Diane Miller
03-16-2015, 10:18 PM
Had another chance to shoot these leaves today, with soft light and no noticeable air movement. Not so easy to get a composition I like as the low limbs of the tree (against a decent BG) are accessible by standing on a 30-degree slope littered with loose leaves and small rocks. And just over a flimsy fence, 5 feet from my position here, is the largest privately-owned collection of rattlesnakes and poison oak this side of Texas. Oh -- and bulls, too. The bulls are good, though -- they help discourage the rattlesnakes -- all the clomping makes it irritatingly difficult to "hear" mice.
Canon 7D2, 100-400II + 1.4X at 348mm, ISO 1600 (cloudy light and in the shade), f/10, 1/160 sec. (Tripod, of course.) I tried some focus stacks but think I missed some pieces -- haven't had time to assemble them in Zerene Stacker yet. But as much as I love hyper-detailed stacks, sometimes I like the soft focus thing, too. I think this is a case for the latter, where the BG goes soft and a few details of the leaf edges stand out. It's finding the right composition that makes it work though -- which I'm still working on.
Minimal processing in LR5, into PS just for a little NR and a very slight darkening with Curves, masked off the stem. Decided to leave the BG as it was.
Canon 7D2, 100-400II + 1.4X at 348mm, ISO 1600 (cloudy light and in the shade), f/10, 1/160 sec. (Tripod, of course.) I tried some focus stacks but think I missed some pieces -- haven't had time to assemble them in Zerene Stacker yet. But as much as I love hyper-detailed stacks, sometimes I like the soft focus thing, too. I think this is a case for the latter, where the BG goes soft and a few details of the leaf edges stand out. It's finding the right composition that makes it work though -- which I'm still working on.
Minimal processing in LR5, into PS just for a little NR and a very slight darkening with Curves, masked off the stem. Decided to leave the BG as it was.