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Thread: First attempts at focus stacking

  1. 26th December 2016, 05:52 PM #1
    Davejl
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    First attempts at focus stacking

    Inspired by Brian's venture into focus stacking. I used the free trial version of Zerene Stacker. I'm quite pleased with these. Canon 70D with Sigma 105mm macro at 1:1; Giottos tripod, Manfrotto macro plate, remote shutter cable.

    The trilobite is 18mm long.
    First attempts at focus stacking
    (Trilobite "Proetus concinnus" found in the Silurian Wenlock Limestone, Wren's Nest, Dudley, W. Midlands). My kind of wildlife: not much danger of it moving (dead for about 425 million years)


    First attempts at focus stacking
    Bismuth hopper crystal (bought in a mineral shop)

    Because I wasn't sure that my computer would be happy handling large files, I converted the raws to JPEG in DPP. Even so, Zerene did something to reduce the file sizes.

    I turned off sharpening in DPP. Not sure if this is best?
    Last edited by Davejl; 26th December 2016 at 07:30 PM.
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  2. 26th December 2016, 06:01 PM #2
    Mike Buckley
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    Re: First attempts at focus stacking

    Being one who thoroughly enjoys making and viewing photos of glass, I have to mention the especially interesting composition in the image of the crystal. Well done!
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  3. 26th December 2016, 06:05 PM #3
    Davejl
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    Re: First attempts at focus stacking

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Buckley View Post
    Being one who thoroughly enjoys making and viewing photos of glass, I have to mention the especially interesting composition in the image of the crystal. Well done!
    Thank you Mike
    Last edited by Davejl; 26th December 2016 at 07:29 PM.
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  4. 26th December 2016, 06:40 PM #4
    JohnRostron
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    Re: First attempts at focus stacking

    Very impressive images. How many images went into each stack? What was the focussing range for the crystal? This especially shows impressive sharpness. Did you need to finesse the output image from Zerene?

    I saw 'Leicester' and 'Trilobite' and thought Charlwood Forest, but no, you had to go to Dudley to find one!

    John
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  5. 26th December 2016, 07:27 PM #5
    Davejl
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    Re: First attempts at focus stacking

    Hi John, thanks. I'm not aware of any trilobites in Leicestershire. The oldest complex fossils in England are from Leicestershire's Charnwood Precambrian, but much older than the trilobites. The Cambrian is represented here by the Swithland Slate which has some worm burrows, the Ordovician rocks here are granitic (the Mountsorrel granite, devoured in huge quantities by the hard-rock hunger of SE England) and the Silurian I don't think appears here. So the nearest trilobites mean travelling to Brum (Dudley is Brum to my mind, an alien place where people speak strangely).

    The trilobite was 9 images, the bismuth I think was about twelve. The interval was a rather unscientific couple of screw turns! (My setup was on the lounge carpet in a cheap light tent, so not very easy to do). I just cropped a bit and sharpened a bit post-Zerene.

    Dave
    Last edited by Davejl; 26th December 2016 at 07:42 PM.
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  6. 26th December 2016, 11:14 PM #6
    madcrow
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    Re: First attempts at focus stacking

    Looks like you been stacking images for years. Brilliant work for first time. Congratulations.
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  7. 27th December 2016, 04:23 AM #7
    Jim A
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    Re: First attempts at focus stacking

    I am in awe, Dave ! Just great.
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  8. 27th December 2016, 08:10 AM #8
    Davejl
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    Re: First attempts at focus stacking

    Quote Originally Posted by madcrow View Post
    Looks like you been stacking images for years. Brilliant work for first time. Congratulations.
    Thank you Maurice. I think I've been lucky. Some of my mineral samples have very complex arrangements of crystals at all angles. I think they may prove a lot more challenging, and then my (so far non-existent) tidying-up skills might be required.

    Dave

    (p.s. I can't even get smiley faces to work on this iPad today!)
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  9. 27th December 2016, 08:11 AM #9
    Davejl
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    Re: First attempts at focus stacking

    Thank you Jim.
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  10. 30th December 2016, 08:04 AM #10
    FlyingSquirrel
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    Re: First attempts at focus stacking

    Well done, these look great! When I was younger I was obsessed with fossils and minerals. Keep up the good work!
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