Focus Stacking: Camaro Edition

[smoke665]

as I originally did exactly that and made it stand on a black solid background but I actually thought it lacked something then so I brought it back to the original and just darkened the background up a tad. I don't know maybe its just personal artistic preference but I think the one with a solid black is "lacking" something. Hard to explain lol.

One thing you might try is using plexiglass with black foam core underneath for the base. Gives you some nice reflections. Or go crazy with your image in HDR format. Lot's of possibilities. Look forward to seeing more from you.

 

[qmr55]

as I originally did exactly that and made it stand on a black solid background but I actually thought it lacked something then so I brought it back to the original and just darkened the background up a tad. I don't know maybe its just personal artistic preference but I think the one with a solid black is "lacking" something. Hard to explain lol.

One thing you might try is using plexiglass with black foam core underneath for the base. Gives you some nice reflections. Or go crazy with your image in HDR format. Lot's of possibilities. Look forward to seeing more from you.

View attachment 143993

Oooooh I like the idea of the plexiglass and black foam core. Gonna have to try that!

 

[qmr55]

So I started playing with some black foam core and some plexiglass. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but almost every shot is coming out with the foam core being a muddle black almost a gray/brown instead of a nice crisp black.

Any tips? Am I doing something wrong with lighting? I was bouncing light off the ceiling and left and right. The brighter I made the light the worse it got, and the longer I exposed the worse it got....

 

[qmr55]

Hmmmmmmm

 

[FotosbyMike]

The reason why the back foam core is not black is because the light is spilling onto the back ground.
Fix - 1. more the background further away from the light source
2. Flag the light source (block so it doesn't spill)
3. Fix it in post by increasing the black on the background

 

[qmr55]

Thanks Mime! I actually used number 3 on my last attached image and I like the results!

 

[smoke665]

Hmmmmmmm

The last one is much better. A few comments.

• On my monitor and tablet the car has a lot of green in the yellow. Is the original that color? Also, are you on manual, or Auto? My advice would be to set your camera to full manual, and at the start of each series of shots use a small piece of white Styrofoam as a target. Then set the color temperature of all the shots in that series to the white. LR is the easiest because you can use the eye dropper then synch all. You can also use the eye dropper in levels in PS, but it's a little more difficult to adjust all. If your WB is off it can affect all colors including the black.
• 22 shots is a lot to manage. As the number goes up the potential for alignment errors also rises. You can see that in the trunk and rear spoiler. I would suggest dropping the number of shots, and raising the aperture to give more ovetlap in the DOF or invest in a decent focus rail.
• Not sure that all that light bouncing off walls is helping you. Softer light being counter to the sharpness you seek to gain by stacking. Direct light with modifiers as necessary would give you greater control on contrast.

 

[qmr55]

Hey Smoke,

• I don't see the green in the color, although I am a tad color blind so that could be part of the problem lol. I was shooting in aperture priority on these shots. I will give it a try with the white styrofoam. Would white foamcore do the same? I have that already. I will have to play with LR as I usually use PS to process, so that will be new to me.
• Agreed, I actually used less shot son the last one. I will have to mess with the lighting some more to be able to shoot at a higher aperture. I am planning to fool around with the setup this weekend some more to learn some.
• On your last point, I must have read your mind because on that last shot I used one light pointed directly at the front right of the car with a diffuser on it.

Thanks again for all the help, much appreciated and I have more to experiment with now!

 

[smoke665]

I don't see the green in the color, although I am a tad color blind so that could be part of the problem

If you're working on an uncalibrated monitor, that could be part of the problem. Mine was way off. This is a relatively inexpensive solution I use to calibrate about once a month ColorMunki Smile - Easy-to-Use Monitor Calibration: X-Rite Photo & Video.

I was shooting in aperture priority on these shots.

Remember that DOF is a function of lens focal length, aperture, and distance from the subject. Though it probably isn't changing the aperture, during the shot series, it most definitely could pick a less than suitable aperture. For example with your setup at f/2.8 and a distance to subject of 12" your total DOF is less than 1/8", but more importantly you only have less than 1/16" in front of or behind your focus point that will be in focus. Up your aperture to f/8.0 and you triple your total DOF to almost 3/8", with approximately 3/16" in front of and behind your focus point. The significance being that it increases your ability to miss your focus point and still retain a sharp focus. There is a point where increases in aperture won't necessarily reflect an increase in sharpness, each lens has a "sweet spot" for maximum sharpness.

Would white foamcore do the same? I have that already.

Yup, as will anything white - IE: Styrofoam plates, white paper, etc. though ideally an 18% gray target is the best for color, but white will get you close.

I will have to mess with the lighting some more to be able to shoot at a higher aperture.

Don't forget you can also use ISO. With your light set up ISO 100 is pretty low. You could probably safely go to 400 without any objectionable noise, maybe higher. If there was it's easy to clean up in LR.

 

[FotosbyMike]

Since you are using PS I would highly recommend getting some practice in with the Pen tool for cutting object out of the backgrounds creating a layer mask so when you make your adjustments to the back black you don't affect the cars exposure.

On the last images it looks like the WB maybe a little off, also I would fix the rear rim is blueish and the front rim is more yellow. Need some more exposure in the blower so we can see the butterflies, needs more light on the front bumper too.

Can't wait to see what you pull off this weekend.