A light bulb came on yesterday when a group of Cedar Waxwings showed up at my water feature. Yeah, I know, it took a while for it to warm up. I was watching and shooting and thinking, I need to get the group ALL in focus. Focus bracketing popped into my head.
So, who uses either, and which one for a situation such as this? I appreciate any comments, references, or YouTubes to check out.
One issue with focus stacking/bracketing is your subject has to be absolutely still for the length of your exposures. Any motion at all and that region is blurred. It can work- but it is hit and miss.
Good luck
gary
gchappel wrote:
One issue with focus stacking/bracketing is your subject has to be absolutely still for the length of your exposures. Any motion at all and that region is blurred. It can work- but it is hit and miss.
Good luck
gary
Gary, thanks for that. Yes, and these birds were in constant motion for the most part.
Focus bracketing and focus stacking are two inseparable parts of the same process. It's not a this or that choice. You have to do bracketing before stacking. Bracketing captures multiple images. Stacking combines the unsharp masked layers of all the images.
As @gchappel notes, any subject movement makes stacking nearly impossible. Faster shutter times and strobing can mitigate movement to a degree. Some movement can be dealt with by auto-aligning the stack layers. But you're fighting an uphill battle trying to use this technique with any movement at all.
Perhaps simply using strobes and a smaller aperture to capture a single exposure would be simpler.
jeffbuzz wrote:
Focus bracketing and focus stacking are two inseparable parts of the same process. It's not a this or that choice. You have to do bracketing before stacking. Bracketing captures multiple images. Stacking combines the unsharp masked layers of all the images.
As @gchappel@ notes, any subject movement makes stacking nearly impossible. Faster shutter times and strobing can mitigate movement to a degree. Some movement can be dealt with by auto-aligning the stack layers. But you're fighting an uphill battle trying to use this technique with any movement at all.
Perhaps simply using strobes and a smaller aperture to capture a single exposure would be simpler....Show more →
Understood on using both, but isn't it possible to shoot with focus stacking in the camera? Did I misread that? That is what I was referring to. Should have been clearer.
A light bulb came on yesterday when a group of Cedar Waxwings showed up at my water feature. Yeah, I know, it took a while for it to warm up. I was watching and shooting and thinking, I need to get the group ALL in focus. Focus bracketing popped into my head.
So, who uses either, and which one for a situation such as this? I appreciate any comments, references, or YouTubes to check out.
Bill, if the number of the birds is limited, 2 or 3 and they are not in the same focusing plane, your best bet is to focus on the closest one first, focus on the next one and finally, focus on the last one. I did it with only 2 birds that were facing each other while hovering. You merge the files in PS and both will be in perfect focus, while the separate files show the difference in focus clearly. Again, 2 birds are easier to do... Good luck!
AGeoJO wrote:
Bill, if the number of the birds is limited, 2 or 3 and they are not in the same focusing plane, your best bet is to focus on the closest one first, focus on the next one and finally, focus on the last one. I did it with only 2 birds that were facing each other while hovering. You merge the files in PS and both will be in perfect focus, while the separate files show the difference in focus clearly. Again, 2 birds are easier to do... Good luck!
Thanks for the comment, Joshua. I have indeed done that very thing before. I guess my thinking about it wasn't correct and that the method is more suited to other static scenes. I could see it helping with backgrounds in the case of these bird shots.
BillinTexas wrote:
Understood on using both, but isn't it possible to shoot with focus stacking in the camera? Did I misread that? That is what I was referring to. Should have been clearer.
Some cameras like the OM-1 can shoot and compile multiple focus bracketed images using built-in software so you end up with a single finished image. The OM-1 can also do just the focus bracketing giving you a series of images to work with later using your own software. Other cameras like the Sony a7 IV only capture the series of focus bracketed images which you have to stack and merge yourself using a computer.
I have tried both the OM-1 all-in-one method and using Photoshop to stack a series myself. Neither outcome impressed me much. If I was going to pick one, it would be the OM-1 method because it is so much easier.
The biggest problem I encountered was due to focus breathing. I think OM auto-magically compensates for that in-camera (to a degree). It seems much more difficult to deal with that in post-processing at the computer. Perhaps there's some more sophisticated stacking software that deals with lens breathing better. But I suspect the manufacturers have the most accurate data to compensate in camera.
jeffbuzz wrote:
Some cameras like the OM-1 can shoot and compile multiple focus bracketed images using built-in software so you end up with a single finished image. The OM-1 can also do just the focus bracketing giving you a series of images to work with later using your own software. Other cameras like the Sony a7 IV only capture the series of focus bracketed images which you have to stack and merge yourself using a computer.
I have tried both the OM-1 all-in-one method and using Photoshop to stack a series myself. Neither outcome impressed me much. If I was going to pick one, it would be the OM-1 method because it is so much easier.
The biggest problem I encountered was due to focus breathing. I think OM auto-magically compensates for that in-camera (to a degree). It seems much more difficult to deal with that in post-processing at the computer. Perhaps there's some more sophisticated stacking software that deals with lens breathing better. But I suspect the manufacturers have the most accurate data to compensate in camera....Show more →
There are software applications that will handle the focus breathing as well as other potential issues. I happen to use Helicon Focus, but I recall there is another one called Zerene Stacker. Helicon Focus integrates with LrC or can be used standalone. As mentioned by jeffbuzz, Sony doesn't stack in camera, it just brackets the focus from near to far giving you a series of images. The OM System will give you the option to stack in camera where it will process the result in camera (as a jpeg) and give you the series of bracketed images which you can process on your computer as well. Also, just as an FYI OM Systems doesn't bracket the focus quite from near to far. IIRC it starts at the focus point, then moves closer one step then starts moving further away.
I use the focus stacking function sometimes, but not in camera. Worst case you get one or two good single images and best case you can stack the ones you want later with Helicon for example. Stacking 2-3 is often enough since I usually want to keep the backgrounds OOF. I'm more inclined to do this for a single subject.
Revisiting this momentarily. Is the Focus Bracketing function something that could be turned on by programming one of the function buttons on the lens?
I could have used it with this scene pretty effectively I think.
I was watching and shooting and thinking, I need to get the group ALL in focus. Focus bracketing popped into my head. 
