Handheld macro tutorial: Easy focus stacking and settings tips
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- Опубликовано: 21 окт 2024
- I ditch the tripod, the flash lights, the bounce cards, diffusers and all other things that can end up weighing you down. Instead, I'm taking macro photos in the trees handheld, adjusting my settings to capture as much light as possible and using burst mode and manual focus to take focus-stacked images.
Because sometimes feeling physically weighed down can also mean feeling creatively weighed down.
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#Macro #Photography #Tutorial
Beautiful photos! Makes me want to go out and do some non-flash stacks :)
I am doing handheld without flash and tripods as well, I shoot with my Canon R7 at 1/250 to 1/500, f10 and 6400 iso and I get pretty good result using the focus bracketing and stacking
very interesting technique with focus stacking while shooting a burst of images, will give that a try the next time I got out.
Nice stuff and good advice--thanks. That said, if you really want to avoid getting weighed-down, try Micro Four-Thirds. Much smaller lenses, much deeper DoF, better IS, etc. means you can take your entire kit anywhere and still travel light, rarely needing a tripod (obviously, critical focus in low light even cranking the ISO isn't always high-percentage hand-held--sometimes, spray-and-pray gives you the best odds), plus you can stuff a couple of lenses in your jacket pockets and ditch the pack. I recently got the Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro (120mm eq FL and 2x mag.) and it's been producing amazing results. Also, both Oly and Lumix MFTs bodies (I have the G9) offer in-camera stacking via "post-focus" (Lumix term) and bracketing functions and burst modes up to 60 fps (although I generally don't bother with those as I'm able to get the results I want without them). If I really want "extreme" macros, the Olympus TG-5 has "microscope" mode (up to 7x mag. optically and stacking/bracketing functions with an MFD of only 1cm!), plus it's designed to shoot underwater and offers an LED diffuser ring. Absolutely crazy--no excuses for not getting the shot! But more importantly, as you point out, it's just getting out there that really counts!
Wow, I should have watched this before going out yesterday. So helpful thank you
incredible work with that insect
Thanks Andrew. This has inspired me to get out there and try this without all of the extra heavy equipment.
Very good tutorial , Shows different perspective to shoot macro photos in the field.
poor little jumping fly only had one wing 😢
That pink flower is a Cranesbill. I will have to try to do handheld focus stack at some time. Lovely photos Andrew.
Thanks Andrew. Another really helpful video for a macro newbie.
I use a couple of OM1 bodies with a 60mm f2.8 macro and 40 - 150mm f4 + 16mm extension tube. The IBIS is the best on the market and the lenses so light there is no need for a tripod/monopod. In camera focus stacking and bracketting is easily achievable handheld, so it's all good.I use an Olympus FL700WR for macro - it's weather sealed and compatible with the in camera stacking and bracketting, and an FL900R with the 40 - 150mm lens for larger, skittish, insects I cannot get close to.
Pete that is a superb setup. I’d really like to get an OM1 and that lens purely as a macro setup, but I wouldn’t get the use out of it for my other work so it’s difficult to justify the spend. Do you use an extension tube with the 60mm macro or do you just use it with the 40-150?
Are you happy with the 40-150 f4 lens? How does it compare with the 60 f2.8 for macro and how good is it as a general telephoto lens?
@@mihaschrott6510 I own both and am extremely happy with them.
Great video , what is the camera bag you use, I find it easy for short walks without too much equipment
Terrific video and thank you for sharing. Perhaps we could get you to share your PS techniques for post-pro?
Great technique Andrew, please confirm no AF?
Thank you , great video
Thanks!
may i ask y did u use stacking vs taking 2 shots one all in focus the other super blurry and apply masking? bare in mind i’m very new to both photography and photoshop 😅
Great video as always, noticed the fly had its wings missing so should it be called a walk😁👍
wing not missing , just not developed yet
Without a tripod, macro photos are sharp or blurred. There’s always a risk. It’s a nice movie.
Use a monopod for macro. I've been focus stacking for a few years and that little bit of extra stability makes a hell of a difference, and personally it's easier to move the camera towards the subject especially if your a bit shaky or half cut from the previous night.
Sounds like good advice. As I get older, I'm realising how unsteady my hands are.
That’s a great idea, thank you. I have very shaky hands so this sounds worth exploring. 👍
You dont even need a dedicated monopod, just use your normal tripod and just extend one leg.
Lovely video! I have been playing around with macro and really enjoying your videos.
Thanks so much, Tyler, really appreciate you taking the time to watch my videos!
Lovely photos. Well done.
Having a camera makes you appreciate the many wonders of nature.
I take a great many handheld focus stacked shots. It's certainly a challenge, even with relatively static objects like flowers. While software can make a fair job at coping with slight movement by the photographer, my biggest bugbear is the movement of the flowers even when us humans think there is no wind. So you may get the subject moving with respect to the background, or worse still, parts of the subject moving more than other parts. If there are several flowers in the shot and some move more than others, then the software has no chance of aligning the images.
With insects there are even more variables. Butterflies and bees may only be still for a second or less. You need to keep your distance too, as they are always in danger of being gobbled up by a bird so are off as soon as they detect any sound, movement or change in lighting. But it keeps me 'off the streets' and I am really happy when shots work out.
Your blue fly there is a blowfly in family Calliphoridae, possibly genus Calliphora. The wings look malformed - probably things went wrong when it emerged as an adult.
Thanks Andrew, that focus pulling looks difficult, trying to hold camera steady at the same time, may give it a go.
Is photoshop aligning the different frames automatically?
Very nice Andrew,
Lovely shots, especially of the flowers.
I have found the technique of fixing focus and moving the whole camera works the best for me rather than a manual focus pull. I have shot like this at 2-3x magnification and had some reasonable success (see my cannonball fungus video).
As others have said, the mft bodies + 60mm oly lens are perfect for this hand-stacking style of macro shooting. I'd even add in the raynox 250 for some extra fun.
I've been curious if this method is better also due to most lenses focus breathing...
great tip!! Can not wait to try it!
So a question: regarding the depth of field with macro photography being so thin no matter how small your aperture. Is it really necessary to open up to f2.8( unless its more light you need of coarse)??
what software do you use for post processing?
really amazing that the insect didn't escape
Brilliant!
Great lesson! You're truly got me interested in macro lately. Are you shooting with 1:1 or 1:2 lens? Itscamazing how close you're getting and the detail..fantastic!
Thanks so much, I really appreciate that! I shoot with a Canon 100mm f/2.8 which I believe is 1:1. Sometimes I use an extension tube on it to get even closer, but I haven't done that in this video.
Is it easier to move the camera or adjust the focus, using this method? I guess it would be almost impossible at anything approaching 2x...
I suspect it’s probably easier to slowly move the camera forwards to move the focus point, but I’ve found both ways to be equally easy to do
Move the camera definitely.
Great video! How do you get videos out of macros? Are you using some LEDs?
Thank you! Nope, all shot in natural light, but using my 100mm macro lens at f/2.8, 1/50 shutter speed (standard for video) and probably a fairly high ISO.
What do you use for stacking?
That's skill! Wow
05:34 That fly has only one wing. Erratic jumping movements are launch failures.
Yes, exactly! I've only just begun with macro photography (and I'm not very good at it) but it seems that it's common for insects to loose body parts, like grasshoppers missing a hind leg or dragonflies with parts if their wings broken off, as the summer is coming to an end. Personally, I feel sad for them, and even though I know that such things are a part of life, I still don't like pictures that show defects like that.
Hence the music flavor.
Thanks for the video. When you stack (PS, Zerene Stacker, or Helicon Focus?), do you order the images front to back or vice-versa, or just feed them in randomly?
Hey Hank! I tend to just put them in in the order that I took them as that tends to already be in a 'logical' order of front to back or vice-versa.
@@AndrewLanxonPhotography I see - only asked because it looked like there was some back and forth action in your video that indicated your stack might be mixed unless sorted out. The fly that was hopping around a bit looks very similar to our (USA) Blue-bottle Fly. Not sure if you have similar species in UK?
I think what's happening is that I shoot a burst going one way, then I turn the focus barrel the other way to try and 'double down' on the focus points I'm getting. But then I typically just select the shots going in one direction to use -- the ones that look like they have best coverage -- and send those to Helicon. Does that make sense?
Lovely. I am not sure I fully understand what you’re doing to hand hold the camera and doing burst shots. I’m going to watch again. 🧐 I definitely want to understand that technique because I enjoyed shooting dragonflies and bees last summer. Thanks for always making me want to continue learning and having reasons to try new things. Great video.
Hey Tamara! In short I’m holding the camera as steadily as I can. I’m on manual focus and focused as close as possible. The camera is set to burst shooting mode. I move the camera steadily forwards until the insect begins to be in focus and start firing off shots. At the same time I either twist the lens barrel slowly to move the focus along the insect or I physically the move the camera slowly forwards (in so doing, moving the focus point). By using a fast burst mode and a fast enough shutter speed I should get lots of images with all the different focus points I need to combine into a stack. Hope that helps!
@@AndrewLanxonPhotography Ooohhh!!!! Thank you. I get it. Okay. I will try that. That makes sense to me. 😊 Thank you for always answering my questions. You are such an awesome human. I am glad I bumped into your channel. I wish I could show you when I am successful. Have a great day.
@@AndrewLanxonPhotography with if you fire off lets say 50 photos and 12 of those were usable for a stack? do you need to look through all 50 and pick out the 12 or will stacking software figure it all out
@@joegowac4617yes
so the camera stays in the same spot, but just keep adjusting the focusing ?
Or you get your first focus point and then slowly move the camera.
I have never used image stacking softwares. Can it automatically handle those images where the object isn’t in the same place on all photos or do you have to center all images before stacking?
I think newer Canon cameras has something called photo bracketing where it automatically changes the focus according to settings (number of shots etc). That way you shouldn’t be needing to move the camera while shooting.
if you use photoshop you need to align the images first and then focus stack so you have a certain amount of leeway. I think all other stacking software has this facility.
Burst mode?
Tell me about it...
My 1200D "bursts" like 2 shots per second... 🤣
Well done, and great video! Wonder if there is a setting for my Nikon Z7 II, where I can do the same thing, but without the need to zoom like you do 🤔
Thanks Mikkel! I think the Z7II has focus bracketing functions built in so I think you'd be able to do a MUCH better job than I have with your shots!
@@AndrewLanxonPhotography Thanks, but I doubt it. You do macro-magic with a camera 👏
You own a $3000 camera and you don't know it has focus stacking???
@@carlosandreviana9448 I don't use it that much.
It can do focus shift shooting and I find it very good when using a tripod. I have not found a good way to do it handheld.
Wow A+
Thank you!
Great looking camera bag Andrew. Deets?
Thanks Kevin! It is the Hawkesmill St James's Street M
Lovely shots! Watch for the poo next time! 😝
عالی👏
The fly is a so called 'one winged bluesy'. They only fly when two winged 😂
Focus stacking requires NO movement of the subject. Movement causes Blur and that is not good for focus stacking. You'll get double , triple images.
Brilliant!