It is freezing down here in the Texas hill country. It is actually down to 31 degrees today! Ok, so go ahead and laugh all of you who are north of us. I realize it is really freezing pretty much in the rest of the country. But for us the past few days has been nothing but freezing rain. The frozen rain has created many wonderful ice sculptures, but has also brought down many, many trees and limbs we will have to deal with later in the week.
I found the combination of lichens amongst the debris and couldn’t resist trying a stack.
Type of Critique Requested - Aesthetic, Emotional, Technical and whatever the other critiques are. Some how I missed this part. Please feel free to give all thoughts.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I love looking into this little frozen world. I realize there are still portion that are still soft, any ideas? More shots? I could not get the frosted parts of the sculpture to be in focus, any ideas? Does it look like a frozen world. Does it interest you? Ideas on how better to handle the highlights?
I welcome any thoughts, comments and suggestions. Thank you.
Technical Details
Nikon Z6ii, f/11, 1/3sec., iso 320 @105mm, tripod, polarizer, remote release.
This is a 22 image stack. Stacked in Helicon using standard depth map settings. Then brought it into ACR to reduce reds, soften and cloned out white spots in background. For the frozen lichen I reduced whites/highlights and brought up the yellows. PS to crop from top/bottom and levels to brighten just a tad.
Wow, Linda, you are getting into the stacking too! Maybe this spring or summer I can give it a try. Yeah, had to chuckle a little about freezing at 31, but when we aren’t used to it, it is cold. It usually doesn’t get bad here in NC, but back around Christmas it was down around 10 or 12 I think, but only stayed that way for a few days and warmed back up nicely. I don’t like ice storms. I shattered my wrist 8 years ago walking on ice on a sidewalk. Thankfully with a plate and screws I am able to use my wrist like nothing ever happened. Mom didn’t name me Grace for a very good reason!
This is an interesting shot of a mixture of ice and lichen. What a good find. I like the shapes and colors in this. I am wondering if a side view would have been possible (which would have meant getting down low in icy conditions). I can’t give you any advice on the stacking, so will let others that are experienced do that. I commend you for getting out there in the cold and wet to get the shot.
Oh this is very cool. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen frozen lichen like this before so thanks a bunch for posting it. Next time we get freezing rain, I’ll have to go exploring. And yeah, 30 degrees would be nice, it was 10 below this morning, but that was 10 degrees warmer than the previous morning.
Glad to have another stacker on board! Isn’t it fun?
I can’t see anything really soft in the ice, just the leaves behind which I think I prefer OOF and you have a mix here. It’s possible some of the leading edges of the ice are soft, but the curve distorts things so it’s hard to tell. Not sure what you mean by the frosted bits. I don’t see any frost here. Highlights are best fought in the field with a diffuser. I have a small one that folds up to about 5 inches and expands to about 14 across. Love it. In a pinch I’ve used my hat, my jacket and my body. Making shade is key to a lot of macro work. Looks like there are a few areas of artifacting in the stack, too.
This is an interesting photograph and reminds me of Venetian glass paperweights. I am not a focus stacking expert (I’ve only tried it a few times) , but I think it would be hard to stack on this subject because the ice would refract/bend the light so that no matter how well you stacked there would still be areas of softness.
Linda: What a great find! I had no idea what it was until I read your description but no matter what it is it’s thoroughly cool. I don’t stack (still a single capture dinosaur) but this looks pretty good to me overall. Intriguing and superbly crafted image.>=))>
Really nice find, Linda! I actually at first thought it was a kind of quartz crystal. I think you did a great job of getting it all in focus. I know nothing about stacking, but it seems like you have done a really good job of it. I heard that it was quite the ice storm down there. Hope you are all ok.
Thank you; @Shirley_Freeman, @Kris_Smith, @Pamela_Sherlock, @Bill_Fach, and @Vanessa_Hill for taking the time to comment on my frozen world. I apologize for not getting back to all of you sooner, as I have been dealing with an acre of frozen downed Oak tree limbs. Yes, Vanessa, it was quite a storm! Shirley, thanks for the idea of trying a different perspective. . .can’t believe it did not occur to me to try that. By the time I got back to it, it was already melting! Maybe next time. Kris, my hat is off to you (and @Mark_Seaver) for the amazing stacked images you have posted. While I have tried a few stacked photos in the past, none have met even my smallest expectations. So, yes, I would love to be considered a “stacker,” however I do realize I have many stack to go before I rest. Thanks for the re-post suggestions, this does help me a lot to know not only what needs work , but also what it looks like. If that makes sense. I truly appreciate your time and comments. Pamela, yes, as a newbie to stacking this probably wasn’t the easiest subject to start with, but I was truly caught up in my own fascination with it. Bill, I am glad you’re enjoying seeing it as much as I did.
Vanessa, I appreciate your kind thoughts and yes, we have “weathered” the storm and will now begin the clean process. Perhaps I’ll find more subjects to practice stacking with. Stay tuned.
Linda, I missed this one… First, does your Z6ii automate the stacking? If it does, then is should have given you enough overlap to avoid any oof sections in the stack. If you did this by hand, then you may have not been able to make a small enough focus adjustment…been there and done that many times. Rounded ice, like this, also has ways to create sections that look slightly soft, but that’s the ice, not the stacking. I do see some soft edges along the top of that upper right arm, which probably mean that you needed another step of two. It’s a neat bit of icy lichen, that you’ve framed and presented well. The highlights look fine (and they can be very challenging because a “specular” highlight can be 5 - 8 stops brighter than anything else).
I love what you found her and used the ice so well. The color is very nice. Freezing rain can sure introduce problems but it opens the window for beautiful photos
Yes, Mark it does what Nikon calls focus shift shooting. This setting allows me to set #of shots, focus step, interval til next shot, first-frame exposure lock, silent photo and create folder. I have used this option in the past, but was not please with the out come. I need to do more experimenting with #of shots and step width I believe. Typically when you focus stack, do you use this auto function? Thanks for your thoughts and taking the time to comment.
This is so true Dean. I will be spending much of my time in the next few months cleaning up after this “beautiful storm.” Thanks so much for your kind thoughts.
Linda, yes, the auto function works much better than by hand. You might try a smaller step and more shots to see how things look. My R5 came with a chosen step size (4), that I expanded slightly (6) and then very quickly returned to it’s factory setting. If you’re using an autofocus lens, the camera knows the f-stop and the focusing distance, which is all it needs to make sure that there’s focus overlap between each shot.
Just saw this, @linda_mellor. Great to see you’ve joined the stackers! Your auto function is a real boon, as Mark says. I use the 105mm but find it so tricky to manipulate in small steps. By contrast, my ancient Helios lens allows for much easier small manual steps. But I hope this automated stacking function becomes standard in cameras from now on. You chose a tricky subject to start with but did an excellent job. I’m sure you’ll try flowers and insects, and I look forward to seeing what you get up to!
Thanks, Mike. Yes in retrospect perhaps trying something a little simpler would have been a good choice. It was a great experiment and I did learn a lot. Hopefully more stacked are down the road for me as spring begins to blossom.
