

- FOCUS STACKING FOR LANDSCAPE USING HELICON REMOTE HOW TO
- FOCUS STACKING FOR LANDSCAPE USING HELICON REMOTE SOFTWARE
- FOCUS STACKING FOR LANDSCAPE USING HELICON REMOTE SERIES
How to do the focus bracketing with software? With higher magnification and very shallow DOFs, it will become a challenge. With some training, you get the experience. When you do the bracketing, you will have to develop a feeling for it. Once happy, start moving the focus slightly forward ( by adjusting your focusing ring) and take the next shot.Īs calculated before ( see above), with around 5 to 6 shots and shifting focus, the subject ( the cookie in todays example) is covered. Take the first shot and check if all the nearest points are in focus. Once you have your camera and subject set up, set the nearest focus point towards your camera.įrame your subject generously because stacking loses some space around the edges of the frame. a photo editing software with stacking abilities ( today, I used Helicon Focus too for that, but it can be Photoshop or Affinity, and there are many more like Zerene Stacker).
FOCUS STACKING FOR LANDSCAPE USING HELICON REMOTE SOFTWARE
software for the bracketing like Helicon remote ( works for Canon and Nikon DSLR with Live View support).tethering if possible ( anything looks better on a big monitor) or good live view and eyesight 😉.a good lens ( a macro lens makes sense).enough light ( continuous light is the easiest, maybe some LED lamps or video lights).tripod ( or else that your camera sits steadily).Before we start with that, here is a list of what you need: When I deal with a DOF of 16 mm, then it is easy enough to adjust the focusing- ring step by step in between the shots.Īn even easier way is to use software that is doing it for you, like Helicon Remote. Now, there are many ways to Rome, and I can do the focus bracketing shots: That is just a simple example of how to estimate the images needed to cover the whole cookie. I divide 70 mm ( cookie diameter) by 12,8 mm= 5.4 shots ( roughly). 30 % of overlapping is a safe zone, but a minimum of 20 %. The in-focus areas must overlap enough in the stack.


How many shots do I need with shifting focus points to cover that area at f 11 and 1:3 settings? My cookies have a diameter of around 7 cm ( roughly). When I look at the table, I see that at f 11, with a 1:3 ratio, my DOF will be around 16 mm. Here is a table on the website Macrobellows that can help you to estimate the DOF. That can give me a rough idea of how big my DOF with a given aperture will be. The beauty of macro lenses is that you can see the reproduction ratio on the lens when you focus. I shot them with a macro lens and a reproduction ratio of 1:3. You can also stack landscape images, of course, if you want to. Most of the time, one single shot will do. You do not need a lot of shots to get a landscape in focus. The wider the aperture ( wider opening, smaller f-number, like 2.8), the smaller the DOF. The smaller the aperture ( small opening, higher f-number), the higher the DOF. The lower the magnification, the DOF becomes bigger. The higher the magnification, the DOF becomes smaller. The DOF depends on the aperture used and the reproduction ratio. Some lenses can do even more and get a 5:1 magnification, meaning the subject is five times bigger than it is. With a reproduction ratio of 1:2, then my subject is shown as half of its life-size. With a reproduction ratio of 1:1, then my subject is filling the sensor in its life-size. The reproduction ratio ( or magnification) is increasing. When I get closer to my subject, it fills more space on my sensor. The DOF depends on the aperture used and the reproduction ratio of your subject. That usually is the case in close up and macro photography. Why focus merge? Any time you want to get a better DOF ( Depth of Field), which means you want more in focus ( = appear sharp) in your scene, and you can not get there by simply stepping down your lens, then that is the time to think about it.
FOCUS STACKING FOR LANDSCAPE USING HELICON REMOTE SERIES
In short: You take a series of images with different focus points of the same subject ( bracketing) and then do a focus merge of these images to one final focus-stacked image ( stacking). Hi, today I decided to focus-stack some cookies for you.
