Stitching To Increase DOF.

Bob Williams wrote:

I take a lot of Macro shots and am sometimes frustrated by the impossibility of getting the entire image in sharp focus even at small apertures.
I was just wondering if I could stitch together, say 5 images, each one shot to be sharp at a different part of the subject.
For instance….shoot one pic, focusing on the closest part of the subject, one at the farthest and 3 more at the 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 points.Could I then stitch these 5 images together in PS 7.0 to get an image with awesome Depth of Field?
Bob Williams

Hello Bob,
You might try shooting several exposures in RAW from a tripod, changing only the area of focus. Then, combine them in PS and use adjustment layers to paint out the out of focus areas. I’ve done this with exposure but not on focus.

—
bill in Lake Charles

"Bob Williams" wrote in message

I take a lot of Macro shots and am sometimes frustrated by the impossibility of getting the entire image in sharp focus even at small apertures.
I was just wondering if I could stitch together, say 5 images, each one shot to be sharp at a different part of the subject.

Bob, you have to choose a subject which is highly susceptible to simple techniques, but you with macro work you probably are not in that area. As you know, (for the rest) when you focus a lens closer, the focal length increases, therefore parts of the image increase in size. That means objects closer to the lens are inordinately larger than they were in the same shot focused further away. That complicates things when you attempt to merge.

An approach is not to change the focal length (do not refocus) but use a macro-focusing rail which moves the camera and lens together to frame different depths. Crop out the unmatched frames outside the smallest area. Then merge. That only helps a little, and is fussy as heck, but if you can work out the metrics and muck with merging you will get better results.

Or if you are brave, try http://www.focoz.com/products/. Frankly, I’m reluctant. It looks spendy and risky. I will do it when/if I get a grant to do so. That’s how I support myself.

In article <lzwvg.2675$>,
Bob Williams writes:

I was just wondering if I could stitch together, say 5 images, each one shot to be sharp at a different part of the subject. For instance….shoot one pic, focusing on the closest part of the subject, one at the farthest and 3 more at the 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 points.Could I then stitch these 5 images together in PS 7.0 to get an image with awesome Depth of Field?

Sure, but it’s easier to use software that’s designed for this purpose. CombineZ5 is free and works very well. Helicon Focus has a 30-day free trial period. Try a web search for those products.

—

Warren S. Sarle SAS Institute Inc. The opinions expressed here SAS Campus Drive are mine and not necessarily
(919) 677-8000 Cary, NC 27513, USA those of SAS Institute.

"Bob Williams" wrote in message

I take a lot of Macro shots and am sometimes frustrated by the impossibility of getting the entire image in sharp focus even at small apertures.
I was just wondering if I could stitch together, say 5 images, each one shot to be sharp at a different part of the subject.
For instance….shoot one pic, focusing on the closest part of the subject, one at the farthest and 3 more at the 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 points.Could I then stitch these 5 images together in PS 7.0 to get an image with awesome Depth of Field?

It’s a bit of work, but my favorite method is to resize the images so that they line up, and use a layer mask calculated by subtracting each image from a blurred version of itself.

Here is a discussion of a simple method that relies on manually creating the masks:
http://www.amphian.com/edit/tipsmacros.php

There are commercial applications and freeware applications that will do this. Here is a page that discusses the concepts, and lists some of the available software:
http://www.crystalcanyons.net/pages/TechNotes/3DMicroMacro.s htm

—
Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/

Warren Sarle wrote:

In article <lzwvg.2675$>,
Bob Williams writes:

I was just wondering if I could stitch together, say 5 images, each one shot to be sharp at a different part of the subject. For instance….shoot one pic, focusing on the closest part of the subject, one at the farthest and 3 more at the 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 points.Could I then stitch these 5 images together in PS 7.0 to get an image with awesome Depth of Field?

Sure, but it’s easier to use software that’s designed for this purpose. CombineZ5 is free and works very well. Helicon Focus has a 30-day free trial period. Try a web search for those products.

Thanks to all for your helpful feedback..
It is not as simple as I had hoped, nor as hopeless as I had feared. Some commercial freeware or trialware may be my first attempt. I never knew such stuff was available…..Cool!
Bob Williams

"Mike Russell" wrote in message

http://www.crystalcanyons.net/pages/TechNotes/3DMicroMacro.s htm

That page is seriously out-of-date. Here is a better one: http://www.outbackphoto.com/workflow/wf_72/essay.html

"Warren Sarle" wrote in message

"Mike Russell" wrote in message

http://www.crystalcanyons.net/pages/TechNotes/3DMicroMacro.s htm

That page is seriously out-of-date. Here is a better one: http://www.outbackphoto.com/workflow/wf_72/essay.html

Working the late shift, Warren?

"john j" wrote in message

Working the late shift, Warren?

No, just relaxing a bit before bed time (and during lunch break now).

Here are some examples.

With Helicon Focus:
http://www.warrensarle.com/Plants/large/images/Clematis_R=4_ S=4.jpg

With CombineZ5:
http://www.warrensarle.com/Plants/large/images/Buddleia-2.jp g http://www.warrensarle.com/Plants/large/images/Cardoon-1.jpg http://www.warrensarle.com/Plants/large/images/Blueberries-5 .jpg

"john j" wrote in message

"Bob Williams" wrote in message
Or if you are brave, try http://www.focoz.com/products/. Frankly, I’m reluctant. It looks spendy and risky. I will do it when/if I get a grant to do so. That’s how I support myself.

I hope none of my tax dollars go into a US$10,500 grant for that! 🙂 The examples on their site look inferior to CombineZ5 (free) plus a Nikon D2X and a good focusing rail. You could even throw in an Arca-Swiss Cube and top-of-the-line Gitzo tripod and still save several thousand!

"Warren Sarle" wrote in message

"john j" wrote in message

Working the late shift, Warren?

No, just relaxing a bit before bed time (and during lunch break now).
Here are some examples.
[… snip great pictures …]

You do come up with the most interesting things, Warren. Does some of it come along with the day job? I ask because I depend a great deal upon work to bring in funded projects.

"Warren Sarle" wrote in message

"john j" wrote in message

"Bob Williams" wrote in message
Or if you are brave, try http://www.focoz.com/products/. Frankly, I’m reluctant. It looks spendy and risky. I will do it when/if I get a grant to do so. That’s how I support myself.

I hope none of my tax dollars go into a US$10,500 grant for that! 🙂

Something is right with the world! Thank you!

Until just recently I was struggling with a challenge that I simply cannot accomplish alone, and will have to tell the clients. The very same project has been attempted and well documented as an utter failure by a well established research university and the Center for Disease Control. They concluded that not only did the project fail, but it took eight professionals working for eleven months to produce the prototype that proved it. The money is well spent if others would read the report and learn from it. But nooooooo. I fear I will be blamed regardless.

It no longer amazes me how many people make a killer living wasting the money of others on impossible projects, nor how one project done perfectly for very little expense is disregarded in favor of another that accomplishes the same but spends millions.

But I digress. I often do.

Back to work!

"john j" wrote in message

You do come up with the most interesting things, Warren.

Thanks!

Does some of it come along with the day job? I ask because I depend a great deal upon work to bring in funded projects.

Not at all. In fact it’s becoming increasingly difficult even to take photos for fun
on "campus" because of the increasing vigilance of the security guards in protecting
us from terrorists/photographers.

And now back to work trying to figure out how to fill out all of these cursed
performance management forms. 🙁

"Warren Sarle" wrote:

Does some of it come along with the day job? I ask because I depend a great deal upon work to bring in funded projects.

Not at all. In fact it’s becoming increasingly difficult even to take photos for fun on "campus" because of the increasing vigilance of the security guards in protecting us from terrorists/photographers.

That is distressing. I thought SAS might be an enlightened environment. However, I also thought the same of a nearby campus of which I am too familiar – the Mayo Clinic. So be it.

And now back to work trying to figure out how to fill out all of these cursed performance management forms. 🙁

Ah, we need to work on an automatic report generator that will pass administrative oversight. It need only pass the most lightweight statistical test for veracity. We are talking about administrators after all.

Yeah. Back to work. You know there’s a lot to learn from CS2’s preference file. Crack it open sometime, muck about. Yes, for the moment that’s work.