The effect of Exposure stacking on bug shots

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Originally Posted by DanK

Fiji is ImageJ, right? I took a quick tour of ImageJ documentation over lunch. My reaction is:

1. This is like using an 18-wheeler when one needs a wheelbarrow. it is an enormously flexible program designed to do many things--e.g., dealing with 3-dimensional "hyperstacks"--and it is not aimed at the general population. Both of these things make both the software and the documentation complex.

2. I never did find a description of the various ways in which it creates a composite.

3. For most people, I think it would work out better to use simpler programs designed to do what one needs and documented accordingly so one knows what edits one is actually imposing. In this case, we are talking (I think) about exposure stacking and focus stacking. For the former, one option is Enfuse, which will also do focus stacking. I use this as a plugin to Lightroom, but I think you can use it separately. For the latter, I use Zerene, which is superb, but there is at least one free alternative, the Combine programs.

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I have no idea what most people need or do. I use Fiji because the bit of it I use does a really good job with no fuss or muss. There is no program that is easier for a straight stack. Load in the shots, press the images to stack option, export the finished product.

I'll take a look at combine.

Can you point to something that explains Fiji's stacking? I have poked around on the web looking at documentation for ImageJ/Fiji, and there is lots of discussion of stacks and hyperstacks and some discussion of things some scientists might do (reducing dimensionality of hyperstacks, using stacks to show slices of a medical scan, etc.), but I found literally no discussion at all of using it to make a composite image by blending exposure or focus. If you have a source to read, I would be grateful.

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Originally Posted by DanK

Can you point to something that explains Fiji's stacking? I have poked around on the web looking at documentation for ImageJ/Fiji, and there is lots of discussion of stacks and hyperstacks and some discussion of things some scientists might do (reducing dimensionality of hyperstacks, using stacks to show slices of a medical scan, etc.), but I found literally no discussion at all of using it to make a composite image by blending exposure or focus. If you have a source to read, I would be grateful.

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Exposure stacking and blending are two types of techniques that are mostly mixed up.

What you describe here is exposure blending, or HDR (High Definition Range), and not stacking. Blending is a technique that I use commonly to get a nice and non over- or under exposed image.
Exposure stacking is another technic where you take multiple shots with exact the same exif (mostly with long exposures) and stack them together to get less noise and a more smooth surface. I also use this technique a lot with astro photography, but it can also be used to shoot nature or architecture.

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The above quote is just a comment in a discussion I found. All I really know is that it works.

Here's a link to exposure stacking in Adobe. It's not Fiji but it's a place to start.

But if you want proof of the pudding I will send you a middle shot of the stack in RAW and you can try to replicate my stacked shot.:)

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Originally Posted by JBW

The above quote is just a comment in a discussion I found. All I really know is that it works.

Here's a link to exposure stacking in Adobe. It's not Fiji but it's a place to start.

But if you want proof of the pudding I will send you a middle shot of the stack in RAW and you can try to replicate my stacked shot.:)

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There are many ways to blend exposures, whether one calls it blending, fusion, or stacking. The link you point to explains the use of the lighten blend mode in photoshop. What this does is put into the composite issue the brightest pixel in the stack in a given location. That is presumably not what you are doing, since your final image is darker than the first one. It's not what I generally do either. I generally use a blending procedure that would choose a well exposed slice over the brightest slice.

What might help to start clearing this up would be to post the first, middle, and last images from the stack, along with the final composite issue. That would allow folks at least to see what the input to your process is.

Brian, sorry to take so long to get to this but I am currently on the road.

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Originally Posted by JBW

... There is no program that is easier for a straight stack. Load in the shots, press the images to stack option, export the finished product...

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I must be missing something because, according to the Fiji documentation that comes with the program, the image to stack command only creates the stack and does not process it at all. The display in the stack window is the slice of the unmodified first image loaded into the stack. You can scroll through all the slices with the scroll bar at the bottom of the window. Exporting the stack to a tiff file creates a multi-image tiff with all the slices in it. On the other hand, saving the stack only saves the slice that is displayed in the stack window.
What other steps in Fiji do you take before exporting to tiff?

André

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Originally Posted by Round Tuit

Brian, sorry to take so long to get to this but I am currently on the road.

I must be missing something because, according to the Fiji documentation that comes with the program, the image to stack command only creates the stack and does not process it at all. The display in the stack window is the slice of the unmodified first image loaded into the stack. You can scroll through all the slices with the scroll bar at the bottom of the window. Exporting the stack to a tiff file creates a multi-image tiff with all the slices in it. On the other hand, saving the stack only saves the slice that is displayed in the stack window.
What other steps in Fiji do you take before exporting to tiff?

André

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This might or might not help:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/50059191
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Cool captures.

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Originally Posted by Round Tuit

Brian, sorry to take so long to get to this but I am currently on the road.



I must be missing something because, according to the Fiji documentation that comes with the program, the image to stack command only creates the stack and does not process it at all. The display in the stack window is the slice of the unmodified first image loaded into the stack. You can scroll through all the slices with the scroll bar at the bottom of the window. Exporting the stack to a tiff file creates a multi-image tiff with all the slices in it. On the other hand, saving the stack only saves the slice that is displayed in the stack window.
What other steps in Fiji do you take before exporting to tiff?

André

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For the last two posts I just stacked and exported. I have used other functions for other shots but for the last two I just wanted the colors enriched.

I have found that a simple stack in Fiji of multiple exposures creates a single shot that works well with what I'm trying to create.

As for being on the road... sounds like fun.:)

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Originally Posted by Shadowman

Cool captures.

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Thanks, I find the colors beautiful.:)