Run for your life!
The preceding composite image was created using Helicon Focus to focus stack 99 JPG photos taken automatically using my Fujifilm X-T5 set for AUTO FOCUS BKT. The composite image was created using unedited JPGs straight out of the camera.
When you use AUTO FOCUS BKT, you select two endpoints for your focus bracket (Point A and Point B) and the camera sets the step size between shots automatically.
If your goal is to create a composite image with the subject entirely in focus, here’s a helpful tip. As you are looking through the camera viewfinder, or in my case looking at the LCD on the back of the camera, it can be difficult to be sure which point on the subject is closest to the front of the lens and which point is farthest.
For example, looking at the composite image shown above, can you be certain one of the toy dinosaur’s legs doesn’t extend in front of it’s nose? I couldn’t. So what should you do before starting the photo shoot?
I think it’s helpful to look at the subject perpendicular to the camera/lens line of sight, as shown below. In this straightforward example the nearest and farthest points on the subject are obvious — Point A is the tip of the dinosaur’s nose and Point B is the tip of it’s tail. This tip should be useful for subjects that are more complex than my toy dinosaur.
For what it’s worth, the preceding photograph was taken using my Apple iPad mini 2.
Tech Tips
“Rendering” Method C in Helicon Focus worked best for this subject/composition, but it didn’t work perfectly. There was one artifact that doesn’t appear in any of the 99 focus bracketed photos used to create this composite image, so I knew that in-camera focus bracketing was working properly in my Fujifilm X-T5.
I used “Retouching” to fix the artifact. This was the first time I have used the retouching tools in Helicon Focus. I must admit the experience wasn’t as painful as I was led to believe, but it took a little experimentation to figure out the process.
At this point, I feel like I don’t have enough experience to share directions for how I removed the artifact. But I did take notes so I can refine the process and you can be sure I’ll do a follow-up blog post related to retouching as soon as I don’t feel as lost as I did this this time!
Copyright © 2023 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.