In Search of Focus - Focus Stacking

Like most photographers, when I have a shot that is in great focus, I have to wonder if I really had any part in the process.  Sure, most shots come out well.  But when one is right on the money, it does stand out.
Especially that pesky Depth of Field (DOF) thingie that can ruin a great shot.  
I started looking into photo (focus) stacking.
This is a process that starts at one focal point, takes a photo, then moves to another focal point and takes a picture and repeats the process as much as necessary.  It may be two shots.  It may be hundreds of shots.  The trick is to get some point of the shot in perfect focus.  And let the other shots do the same.
And then of course, some software package has to find all those points that are in perfect focus and blend them together.
Today's project is with Helicon's Focus and Remote.  (http://www.heliconsoft.com/)  I did some research on photo stacking software and stumbled on this package.  I'm also looking for a remote package I can run off of a tablet to run the camera and this suite had all the pieces.  So, I'm now on the 30 day trial.
I have a C5A/B model that will be the perfect subject for this test.  It is about 20 inches long and has some detailed markings.  It will do the trick.
The particulars are 48mm, f/11 and 1.6 seconds.  Put that in a DOF blender and you get a DOF of about 6 inches.  One other difference, the original shot is a RAW image, and the processed image is JPEG.  But the point of the exercise is the focus difference between the nose and the tail.
Conventionally I have lots of options.  One is go back to the DOF calculator and find a setting for 20 to 24 inches.  But I may not like what it tells me.  I know for this lens at 50mm, f/11 will get me better focus.   I could play with ISO and speeds.  Blah.
If I were to take a conventional shot, with the focus point on the nose this is what I get.
I've left the image snap shots at 1:1 - there are no reduction issues.
The unaltered image.

OK, looks OK?  Yea, but.
Here is the nose, a bit closer up.  (Remember, this is the start of the focus points.)

The nose is in focus.  There is some detail in the lines.  (Also look at the blue background, a towel.  Just a bit out of focus.  It is a total of 36 inches behind the nose.  Remember this.)

Here is the tail.

Enough said.

With the photo stacking:  This is a stack of 7 shots.  To be honest, the first two shots had absolutely nothing in focus.  But that's OK.  I'd rather have too many than not enough.

Here is the stacked picture:

Well, for me pretty much instantly I can see the background is all in focus.  yea, the model is in focus as well.  let's go to the close ups.

The nose:

The nose is pretty much the same, but wow, look at the blue towel.  It looks like there is a bit out of focus on the left.  There's a blending issue.

The Tail:

The tail has a lot more definition.  Looking at the flag painted on the tail, it has some definition.  And again, the blue background has much more definition.

Google focus stacked photos on the web.  There are some pretty interesting shots out there.  Most of the ones that catch my eye are done with macro lenses, something that is missing from my inventory of equipment.  

This was interesting project.  And for the next 29 days, it won't cost me a thing.

Church Cove in Winter

On my walk around Flint last week, I passed this interesting sight.  This is one of the entrances to the St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Saginaw St.
I know from past experiences that cut stone and wood will produce some wonderful effects with HDR processing.  I also know snow is a crap shoot with HDR.  I like darker looks with the way I'm going to go after this - but I know the snow will not play well.  It will be very noisy.  I don't want pure white snow as it will look out of place.  I'll think of something.

The basics of the shot are:  50mm  ISO 200  Manual Mode

The base shot:

Exposure :  1/80 at f/11

The under:

Exposure :  1/640 at f/11

The over:

Exposure :  1/10 at f/11

I processes these three photos through Photomatix.  The effect I came up with looked like this.

I really like the door and the stone - but as expected the snow doesn't favor me at all.  I'd like to keep some of the detail, but lighten it up significantly.  I tried to lighten the snow just by targeting the snow areas, but wasn't crazy about how that turned out.  My next trick was to make a print solely for the snow - and try to blend it in with the use of masking.  This is the photo effect that I chose - only for the snow.

I masked out everything but the snow and used an opacity setting of 50%.  That lightened up the snow - pretty much as I wanted.

And so here is the final product, with one other tweak.  I removed a small blue sign that was attached to the gate.

Walking around Flint - Bernie's HQ

The D7200 arrived last Saturday.  I've spent a lot of time in the last week going over the menu items and set up.  As with anything, over time functionality of new models either gets more complicated or more useful.  And this new camera is the same.  I needed a book to get thought it.

The basics are the same.  Nikon's use and names of internal camera functions are the same, but the numbers are very different.  For example, my D90 had 11 auto-focus points.  This one has 51.  How did I ever get by?  Both the D90 and D7200 have two auto-focus modes - but the new one is so fast.

So after a few days of shooting everything in the office - multiple times - it was time to take the D7200 on the road.  Today wasn't the best day, in fact it was cold and a bit of snow.  But I really needed to get out and do whatever I could to see the new one in action.

This past Saturday on my way to the Flint Farmer's Market, I passed the Bernie Sander's presidential HQ for Flint.  For all the wrong reasons, Flint is in the news and for a few days at least the center of the Democratic Party focus.  I've been told I don't have many pictures of Flint.  Well, this was too good to pass up.  I have more pictures from this morning's walk, but I'll start with this one.  I don't know of any in my circle of friends who are socialist - as they all have jobs.  So take this as it is, a subject photo.  Not a political endorsement.

1/250   f/11
EV 0.0
Manual Mode
ISO 200
Focal Length 55 mm

With this set of photos today, I completed my journey to the Dark Side as far as how much the camera helps me.  In the beginning as we all do I started with shooting with AUTO mode.  Let the camera do everything.  Until recently, I used APERTURE mode.  I wanted to keep the aperture consistent because most of my work finds its way to HDR merging.  Today, I cut all dependence on the modes and went MANUAL.  And somehow I got through it all.

Clearly not open for business on a Sunday morning.  To me, there is a lot going on here.  Lots and lots of lines.  Lines everywhere.  I like the blues, I like the oranges.  I like the bricks and other masonry.  

This is a single photo using Photomatix - and mostly the Surreal settings.  However in some spots, the processing left flat white areas that possibly caught your eye and that wasn't what I was going for.  So I did anther processing for the same shot except with a different setting that didn't have all the whites.  I used the second shot as my base and laid the Surreal settings on top with a 75% opacity setting.  It crushed the whites and brought out the definition in the bricks.  Worked for me.

I tried to do all the right things.  Use a tripod.  Get the right light.  Get the right focus point.  Not sure if all of that worked for me, plus the new camera, but today's shots were so sharp without any processing.  Think I'm going to like this.

Detroit Model Rail Road Club

One of the neat things about belonging to a club is the photo outings that can be planned.  We've had great luck with the Flint Farmer's market.  Now we have the oppertunigy to photo shoot the DMRRC.  Today I went out to scout the place and get some ideas to think about before the real shoot in April.
I did get a tour that most people don't get, that is I got to see a lot of the underbelly of the tracks and platforms.  Absolutely fascinating!  
These are some of the photos I took with my phone.

Our Snow Storm in less than 3 minutes.

Every time I get challenged to do something photography related by one of my well-meaning, but sadistic and psychotic friends, I feel bad because I'm not up to the challenge.  (Feel like I'm breaking a chain letter.) You know, the snap a photo a day of a smurf in warmer weather then where you are Kurt - and for sure pass along the challenge to someone else crowd.
Well - that's just not me.  (Sorry, don't unfriend me.)

Here's my answer to the challenges - by my rules.

I purchased a digital remote release, non-Nikon.  This thing can do time lapse.  And what a better time to try this out than during a snow storm.

My first attempt at time lapse.  There are some interesting things here, at least to me.  First, there is a brief section where the snow really builds up quickly.  Next, I really like the transition from daylight to night and back.  

Sure, it could be a little more exciting, but hey - it's my first try.  

This is a shot every 10 minutes for about 26 hours.  The original effort was a shot every 5 minutes, but that was really slow........  (And to my Canon friends, yes a Nikon has a big enough buffer to handle a JPG shot every 5 minutes.....)

I used Lightroom Slideshow to put this together.

And I promise not to challenge my friends to create a time lapse movie every day for the next six says!  (Although, I wonder what the Cape Lego crowd will do with this?)

The Peanut Principle......

A part of our Tuesday rituals is to clean the bedroom linens.  What that happens, it is like a holiday for the kids.  Folded comforters and warm sheets are better than any new cat toy that comes down the road.  One has to be very careful when navigating the clean clothes that aren't folded - as there is a better than even chance there is a critter holed up in a nice warm environment.
And that is what I saw today.  This is the little Peanut - formal name of Emma.
One might confuse this tactic of curling up in a folded comforter as a sign of impending cold and wind and snow.  It is not - it is a sign today is Tuesday.

To be fair to Nikon, this was not totally an AUTO shot.  I'm not sure my AUTO setting works - it's been so long since it has been used.  But this is why I do what I do with photographs.  This was taken with ISO 200, F9 and a 15 second speed.  Not 1/15 - but 15 seconds.  The fact peanut didn't move (much) for 15 seconds while awake, is somewhat of an indoor record.  There is a lot of contrast here.  There is the sunlight in the upper right hand corner and the black color of her nose.  That's a lot for one camera to capture.  then there is the histogram.

What I do see here is Peanut's nose is not as dark as it is in real life, but the expected blown whites are there.  Simply - I need to move everything to the left.

Using HDR won't be enough for this project.  Getting the Peanut to sit still for 15 seconds twice in one day is too much to ask.  I don't like using a flash here.  I think it would ruin the ambient lighting and irritate the subject.  

The first thing to do is move the ISO to 800.  I should be able to get to 1-2 seconds.  I will risk the 'noise', but in previous tests my camera handles 800 very well.

I will still use f9 - as I want to capture a lot a area, almost two feet in focus.

Changing the ISO from 200 to 800 gives me these shots.

I turned out to be very lucky.  The longest shot was 1.6 seconds.  She stayed still for 15 seconds - but this time I could get the three shots.

And that made for a pretty good photo to start with.

There is a lot of sharpness - the fur and whiskers really stand out.  On the right side of her face, it is completely lit up and you can see what are very close to her real colors.

Clearly this needs some more work if I want it to go any further.  The top needs to be replaced.  This will be a nice print in the house.

Final Pig Entry

Well - the good story of the Pig had to end sometime.
The Pig is in his/her new home in the Flint Farmer's Market.  The good folks at Charlie's BBQ were happy to see the finished product.  The Pig has a place of honor over a decorative fire place.

It was a nice project to participate in with the Fling Lensmen Camera Club.

The Pig Story Continues.......

As the Pig story continues (just highlights where my life is...), it is really close to taking a life of its own.  
Last night the photo was put on canvas.  My friend and photo mentor was nice enough to entertain C and me for the evening while he worked on the final product.  In that time, I saw how to put together a very nice canvas print wrapped around a wood frame. The biggest clue of the evening was that my friend is self taught by YouTube - which just happens to be my favorite classroom.
Here is the Pig on canvas.

Hopefully the next story update is when the Pig is in the Market.

The Pig is Big! Charlie's BBQ Mascot

I had a wonderful time this morning at the Flint Farmer's Market.  The photo club to which I am a member spent some time this morning promoting our next photo class at the market.  We set up a table, displayed some interesting photo related items and would chat with the passers by.  Great way to spend part of a Saturday.
Last month when we did this same promotion we had a slide show on a monitor as a way to get people to come over and chat with us.  This month, to be different, I thought we could hook people to come over if we had a monitor displaying some of the post processing tricks we do.

The monitor was off to the left.  You get the idea.
We had a pretty good time.  We looked at creating custom camera profiles, HDR processing and tricks to remove objects.
For all the subjects, we used photos from the market taken that morning.
Close to us was Charlie's BBQ stand - which by the way did a huge business.  Well, Charlie has a small mascot.  I thought it would be neat do capture an image.  I had the camera set up for HDR - so I snapped up three shots.  This is the base photo.

Now that is a pig ready for some winter activities.
So I snapped off my three shots and processed the image.  I came up with an image I like and put it on the monitor for a while.  Well, the good folks at Charlies saw it, came over and wanted to buy the image.  Well, I certainly was not going to go for cash, but would trade for some cred.  So I told my fellow club members we had some Club Cred coming our way and well things got out of hand from there.  It wasn't enough that we would 'donate' a picture, but we now have the resources mobilized to get a canvas print going.  Fantastic!
So this week's project is to get the Pig on Canvas.  This is the image we will put on the canvas.

Spare me the criticism about the halo effect.  Sandra (Mrs. Charlie) liked it as is.  And that is enough for me.  The mascot has been with them for over 20 years.  It is a pleasure to give them the Winter 2016 version.

ISO and the HDR Photo

One of the final effects of ISO settings I need to see is how the 'noise' translates to my HDR workflow.  Usual HDR processing will create some noise - and the software will also remove noise as well.

For these comparisons, I'm using the full image.  Again I'm showing the close up subject and the distant subject.  I'm using Photomatix Pro 5.1.1 with the Painterly 3 preset.  In my opinion, that setting brings out a medium amount of noise.

Close up Subject:

ISO 200  f/Stop  22   1/60

ISO 800  f/Stop 22  1/320

In this shot - I really can't tell much of a difference between the two.  Experience tells me all the 'noise' can be cleaned up easily in both shots.

For the distance subject:

ISO 200  f/Stop 29  1/40

ISO 800  f/Stop 25  1/200

ISO 1600  f/Stop 29  1/320

As in the short distance subject, the 'noise' can be dealt with.  Another characteristic I'm looking for is the detail in the ice formations.  At ISO 1600, it is OK.  

So for HDR purposes, I wouldn't be afraid to push the ISO to 800 or 1600 if I needed the aperture settings or speed.

More ISO findings.........

To continue my ISO discovery....
I found on my D90 that for close ups, I could safely push to ISO 800 without any real issues.  When you think of it, going to 800 really isn't a stretch - there are some huge numbers coming out now.  (Previous ISO Post)

My next test was to go for an object much further away - maybe about 300 yards.  My central subject is the light on top of the rear navigation light.

For this test, I went with shots at ISO 200, 800 and 1600.  I did three shots with each ISO setting each with different f/stops.  Again, it was almost closed, almost open and one in the middle.  And again, these are 2x2 segments.

And again, it was cold and windy.  For the shots, I used an IR remote never touching the camera.  I also used manual focus.  Some of the shots did not come into focus real well - and it seemed to be a trend.  More on that later.

The ISO 200 shots.

ISO 200   f/stop 6.3    1/640

ISO 200   f/stop 13    1/200

ISO 200   f/stop 29   1/40

The ISO 200 shots show a nice red color and a nice even white color.

Now the ISO 800 shots.

ISO 800   f/stop 5.6    1/4000

ISO 800   f/stop 13   1/800

ISO 800   f/stop 25    1/200

At ISO 800 you can see a real difference between the ISO 200 shots.  The sky looks like it was printed on canvas.  There is definitely some off coloring noise on the whits.  Probably not enough to ruin the shot and maybe rescued in post processing.  Let's see what the ISO at 1600 does.

ISO 1600   f/stop 6.3    1/4000

ISO 1600   f/stop 10   1/2500

ISO 1600   f/stop 29    1/320

Clearly more noise on the close ups.  Let's see what the total photo looks like.  I'll use the smaller f/stops - as those photos appear to be 'better'.

ISO 200

ISO 800

ISO 1600

In the actual photos, for the ISO 1600 I notice a little noise in the building white colors - but that's only because I'm looking for it.  

This was a fun test, but it also demonstrated another aspect of photography I didn't know before.  In all cases, the more open f/stop the less in focus the shot was.  When I first looked at the photo array, I blamed the wind.  I also thought it was the slow shutter speeds.  Well - I was wrong.  Note to self:  Landscape, the aperture setting is more important than speed.  Sometimes when I'm shooting photos, I get more wrapped up in the 'artsy' part and don't think of the basics.  

The good news is I now know more about the limits of my D90.  (I expect the new setup will be much nicer with higher numbers.)  Did I mention, it was really cold out there?

Shopping........

Went shopping today.  Not the big purchase (yet).  I was looking for a better 'bag' system.
I've been using two hard case units, with cut foam inserts.  One case was for the D80 and one for the D90.
I now have a soft bag with room for both.  And there is plenty of room for the one extra lens I have.  And all the little doo-dads that I've picked up over the years.
This will make going on location much easier.

Started out with an ISO test, but.....

I had to spend a few days in Chicago for work this week.  I usually drive.  Not much of a fan of flying any more, plus the time between flying and driving is just about the same.  For the drive, I drive past St. Joseph, MI - home of one of the most interesting navigation lights on the Great Lakes.  Usually in the winter there is plenty of ice over the structures that makes for great photographs.  This year not so much.  One of the lights is here: South Light in Winter

The second part of this story revolves around the ISO setting for DSLRs.  For the past two months, I've been researching the new Nikons - getting the itch.  I read one review that said if you have a dinosaur like a D90........  Oh well.

During the research, I've read some crazy ISO setting being used - well over 20k.  What's up with that?  Back in the 35 mm day, 400 was really reaching.  I usually don't stray much past 400 on my shots.  Now I have to ask myself why not?

Stay with me - I'll connect all of this.

Since it is winter, and I'm going past a location that I'm familiar with for photos, why not do an ISO test?  I've seen lots of demos on the web, but none with my dinosaur.  This seems like information I should know.

The set up is I took shots of two subjects, one close (50mm) and one at distance (170 mm).  I used a tripod, manual focus and a Cloudy setting for WB.  The original file is RAW, converted to jpg and then a 2x2 section of a point of focus.  (Remember this when viewing, this is a 2x2 image blown up to what you see on your browser.)  All files were processed the same.  I should also point out it was windy and cold.

The point, again, was to test for noise at higher ISO settings.

The first shots are of a subject at around 10 feet.  The ISO setting are 200 and 800.  The f/stops are open, closed and somewhere in between.

ISO 200   f/stop 4.8    1/1000

ISO 200   f/stop 10    1/320

ISO 200   f/stop 22    1/60

When I first saw these, I expected the detail to be good.  OK.  But I expected the higher speed to be more in focus.  Interesting, but it was windy.  Blame it on Mother nature.

Let's see what they look like at ISO 800.

ISO 800   f/stop 5.6    1/3200

ISO 800   f/stop 10    1/1000

ISO 800   f/stop 22    1/250

For the point of focus or subject, at this distance there really isn't much difference.  So, in this case why would you need to be concerned about an ISO setting?  What I did confirm is that with a slower speed and higher f/stop you get a much clearer photo.  (We all know that!)  Below are the total images.  The goal is a selected speed between 1/250 to 1/350.

ISO 200   f/stop 10    1/320

ISO 800   f/stop 22    1/250

Which is the more all around better photo?  Unless you are going for a DOF effect, the photo at ISO 800 seems to bring more to the table.

Based on what I found out here, I have no problems pushing the ISO to 800.  I didn't go to 1600 because, well - it was cold.  Lousy excuse, but true.  

But what about shots at a greater distance?  That will be published soon.

Classes at Flint Farmer's Market

Today was the first of a three lesson plan with the Flint Farmer's Market, puton by the local photo club in Flint - of which I am a member.  And because I like to hear myself talk, I led the first class.

This class was focused on the technical part of a DLSR - not so much any technique.  The thought was that many people want to take more 'artsy' photographs, get a DLSR and then become overwhelmed with all the controls.  Well, you want to take control of the image or else you'd use your phone.  So the point of the class was to walk through the most common features of a DLSR and get people to use any mode other than AUTO.

It was a good class, we had 12 paid attendees - and hope to get a few to see what our club is about.  My target was to yak for 45 minutes.  I missed that.  I was yakking for close to 1:20!  The audience was great.

There was great club participation in a few showed up to help with the questions period after the lesson where we could take some one on one time with the attendees for specific questions about the camera they brought in.

All in all - good day for me.  I had fun.  And no one threw any tomatoes.

Will be very interested in the next classes!  (I set the bar high for them.)

What I did this Weekend

I had interesting time on Saturday.  My photo club is offering three classes in 2016 that will take place at the Flint Farmer's Market.  I will be leading the first class next Saturday.  This past Saturday, some members of Club along with myself spent time at the Market promoting the classes.  It was fun to spend some time talking Photography with some of the Flint locals.
Today I worked on the final draft for my lesson plan for next week.  Unlike when I was in school, I started this a few weeks ago.  I updated some of the images and some of the flow.  For the most part is is done.
I also spent some time with my printed portfolio today.  I've redone a few photographs that were in there and the new ones needed to replace the older pieces.  I've also had some nice images in the past 6 months and those needed to be included.  The portfolio hasn't been out for some time, but I'll be taking it next weekend to the class.

Photomatix Pro Manage Pre-sets

A very good friend of mine suggested I invest some time in finding and using Photomatix presets.  He's been using Photomatix for a number of years and he'd found the ones that came with the application sort of cramped his style.  I immediately downloaded the set he suggested.  And it all worked out.  For a while.  Then the machine crashed.
Photomatix makes it very easy to load presets.  What they don't do is make it easy to manage or delete any of the presets that are loaded.
I loaded some presets on the new PC - and found the naming convention was not to my liking.  That's right, the naming convention irritated me.  And that's not a way to stay on the new machine.
Google deleting presets in Photomatix - good luck.
It took some digging, but the presets are loaded into a hidden directory.  But once you are in the directory, any adds/deletes/changes are real time.
(And this is for Winders - Mac users can drift off now.)
First you must show hidden files and directories in your view.  The directory path is C:\Users\(Your Name Here)\AppData\Roaming\HDRsoft\PhotomatixPro\Presets\
The AppData folder is hidden by default.
If you do download presets - which you should - you can manage effectively in this directory.