3rd OH CRAP! by Paul Alters by Canon Image Challenge

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OH CRAP!
by Paul Alters


08-JAN-2012	Paul Alters

The last thing you want to see when you open up your computer!

Canon EOS 50D ,Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
F10 .6 seconds ISO 100 hide exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto

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Canon Image Challenge		15-Jan-2012 03:26
Excellent result. I've never tried stacking. I'll have to look into it. Jim

Canon Image Challenge		12-Jan-2012 19:03
That would be a challenge in itself for me. When I shoot stuff like that I love using shallow DOF. I would probably do some shots like yours and probably a couple with shallow DOF and I'd probably like the shallow DOF ones better. Maybe I'll play around with that tonight. -Phydoux

Canon Image Challenge		12-Jan-2012 05:25
I'll tell you exactly why I don't use F32 and 30 seconds, diffraction! There is a huge difference in sharpness at F10 compared to F32. Also if you consider I used the 100L at about 24" away. That would have provided 1.5" of acceptable depth at F32 which we all know that means 1" of usable depth. Stacking is the only way to do it right. Shoot one of your drives and put it in the competition, I'd love to see how someone else achieves the same concept. For me it's NOT about winning but playing.

Canon Image Challenge		12-Jan-2012 02:35
I guess I don't get why an 8 focus stack would be any better than a smaller aperture and more lighting which is what I thought you did for this shot. Barring the technique used to acquire this image it is a great shot! Whether you used a small aperture or setup different focus points and merged them together with a program, it's still an awesome shot! Nice work! I have a ton of these laying around that I need to recycle. I wish I'd though of this first. :) -Phydoux

Canon Image Challenge		11-Jan-2012 13:24
Let me clarify something, it's not 8 different angles. You set your camera up up on a tripod and frame in your object as you want it to appear. Then you take your first shot at the closest point you want to be in focus then you rotate the focus ring counterclockwise slightly to move your focus point forward and shoot again. Continue until you have everything you want in focus captured and then load them in the stacking software and let her go to work. I uploaded shot 1, 4 and 7 to pending if you want to get a better feel for how to focus point moves. Paul

Canon Image Challenge		11-Jan-2012 00:30
Paul, great explanation, thanks! I can understand a bracket stack, but a focus stack of 8 different images taken at different angles and at different focal points, wow! I takes a very smart piece of software to make that work. I will have to experiment with Combine Z. Thanks again for taking the time...much appreciated. -- Leo

Canon Image Challenge		10-Jan-2012 23:38
not understanding the inside of a computer (don't understand the outside too much, either LO), these "drops" look like holes in the metal, so to me it looks like some device from another planet. sorry. shu

Canon Image Challenge		09-Jan-2012 23:36
No, not a exposure bracketing stack, it is a macro focus stack. I took 8 different shots at slightly different focus points and then combined them together using Combine Z, a free focus stacking program. It works OK but it's not spectacular. To those not familiar with focus stacking one drawback is not every image is conducive to stacking because as you change the focus point you also enlarge the image ever so slightly and certain images have details in the wrong spots that can affect the stack. As a side bar it occurred to me I should have spun the platter so the water drops showed a circular pattern. If I get time I may still try that and make a change if it's looks OK. Paul

Leo Charette		09-Jan-2012 17:51
Paul, I've got to learn to do this. Please explain. 1) On the eight images that you merged, did you bracket your camera to 8 different exposure stops? (e.g. -1, 1, +1 etc.) 2) Did you use "Merge to HDR" feature in Photoshop CS5 to bring the pieces together? Thanks for your help. -- Leo

Canon Image Challenge		08-Jan-2012 21:42
Gotta luv that 100L, I give her all the glory! This is a 8 image stack, I liked several of the single image narrow DOF images but the stacking makes it more interesting. Paul

Canon Image Challenge		08-Jan-2012 17:11
wow, incredible detail. -- Leo

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