Critique Silver Studded blues mating pair

LCPete

LCPete

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Sorry I have posted much lately been busy but really pleased to find a mating pair of Silver Studded Blues at Prees on Friday
Focus stacked image from 18 frames
24th June , Prees Heath

Edit would be interested on feedback on this one even if you don’t like it.
I’ve been experimenting with focus stacking on butterflies to get more in focus especially when I can’t easily get enough in focus in one shot for example when the sun is out and my shadow stops me getting parallel with the butterfly.
I tried to get everything in focus on this one not sure if it looks right with it all in focus ?

1656276631044.jpeg
 
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That's a lovely picture Pete.

I haven't got much feedback other than some parts seems slightly soft so if it isn't an effect of the posting process maybe a smaller aperture and a deeper depth of field might have been an idea if possible but I don't know what that may have done to your shutter speed and ISO, but it may look fine on your screen.
 
woof woof said:
That's a lovely picture Pete.

I haven't got much feedback other than some parts seems slightly soft so if it isn't an effect of the posting process maybe a smaller aperture and a deeper depth of field might have been an idea if possible but I don't know what that may have done to your shutter speed and ISO, but it may look fine on your screen.
Click to expand...
Thanks Alan :)
I see what you mean parts of the female butterfly at the back aren’t quite sharp, the reduction in file size I had to do to post it has made it look softer and the original is better but not 100 percent sharp on the back butterfly
Good point about using a smaller aperture I was using F 8 (full frame ) I found in the past that about F8 was the sweet spot for sharpness on my crop camera but I could probably go to a smaller aperture now I’m on full frame , still getting used to the differences
Settings were F8 and ISO 400 , I can’t remember the shutter speed but was around 100 I think
Converted Raws with photolab deep prime and used affinity for the stacking
I’m glad people like the colours that’s one thing I’m struggling with a bit getting the white balance at the moment for some shots I’m going back to an old version of Photoshop to colour correct the white and black points as I’ve not figured how to do that in photo lab or affinity
 
LCPete said:
Thanks Alan :)
I see what you mean parts of the female butterfly at the back aren’t quite sharp, the reduction in file size I had to do to post it has made it look softer and the original is better but not 100 percent sharp on the back butterfly
Good point about using a smaller aperture I was using F 8 (full frame ) I found in the past that about F8 was the sweet spot for sharpness on my crop camera but I could probably go to a smaller aperture now I’m on full frame , still getting used to the differences
Settings were F8 and ISO 400 , I can’t remember the shutter speed but was around 100 I think
Converted Raws with photolab deep prime and used affinity for the stacking
I’m glad people like the colours that’s one thing I’m struggling with a bit getting the white balance at the moment for some shots I’m going back to an old version of Photoshop to colour correct the white and black points as I’ve not figured how to do that in photo lab or affinity
Click to expand...

After decades of using 35mm cameras I adapted reasonably quickly to APS-C DSLR's with the only hiccup being not realising why 28mm wasn't wide any more :D When I moved from the APS-C Canon 20D to the FF 5D it took me longer to adjust to using smaller apertures and potentially struggling with shutter speeds and ISO so I can appreciate it if you're still experimenting.

I don't know anything about stacking but looking at your setting if going for more depth I don't suppose you'd want the shutter speed to drop any further but maybe you could use a smaller aperture and a higher ISO as these days cameras are good at higher ISO settings, but you know your gear and the level of ISO/noise you're willing to go to.

I suppose another possibility assuming the light is still limiting you to similar settings is embracing the slightly less depth a f8 and focusing on what you want to be sharp and letting the fall of of depth to occur in an artistic and visually appealing way. It'd be a different picture but possibly still a lovely one, it's just another option. Just as not every picture needs to be a bokeh fest not every picture has to be sharp from front to back either.

It is a lovely picture as it is though :D
 
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woof woof said:
After decades of using 35mm cameras I adapted reasonably quickly to APS-C DSLR's with the only hiccup being not realising why 28mm wasn't wide any more :D When I moved from the APS-C Canon 20D to the FF 5D it took me longer to adjust to using smaller apertures and potentially struggling with shutter speeds and ISO so I can appreciate it if you're still experimenting.

I don't know anything about stacking but looking at your setting if going for more depth I don't suppose you'd want the shutter speed to drop any further but maybe you could use a smaller aperture and a higher ISO as these days cameras are good at higher ISO settings, but you know your gear and the level of ISO/noise you're willing to go to.

I suppose another possibility assuming the light is still limiting you to similar settings is embracing the slightly less depth a f8 and focusing on what you want to be sharp and letting the fall of of depth to occur in an artistic and visually appealing way. It'd be a different picture but possibly still a lovely one, it's just another option. Just as not every picture needs to be a bokeh fest not every picture has to be sharp from front to back either.

It is a lovely picture as it is though :D
Click to expand...
Yes using less depth of field and just showing for example the eyes and head of a dragonfly in focus is something I’ve been doing a lot, if I manage to get it right it can look really nice.
You’re right about being able to go to a higher ISO on full frame, on my 7D I went up to 800 ISO but the R5 seems to be able to go much higher and still be decent for zoo animals I’m normally at 1600 on the R5 and image quality is still amazing
I should easily be able to use 800 for macro :)
 
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