photoartflightDamselfly Panorama
Posted on September 6, 2019
I like using a few different camera systems depending on what I am shooting. Or more likely, what I want to carry & lug around. If I am at a location working near the car, that is not usually a problem. But sometimes I just like walking around, but still want to photograph some interesting subjects that I might come across. Here I am using one of my m43 camera bodies with an adapted old style Canon FD 200mm Macro lens. On m43 cameras it is sort of equivalent (in easy terms) of using a 400mm macro an a full frame body. Instead of going to 1X magnification, because of the crop factor of the m43 system the FOV (Field Of View) is ~2X. This is a 3 image panorama. Luckily the Damsel co-operated for me.
Damselfly – Single Image
Damselfly 4img (overlapping) Focus Stack
Longwood Gardens Conservatory
Posted on April 27, 2018
We did a quick go through at the Longwood Gardens Conservatory as we were concentrating on the Tulips outside. It was also quite crowded inside, so I mainly concentrated on Flower Closeups inside. Here I am showing some overall inside landscapes of a few of the interior rooms when there was a quick moment with fewer people around. Because it was darker on floor level, when I had the glass above showing, being much brighter, I made another layer in Photoshop and brought back the “Blue” of the sky in the glass.
Single Image @14mm, m43
2 Image Handheld Stack, @14mm, m43, to give the image a little more foreground.
2 image exposure stack for sky detail, m43 @14mm
Multi-image stack @14mm for exposure and wider view.
Interesting Light Fixture
Raindrops On Bush – 10 Image Focus Stack
Posted on March 16, 2018
While looking for a photo subject in the yard, I saw these tiny raindrops on a evergreen shrub. It looked like an interesting pattern of raindrops going back into the shrub. I liked the circular dark hole in the background as a distant destination point. Almost like a “black hole” in the distance. I shot a series of 10 images at f/8 in different focus points along a range from near to far for the range I wanted to shoot. Then I opened all the images in Layers in one Photoshop file. Selecting all the layers, I used Auto Align to line up all the drops in the layers. After aligning, I used Auto Blend to combine all the “in focus” sections into one flattened image.
The First Near Focus Image in the Stack.
The Tenth Final Image in the Stack
Black-crowned Night-heron 3 Image Shot Stack Panorama
Posted on July 16, 2016
I came across this Black-crowned Night-heron along the path as I was walking. It was too close for the lens I had (400mm). So I shot a handheld 3 shot, overlapping, sequence to fit all of the heron in my photo. I assembled them in Photoshop and cropped in somewhat. The Heron did not seem to mind me being there. Usually they fly off you stay too long.
Plant Panorama – Handheld Image Stack
Posted on December 6, 2015
Sometimes while I am waiting for a photo subject to come into view, I experiment with different techniques with what I see in front of me. Helps pass the time until a photo subject flies by. I saw this tall plant and wanted to see if a handheld series of horizontal shots for a vertical panorama would work. I have done this with birds, snakes, mammals and alligators but wondered if it would work with all the leaves and branches, much more varied detail and items to line up. I was surprised it worked well, not a great composition, but more of a test project, 5 horizontal shots for a vertical panorama, with the uneven sides cropped off. Shot with a Canon 400mm f/4 DO Lens, with a 2X Canon Teleconverter.
Damselfly With Raindrops – Stacked Images
Posted on August 1, 2015
Here are examples of stacked Damselfly images to show the difference between stopping down to f/22 or f/32 for depth of field and maximum focus of the subject Damselfly resulting in a busier background , or using f/5.6 or f/8 with stacked focus points giving depth of field and focus of the Damselfly and yet yielding a smoother looking background. All examples were aligned and stacked in Photoshop. One “BIG” challenge is hoping the damsel does not move or “flyoff” before you are done. The female Eastern Forktail stands out against the green soft background more than the bluish male. Focus Stacking is great for maximum depth of field and focus on your subject if that is what you are trying to convey. There are times when a narrower depth of field is more “Artsy” or “Softer” look and gives a different feeling for what you are trying to show.
Male Eastern Forktail shot @ f/32 for maximum depth of field in “one” shot. Showing “busier” distracting background around the damselfly.
14 image “stack” shot at f/5.6.
Wider view of above subject using a shorter layered stack.
9 image stack shot at f/5.6.
Non-Stacked Image shot at f/5.6 showing shallow depth of field on the Damselfly, but yielding an uncluttered background. But does give the main focus on face.
Simple 2 image “short” stack. Subject was fairly flat to the camera sensor plane.
