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<blockquote data-quote="Dave_W" data-source="post: 108786" data-attributes="member: 9521">I've been lusting after a tilt-shift lens for awhile now and at the rate things are moving around here, it's not something that's going to happen any time soon. So I decided I'd finally get around to playing with focus stacking. Frankly, I'm a little embarrassed to say that today was my first attempt at focus stacking, especially given how painfully easy the technique is (hmmmm, maybe time for another &quot;how-to&quot; blog entry?).&nbsp; In landscape photography there are precious few techniques outside of a tilt-shift lens to give you complete depth of field&nbsp; You can stop down to the smallest aperture but then you run into the very real risk of diffraction. Not so good if your intent was to produce a sharp image at all points. The other technique is to find the hyperfocal point. Although it's a time tested way to get maximum DoF, it requires a little more than a casual effort. You can do a pretty good job guestimating that point but to get it just right, you really need to measure and then do a little mathematical work on the side. Not something I'm looking to do when out photographing.So that leaves focus stacking. It requires no math, no measurements, just a modicum of photoshop knowledge and a sturdy tripod. Using my trusty 105mm macro (VR and AF switched off) and shot 8 images that I stacked and combined into one to give me this nearly perfectly focused image below and it didn't cost me $1600 for a new TS-lens.&nbsp; [ATTACH=full]25583[/ATTACH]</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dave_W, post: 108786, member: 9521"] I've been lusting after a tilt-shift lens for awhile now and at the rate things are moving around here, it's not something that's going to happen any time soon. So I decided I'd finally get around to playing with focus stacking. Frankly, I'm a little embarrassed to say that today was my first attempt at focus stacking, especially given how painfully easy the technique is (hmmmm, maybe time for another "how-to" blog entry?). In landscape photography there are precious few techniques outside of a tilt-shift lens to give you complete depth of field You can stop down to the smallest aperture but then you run into the very real risk of diffraction. Not so good if your intent was to produce a sharp image at all points. The other technique is to find the hyperfocal point. Although it's a time tested way to get maximum DoF, it requires a little more than a casual effort. You can do a pretty good job guestimating that point but to get it just right, you really need to measure and then do a little mathematical work on the side. Not something I'm looking to do when out photographing. So that leaves focus stacking. It requires no math, no measurements, just a modicum of photoshop knowledge and a sturdy tripod. Using my trusty 105mm macro (VR and AF switched off) and shot 8 images that I stacked and combined into one to give me this nearly perfectly focused image below and it didn't cost me $1600 for a new TS-lens. [ATTACH type="full" width="60%"]25583._xfImport[/ATTACH] [/QUOTE]

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