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| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 63 |
Jun 17 |
Comment |
I tried to figure out how to use these balls at one of Mike's workshops, and must confess you did a much better job than I did. I love the colors, gold against the black, and the texture of the little balls of wire. I like also how you have arranged each ball so that it looks unique, each with a different face pointing toward the camera. |
Jun 25th |
| 63 |
Jun 17 |
Comment |
Pat, as always, I enjoy your tool shots. Good, crisp focus on the subject. I agree with Lisa that a G blur might help the background from being distracting. I also find my eye going to the white tire at the bottom, pulling me away from the subject. I assume you included it to indicate the bike, but I am not sure it is necessary. The star of the show is that interesting tool itself that helps us true the wheel. |
Jun 25th |
| 63 |
Jun 17 |
Comment |
Hi Murphy, great color palate, excellent focus on the subject, and a nicely blurred background. As said, a little more canvas at the bottom would be nice. Good discussion and excellent explanation for learning here. Thanks for the good discussion. |
Jun 25th |
| 63 |
Jun 17 |
Comment |
Khai, great detail and color. Darkening the background to emphasize was a great idea. I like Lisa's idea of using the same mask to blur the background more so as to further emphasize the beautiful rose, made even more special by the water droplets. |
Jun 25th |
| 63 |
Jun 17 |
Comment |
Lisa, I am learning so much with the way you put these things together. It's a great, creative idea and a way of taking a simple shot and making something amazing out of it. I see no flaws whatsoever. Everything seems sharp throughout the image, and I can't even count how many times you have reproduced the image. The distort pinch filter is one I am trying to learn how to use better, trying to create some abstract flowers like we did a few months ago. Great job here. |
Jun 25th |
| 63 |
Jun 17 |
Comment |
Karen, such a neat, simple idea, and so neat to use focus stacking. Just a great image, so very sharp and well defined. The CamRanger is an amazing tool, and one I used for several years. You have encourage me to get mine out again. |
Jun 25th |
| 63 |
Jun 17 |
Reply |
I have enjoyed focus stacking because of its amazing ability to give me a large depth of field while using the "sweet" spot of my lens. I started with a CamRanger at first that found that very helpful when shooting with my Canon. One reason for moving to Olympus, other than the weight issue, was they continued advancement in firmware, and I was delighted when they gave us the ability to bracket focus.
Sorry about the long intro. As to settings, I have experimented with several, and you may find that your results vary due to the distance you normally like to shoot from the subject. For me, I normally leave Focus Stacking set to "on" even when bracketing itself is set to "off." This allows me to move to it more quickly since I have one of the programable buttons set to "bracketing." Focus Stacking in a studio, or inside isn't hard, but I have always wanted to do it in the field, and that is difficult due to subtle movements of the object even with little wind. The quicker the camera can produce the number of desired shots and the less disturbance from movement. 30 has worked well for me at f/5.6, f/8, and f/11. I can usually get about an inch with f/5.6, and can add about another half inch to each of the other stops keeping in the center range of the lens. I like the Olympus 60mm macro, but also the 14-40 pro lens since it will focus within 6" of the subject. Of course, as happened in the image I shared this month, I lose some area around the subject and need to be more careful with my composition when in the field. That said, I have found it impossible to hand hold the camera with focus stacking; either I am just not that steady (even with the 5 axis stabilizers on the Olympus), or it is just impossible. Hope this helps, and I would love to hear any other suggestions you have as to perfecting this technique. |
Jun 25th |
| 63 |
Jun 17 |
Reply |
The cropping at the bottom was a problem for me too, and I almost didn't present it because of that. I had ample room there when I made the shot, but as focus stacking aligned the images, it reduced the extra space I had. With focus stacking, I need to have a much wider view of the subject than usual in order to give room for the program to align the shot and then enlarge the image as a natural part of the stacking process. |
Jun 25th |
6 comments - 2 replies for Group 63
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6 comments - 2 replies Total
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