Focus Stacking 101 Primer

What’s Up?

I wrote this blog post on the morning of Friday, April 15, 2016. We leave Luderitz this morning to meet the group this afternoon at the Quiver Tree forest for afternoon and late night shooting sessions. We will not have internet for about four days.

Please remember that folks sending new inquiries about selling new gear are best advised to get in touch with me at the end of this month.

Don’t Look Now!

Today’s blog post marks 165 days in a row with a new educational blog post… As always-–and folks have been doing a really great job recently–-please remember to use our B&H links for your major gear purchases. For best results use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.

This image was created morning 2 of Denise Ippolito and my busman’s holiday at Kolmanskop Ghost Town, Namibia. I used the Induro GIT 304L tripod/Induro BHM1/-mounted Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 151mm) and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops/in-camera Art Vivid HDR +/- 1 stop around a base exposure of .4 sec at f/16. I set the color temperature to K4000 to offset the too saturated Art Vivid colors.

See below for focusing details on the two images used to create today’s featured image.

Doorway Triangles

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Focus Stacking 101 Primer

While reviewing my images at dinner Denise Ippolito mentioned that with my going often to the 100-400II for more reach, that even the tiniest apertures, f/22 and f/32 did not provide enough depth-of field to cover the back walls when shooting through open doorways and windows. She suggested creating a second image focusing on the back wall, stacking and aligning the two images, and then painting in the extra detail on the back wall with a Black, Inverse, or Hide-All Mask. That is exactly what I did for today’s image.

For the first image I used the center AF point (Manual selection)/Rear Focus/AI Servo AF and recompose to focus on the closest part of the door frame. For the second image I simply moved the AF point so that it hit the back wall. Then I had my the two images that I needed for my simple focus stacking exercise.

To learn Quick Masking and Layer Masking I recommend that you get both APTATS I and APTATS II. You can save some bucks by purchasing the set here.

Desert Urbex Photography

The three of us, Denise, Wim den Heever, and I, had more fun than a barrel of monkeys at Kolmanskop. On night two, I had the seafood curry and shared a bit with Denise and Wim. On our third night, it was seafood curry all around… We are all looking forward to meeting our nine clients this afternoon.

Both Denise and I felt that much of what we learned and discovered doing the old barns and farm buildings on the Palouse IPTs was a great help to us at the old diamond mining ghost town. Join us this summer to learn a ton. Details immediately below.

Subject and focal lengths clockwise from upper left around to center.

Palouse Falls: 11mm; homemade kiddie race car: 105mm; barn siding pan blur: 798mm; Rolling fields diorama: 110mm; Crayola drums: 343 mm; Hay barn interior: 19mm; vintage gas station: 40mm; Dilapidated farm building: 13mm; Denise’s tree Infrared: 20mm.

Images and card design by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART.

The Palouse ~ A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)/Eastern Washington State. June 3-7, 2016/5 Full Days: $1699/Limit 12/Openings: 6

The Palouse ~ A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)/Eastern Washington State. June 10-14, 2016/5 Full Days: $1699/Limit 12/Openings: 1

Double Header!

Maximize both your travel dollars and your learning experience by signing up for both IPTs.

Images and card design by Denise Ippolito/A Creative Adventure.

The Palouse IPTs

Rolling farmlands provide a magical patchwork of textures and colors, especially when viewed from the top of Steptoe Butte where we will likely enjoy spectacular sunrises and possibly a nice sunset. We will photograph grand landscapes and mini-scenics of the rolling hills and farm fields. We will take you to some really neat old abandoned barns and farmhouses in idyllic settings. There is no better way to improve your compositional and image design skills and to develop your creativity than to join us for this trip. Two great leaders: Denise Ippolito and Arthur Morris. Photoshop and image sharing sessions when we have the time and energy…. We get up early and stay out late and the days are long.

After 6 days of back-breaking scouting work in early June 2014 we found all of the iconic locations and, in addition, lots of spectacular new old barns and breath-taking landforms and views. On three additional scouting days in 2015 we discovered several more truly amazing locations. We will teach you what makes one situation prime and another seemingly similar one a waste of your time.

What’s included: In-the-field instruction, guidance, lessons, and inspiration, our newfound but very extensive knowledge of the area, all lunches, motel lobby grab and go breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions when possible. There will be a meet and greet at 7:30pm on the evening before each workshop begins.

You will learn and hone both basic and advanced compositional and image design skills. You will learn to get the right exposure every time. You will learn to develop your creative eye. You will learn the basics of HDR (high dynamic range) photography. You will learn a variety of in-camera creative techniques. Most importantly you will learn to see the situation and to create a variety of top-notch images. Do see both of our blogs for lots more on that in the coming weeks. You will learn how the quality and direction of light combine to determine the success of your images. And–please don’t gasp–we will be working quite a bit with sidelight when creating landscapes. Lastly, we will be doing some infrared photography.

To Sign Up

A non-refundable $699 deposit is due now. The balance will be due on February 15, 2016. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Whether or not your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.

Please let me know via e-mail that you will be joining us. Then you can either call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 during business hours or send us a check to leave a deposit; the latter is preferred. If by check, please make out to “Arthur Morris” and mail it to: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us via e-mail: artie or denise.

Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options. You can also purchase Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to include things such as sudden work or family obligation and even a simple change of mind. You can learn more here: Travel Insurance Services. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check. Whenever purchasing travel insurance be sure to read the fine print carefully even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.

Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Gitzo tripods, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. We sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. I just learned that my account was suspended during my absence; it should be up and running by Monday at the latest.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and visiting the BAA Online store as well.