This is a continuation of the the post I did the other day (post 1 of 3). As in the other post all of these images were shot with the Olympus M.Zuiko 300mm f4.0 PRO (600mm full frame equivalent) and the OM-D E-M1 & OM-D E-M5 MkII.
Posts Tagged ‘Flowers
08
Jun
16
After the Rain
For many of us in the northeast, we had a fairly rainy weekend. This sends a lot of photographers to the indoors when this occurs. However, I find that this is where and when the opportunities present themselves. This is a time frame when I change up my gear and, for me, the the ideal equipment is my rugged Olympus TG-4 waterproof, crushproof & freezeproof camera. It has a very fast f2.o lens and allows me to shoot in RAW. All of the images were shot in the “Super Macro” mode.
A few weeks ago I traveled with my friend and fellow photog, Dave Rehrig to the Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve. It has been several years since my last visit to this beautiful Delaware Valley, Pennsylvania area. I had forgotten how beautiful this place is. They boast the fact that they have nearly 800 varieties of natural species (there are approximately 2000 species native to PA). More than 80 of which are rare, threatened or endangered native plants designated as Plants of Special Concern in Pennsylvania. Here is a link to Bowman’s Hill Website. All images were shot with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 MkII. The macro shots were taken with the M.Zuiko ED 60mm f2.8. The rest were taken with the M.Zuiko ED 12-40mm f2.8 PRO or the M.Zuiko ED 7-14mm f2.8 PRO. The last image of the flower is a series of 20 focus bracketed shots (which you can set to automatically shoot within the E-M5 Mk II) that provided me with a greater depth of field and thereby allowing me to have the front to the rear of the flower in full focus.
Birth of a Fern
21
Jan
16
Focus Bracketing/Stacking
Olympus continues to be a pioneer with some of their latest technology advances. With their most recent firmware upgrades for the OM-D series cameras, we are now able to create images with a significantly greater depth of field through the use of Focus Bracketing & Focus Stacking. There is an option to create “in-camera” results (Focus Stacking) and also through the post processing processes (Focus Bracketing). Bracketing has always been an option in the past. However, it was extremely time consuming and required many manual focus steps, along with a lot of trial & error and guess work.
The process I use to accomplish Bracketing and Stacking results are as follows:
- “Focus Stacking” a.k.a. In-camera processing
- Select the front most portion of your image that you want clear and use that as your focus point. Use a tripod or something to stabilize the camera.
- Go to the camera “menu” and select “Shooting Menu 2” & “Bracketing”. Click “On” and proceed to “Focus BKT”. Now select “Focus Stacking” & select”On”.
- Next select the “Set focus differential”. You have a step range from 1 (Narrow) to 10 (Wide). A focus step refers to the amount of focus movement where 1 is the smallest setting. When shooting at the widest aperture value, I would recommend using smaller focus step 1 or 2. Your selection will depend on your subject matter, aperture setting, distance, etc.
- After you have these settings in place make sure you hit OK all the way through.
- At this point you are ready to hit the shutter release (Tip: I would recommend using a cable release so as to not bump the camera).
- The camera will process a JPEG image and at this point you can now see the preview.
Below is an example of an in-camera Focus Stacked image using this process along side of a single non stacked image. The differential is quite amazing. Click on the images to see the full view.
Focus Stacked
Non-Focus Stacked
- “Focus Bracketing” Requires 3rd party post-processing software
- Select the front most portion of your image that you want clear and use that as your focus point. Use a tripod or something to stabilize the camera.
- Go to the camera “menu” and select “Shooting Menu 2” & “Bracketing”. Click “On” and proceed to “Focus BKT”. Now select “Focus Stacking Off”
- Select “Set number of shots”. You can select up to 999 shots. I have found that anything between 10 and 60 shots work well.
- Next select the “Set focus differential”. You have a step range from 1 (Narrow) to 10 (Wide). A focus step refers to the amount of focus movement where 1 is the smallest setting. When shooting at the widest aperture value, I would recommend using smaller focus step 1 or 2. Your selection will depend on your subject matter, aperture setting, distance, etc.
- After you have these settings in place make sure you hit OK all the way through.
- At this point you are ready to hit the shutter release (Tip: I would recommend using a cable release so as to not bump the camera).
- Now you have to take the images into a program like Photoshop or HeliconFocus (I have had good success with HeliconFocus). After you merge the images, you can perform your normal edits.
Below are two series of images where I used this process. The first image is the processed bracketed image and the second one is a single non-bracketed image.
Bracketed
Non-bracketed
Bracketed
Non-bracketed
In all cases it will require experimenting with various settings. All of the images were shot with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the 60mm f2.8 macro lens.
26
Jul
15
Brookgreen Gardens
Last week I was on vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC. I took the opportunity one morning to visit the Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet. The place is a sculpture garden & wildlife preserve and it is beautiful beyond belief. The property consists of 9,100 acres and is built on four former rice plantations. I would compare it to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. But with a very southern feel and charm. One of their missions is to collect, conserve and exhibit figurative sculpture by American artists.
27
Jun
15
Rainy Day Findings
Not to be stopped by some challenging weather. I went out this morning with the new waterproof Olympus TG-4. Here are some of the rain day images.
06
May
15
Spring is Here
The last couple of weeks have been amazing for spring time images.
12
Nov
14
Old Westbury Gardens
A couple of weeks ago, I lead a workshop for Berger Brothers in Long Island, New York with Olympus at the Old Westbury Gardens on the North Shore. The grounds are absolutely beautiful. The facility is on the National Register of Historic Places, it is the former home of John S. Phipps, his wife, Margarita Grace Phipps and their four children. Completed in 1906 by the English designer, George A. Crawley, the magnificent Charles II-style mansion is nestled amid 200 acres of formal gardens, landscaped grounds, woodlands, ponds and lakes. We had a wonderful day, the colors were at their peak and the group was great! If you are ever in this area, it is a “must see”.
30
Aug
14
Buzzing Around
Testing out the Olympus TG-3 in macro mode this morning. This thing is absolutely amazing.
A little over a week ago we stumbled across this orchid. The array of flowers & produce is amazing.
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