Old Silver Beach, Cape Cod

Old Silver Beach, Cape Cod

Image Management:

Mamiya 645DF
Phase One P65+
47MM Schneider Lens
Local tonality applied in Photoshop CS5

Focus Bracket

Cape Cod 

I shoot a good deal of HDR and I am usually happy with the results. But there are those times when the simple bracket approach does not work - like when your camera is tilted trying to capture a scene that runs from close up to infinity as in the image above.

If you carried a tilt-shift lens or a view camera this would be rather simple image to capture. Another technique is to use a 'focus bracket' and blend the images in a third-party software like Helicon Focus. This approach also allows you to make the capture at the sharpest lens opening which is usually 2-3 stops down from wide open.

IN this particular image I foiund the farthest (usually infinity with my 28MM lens)  and the the closest point of focus. I then bracketed the focus starting at the near point and making several exposures with the last one being, in this image,  infinity. The number of exposures can run from 4 to 8 or 10. I tend to make a few extra captures just to be safe.

You then take all  of the captures and blend them in Helicon Focus and your output is an image that is sharp from foreground through background.

I thank Dr. Mark Dubovoy for teaching me this technique several months back.

HHmmmm: Might need to try this with my IP4 on a tripod...will advise

Cape Cod

Silver Beach - just after sunrise 

Just back from three days in Cape Cod - Woods Hole - Falmouth area of the cape.

I was lucky enough to have two good friends, Debbie and Dennis, to show me around - more like driving Mr Daisy if you ask me. Debbie is a painter and Dennis is a photographer (both excellent at their craft), and, I got the benefit of their two years on the Cape as they knew every nook and cranny on the island. Apparently, and certainly not something I was aware of before this weekend, the state of Massachusetts is a strong advocate of public access - therefore I was able to see some magnificent natural beaches and wooded areas. Not to mention being able to make a few decent photographs along the way.

Short post today - just installed Snow Leopard and having so many issues - thinking about going back to 10.5.8 - nothing works and crashes everywhere...