Poppy?

[Richard Lovison]

Hi everyone.

I know it has been a while since I posted something... warmer weather has finally come around in the Berkshires and there are many Spring projects around our home needing to be done.

My wife brought these flowers home from work... we both thought they were poppies though please correct us if we are wrong.

The image is a merge of nine separate images using CombineZP for depth of field. A Fractalius layer was blended with the original. It was slightly cropped from top and left.


copyright © reserved 2011, Richard Lovison

[Maureen Allen]

What a lovely image, Richard! The colors and textures are so rich, yet soft and delicate. Wonderful!

[denise ippolito]

Richard, Wonderful composition and beautiful colors, they look like tulips to me but I could be wrong. Nice touch of fractalius. I'd hang this large print on my wall!!

[Steve Adkins]

Love what you do with light, Richard. Beautiful image and processing. A wall hanger - for sure!

[Julie Kenward]

They could be tulips and they could be poppies...hard to tell...but it's a beautiful image nonetheless! Only thing I can think of to say besides pure praise would be that I wouldn't have minded a little bit more leaf at the bottom to help ground the viewer's eye even more...but that's certainly not a deal breaker here. Beautiful highkey look, Richard...very well done!

[Indranil Sircar]

Super composition, Richard. Love the colors with the hk bg. Nicely processed.

[Anita Bower]

WoooHoooo! Fabulous image! Love everything about it. Would love to have it large on my wall.
I have a technical question: what camera settings did you use for your 9 images?

[Richard Lovison]

Thanks everyone for your comments and kind words, especially of the wall hanger variety. That was unexpected and very much appreciated.

Julie - thanks for your suggestion of more leaf at the bottom... I'll take it into consideration. The group of flowers still have a bit of life left in them for a few more photos.

They must be poppies as the petals are too thin and delicate for tulips.

Anita - The camera settings were:

ISO 100
1/10 sec
f6.3
Zuiko 14-54mm @ 45mm (you can get quite close to the subject with this lens -- 8.7 inches from sensor with 1;2 image magnification (1:1 35mm equivalent))
tripod

The first exposure was focused on the closest petal edge to the camera. Each exposure thereafter was focused a bit further into the scene.

[Anita Bower]

hey must be poppies as the petals are too thin and delicate for tulips.

Anita - The camera settings were:

ISO 100
1/10 sec
f6.3
Zuiko 14-54mm @ 45mm (you can get quite close to the subject with this lens -- 8.7 inches from sensor with 1;2 image magnification (1:1 35mm equivalent))
tripod

The first exposure was focused on the closest petal edge to the camera. Each exposure thereafter was focused a bit further into the scene.

Thanks for this information. I keep intending to try this approach, but, the few times I have done so, I haven't had great success. You did a fantastic job.

[Judy Howle]

Outstanding work on combining the images and processing. Fractalius really adds the perfect finishing touch to this stellar image!

[Richard Lovison]

Thanks Judy.

Anita - I'm not sure what problems you were having or what program you were using to merge images but if you want, you can send an email or pm if you like and I'll try to help. I usually save my RAW converted images as 8 bit tiffs and then use CombineZP to merge on a PC. I rarely encounter any problems.

Richard

[Anita Bower]

Thanks Judy.

Anita - I'm not sure what problems you were having or what program you were using to merge images but if you want, you can send an email or pm if you like and I'll try to help. I usually save my RAW converted images as 8 bit tiffs and then use CombineZP to merge on a PC. I rarely encounter any problems.

Richard

Thanks for your interest in helping me. I use Helicon Focus. The problems I encounter is that in focusing on different areas, the size of the image changes minutely, so that shot number 1 does not line up with shot number 9. Does this happen to you? I must confess, I haven't worked hard at solving the problem.

[Steve Adkins]

Hi Anita... You are correct that the FOV changes slightly as you refocus. This is supposed to be handled by the stacking software as it attempts to realign/size the images. Quite often you will still be left with some strange artifacts on the edges of the frame. One way to combat this is to frame the stacking images slightly larger than necessary and then crop the stacked result. Hope this helps a bit.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Richard, well worth the wait, a lovely image and I love the fractalius effect on the blossoms. Beautiful colors too!

[Richard Lovison]

Thanks for your interest in helping me. I use Helicon Focus. The problems I encounter is that in focusing on different areas, the size of the image changes minutely, so that shot number 1 does not line up with shot number 9. Does this happen to you? I must confess, I haven't worked hard at solving the problem.

Anita,

As Steve indicated, this problem should be handled by the stacking software in the alignment process although it is not perfect. I have a feeling that the amount of artifacts produced in the merge process is dependent on the f stop, lens used, closeness of the lens to the subject and magnification. The less depth of field present in the initial setup, the more likelihood of artifacts.

Most of my merges have been at 1;2 magnification. Macro at 1:1 or greater magnification will probably create more artifacts due to less depth of field. I have run into issues if the depth of my subject is too great. This usually results in artifacts around the edges of my subject. Most of these can be easily removed in Photoshop.

I haven't used Helicon Focus in a while but if I remember correctly, it had some pretty nifty tools for removing artifacts. I believe you had the ability to paint part of the original images into the merge.

Richard


Thanks Andrew. :)

[Anita Bower]

Hi Anita... You are correct that the FOV changes slightly as you refocus. This is supposed to be handled by the stacking software as it attempts to realign/size the images. Quite often you will still be left with some strange artifacts on the edges of the frame. One way to combat this is to frame the stacking images slightly larger than necessary and then crop the stacked result. Hope this helps a bit.

Thank you. It is clear I need to read and practice more with my software.

[Anita Bower]

Anita,

As Steve indicated, this problem should be handled by the stacking software in the alignment process although it is not perfect. I have a feeling that the amount of artifacts produced in the merge process is dependent on the f stop, lens used, closeness of the lens to the subject and magnification. The less depth of field present in the initial setup, the more likelihood of artifacts.

Most of my merges have been at 1;2 magnification. Macro at 1:1 or greater magnification will probably create more artifacts due to less depth of field. I have run into issues if the depth of my subject is too great. This usually results in artifacts around the edges of my subject. Most of these can be easily removed in Photoshop.

I haven't used Helicon Focus in a while but if I remember correctly, it had some pretty nifty tools for removing artifacts. I believe you had the ability to paint part of the original images into the merge.

Richard

Very helpful. I will try to use smaller aperture so the dof is larger, and will practice more with my software. I'm encouraged to try it again. Thanks.

[Brendan Dozier]

Wow, Richard, this really is an excellent composition! Beautiful looking flower, great color and texture. There's kind of brush stroke quality in the petals that I like. Very nicely done!

[Kerry Perkins]

Richard, sweet image and awesome processing! I just love all the light in this image. Super detail from the stacking that really adds a lot of character. Great job!

[Cheryl Slechta]

Richard - I love everything about this! It is a large wall-hanger for sure