Textures and Focus Stacking
Lesson 10 from: Macro Photography: Insects and Plant LifeChris McGinnis
Textures and Focus Stacking
Lesson 10 from: Macro Photography: Insects and Plant LifeChris McGinnis
Lessons
Class Introduction
01:39 2Location Scouting
02:59 3What is Macro Photography
02:09 4What Makes a Good Macro Photo
03:44 5Gear
11:20 6Preparing for Outdoor Macro
02:00 7Camera Settings
06:48 8How to Get Started With Macro
11:59Lesson Info
Textures and Focus Stacking
When you're out scouting or on a hike and you see something like this, this is a great place to stop. This old, dead tree stump has all kinds of little nooks and crannies, and caverns and cracks, and they're great places for insects to hide. Take a minute, look around, take a close look, change levels, and see what you can find. For anyone that's interested in the abstract macro photography, this is also a great subject for texture. You've got different color and patterns, and you could stay here all day and shoot different textures just on this tree stump. (camera softly clicking) So, when you're shooting textures like this, one really great feature to use is the in-camera focus stacking on the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II. What this does, it takes a series of shots at different focal distances and merges them together in-camera. So, you'll get the details of the relief, whether they be close to the camera or far away, all in-focus in the same shot, all in-camera. When you're shooting st...
acks with focus bracketing for in-camera stacking, you wanna make sure you're supported and braced against something. You're going to take a series of between three and 15 photos in a short period of time, and the more stable your camera is the better your results will be. So here, I'm braced against this tree. I can hold my camera pretty stable, and I'm gonna focus on the point that's closest to my camera, and then the camera will work through a series of shots, focusing all the way from front to back and back to front, and merge those photos together in-camera.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Free Bonus Materials
Ratings and Reviews
Andrew Lamberson
I found the class both very informative and very motivational to get started in Macro photography. It is an entry-level class but it explains what you really need to know to be successful. I especially found the information on the value of using flash and how to modify your flash for it to be more effective especially helpful. I am an experienced wildlife photographer and have done some "Macro" with my telephoto lens, but this class motivated me to purchase a dedicated lens. I am really looking forward to spring and finding some good bugs!
Gary Hook
Chris does a commendable job of explaining his techniques, reasons and potential pitfalls to avoid. Very thorough and much more enthusiastic about little bugs than I will ever be :-) but at the end one has a good concept on how to approach the task at hand. Nice closing with his practical examples of 'post' shoot production. One suggestion for inclusion would be some operating tips/techniques with a tripod/macro rail slider. His Olympus is way smaller/lighter than my Canon 5D so my hand holding will be at a minimum. Well done. Thank you
Chris Baudec
Great presentation and great motivation in the post processing. I do wish that the would have been made available. After all, this is a Olympus sponsored event, and Oly settings are always welcomed.... and a tad difficult on the learning curve.