Stacking photoshop layers concept vs using ND filter

Gruyanidas

Senior Member
Pretty much said in title. Well I have seen recently a video where man explained why we actually don't need ND filter to achieve, in his example, milky effect when shooting water by taking for example 10 images in 1s shutter speed and then stuck them as layers in photoshop. One thing is certainly sure, that image definetlly has less noise, and let's say desired effect is achieved in that example, but I'm not quite sure about it... Of course, moreover there are many issues with that such as 10x more storage space taken in memory card for example..
I still didn't try this, but I'm planning to do it.
What are your opinions about this concept?

Послато са SM-G903F уз помоћ Тапатока
 
I have done this before but the use of the ND and low ISO, High aperture and slow shutter speed I think still looks better
BUT
Shooting it in 10 shots and stacking them has the advantage of being able to use 2 or 3 or all 10 shots to get just the degree of blur in the water that works for the shot.
 

Gruyanidas

Senior Member
I have done this before but the use of the ND and low ISO, High aperture and slow shutter speed I think still looks better
BUT
Shooting it in 10 shots and stacking them has the advantage of being able to use 2 or 3 or all 10 shots to get just the degree of blur in the water that works for the shot.
Well it's worth trying at least to compare results. The point of that video was how photographers actually don't need cpl, nd and uv filters at all and how desired effects could be achieved differently.

Послато са SM-G903F уз помоћ Тапатока
 
Well it's worth trying at least to compare results. The point of that video was how photographers actually don't need cpl, nd and uv filters at all and how desired effects could be achieved differently.

Послато са SM-G903F уз помоћ Тапатока

CPL is the first filter I would ever be without. The more you can do in camera the better off you are. Same with Split ND filters. It can get shots you just can not get as good in any kind of Post Processing like HDR.

I am a big proponent of Post Processing as many people here will tell you but the first thing you do is to try your very best to get it right in the camera and then finish up in Post.
 

RocketCowboy

Senior Member
I am a big proponent of Post Processing as many people here will tell you but the first thing you do is to try your very best to get it right in the camera and then finish up in Post.

Exactly! Could be one of those nuance differences between a graphic artist and a photographer. The former enjoys spending lots of time behind the computer working on images, where the photographer enjoys spending lots of time behind the lens capturing images. ;)
 
Exactly! Could be one of those nuance differences between a graphic artist and a photographer. The former enjoys spending lots of time behind the computer working on images, where the photographer enjoys spending lots of time behind the lens capturing images. ;)

In the last year I have been working more on getting it right in the camera. My mentor gets pissed at me if I do to much in the computer. I still will remove a trash can or a offending limb or fence though.
 

aroy

Senior Member
Pretty much said in title. Well I have seen recently a video where man explained why we actually don't need ND filter to achieve, in his example, milky effect when shooting water by taking for example 10 images in 1s shutter speed and then stuck them as layers in photoshop. One thing is certainly sure, that image definetlly has less noise, and let's say desired effect is achieved in that example, but I'm not quite sure about it... Of course, moreover there are many issues with that such as 10x more storage space taken in memory card for example..
I still didn't try this, but I'm planning to do it.
What are your opinions about this concept?

Послато са SM-G903F уз помоћ Тапатока

Stacking images is an old concept. With stacking you can achieve any one of the following effects
. Averaging of the image elements. That will smoothen out the water flow just as in long exposure
. Noise reduction of static objects used primarily for astro photography
. Removal of transient object. Here the software removes all non-static objects, for example a 20 shot of a busy road when processed can get rid of most pedestrians and automobile traffic leaving a clean shot.

What you are referring to is the first option and it works perfectly. The beauty of stacking that you can omit any image that has an intrusion, say a person walking across or a bird flying.
 

Gruyanidas

Senior Member
Stacking images is an old concept. With stacking you can achieve any one of the following effects
. Averaging of the image elements. That will smoothen out the water flow just as in long exposure
. Noise reduction of static objects used primarily for astro photography
. Removal of transient object. Here the software removes all non-static objects, for example a 20 shot of a busy road when processed can get rid of most pedestrians and automobile traffic leaving a clean shot.

What you are referring to is the first option and it works perfectly. The beauty of stacking that you can omit any image that has an intrusion, say a person walking across or a bird flying.
Looks like there are more advantages than disadvantages of stacking shots in post production. I think I'm going to love it mostly because of sharpness hence you have "clear" lense without any physical element in front of.

Послато са SM-G903F уз помоћ Тапатока
 

Gruyanidas

Senior Member
What is better to do for the final image: To make some desired adjustments in software on 1 raw file and then apply it to all same shots and then do stacking or to do all let's say "technical" job with all raw files directly from the camera and then make adjustments to final image or its just the same?

Послато са SM-G903F уз помоћ Тапатока
 

aroy

Senior Member
What is better to do for the final image: To make some desired adjustments in software on 1 raw file and then apply it to all same shots and then do stacking or to do all let's say "technical" job with all raw files directly from the camera and then make adjustments to final image or its just the same?

Послато са SM-G903F уз помоћ Тапатока

Most advanced stacking software will have provision for both pre and post stacking adjustments to the images. There are numerous algorithms used, so it is better to do a thorough study of material available on the net, before starting.
 

Gruyanidas

Senior Member
Recently I have made some good shots, making many shots of the same frame and now have a problem when it came to a post processing. I guess as some of you already experienced that, hopefully could help me now ☺ In my photoshop cc 2015 stacking mode is grayed out. I did everything correctly so far with layers and so on... I read about issue on the Internet and some people have experienced that but with photoshop cs6 for example and it is said something like it's an a bug or something related to Adobe engineering. Is there any solution to this issue, or maybe some other program that could allow me to stack photos in order to get longer exposure like photo with reduced noise as well?

Послато са SM-G903F уз помоћ Тапатока
 

aroy

Senior Member
Recently I have made some good shots, making many shots of the same frame and now have a problem when it came to a post processing. I guess as some of you already experienced that, hopefully could help me now ☺ In my photoshop cc 2015 stacking mode is grayed out. I did everything correctly so far with layers and so on... I read about issue on the Internet and some people have experienced that but with photoshop cs6 for example and it is said something like it's an a bug or something related to Adobe engineering. Is there any solution to this issue, or maybe some other program that could allow me to stack photos in order to get longer exposure like photo with reduced noise as well?

Послато са SM-G903F уз помоћ Тапатока

Search the net for free stacking software. Download and install it and see if it accepts your image files. Some software can use RAW files while others need JPEG of TIFF. In case it accepts TIFF, then export your RAW files as 16 bit TIFF for better DR.
 

Gruyanidas

Senior Member
Search the net for free stacking software. Download and install it and see if it accepts your image files. Some software can use RAW files while others need JPEG of TIFF. In case it accepts TIFF, then export your RAW files as 16 bit TIFF for better DR.
I will try it, definitely. I was preoccupied with photoshop surprised with it's malfunction in stacking.

Послато са SM-G903F уз помоћ Тапатока
 

Blade Canyon

Senior Member
Could one increase sharpness by stacking images from a stationary shot? I saw a comment on an article about sharpness. Here is the comment:

"If the target has a lot of air between you and it and it is stationary, shooting ten or more exposures and then digitally stacking them produces a dramatic improvement in clarity and sharpness. This is a routine procedure in astrophotography. The image clarity will increase with the square root of the number of exposures stacked. Stacking also tends to eliminate the grain noise from the image as the noise is random and tends to cancel out with multiple images. The whole purpose in stacking is to increase the signal to noise ratio."

I would think the variations over the 10 photos would increase blur, not sharpness. How do you stack to increase sharpness?
 

aroy

Senior Member
Could one increase sharpness by stacking images from a stationary shot? I saw a comment on an article about sharpness. Here is the comment:

"If the target has a lot of air between you and it and it is stationary, shooting ten or more exposures and then digitally stacking them produces a dramatic improvement in clarity and sharpness. This is a routine procedure in astrophotography. The image clarity will increase with the square root of the number of exposures stacked. Stacking also tends to eliminate the grain noise from the image as the noise is random and tends to cancel out with multiple images. The whole purpose in stacking is to increase the signal to noise ratio."

I would think the variations over the 10 photos would increase blur, not sharpness. How do you stack to increase sharpness?

As far as I could understand when staking for sharpness, the software rejects those parts of the image that are not there in every frame, effectively getting rid of the "halo" at the edges.

For example if you take 10 shots of an object, say a tree and there is slight wind then there will be slight shift image to image creating a blur if you average the frames. The software will get rid of that blur.
 
Top