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Sturdy setup
Once you’ve found your location,
set up the composition with the
camera on a firmly-planted tripod, making
sure nothing is going to move. The camera
and subject need to be still. If either move
too much, you will run into problems when
it comes time to assembling the images.
I used a tripod with a flexible central column
that enabled me to get low to the ground,
and added a graduated neutral-density filter
to my wide-angle lens to darken the sky.2
Camera settings
Using a higher f/stop like f/16 will
allow for more depth of field in each
image, making it easier to assemble the images
while editing. Shutter speed will also need to be
considered to eliminate any camera or subject
movement. If you want to shoot a long exposure
for the clouds or water in your frame, you will
need to shoot those images separately from
the stack and blend them in manually when
processing. Settings vary depending on the light
and location; my ISO here was at its lowest, 64.3
Final checks
Check over your framing before
you start stacking, as you can’t
move the camera between shots. Turn on
Live View and use a built-in or add-on spirit
level to make sure the horizon is straight.
Turn off noise reduction on your lens (if it
has it) and set the lens’ initial focal point
nearest to the camera. Before you start
shooting your sequence, it’s a good idea to
take a blank reference shot that marks the
beginning, so you can find it when editing.18 DIGITAL CAMERA^ DECEMBER 2019 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
Stacking images
After making raw adjustments, I import all the images into a single
stacked file in Photoshop. I select each layer and click the Auto Align
Layers button, ensuring they do all line up. Next, I blend the layers, automatically or by hand.
For my images, I did it by hand because there was some movement in the flowers. To let
Photoshop do the work for you, select all the layers then go to Edit > Auto-Blend Layers.Using Focus Shift
With the D850’s Focus Shift function,
the camera starts from the foreground
point you select and uses autofocus
to shift the focal plane forward until
it reaches infinity. You can adjust how
many images the camera will take and
how big the step is between focal points
is, as well as setting a silent shutter mode.
Not every scenario will be the same; on
this shot, I used the smallest step option,
30, and shot 30 images. I knew that with
an f-stop of f/8, I would have a very narrow
depth of field, and was going to need as
many different focal planes for blending
as possible. I could have increased my
aperture, taken fewer images and chosen
a bigger step between focus points. The
advantage of using a built-in function is
that the camera doesn’t move between
capturing each shot.1 32