Handheld Stack - Green-veined white

Images of undisturbed subjects in their natural environment. All subject types.

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iain
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Handheld Stack - Green-veined white

Post by iain »

here's another handheld stack - this time it's a green-veined white hiding behind the daffodils - 52 images 1/125 @ f5.6

Image

thanks for looking

Iain

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

How the heck do you do that?

iain
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Post by iain »

Lou Jost wrote:How the heck do you do that?
I actually discovered this technique more by accident than design - about 6 years ago I forgot to take my flash when I was out on a field trip so used stacking as the alternative - I've never used flash since.

Probably easiest to demonstrate with this video of me taking a stack of an Empid type creature

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W_9m0nBFCk

be warned, it's not a very exciting video...

davholla
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Post by davholla »

iain wrote:
Lou Jost wrote:How the heck do you do that?
I actually discovered this technique more by accident than design - about 6 years ago I forgot to take my flash when I was out on a field trip so used stacking as the alternative - I've never used flash since.

Probably easiest to demonstrate with this video of me taking a stack of an Empid type creature

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W_9m0nBFCk

be warned, it's not a very exciting video...
Talk about a happy accident - I am going to have to try to copy this.
However I have one question - in the video you are leaning on the ground. How does it work if you cannot lean on the ground? How do you do it then or is there something I am missing?
Also do you need good light for this to work without flash?
(I have a 7DMKII and MPE and usually use f9 250/s with flash but obviously I will try your settings).
BTW this one
http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... hp?t=33855
I doubt could have been better using a dead specimen and something automated.

zzffnn
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Post by zzffnn »

Amazing!
Does that stability require photographer and camera to lay down on the ground?
Thank you for sharing!
Selling my Canon FD 200mm F/2.8 lens

Troels
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Post by Troels »

Beautiful picture and amazing skills.

Troels
Troels Holm, biologist (retired), environmentalist, amateur photographer.
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Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

Lesser mortals might find that the Olympus or Panasonic in-camera focus-bracketing is a good alternative solution. It is an order of magnitude faster and doesn't require controlled movements.

davholla
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Post by davholla »

One other question how do you work out where to start and end the stack?

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Post by rjlittlefield »

davholla wrote:how do you work out where to start and end the stack?
On the surface this sounds like a question of composition. You're looking through the viewfinder so you start at or before the first thing you want to have in focus, and end at or after the last thing.

But I think you may be asking some deeper question. If so, can you explain in more detail what you're wondering about?

--Rik

iain
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Post by iain »

davholla wrote:However I have one question - in the video you are leaning on the ground. How does it work if you cannot lean on the ground? How do you do it then or is there something I am missing?
Also do you need good light for this to work without flash?
zzffnn wrote:Does that stability require photographer and camera to lay down on the ground?
When deciding whether to stack or not, I make a pretty quick assessment of whether it's worth my while (will it likely be successful). If it's too awkward I'll go and look for some more suitable creature - there's nothing to setup so I'm not really investing any time and it's easy enough for me just to move on to something easier. Generally I'm looking for a situation where I'm able to stabilise the camera in some manner.

As regards light I tend to favour overcast days as it gives better lighting - I've never really found lighting to be a problem - it's a bit similar to the above, if it's too dark then I won't bother trying it - I'm quite happy to go and have a cup of tea and wait for the right conditions (overcast, grey days are good - plenty of these kind of days in Scotland)
Last edited by iain on Thu Apr 20, 2017 1:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

iain
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Post by iain »

rjlittlefield wrote:
davholla wrote:how do you work out where to start and end the stack?
On the surface this sounds like a question of composition. You're looking through the viewfinder so you start at or before the first thing you want to have in focus, and end at or after the last thing.

But I think you may be asking some deeper question. If so, can you explain in more detail what you're wondering about?

--Rik
Yes, I think Rik has pretty much answered this one - also, it can be helpful to increase the dof (f11 ish) on the 1st and last shots of the stack to improve the focus transition from in focus to out of focus although I have to confess I'm pretty rubbish at remembering to do this...

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

If you try this with the Olympus, you set the desired number of images to some arbitrary high number (do this in advance, once, no need to set it again), and then press the shutter button once to start, and again to stop when it looks "done".

davholla
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Post by davholla »

rjlittlefield wrote:
davholla wrote:how do you work out where to start and end the stack?
On the surface this sounds like a question of composition. You're looking through the viewfinder so you start at or before the first thing you want to have in focus, and end at or after the last thing.

But I think you may be asking some deeper question. If so, can you explain in more detail what you're wondering about?

--Rik
What I meant was that in a stack you start with one bit in focus and then another until you have x images which all have some in focus.
So how do you work out which bit to have in focus in your first one and when to stop.
I am sorry if this is not clear.

davholla
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Post by davholla »

iain wrote:
davholla wrote:However I have one question - in the video you are leaning on the ground. How does it work if you cannot lean on the ground? How do you do it then or is there something I am missing?
Also do you need good light for this to work without flash?
zzffnn wrote:Does that stability require photographer and camera to lay down on the ground?
When deciding whether to stack or not, I make a pretty quick assessment of whether it's worth my while (will it likely be successful). If it's too awkward I'll go and look for some more suitable creature - there's nothing to setup so I'm not really investing any time and it's easy enough for me just to move on to something easier. Generally I'm looking for a situation where I'm able to stabilise the camera in some manner.

As regards light I tend to favour overcast days as it gives better lighting - I've never really found lighting to be a problem - it's a bit similar to the above, if it's too dark then I won't bother trying it - I'm quite happy to go and have a cup of tea and wait for the right conditions (overcast, grey days are good - plenty of these kind of days in Scotland)
Thanks for that. I took this photo of a fly on a bush and there was NOTHING to support myself on, so your technique wouldn't have worked in that case, if I understand you correctly
ImageFly IMG_0984 by davholla2002, on Flickr

Saying that it looks a great idea, I tried last night on a stick insect and will try again.

Does this work at higher magnifications e.g 4x +?

iain
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Post by iain »

davholla wrote:Thanks for that. I took this photo of a fly on a bush and there was NOTHING to support myself on, so your technique wouldn't have worked in that case, if I understand you correctly

Does this work at higher magnifications e.g 4x +?
to be honest I would assess the situation and decide whether it was worth the effort - if it was some insect I'd never seen before and there was nothing to aid stability then I'd certainly give it a shot (well, several shots if I'm stacking). I've certainly managed to do this in the past but usually with larger insects which does make things easier. So I would never say it can't be done - just that perhaps some situations may be more challenging than others.

Works fine at higher magnifications but you'll need to be cautious of not missing a slice or 2 as this tends to require a much wider aperture (and so less dof) per each image

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