Tag: zinnia

Zinnia & Steel Wool: Focus Stack with the Nikon Z6ii

Focus stacking – also called focal stacking, photo stacking, and who knows what else – is taking a series of images of one object and focusing at a slightly different distance from the previous photo. From there, you merge all the images to create one highly detailed image.

I’ve done this before using a manually focused set up, but after looking things up, it turns out the Nikon Z6ii has a built in focus stacking set up where everything is automated. It doesn’t take very long. I decided to try it out, following instructions on YouTube. They were easy to follow. My parameters, if you are interested, were as follows: 100 images, set apart by “1” in the Nikon menu, and an interval of “1”. What all this means, no idea, but I did it, and in a few minutes I had 100 images. My lens is 50mm at f/8.

Zinnia & Steel Wool

This is what the original stacks looked like after using Zerene software. Zerene is a software I have used years ago, and it works great. It takes a bit of time, but I think a dedicated program helps a lot. Photoshop does focus stacking as well, and so does another program, Helicon, but this requires an annual license or a lifetime license, and comes with various grades of licensure. For me, Zerene is just perfect for what I want to do.

First of all, if you want more detail of the above picture, click on it and enlarge as big as you can get it. You will find the little hairs on the zinnia stem as well as flaws in the photo stacking, but it is worth looking at methinks.

Obviously I did a bit of post production! I had to use the spot fix in LR and On1 to get rid of the line where the 2 pieces of foam board met up. I also had to get rid of spots and splodges. I increased the exposure a bit, upped the whites, blah, blah, blah. Let’s just say it took some time, but made me think that perhaps investing in a light box might be a good idea. I tried to make this look as nice as possible without going nuts and getting picky to the point I was ready for the zoo.

Kris over at Wicked Dark Photography does a lot of outdoor focus stacking of small things, like moss or mushrooms, and her lovely work made me realize there is a lot more potential here than getting nice photos of things to sell on eBay. Kris’s work as a photographer just really appeals to me as she knows a lot about nature, enjoys trees and water and even spiders (which I like outdoors and not enlarged!) and small plants. I look forward to her weekly posts as she is often out on an adventure with which I can travel along, especially on her videos.

Friday Flower Sketches

I’ve been playing with gouache of late, but really have missed watercolor and its transparency.  Yesterday I thought I would sit down to do some painting, but it never happened.  Today, out on the patio reading a book, I looked around at all the plants, and realized, duh!  There is a lot to play with out here!

I’d moved all my orchids outside to water and air out a bit.  This is the last of the blooming phalenopsis, so I painted it – no pencil or preliminary value studies – just direct watercolor and let it happen.  I can tell by the awkward handling of the paint I am out of practice; as well, the paper is not the best, but that is what sketch books are for.

About 6 weeks ago I took all my old and new flower seeds and planted them helter-skelter.  These are zinnias, plants which are notorious for wilting with not enough water – like in a couple of hours they can look like they will just fall over – but come back miraculously with a bit of help.  Totally crack me up – such simple flowers to be so demanding.  Kind of nervy.  Anyway, what I like about them is that they have beautifully shaped leaves, lovely stems, and smallish bright flowers that burst out of all the green surrounding them.  Here, a bit better handling, with a use of negative painting to create the leaves and perhaps a bit of dimension.

Finally, my favorite of the bunch.  Brush control and forethought.  Here I was perched on a rather tall chair, looking down onto the pot of scaveola, a sort of creeper from what I can observe.  It has a variety of leaf shapes, and the purple flowers sort of send out petals from behind the leaves in a peek-a-boo fashion.  I took a photo of this for Instagram, but you can also see the photo below of plant and sketch, taken with my phone.