Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2020/04/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]After twiddling my thumbs for a few days after the lock down started here in India, I decided to teach myself focus stacking, and shoot some still life compositions at home. Luckily, the Nikon Z7 has an automatic focus stacking feature built in, which they call "Focus Shift". After due experimentation to learn how the settings affect the final output, I decided to start. These are some of my initial efforts. Most of these required blending of 10 -20 images. The camera used was Nikon Z7 with the Nikkor Z24-70mm f4S kit lens. and the software used was Lightroom Classic/Helicon Focus/Photoshop CC. I first tried blending in Photoshop, but found that regularly introduced artifacts, so I purchased Helicon Focus, which is really on a different level altogether for blending a series of photographs. The first four submissions are blended with Photoshop CC, and the last four with Helicon Focus. First up I started with some oranges and newspapers: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/FS/fs12-20200409-032.jpg.html http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/FS/fs13-20200409-017.jpg.html Then I tried my hand at more traditional fare: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/FS/FS-20200406-075.jpg.html http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/FS/FS1-20200405-005.jpg.html Three variations, both in terms of viewing angle as well as formats, with much the same props: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/FS/2020-04-11+08-50-02+_B_Radius8_Smoothing4_.jpg.html http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/FS/2020-04-11+09-14-55+_B_Radius8_Smoothing4_.jpg.html http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/FS/2020-04-11+09-36-02+_B_Radius8_Smoothing4_.jpg.html Finally, some design and product classics from Europe (Luis should recognize the camera!). Painting by my granddaughter when she was 4 years old: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/FS/2020-04-10+15-56-14+_B_Radius8_Smoothing4_.jpg.html Please see LARGE. Comments and Criticism, as ever, welcome. Cheers Jayanand