"dof Hdr"

[Ramon M. Casares]

Well, here's something I came up with while I was working with these doves, the thing was that when the where giving me thier back there was no way to get the whole bird in focus, so I shot three pictures, one focusing the tail, one focusig the body and a third one for the head and then I put them toguether in PS, let me know what you think, for steady subjects I think is a good idea to get perfect DOF wothout compromising the BG. Enjoy.

[Julie Kenward]

Ramon, you totally hit the mark! Great idea and great way to preserve the great details on the bird without mucking up the nice seamless background. My only suggestion might be to tweak the contrast between the bird and the BG just a bit for better separation - help that bird really stand out after all the work you did to get it perfect!

[Ramon M. Casares]

Thnaks Julie, yes, it was not the BEST light as it is comming from the side, I like it but I was just playing aorround and trying new things!

[Fabs Forns]

Yes, way to go if they stand long enough :)

[Alfred Forns]

.... that was I was thinking !!! How you get it to stand still long enough !!!! Excellent idea Ramon !!!

[Michael Pancier]

ramon, how did you combine the 3 images?

[Anita Rakestraw]

Very nice job, ramon! Personally, I like the side light on things if not too much is in the dark. I've wondered how Judy gets all those takes of her subjects for her stacked images - apparently her subjects have not moved for quite awhile!!??

[Ramon M. Casares]

ramon, how did you combine the 3 images?
Michael, what I did was put the three layer in one file and then with some Masks in Ps I left visible only the portion I wanted of each layer, preety much a "copy/paste" but a bit more ciomplicated ;)

[Ramon M. Casares]

Michael, here are two screencaps of the Masks I used in Ps. Hope these help.

Step Two, righ after puting all the layers in the same file and aligning them to each other.

[Ramon M. Casares]

And the same to with the TAIL IN FOCUS shot.
After doing this I Flatten the image and start with the usual PP work, such as noise reduction, levels, etc.

[Keith Carver]

This is a very creative technique, Ramon, and I want to try it on a bird that will stand still long enough. This thread is a short course in how to do it, thanks so much for sharing! And congrats on a wonderful image with superb DOF.

[Ramon M. Casares]

Thaks Keith I am glad this post helped!

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Congrats amigo. The result of your work is outstanding. :) Thanks for sharing.

[Ramon M. Casares]

Thanks Akos, apreciate the kind words!