Lichens and stacking - I think I’m an addict. Is there a 12-step program for this? Kidding.
While out seeing how far I felt like bushwhacking for my Prairie river project, I found a stick with this outstanding formation on it. Of course I could barely see it without a hand lens. It was a little windy so to keep it still I tucked the branch behind some suckers on an alder tree (I think it was an alder). It had a great mossy background so that’s another reason I put it there.
I have one of the only NA Lichen field guides around and it’s specifically for the Great Lakes area. According to it - Yellow discs & foliose = poplar sunburst lichen (Xanthoria hasseana), blue discs & foliose = star rosette lichen (Physcia stellaris), branched forms = common antler lichen (Pseudevernia consocians). That last one is more tentative. All found on a stick. The formation is maybe 1/2 inch across with the antler lichen on the right taking up more space.
Specific Feedback Requested
Any is welcome. I think the stack came out well, but I might have missed something. I didn’t notice the bit of moss sticking up from the back on the bottom of the stick. Bah. There is a tiny bit of ‘goopiness’ in the structure and I just couldn’t get it right. Is it too obvious?
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Lumix G9
Leica DG 45mm f/2.8 macro
f/5 | 1/100 | ISO 200
Tripod
21-shot stack - 0/+ method, 4-step separation
Lr processed for wb correction, some color management & the usual improvements. Zerene for stacking & retouching - only the background needed work to smooth out the usual DMap smears and smudges. Ps to remove an OOF distraction & Smart Sharpening. Lr again for a final crop.
Kris, this is a beautiful image, what a great find. Love the color and shape combination of the different lichen. Your placement seems to work great, with the moss for a background. I am not able to help you with the stacking, as I haven’t ventured into that yet. Barely find time and subjects in the yard to shoot a “one shot” of, let alone setting up to stack, and learn about it. Maybe some day. A very pleasing image.
This is a really nice one. What a combination of textures and colors. Nature is pretty amazing! I like the composition as well. The bright yellow discs feel like an alien device from a sci-fi movie and put a smile on my face. They also contrast nicely with the cool grey and the green. The 3 “antlers” also form a nice triangle in between them tying it together. There might be a step size 12 setting in your camera, but otherwise, I doubt there are any programs to get out of stacking
It feels a bit evil to pixel peep and nitpick on a great close-up image but there are some halos on the “antler” in the lower right, and you have already “discovered” the moss intruding from below, All in all though I would say you are improving both on the tech and artistic side of things. Keep up the good work!
Wonderful find, well presented! The stack looks fine to me – with the outdoor setting I don’t think most people would expect absolute precision, and the interest is in the uniqueness of the lichen itself.
Thanks @Shirley_Freeman, @Diane_Miller & @Ingemar_Holmkvist - little hidden worlds like this just fascinate me like nothing else. No wonder I’ve done macro for a decade. The stacking though is just giving me more to play with.
I know there are some smudgy and goopy bits in there, but I couldn’t do anything about them in retouching. I think the camera ‘stepped’ over them when moving from focus point to focus point. Calibrating the distance between the steps is pretty much trial and error I’m afraid. It all comes down to your lens, your subject, and your aperture.
A friend and former dental assistant offered me a couple of tweezer like tools to add to my kit (like I need more!) so I can gently remove tiny bits in the field. I also have a pair I use for sorting gemstones and I could always ‘borrow’ those for the time being. Fingers are just to big and clumsy for a lot of the clean up needed at this level of tininess.
