Thank you for teaching! Also, you've been putting a lot of effort in editing. It shows! I enjoyed the little icons and sounds here and there. Helped to really point out something.
Hey mark I took a AEB photo of the moon recently and because of the different shape of the moon under different exposures I couldnt auto align it to hdr blend it. So annoying! Plus it was hard to figure out a way to manually align them.
My first attempt at focus stacking was yesterday. I now know that I made a lot of mistakes. Lol. You do a very good job of explaining your steps and thought processes and I appreciate that you follow up with a visual aid.
Your exaggeration on the shutter button is absolutely hysterical! It reminds me of some awful "as seen on TV" commercial where it shifts to black and white and shows people failing miserably to open a cabinet or something. Thanks for the video as always.
Great video Mark, I learned all of this hard way. Now I stick to focus stacking primarily for panorama, and anything else that requires a close subject also in focus (something interesting and adds to the image). I always shoot manual mode and hence, the other one was never a problem. The challenge is when it's windy and you need to stack. I have not figured that one yet - except returning to the location in a better weather condition.
Thanks Mark. it's so easy to mess up focus stacking, especially when you have a small window of 'special light' to work within. Focus stack panic sets in (a bad case of acute FSP). The cure is to get the composition figured out ahead of time, make sure you know the focus spots and when the light hits, turn your phone off and get down to business. Easier said than done!
Time to get an im camera setti g for this, like bracketing. Especially with mirrorless and communication with the lens, the camera can determine the distances involved in the frame.
There is an app for that, even if you camera doesn't support focus stacking. Helicon Focus and Helicon Remote. Haven't used it for years. Best I remember, with Remote you take the near and far photos and it takes those in between. Focus does the stacking, though there are other options for that, too. It's marketed for macro photography as it takes the stack without the photographer having to touch and accidentally move things. Yeah, it involves being tethered. Thanks for your great videos.
Hi Mark. Once again you give us good information and what to avoid. The teacher comes through once again. I love focus stacking. Thanks to you I'll be getting better. Bill.
Thanks for this one Mark. I hadn't thought to use manual mode when focus stacking. I would have expected that to be a mistake. This isn't like panoramas where an automatic setting would result in changing exposures even when the ambient light isn't changing. Here an auto setting should only change the exposure to try to compensate for a change in ambient lighting (e.g., sun goes behind a cloud for on of the exposures). On manual, if there is a change in ambient light, won't the stacked picture look weird? Maybe stacking is just a bad option no matter what if ambient lighting is fluctuating quickly, or one needs to time exposure so that they are all made when ambient light is similiar? Also, I have a big issue with focus breathing when shooting macro photos (Canon L series macro lens). Auto align doesn't cure the issue. I purchased a rail so that I could shift focus by moving the camera 1 mm at a time, rather than refocusing. That avoids focus breathing but the change in perspective from moving even one mm at a time between each photo in a series of shots of a macro subject is still so big as to screw up alignment of the photos when stacking. Any suggestions?
Awesome ! Thanks Mark ! slowly getting ready for my Canadian Rockies trip this summer with the kids, will definitely use your tips & tricks for focus staking.
Thank you Mark! I haven't yet had the chance to try out focus stacking but watching your videos on the subject will help me feel in control and informed when that chance comes around!
Hi Mark As usual this is a great video that you created on focus stacking. I’m going to go ahead and try out some of your techniques. Thank you. Pat Hogarty from El Dorado hills California.
Thanks for the video! I just ordered the new Canon R5 that has automatic focus stacking where you can choose the total exposures, the focus increment, and exposure smoothing. It will not merge images in camera but it sounds like it will make the process much easier and you don't have to worry about inadvertently moving the camera during the manual stacking process. Cant wait to try it!
Great tips Mark! I haven’t practiced photo stacking yet and your videos are fantastic, you really have a way of explaining these tips very well. Thanks for sharing and keep these videos coming!
Great reminders here, Mark, especially the one about taking too many stacking shots is better than not enough. A little breeze here and there can certainly cause issues if you don't have a way to account for it. '
2nd mistake. I just realized I started focus stacking everything when I found out this particular technique. Thanks you so much for pointing this. Helps a lot
Great advice Mark and the bonus advice for focal stacking came at the best time for me as I'm going to try my first time at focus stacking this weekend as my 10-24mm fujifilm lens arrived today 😁 Once again your videos are truly appreciated mate 👍
These tips answer some of the struggle I have with focus stack. One question remain open to me. How do I focus stack when I also have to braket exposure? For example sunrise with cloud in Background and rock formation in fore ground. Do I expose background and fore ground differently or blend exposure of two focus stack exposure? Thank again for the video and have a good day.
When I'm in that situation I create an exposure bracket for each section of my scene that I'm focus stacking. You're left with a ton of images, but the result will usually work very well.
Great video. Thanks. There is a big dof difference between FF and APS-C. With the second you rarely need focus stacking while it is much more common with FF. Have you tried the focus stacking bracketing mode of your Fuji camera? If so. How did that work for you?
One question which was not covered in your video, which by the way was very informative. I do plan to try this next time out. What is you opinion on manual focus vs auto focus points? As said, next time out I will try using manual focus and auto focus on same scene to see if one is better / easier than the other, however would just like your opinion.
Granted, on the first one, you could use two different exposure times to brighten shadows and make more dramatic skies like in a mountain scenery when the sky and ground are at different exposures naturally to manually enhance dynamic range.
frequently use as 50mm equiv for pano and focus stack to partly compress the pic. That creates a problem for me, combined focus stack/pano. I have to move the camera to get the whole pic. The problem I run inback in the computer is the focus points are different. So im finding shooting is important and not sure the best way to do it. Thinking out loud here, shoot one foreground pic with locked focus, rotate camera to side, shoot pic then change focus, to mid,shoot. rotate camera shoot, etc until the whole pic is shot. and let the camera also do the bracketing so I minimize my interaction with camera? how close is my thinking? And you always seem to work near to far and not hop around??
Hi Mark, Great video as always! As you know, many cameras now have automatic focus stacking features where you set your camera settings, select the nearest focus point, then select the number of shots to focus stack and the camera will select various focus points. Both intentionally and accidentally, I have used aperture priority on some of my focus stacks. When blending them automatically in Photoshop using the checkbox option "Seamless colors and tones," I have had good experience with the final result. Sometimes on high dynamic range images (e.g., a backlit sky at sunset), I have taken a second underexposed image of the infinity focused image to blend together in PS later. Have you had success with focus stacking images not shot on manual?
Another helpful and engaging video, Mark. How much processing do you do in Lightroom (WB? exposure match? other?) before shipping the images to PS for alignment/blending?
What do you do, when Lightroom makes your 3 stacked photos, noisy/unsharp/rainy? I've experienced when you give LRC more than 3 photos to HDR stack, it's just a mess. Mostly do stacking for HDR. But this happens for focus stacked also.
THAT SHIRT !?!?! Where did you get that shirt ????? Pretty please, I have been wishing for one of those cars my whole life. Now let me at least have it on a tshirt...loved the video btw
Great video! I tried it a lot, but didn't find a way to avoid the problem of moving flowers, when they are the foreground. In the background images they are blurry, hence bigger than their sharp version in the foreground picture; and most of the time they are in a different position. How do you stack that kind of picture?
@@MarkDenneyPhoto yes, they are sharp in the foreground shot, but considering the inevitable blurriness they present in the background shot, and the wind moving them, my stack ends up with a mixed sharp-blurred foreground
Stacking images with moving foliage is extremely difficult. The slightest breeze will screw up automated stacking and even stacking manually can be brutal. Try it on an extremely still day; else, maybe just stack two photos with a fast exposure and the smallest aperture the light will let you use, and hope that's enough.
Hi Mark, do you find there's any benefit/downsides to focusing by just touching the touchpad? I'm a chronic touchpad user when I've got the camera on the tripod, and never use the viewfinder or camera buttons to focus. Do you find the pressing the touchpad is a sufficient way to focus?
Single shots can use hyperfocus or DoF; near-field focus and far-field focus. Photo Pills has a chart that calculates hyperfocus. As an example, set correctly, 10" will have the foreground in focus, and infinity for the background will also be in focus. If you need a sharp clear focus on the foreground closer than the calculated 10', say 5', you will have to focus stack to get sharp focus on both foreground and background. The cool thing about Photo Pills is that, when "AR" is activated, it will show you a graph overlayed with live video from your smartphone how far the foreground/background needs to be for clear focus. Hyperfocus is related to the camera model-sensor, Focal Length mm, aperture, and the focus distance.
You never use longer lenses? The need for focus-stacking increases with the increase of focal length of your lens. Unless you intentionally want a blurry section of your image, that is.
From my own experience, I've learned to compose with enough room around the edges to allow for cropping (because of focus breathing). Another thing I do is duplicate my layers, then just auto-blend the duplicates. That way if there are any inaccurate blends, which often happens with foliage, I can mask in the correct in-focus areas manually from the original layers.
Thanks again Mark! Would it be a mistake to use the camera's focus bracketing instead of choosing focus points manually? Also, no one seems to know: on my Panasonic camera, the focus bracketing setting asks how many "steps" per image (between 1 and 10 I think), what is this number measured in? I know that a higher number varies the focus more per image, but what is this number measured in? Meters, feet, stops, percent, etc?
Do you shoot with a mirrorless camera to avoid the shake on your images or do you have a single flex reflex camera? Great content, I have learned something new for me. Thanks for the info.
Nice video. Have you ever tried in camera focus shift for a landscape. I haven't yet for landscapes, but do use it for product photos (I demonstrate it on my latest vid). I was wondering if it would speed up taking a stack, particularly when the light is changing fast, as in your sunset example, enabling you to catch the images with minimal light change?
Excellent video Mark. I am very grateful I found your channel. Your videos are of an exceptional quality, very easy to follow and very practical. I have learned a tremendous amount from watching your videos, even on topics I thought I was well versed in. Thank you :)
Thanks for posting these videos they have been very helpful. One thing I struggle with is "Metering Mode" and "Focusing Mode". I'm a Canon user and for Metering Mode I have 4 choices, Evaluative Metering, Partial Metering, Spot Metering and Center Weighted Metering. For Focusing Mode I have the following choices; 1 AF Point, Zone AF, Large Zone AF and 45 point AF. With regards to shooting several frames for later Stacking what setting should I be using. Thanks in Advance, C.
Great presentation and coverage, Mark. Well done. You may have already covered my following suggestions. You could add to your advice about camera stability to use the inbuilt camera timer of 2 or 10 seconds or a cable release for shutter activation. Although an extra burden, I also use a sand bag filled with pebbles ( no sand anywhere! ) that I suspend from the tripod. The 8kg bag makes the tripod really rock solid against wind and accidental bumping movement. If the location has pebbles they could be used in situ instead of carrying the 8kg bag. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. All the best.
Thanks for the Focus Sacking lesson. I find when I do that, I'm afraid that I'll miss something, so I take too many shots and end up with 5-6 images when most times 1 or 2 would work. The other thing is I'm always taking close up shots of mountains, and don't include the foreground items enough. I'm learning to back out on the cropping. Thanks.
very useful. just imagine one person somewhere a remote location of INDIA did tried to do focus stacking and left out with FOCUS GAP today and frustration culminated in....thanks for solution.
Given the potential for moving the camera, as well as swift changes in lighting wouldn't it be better to use the in-camera mode for focus stacking instead of doing this manually? For example, focus shift shooting in Nikon cameras. I'm guessing that other brands have similar modes. Thanks - Dave
The Olympus OM-D system has a built in Focus Stacking and a Focus Bracketing function. Sounds like that system would work better to resolve many of these issues. The only issue I have found with those is what focus differential to select.
Hey mate thanks for video! Bit confused tho. You say not to change shutter speed when stacking. Just curious in the first waterfall shot (and this is a problem I have been facing lately) how to blur out the water but also create sharp foliage amd correct exposure… cheers
nice - but do you use and foremost do you even see the result e.g. on instagram ? (so i guess for social media ... would it be worth the effort ? - for a wallpaper ofc but social media ? ) thank you :) :)
Can you do a tutorial of focus stacking with open source software (gimp or darktable or that hygen). given that adobe is a ripoff and most newbies would not like to waste money on Adobe.
In one of your videos on photo stacking involving moving water, you fixed the water around the rock as water was moving. Can you direct me to the video where you did the editing of the stack. I think it is the stack you used in this video of the water fall.
Thanks so much for watching everyone!!
Thank you for teaching! Also, you've been putting a lot of effort in editing. It shows! I enjoyed the little icons and sounds here and there. Helped to really point out something.
Gertjan Van der Kelen Really happy to hear you enjoyed it!
Hey mark I took a AEB photo of the moon recently and because of the different shape of the moon under different exposures I couldnt auto align it to hdr blend it. So annoying! Plus it was hard to figure out a way to manually align them.
Mark Denney Can we pls get a focus stack + hdr post-processing tutorial. Thanks
My first attempt at focus stacking was yesterday. I now know that I made a lot of mistakes. Lol. You do a very good job of explaining your steps and thought processes and I appreciate that you follow up with a visual aid.
Many thanks Kim - glad you think so!
Your exaggeration on the shutter button is absolutely hysterical! It reminds me of some awful "as seen on TV" commercial where it shifts to black and white and shows people failing miserably to open a cabinet or something. Thanks for the video as always.
Gaaahhhh I should have made that clip B&W - you’re right🤣🤣
Thank you for this wonderfully informative video. I'm just now trying focus shift shooting so these tips are very helpful
Thank you very much! I have learned a lot... as I do from all of your videos!
Mark, Thomas and Anthony. My three favorite photographers on youtube. Keep up the great work Mark.
Much appreciated- thank you!
Great stuff Mark. Have done FS before but some very good info there.
Thanks a lot
Thanks for checking out the video Warren!
Great video Mark, I learned all of this hard way. Now I stick to focus stacking primarily for panorama, and anything else that requires a close subject also in focus (something interesting and adds to the image). I always shoot manual mode and hence, the other one was never a problem. The challenge is when it's windy and you need to stack. I have not figured that one yet - except returning to the location in a better weather condition.
Thanks Mark. it's so easy to mess up focus stacking, especially when you have a small window of 'special light' to work within. Focus stack panic sets in (a bad case of acute FSP). The cure is to get the composition figured out ahead of time, make sure you know the focus spots and when the light hits, turn your phone off and get down to business. Easier said than done!
Time to get an im camera setti g for this, like bracketing. Especially with mirrorless and communication with the lens, the camera can determine the distances involved in the frame.
Thanks for yet another simplified elaboration. “Bonus mistake” that’s a good one. As always loved your video. Keep up the good work.
Nafiz Mushabbir Hahaha! I was thinking the same thing when I said it!
Super interesting! I really like the calm an methodical way in which you explain all the steps and what mistakes to avoid! Great video Mark!
Thank you Janne! Great to hear you enjoyed it.
Very helpful thank you sir. Greetings from the Netherlands.
Very good video. Keep up the good work!
Excellent video! Thank you!
Wonderful instruction. That I will put into practice. Thanks.
Thanks for watching John!
There is an app for that, even if you camera doesn't support focus stacking. Helicon Focus and Helicon Remote. Haven't used it for years. Best I remember, with Remote you take the near and far photos and it takes those in between. Focus does the stacking, though there are other options for that, too. It's marketed for macro photography as it takes the stack without the photographer having to touch and accidentally move things. Yeah, it involves being tethered. Thanks for your great videos.
Amazing video Mark, thank you! :D
Hi Mark. Once again you give us good information and what to avoid. The teacher comes through once again. I love focus stacking. Thanks to you I'll be getting better. Bill.
Thanks for this one Mark. I hadn't thought to use manual mode when focus stacking. I would have expected that to be a mistake. This isn't like panoramas where an automatic setting would result in changing exposures even when the ambient light isn't changing. Here an auto setting should only change the exposure to try to compensate for a change in ambient lighting (e.g., sun goes behind a cloud for on of the exposures). On manual, if there is a change in ambient light, won't the stacked picture look weird? Maybe stacking is just a bad option no matter what if ambient lighting is fluctuating quickly, or one needs to time exposure so that they are all made when ambient light is similiar? Also, I have a big issue with focus breathing when shooting macro photos (Canon L series macro lens). Auto align doesn't cure the issue. I purchased a rail so that I could shift focus by moving the camera 1 mm at a time, rather than refocusing. That avoids focus breathing but the change in perspective from moving even one mm at a time between each photo in a series of shots of a macro subject is still so big as to screw up alignment of the photos when stacking. Any suggestions?
Awesome ! Thanks Mark ! slowly getting ready for my Canadian Rockies trip this summer with the kids, will definitely use your tips & tricks for focus staking.
Excellent video!!
Thanks for the info and tips. You always put something in that I didn’t think about. I hadn’t thought about the light moving so quickly when stacking.
Glad to do it and thanks for checking it out!
Great presentation as always. Have always wondered whether there's an easy way to combine HDR and focus stacking without having hundreds of images?
Thank you Mark as usual for this video!
Thanks for checking it out Andrea!
You and others photographers helped me to switch from Canon to Fuji! Actually I didn’t switched yet but I will do next days...greetings from Italy!
Good video Mark. Movement in the subjects is also a common problem for my part. Leaves/grass moving can result in a bad stitch/stack afterwards.
Thanks for the tips! No. 5 was very helpful.
I'm really impressed with how you explain, just keep working the channel is brutally good!!!
Thanks so much!
Thank you Mark! I haven't yet had the chance to try out focus stacking but watching your videos on the subject will help me feel in control and informed when that chance comes around!
You'll be surprised just how easy it is once you try it and it'll unlock loads of new creative options for you as well! Thanks for watching Jackie!
Mark, As usual; a very informative and educational video. Presented in a way to easily understand. Well done.
Thanks Ralph!
Searching RUclips for Focus Stacking shows at least 4 videos of yours that have it in the title :)
Hi Mark
As usual this is a great video that you created on focus stacking. I’m going to go ahead and try out some of your techniques.
Thank you.
Pat Hogarty from El Dorado hills California.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it Pat!
Thanks for the video! I just ordered the new Canon R5 that has automatic focus stacking where you can choose the total exposures, the focus increment, and exposure smoothing. It will not merge images in camera but it sounds like it will make the process much easier and you don't have to worry about inadvertently moving the camera during the manual stacking process. Cant wait to try it!
I heard about that! Curious how well it works - based off of everything I’ve heard about the R5, it’ll work great👍
My Lumix GH5 and G9 cameras have focus bracketing, shooting a selectable number of photographs at different focus points. Very useful indeed.
Great tips Mark! I haven’t practiced photo stacking yet and your videos are fantastic, you really have a way of explaining these tips very well. Thanks for sharing and keep these videos coming!
Thanks so much Tina - I sure will!
Thank you, Mark. This video is really helpful, and you explained it very well as per usual!
Great to hear you enjoyed it Nigel!
Great reminders here, Mark, especially the one about taking too many stacking shots is better than not enough. A little breeze here and there can certainly cause issues if you don't have a way to account for it.
'
Thanks Robert! Glad to hear the video was useful!
2nd mistake. I just realized I started focus stacking everything when I found out this particular technique. Thanks you so much for pointing this. Helps a lot
Glad the video was helpful Robert!
Great advice Mark and the bonus advice for focal stacking came at the best time for me as I'm going to try my first time at focus stacking this weekend as my 10-24mm fujifilm lens arrived today 😁 Once again your videos are truly appreciated mate 👍
Many thanks Shane! Enjoy the new lens - its a beaut!!
thanks for such! do you never use the hyperfocal distance?
Thank you Mark - lots of helpful information here!
Thanks for watching Lisa!
These tips answer some of the struggle I have with focus stack. One question remain open to me. How do I focus stack when I also have to braket exposure? For example sunrise with cloud in Background and rock formation in fore ground. Do I expose background and fore ground differently or blend exposure of two focus stack exposure? Thank again for the video and have a good day.
When I'm in that situation I create an exposure bracket for each section of my scene that I'm focus stacking. You're left with a ton of images, but the result will usually work very well.
Great video!
Thanks Michael!
Thanks for this great video. Is very useful because I've tried focus stack only with some macro, but now I want to use it on landscape photos.
Thanks for checking it out Riccardo!
Great video. Thanks. There is a big dof difference between FF and APS-C. With the second you rarely need focus stacking while it is much more common with FF. Have you tried the focus stacking bracketing mode of your Fuji camera? If so. How did that work for you?
Thank you Benjamin! I actually haven't used the built in auto function yet, but I've heard that it works well.
One question which was not covered in your video, which by the way was very informative. I do plan to try this next time out. What is you opinion on manual focus vs auto focus points? As said, next time out I will try using manual focus and auto focus on same scene to see if one is better / easier than the other, however would just like your opinion.
I usually use auto focus as I don’t have the best eyes.
Granted, on the first one, you could use two different exposure times to brighten shadows and make more dramatic skies like in a mountain scenery when the sky and ground are at different exposures naturally to manually enhance dynamic range.
frequently use as 50mm equiv for pano and focus stack to partly compress the pic. That creates a problem for me, combined focus stack/pano. I have to move the camera to get the whole pic. The problem I run inback in the computer is the focus points are different. So im finding shooting is important and not sure the best way to do it. Thinking out loud here, shoot one foreground pic with locked focus, rotate camera to side, shoot pic then change focus, to mid,shoot. rotate camera shoot, etc until the whole pic is shot. and let the camera also do the bracketing so I minimize my interaction with camera? how close is my thinking?
And you always seem to work near to far and not hop around??
Your camera shake made me laugh!!
Wow that cactus is pretty sharp
Hi Mark, Great video as always! As you know, many cameras now have automatic focus stacking features where you set your camera settings, select the nearest focus point, then select the number of shots to focus stack and the camera will select various focus points. Both intentionally and accidentally, I have used aperture priority on some of my focus stacks. When blending them automatically in Photoshop using the checkbox option "Seamless colors and tones," I have had good experience with the final result. Sometimes on high dynamic range images (e.g., a backlit sky at sunset), I have taken a second underexposed image of the infinity focused image to blend together in PS later. Have you had success with focus stacking images not shot on manual?
Another helpful and engaging video, Mark. How much processing do you do in Lightroom (WB? exposure match? other?) before shipping the images to PS for alignment/blending?
I do most of my editing in LR and only move to PS when I need something done that LR cannot handle.
Same here. I meant at what point in the process.... do you do some specific LR edits before blending in PS, do it all after, ...? Thanks!
"A bonus mistake" Classic!
Hahha! I thought the same thing
Great video 🙏🏻 were you using auto focus or manual?
Thanks so much! I usually just use auto focus
Use your DOF preview button on your camera. That will tell you if you need to focus stack.
What do you do, when Lightroom makes your 3 stacked photos, noisy/unsharp/rainy? I've experienced when you give LRC more than 3 photos to HDR stack, it's just a mess. Mostly do stacking for HDR. But this happens for focus stacked also.
Good day Mark , what memory card ur using when taking long expo?
Enjoy seascape coastal photography, living on an island makes this easier and the coastline is very varied.
As usual amazing video again ,make a video on hyper focal distance .
Thanks! That’s a good idea👍
Another great one! I do have a question on whether you should use the in camera focus stack function, that many of the new cameras have?
Thanks Steve! I would certainly test it out to see if you’re happy with the results.
THAT SHIRT !?!?! Where did you get that shirt ????? Pretty please, I have been wishing for one of those cars my whole life. Now let me at least have it on a tshirt...loved the video btw
Great video! I tried it a lot, but didn't find a way to avoid the problem of moving flowers, when they are the foreground. In the background images they are blurry, hence bigger than their sharp version in the foreground picture; and most of the time they are in a different position. How do you stack that kind of picture?
Are you using a fast enough shutter speed for the flowers in the foreground?
@@MarkDenneyPhoto yes, they are sharp in the foreground shot, but considering the inevitable blurriness they present in the background shot, and the wind moving them, my stack ends up with a mixed sharp-blurred foreground
Stacking images with moving foliage is extremely difficult. The slightest breeze will screw up automated stacking and even stacking manually can be brutal. Try it on an extremely still day; else, maybe just stack two photos with a fast exposure and the smallest aperture the light will let you use, and hope that's enough.
Hi. Is focus bracketing the same as focus stacking?
Slo-Mo Mistake! Thank you for that. I think you just saved me a lot of disappointment. :D
Hi Mark, do you find there's any benefit/downsides to focusing by just touching the touchpad? I'm a chronic touchpad user when I've got the camera on the tripod, and never use the viewfinder or camera buttons to focus. Do you find the pressing the touchpad is a sufficient way to focus?
I think touch to focus is great! If your camera has that functionality I say use it!
Mark, do you use manual focus or AF when you stack? ALan
Because of the focus breathing, is it better to shoot from background to foreground, vice versa or does it really matter that much?
From my experience it doesn’t really matter the direction.
nice!
Thank you!
Single shots can use hyperfocus or DoF; near-field focus and far-field focus. Photo Pills has a chart that calculates hyperfocus. As an example, set correctly, 10" will have the foreground in focus, and infinity for the background will also be in focus. If you need a sharp clear focus on the foreground closer than the calculated 10', say 5', you will have to focus stack to get sharp focus on both foreground and background. The cool thing about Photo Pills is that, when "AR" is activated, it will show you a graph overlayed with live video from your smartphone how far the foreground/background needs to be for clear focus. Hyperfocus is related to the camera model-sensor, Focal Length mm, aperture, and the focus distance.
I struggle with knowing which focus to use. 1-point, zone or spot
thank u so much .. you the past
Happy to do it!
Boom, Focus stack it all....lol That was me too!
Where do you get your great t-shirts?
I try to shoot hyperfocally whenever I can...I can't ever recall not being able to get it done in a single shot.
I usually can as well unless something is within a couple feet or so of my lens that I want in focus along with everything else.
Then you're not shooting photos with very close foregrounds...
You never use longer lenses? The need for focus-stacking increases with the increase of focal length of your lens. Unless you intentionally want a blurry section of your image, that is.
Do you routinely mask your stacks or just combine them ?
I'd say it's about 50/50
So how do we focus/exposure bracket in one shot?
A Camera that could also add aperture stacking would be amazing
Here ya go: ruclips.net/video/9GbJ_h2pmrA/видео.html
@@MarkDenneyPhoto thanks, I learned alot already. Here in Western North Carolina
The Wait is over... Here it is
🙌🙌
10:07 lmao ,, yes it happens
🤣🤣
I realy miss mi olympus camera. That could do a series of shots each slightly focus shifted in no time (no slo mo) :D
P.S. new haircut? ;-)
Yep - finally got a fresh clean cut👍
a BONUS mistake! lol
hahahh!! :)
A good lenns will not have focus breathing
From my own experience, I've learned to compose with enough room around the edges to allow for cropping (because of focus breathing). Another thing I do is duplicate my layers, then just auto-blend the duplicates. That way if there are any inaccurate blends, which often happens with foliage, I can mask in the correct in-focus areas manually from the original layers.
Thanks again Mark! Would it be a mistake to use the camera's focus bracketing instead of choosing focus points manually? Also, no one seems to know: on my Panasonic camera, the focus bracketing setting asks how many "steps" per image (between 1 and 10 I think), what is this number measured in? I know that a higher number varies the focus more per image, but what is this number measured in? Meters, feet, stops, percent, etc?
I prefer to do a hundred stressful layers in Photoshop...just to keep my hair thinning. Thins out nice and evenly!
Do you shoot with a mirrorless camera to avoid the shake on your images or do you have a single flex reflex camera? Great content, I have learned something new for me. Thanks for the info.
Nice video. Have you ever tried in camera focus shift for a landscape. I haven't yet for landscapes, but do use it for product photos (I demonstrate it on my latest vid). I was wondering if it would speed up taking a stack, particularly when the light is changing fast, as in your sunset example, enabling you to catch the images with minimal light change?
Excellent video Mark. I am very grateful I found your channel. Your videos are of an exceptional quality, very easy to follow and very practical. I have learned a tremendous amount from watching your videos, even on topics I thought I was well versed in. Thank you :)
Thanks for posting these videos they have been very helpful. One thing I struggle with is "Metering Mode" and "Focusing Mode". I'm a Canon user and for Metering Mode I have 4 choices, Evaluative Metering, Partial Metering, Spot Metering and Center Weighted Metering. For Focusing Mode I have the following choices; 1 AF Point, Zone AF, Large Zone AF and 45 point AF. With regards to shooting several frames for later Stacking what setting should I be using. Thanks in Advance, C.
Great presentation and coverage, Mark. Well done. You may have already covered my following suggestions. You could add to your advice about camera stability to use the inbuilt camera timer of 2 or 10 seconds or a cable release for shutter activation. Although an extra burden, I also use a sand bag filled with pebbles ( no sand anywhere! ) that I suspend from the tripod. The 8kg bag makes the tripod really rock solid against wind and accidental bumping movement. If the location has pebbles they could be used in situ instead of carrying the 8kg bag. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. All the best.
Thanks for the Focus Sacking lesson. I find when I do that, I'm afraid that I'll miss something, so I take too many shots and end up with 5-6 images when most times 1 or 2 would work. The other thing is I'm always taking close up shots of mountains, and don't include the foreground items enough. I'm learning to back out on the cropping. Thanks.
very useful. just imagine one person somewhere a remote location of INDIA did tried to do focus stacking and left out with FOCUS GAP today and frustration culminated in....thanks for solution.
Given the potential for moving the camera, as well as swift changes in lighting wouldn't it be better to use the in-camera mode for focus stacking instead of doing this manually? For example, focus shift shooting in Nikon cameras. I'm guessing that other brands have similar modes. Thanks - Dave
If a camera has a build in focus bracketing function, would you take advantage of that or would do it manually? Many have it except for Sony GRRRRRR!
The Olympus OM-D system has a built in Focus Stacking and a Focus Bracketing function. Sounds like that system would work better to resolve many of these issues. The only issue I have found with those is what focus differential to select.
Mark, Can you please help understanding focus stacking with exposure stacking. I have not found any video which helps me to understand that.
Hey mate thanks for video! Bit confused tho. You say not to change shutter speed when stacking. Just curious in the first waterfall shot (and this is a problem I have been facing lately) how to blur out the water but also create sharp foliage amd correct exposure… cheers
Now Ive seen it all, an Orton effect guy doing focus stacking. What is next? check out this Landscape technique using a bathroom mirror!
nice - but do you use and foremost do you even see the result e.g. on instagram ? (so i guess for social media ... would it be worth the effort ? - for a wallpaper ofc but social media ? )
thank you :) :)
Can you do a tutorial of focus stacking with open source software (gimp or darktable or that hygen). given that adobe is a ripoff and most newbies would not like to waste money on Adobe.
In one of your videos on photo stacking involving moving water, you fixed the water around the rock as water was moving. Can you direct me to the video where you did the editing of the stack. I think it is the stack you used in this video of the water fall.
wow! very detailed and informative. I learned a lot from this series of videos on focus stacking. subscribed!
Pretty certain that checking your text messages during focus stacking is the unpardonable sin.