New photo "The Flying Fuchsia" on @500px

This is another try at focus stacking (refer my tutorial here: http://australianlightseeker.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/focus-stacking-worked-example.html), but this time using the new Photoshop CC (2014)

It is also posted on my 500px gallery here: http://500px.com/photo/74351213/

Cheers!

New post - White Chrysanthemum @500px

A new post (the second today, I'm on a roll!) on my 500px gallery (http://500px.com/photo/73650851/white-chrysanthemum-by-gilles-royer):

This is another example of macro using the focus stacking technique. For further information and a worked example of this technique, refer my previous post http://australianlightseeker.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/focus-stacking-worked-example.html

The Story Behind... Portrait of a Giraffe @500px

Just posted a new photo in my 500px gallery (http://500px.com/photo/73635573/portrait-of-a-giraffe-by-gilles-royer)

Although I wish I had taken this one in Serengiti reserve in South Africa, I must admit this is a photo taken at a zoo - I know a few hard core animal photographers believe taking animal photos in zoo and parks is cheating, but that's only their opinion!

This particular one was taken in Singapore Zoological gardens, which I visited with my wife and daughter during a recent trip. This zoo is fantastic - big, clean (you're in Singapore after all), a train is running all around if you get tired, and they even have a polar bear in there - not bad when outside temperature is 30 degrees+ and humidity probably over 80%

One of the highlights was actually to go and feed the giraffes - you make your way to a raised platform, buy a plate of cut veggies /fruits for 5 Singapore dollars (it's a donation), and wait your turn to get 2 or 3 giraffes popping their head over the platform's balustrade, and display a very curly tongue to grab some pieces of fruit - I'm sure they are well fed at any time, yet this must be a treat for them! 

If you have a chance to get there, this is a highly recommended family activity - plus the photographer in you will be spoilt!

Thanks for your visit and ongoing support

New Post on my @500px gallery

I've just uploaded on 500px (http://500px.com/photo/72917479) another view of the ArtScience museum in Marina Bay, Singapore:

I'm really fascinated by this architecture, and I remember first discovering it years ago on the Megastructure TV show, which was documenting the building of the Marina Bay Sands hotel and the associated area. It is actually a technical prowess to build a building in such a shape, and it looks really beautiful from any angle

Thanks for your visit!

I made it to the Trending Profiles @500px

I've quite excited I've made it to the new "Trending Profiles" page in 500px, under "Macro" category. Direct link here -> http://500px.com/profiles?categories=Macro

Just thought I'd let you know :-)

New post - ArtScience Museum in B&W

Just posted a new photo in my 500px gallery, titled "ArtScience Museum in B&W". You can see it here http://500px.com/photo/72633735

This is obviously a photo from the iconic ArtScience museum in Singapore, in the Marina Bay Sands area. This is an amazing architecture, shaped as a lotus, and is an engineering prowess too.

Focus Stacking - a worked example / tutorial

Over the last couple of years, I've developed a great interest in macro photography, partly because of the birth of my daughter (limiting the opportunities to travel the wold as much), and partly because of the incredible diversity of our environment, where even small bugs and flowers can reveal beauty,

Whilst posting flower macros on my portfolio on 500px.com, a very nice follower suggested I tried focus stacking technique. I hadn't heard much of it, but a quick Google search revealed that this allows, a bit like HDR processing for exposure, to combine multiple images with different focus areas into one image with a deeper depth of field.

By its very nature, macro lenses (and shots) have a very shallow depth of field, the closer you get to the subject. This of course allows for beautiful separation of subject against its background, as well as nice bokeh effects, etc. but this means that 1) the subject has to be parallel to the plane of the sensor and 2) only part of the subject (if very close) can be in focus. 

Whilst this creates a nice creative effect, that I don't mind in a shot such as this one: http://500px.com/photo/60868800/dew-on-agapanthus-by-gilles-royer, it was worth having a try at this new technique. 

I'm very happy with the results I got, and here are some very basic steps to achieve it:
1. Get your tripod out! 
Whilst I usually try to keep my shots handheld for most images, for focus stacking, you need at least 4 images (and I've gone up to 12 photos) to merge together, so tripod is a must, so you get consistent framing and exposure (note that the framing slightly changes across your shots as you modify the focus, but the stacking process takes care of this)

2. Set your camera to manual focus
This is imperative, as you are going to change, on the same photo, the area of focus, so the best is to do this manually (some more advanced options involve macro rails and live view, but I don't have either!!)

3. Set your scene 
In this example, I've got an area of my garage set as a temporary studio - one sheet of black cloth as background, a double garden light (thank you Bunnings!) with 500W bulbs, and something to hold a flower (that's where your creativity is also tested)

4. Frame your shot
Set your tripod to the right distance, your lens to the desired distance (if not a fixed lens), and check your exposure (I prefer to use an aperture-priority mode, with an aperture at 5.6 or whereabout)

5. Take shots and vary the focus as you go
There are no rules, but I prefer to start with the very first area of the subject (here, the front petal of the flower) in focus, then manually move the focus area (I do this with the view finder, but if you have a camera with live view, that's probably easier), shoot, move the focus, shoot again, and repeat until the further away area is in focus

Here are the 10 images I shot for this example - you can see the change in focus area as you scroll down

6. Get to your computer
Now that you have all your photos (and downloaded), you need a software to merge (stack) them - once again, a quick Google search pointed me to a few options, and I tried ZereneStacker. 

7. Let the magic happen
Once in ZereneStacker, simply drop all your files into the drop area, and select Stack > Align & Stack All option. There are 2 options available, PMax and DMap - I haven't yet worked out the exact differences, so I run both and then select the best outcome. In this example, this was the PMax version I kept

And here is the result (also posted on 500px: http://500px.com/photo/70665337/chrysanthemum-in-focus-by-gilles-royer)

Hope you found this tutorial useful. Happy to have your comments, and suggestions re other software / how to improve this technique