Flower Close-ups

wesscott

I have never used photoshop much on my photos in the past but these two images are my first attempt. The first one is multiple depths of field. Then, I brushed them together artistically. The second, I just manipulated the point curves.

Dogdots

Very good photos

I'm intersted in your first photo and how you did this. Would you care to share it with us

NorthernFocus

Rally like the first photo. Likewise I'd be interested in how you blended the shots. I know there is specific software on the market for doing this but haven't seen it done with Photoshop.

wesscott

Technique
I will certainly share:D

Here how I did it:

I shot it with a 50mm 1.8 prime lens with a couple of close up filters. I shot about 9 shots total. Each shot I rotated the focal ring till I had about 9 diffrent levels of focus.

Now, I too have heard of image stacking and that's what I had intended to do with these shots. This was my first experiment. So I loaded the raw data into photoshop using the File>Scripts>Load files into stack. Then i checked the box to have photoshop align the layers.

Well, to do really good image stacking I am pretty sure using a tripod is a lot better. (I shot this handheld) I say this because the images were all slightly off when I went to align them. So now I can't do proper image stacking....

So I changed directions a bit. So I made all the images invisible except the first one. Then I used the lasso tool to select and erase the out of focus parts. However, this is the important part: I didn't make it exact at all. In fact I left a small margin of out of focus area around each in focus part. I did this so I could go back and use the feathered brush and erase it out to get a smooth transition once all pictures where combined. I highly recomend using a Wacom tablet. That's what I do because I am a fine artist. It was a little weird at first but the control is worth it.

Now do the same thing to a few other images. Not all. I would do the ones with the least ammount of in focus areas first. That way you can put the smallest image visble as the top layer. Then as you work you overlay them easier. Otherwise it will be more confusing.

Now here is the thing that makes this image look neat: imperfection. See the image stacking software is perfect. However, at some point while creating this image "perfection" was off the table. So, I went with my eye for what looked best to me.

What I am saying is that I didn't use all in focus areas. I used a lot of them. But beyond the technique I just told you I just used my eye.

Now, here are a few other important things you should do in the process:

When you are finished use the zoom tool at 100% and go over the image to look for weird lines and evidence of your erasing and things you might have forgot to totally erase on the layers. Turn down the erase opacity to between 25-50% then use the very edge of the erase tool to smooth the imperfections out. Sometimes I even use a huge brush edge because it makes a smoother fade. Sometimes I even use the clone tool or blur tool to do this. Now also keep in mind when hiding a line of imperfection you just need to break up the consistancy of the line so that the human eye will not perceive it as a line. Meaning you don't have to make the entire thing smooth... just break the lines up.

I hope that helps. PLease ask any questions if this explaination is not clear. If need be I can post some screen shots.

Skippy

wesscott wrote:

I have never used photoshop much on my photos in the past but these two images are my first attempt. The first one is multiple depths of field. Then, I brushed them together artistically. The second, I just manipulated the point curves.

Hi there Wesscott, I prefer the first shot over the second.
I like the way the light falls on the first flower.

With the second shot I would like to have seen the flower center a bit lighter to bring out some of the detail.

Your doing great the more you do the better you will get

... Skippy
.

JGD

Cool Technique, your results are stunning!

Dogdots

Thanks for posting how you did this

Now I have something else to learn and I know I will find it a challenge. Can't wait to see others you have done.

wesscott

Round 2
Hi Everyone! Thanks for the nice comments! Are you ready for round 2 haha!?! Ok, well today I played with HDR for the first time. Here's what I came up with I call it "Soul Searching"

Dogdots

I really like this.

My eyes are seeing a focal point in the very center of the rose, but then again not. Makes me have to look deep into the photo

Is this complex to do?

wesscott

Not hard at all. I used the 50mm prime again with close up filters. I had my camera on a monopod and did a 9 bracket exposure about 1 stop apart. Then I used Photomatix 3 to merge them together to an HDR image and did a little tone mapping. Actually, this image doesn't look too much diffrent from the non-hdr file. The main diffrence is that the HDR brought out a little bit more color definition.

Dogdots

wesscott wrote:

Not hard at all. I used the 50mm prime again with close up filters. I had my camera on a monopod and did a 9 bracket exposure about 1 stop apart. Then I used Photomatix 3 to merge them together to an HDR image and did a little tone mapping. Actually, this image doesn't look too much diffrent from the non-hdr file. The main diffrence is that the HDR brought out a little bit more color definition.

Thank you for the information on how you did this. I don't have Photomatix, but I'm going to have to check into it. Looks like you can do a lot of fun things with it.

weronika

Wow, I just LOVE the second photo!! Beautiful closeup, great subtle color. Interesting crop too. I just keep coming back to look at it...

The HDR rose is a pretty interesting effect too. I hope we'll get to see more!