Testing Focus Stacking in the Desert

[John David Cubit]

The new version of PhotoShop, CS6, has a function for automatic focus stacking. I tried it at one of my favorite fall sites in the California desert. Each of the images below was produced using a stack of 3 to 5 images ranging from near to far focus. The verdict? It works, but not perfectly. I would like a system that allows more control of the portions of the images (layers) used to produce the final image.

This is my first attempt at focus stacking, and I welcome suggestions from persons with more experience in this process, including the performance of other software and manual methods.

All images were made with the Sony A900 and the Sony 24‑70mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss.

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[sury]

John,
Very nice indeed. One question I have is that why do you want to do focus stacking for landscapes.
I always thought focus stacking is a technique to address the thin dof when doing macros. You have
the luxury of not going wide open especially when you have so much light? Zerene stacker is my favorite
focus stacking tool.

[John David Cubit]

John,
Very nice indeed. One question I have is that why do you want to do focus stacking for landscapes.
I always thought focus stacking is a technique to address the thin dof when doing macros. You have
the luxury of not going wide open especially when you have so much light? Zerene stacker is my favorite
focus stacking tool.

Thanks Sury. The macro people have refined focus stacking to a science, but landscape people use it, too, when they want to combine a very close and detailed foreground with a sharp, but distant, background. I have seen some very nice examples of these stacked landscapes, especially when there is less light, so that's why I am experimenting with the technique-- so I can apply it to the alpenglow and golden hours. Because of wind moving the vegetation, using a very small aperture with the required long exposure time will not produce a sharp foreground, leaving stacking as the only option. As it was, wind caused problems for me in these photos. There is varying amounts of motion blur of the foreground flowers in these stacks, which would have been worse at slower shutter speeds.
---John

[sury]

John,
Thank you. I did not realize the tricky challenges that the wind causes. I I am blown away with the realization.
Could you elaborate your technique a bit? Do you use a tripod or the the shots hand held? I certainly have some
things to experiment.

With best regards,
Sury

[John David Cubit]

John,
Thank you. I did not realize the tricky challenges that the wind causes. I I am blown away with the realization.
Could you elaborate your technique a bit? Do you use a tripod or the the shots hand held? I certainly have some
things to experiment.

With best regards,
Sury

Blown away, indeed. The location of these photos (Big Morongo) was just a few miles away from the area known for its strong winds--the massive turbine wind farms in the Banning Pass, CA. (This is the pass between Palm Springs and the San Gabriel Valley.)
Regarding technique, I basically used the one in Gavin Hoey's tutorial http://www.wildphotomag.co.za/wordpress/?p=611
I used a sturdy tripod, held the zoom at one value, and only changed the focus. Because of the great difference in the lighting of the sky vs the foreground, I bracketed all the exposures and then chose the best exposure for each focus image to stack.
It would be nice to have more control over which image in the stack supplies the optimum focus/exposure combo for each part of the image. This is where the automation of CS6 was less than best.
Maybe the Zerene software you mentioned is more effective in this regard? It would be nice to have software that simultaneously does HDR and focus stacking.
Regards,
Johh

[sury]

Thank you for the link. Between combineZM and Zerene stacker, I found ZS to be easier to use.
I have seen excellent examples using both on Fred Miranda and other sites dedicated
macro. On ZS, I did interact with the developer who is very eager to take your input.
I cannot comment on combineZM since I did not approach them. I am sure they are as
helpful. You can download ZS for a trial period and give it a try. You can also do HDR
first on your brackets and then feed them to a stacking program. You have certainly
piqued my curiosity on the topic.

[aster]

Hi John,

I like how you went about the first photo the most. The distinctive sharpness all around the estate of the frame is strikingly clear to the viewer. The second'portrait' shot also is nice but the third one has gone soft at the lower right with some dof perhaps.

I think landscape shots achieved by stacking have a good taste. : ) Keep it up.

Yildiz

[John David Cubit]

Thanks Yildiz,
The blur in the last shot is the result of wind blowing the flowers. The meadow was in an open, wind-exposed, location. and the flowers were whipping back-and-forth. The 1/500th wasn't fast enough to stop the movement. The first two photos were taken in more wind-sheltered locations. Wind is the bane of this kind of photography (foreground flowers/vegetation) in California, especially in the "golden" late afternoon when the breezes increase. I have experimented with using wind-caused blur as an art effect, but it always looks like sloppy focusing, sloppy camera movement, or a bad lens. Until I get a camera that performs well at very high ISOs, increasing shutter speed unacceptably reduces dof (requires a bigger aperture). Or, maybe I can find software that can successfully handle many more stacked images to get the needed dof.
---John

Hi John,

I like how you went about the first photo the most. The distinctive sharpness all around the estate of the frame is strikingly clear to the viewer. The second'portrait' shot also is nice but the third one has gone soft at the lower right with some dof perhaps.

I think landscape shots achieved by stacking have a good taste. : ) Keep it up.

Yildiz

[sury]

John,
Now I have a better appreciation for what you are doing. As I was trying to learn more from the link you posted and other searches,
I came across the hyperfocus concept and was wondering why you did not try it. The movement due to wind would not have been solved
with hyperfocus technique.Your two options being wait for the wind to die down or go for high shutter. I am beginning to see the merit of
focus stacking a landscape. Thank you very much.

With best regards,
Sury