Silver birch trees make wonderful subjects and I thought this small section of peeling bark would make a pleasing image. Technically, it was challenging to photograph. Shallow depth of field sacrificed too much detail for my taste. Stopping down, on the other hand, brought the background trunk too far into focus and, in any event, did not provide sufficient depth of field for the main subject.
Time, then, to try the automated focus stacking feature on my camera. Except that turned out to be more complicated than I thought. First I set the wrong aperture for the background, basing this on the near point of focus when I should have been using the farthest point. Then my stack was not deep enough for the depth of field I wanted. I kept under-estimating the number of frames required. I eventually ended up with a 50-image focus stack (!) which turned out to be at the very limit of what my five-year old iMac could process (I literally had time to make a cup of tea while it slowly ploughed its way through the batch). I might have got away with fewer shots if I had increased the focus interval but, after expending so much time and effort, the last thing I wanted was to end up with gaps in my stack. Talking of which, I found I needed to start and stop my stack with the main subject slightly blurred to avoid missing critical focus on the near and far points.
Despite all this, I’m pleased with the final image, which turned out more or less as I hoped. It’s just the execution that needs work. I made life difficult for myself by starting with a deep, highly three dimensional subject. Still, I really need to spend more time practising this method, so I know what I’m doing next time!
Nikon Z7, MC 105/2.8 S. Original photograph copyright © Simon Miles. Not to be used without permission. Thanks for looking.
Posted by SimonHMiles on 2022-01-28 14:45:11
Tagged: , Dartmoor , Devon , wood , woods , woodland , forest , tree , trees , bark , landscape , abstract , macro , detail , form , pattern , texture , Nikon , Z7 , silver , birch
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