds.  A background image is loaded copied then special pasted into creating Layer 3 with Blend Mode set to Overlay.  The sky brightness and contrast is adjusted so that the birds stand out.  Layer 3 is moved above the locked background layer which has been disabled.

Layer 2 is copied and renamed Layer 4.  The birds are isolated with the magic wand tool.  Edit-Fill-Color is selected with a dark blue.

Duplicate layer 3 and rename to Layer 5.  Flip Layer 5 180 deg., then move it over the refection.  Set the blend mode to Lighten and reduce the opacity by about 60%.

We need a brick wall to separate the water from the sky.   I chose a photo of a stone wall and copied a section out with a narrow sized rectangle marquee tool, then pasted it onto Layer 3 positioning it to be above the line between sky and water.  This layer is renamed Layer 7.

The water has a nice reflection but it needs to be contrasted with an opposite color.  I chose an image of a flowing river and cut out a section with the rectangle marquee tool and pasted it over Layer 5.  I changed the blend mode to hue and opacity to about 66%.   The layer is renamed Layer 6 That completes “The Quintet”. See first image.

Layer order in Photoshop

I shoot walls, tree trunks, gates, lamps, clouds, cloth, etc. and keep them in a folder “My Textures” with subfolders to identify each group.  When the time comes I have an image to use to make something for  “Altered Reality”.