In this week’s episode of The Shutter Button Podcast, I talk about the benefits of photowalks, why you should practice going on them, and also some of my experiences and the lessons I’ve learned when shooting my own work. Enjoy and, as always, thanks for listening!
A Short Introduction to Focus Stacking
Hey everybody! Zig here!
Today I’d like to showcase an image I took on my recent trip to Mianus River Park and talk a bit about my process of retouching and focus stacking when shooting macro photography. It all starts out with a series of images and in this case, it’s a series of photographs I captured of a mushroom which I found growing on the side of a fallen log. Take a look at the images and notice how each has a different portion of the mushroom in focus, starting from the foremost edge of the mushroom and moving all the way to the back.
To capture these, I mounted my Nikon Z6 on a tripod, composited the image, and then used the “Focus Shift” feature that is built into the Nikon Z6. The way that focus stacking works is that focus on the foremost part of the object you want to photograph, take a photo, move the focus towards to the back while overlapping your first photograph slightly, and then repeating the process until you have captured enough “slices” that each contain a different piece of focus for the target image. The focus shift feature in the Nikon Z6 automates this process and made it very quick and easy to get the results that I wanted.
After I’ve taken the photos, I import everything into Lightroom and make all my processing adjustments to every image in the stack before exporting the full-sized JPEG files and opening them in Photoshop. What I specifically do is open the first image in the stack in Photoshop and then import and rasterize every other image in the stack into that same session. At this point, my layers look a bit like this;
After this step, I select every layer in the layers tab and click on Edit > Auto-Align Layers and then choose to let Photoshop decide on the best way to automatically align them.
Once Photoshop aligns every layer, I then go in and make any additional adjustments like the selective removal of focus from some of the layers or, if there are many images in the stack, more extremely out-of-focus areas to prevent potential ghosting when I merge everything in the next step. After I’m content with the layers in the stack, I then click Edit > Auto-Blend Layers and let Photoshop automatically merge everything together. The final image looks like this, with the expected result being that everything is in focus.
This is a bit of a simplified breakdown of my process, but I hope that it gives the structure you would need to be able to repeat a similar process or implement it into your own workflow. I am always adjusting and improving the process as I learn some of the pit-falls of shooting macro photography and I am always open to hearing suggestions about how you might change or alter this style of processing and stacking!
I’ve only recently started to integrate this technique into my routine and I’ve already seen examples of photos where I would not want to keep everything in focus. However I think that focus stacking, and practicing taking multiple images with different depths of field, allows me to have the freedom and control I’m looking to get with my macro photography. It helps me capture the crisp, sharp edges that I like, as well as selectively keep things out-of-focus when I want to. Anyway, that’s all I have for today. I hope you have a great week shooting and I also hope that I was able to give a little insight into how I produce some of my macro images. I’ll see you all next week in another episode of the Shutter Button Podcast where I’ll be talking about formal education vs. deliberate practice, and my experience with finding a balance between both.
Thanks and all the best,
- Zig
A Brief Photowalk Through Mianus River State Park
Hey everyone, Zig here back with another post!
Today I wanted to share an experience I had over the weekend during my first visit to Mianus River State Park in North Stamford, Connecticut. It’s a lovely place that I’ve always wanted to visit, but for some reason thought it was too far out of my range for a day trip, but as it turns out, it’s much, much closer than I realized! I spent Saturday afternoon walking through the trails in the lower half of the park, practicing my macro photography, and getting in a little late-Winter exercise, as well.
I started off the visit by spending some time around the entrance to the park, which is, in essence, just a small bridge that crosses over the Mianus River into the trail area. I spotted a log along the shoreline with some life burgeoning off of it, and seeing how the light of the sun was giving some great warm tones, I decided to climb down near the water line to get some shots.
In the moment, I was enjoying the sound and the movement of the flowing water compared to this log that was just sitting stationary in the riverbed. The wind was blowing, but not harshly, and seeing this little microcosm of moss and other small plants living it up in the middle of winter gave me hope for the rest of the day.
Soon after, I was on my way along the River Trail which follows the perimeter of the park and is paralleled by the Mianus River. All along the trail, you can spot fallen birch trees and branches, and as I got close to one in particular, I noticed it was sprouting some interesting looking fungi. Something about it reminded me of clamshells!
Walking further along the River Trail, I kept my eyes peeled for any signs of distinct color and contrast that I could composite some shots around, and without too much searching, I found a wonderful little leaf resting on the path in front of me. I knelt down and snapped a few shots of it just before the wind knocked it over! I felt like I got lucky and caught it just in time.
I spent the day practicing a technique used in macro photography called “focus stacking.” I practiced positioning myself in a stable way, compositing my shot, and then snapping the same image, but focusing at different points. The goal of this technique is to have a selection of images that you can stack in software like Photoshop to increase your depth of field more than what you could achieve with a single snap of the shutter. Throughout some of these photos, you might notice spots that are unusually out of focus, and this is most likely because of how I was positioned with I took the photo. Kneeling or squatting to take handheld photos of smaller objects on the ground can make it easy to change the perspective between each image, as well as miss shots that would help complete the stacked depth of field. One of the lessons I learned from this for next time is to work with a faster shutter speed, as well as to bring a tripod with me so that I am always controlling the perspective. One thing I’ll also be practicing with in the future is my camera’s focus-stacking mode, which does a lot of the manual work for me. With this new knowledge, I’m expecting even more technically impressive images from my next visit!
As I spent the remaining hours of my visit walking through the park, I was able to really settle into the hike and enjoy the sights and sounds of nature. I could hear the wind blowing through the empty trees, the sounds of melting streams and cracking ice, and I could really enjoy the tranquility brought on by the warmer tones of the late-afternoon sun. I took this final image as I was making my return back to the park’s entrance at the end of the day. It was more of a snapshot at the time, but it’s turned into one of my favorites from the entire visit. It’s aptly titled, “Leaves Under Log,” and I am incredibly happy with how it turned out. The combination of contrast, lighting, composition, and texture from the top-down angle is superb, and I’m looking forward to getting a similar look in photos to come!
I’d like to conclude this week’s post by making an invition to every photographer out there to explore their nearby state and national parks. I invite you to take some time to go out and, even if you don’t go to take photos, enjoy the park for all that it has to offer. I was surprised by how well-maintained and impressive Mianus River State Park’s trails were and I can see myself going in the future to just walk around and spend some time in nature. I especially can’t wait until the Spring and Summer to see it full of plant and wildlife!
Anyway, that’s all I have now. Stay tuned for another episode of the Shutter Button Podcast next week where I’ll be talking about photowalks as a general topic! I’ll probably talk about an upcoming trip of mine, as well as more about my experience at Mianus River Park in that episode.
So, until then, have a great week!
- Zig
2018: A Year of Growth!
Hey everybody, Zig here once again. I’m wishing you all a happy holiday season and a merry new year as we make our way into 2019.
This is a great time to look back at the year behind us and review how we’ve changed in both style and performance. I’ll be sharing a few photos I’ve taken this year (chronologically), a year which started with me receiving my Nikkor 105mm f2.8 macro lens!
To start things off, I wanted to share one of the first photos I took with my macro lens;
Stamford, CT
This is a photo of a completely out-of-focus jar of paintbrushes I had drying on my bookshelf. I spent a lot of the first few months of the year shooting things within arms-reach in my room since it was so easy to find simple subjects to play around with. These paintbrushes were also very important to me because I had very recently completed an introductory drawing and painting class at the New York Academy of Art. I learned quite a bit about the process of compositing a painting and also created something I was proud of and was able to hang on my kitchen wall!
This second photo is a bit more planned and processed and I think it definitely has inspired a ton of my photography this year;
New York, NY
This is a photograph I took on my very first outing to New York City with my new macro lens. I spent most of that day photographing everything that felt even a little bit industrial or grungy; metal scaffolding, the sidewalks, building corners, and so much more. I walked away with this as one of my favorite shots of that day, I think what I love most about this photo in particular isn’t the color that I added in post, but the texture! The rust and chipped paint is so crisp in the focused section and I just love it. It makes me want to go back to this specific part of the city with a tripod and recreate this kind of photo with focus stacking to get more of the main subject in focus!
I credit these next photos with getting me interested in floral photography more deeply than I had before.
New York, NY
New York, NY
New York, NY
Although they may have all been taken on different days, these floral shots are some of my favorites and show some style development when it comes to my floral photography. Color and composition are something I’m always improving, but I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress this year. It’s not something I can practice in every season, but I’m looking forward to Spring and Summer to build an even bigger catalog of flower photos.
Finally, I’d like to leave you with one final shot that I’d like to use a benchmark for myself moving forward into 2019;
New York, NY
I took this photograph of some metal fencing on the High Line in NYC during a group photowalk at the PDN PhotoPlus Expo earlier this year. I got to participate in a fantastic group activity alongside a fairly large group of other macro photographers and I had a blast! It’s one of my photography highlights of the year and I definitely look forward to working alongside more photographers in 2019! I definitely feel like all of the work I did this year led up to me taking a shot like this and I really want to focus harder on preparing and executing on photos more deliberately next year. It’s one of the main things I’ll be working on, as well as several other things like focus stacking and videography.
Phew! Going over my old photos is definitely a little bit stressful, but it’s absolutely eye-opening to physically see the progress I’ve made personally and professionally this year. I’m very excited for what I’ll be doing in 2019 and I can’t wait to kick start the year with the release of the first episode of my upcoming podcast in late January: The Shutter Button Podcast. If you’re interested in learning about my approach to different professional experiences, then I invite you to listen to the show as it starts to get released next year, but in the meantime, I look forward to hearing about everyone’s 2019 plans!
Anyway, that’s all for now. I hope you all get to enjoy the holiday season and I’m wishing everyone a smooth transition into 2019.
All the best,
Zig
High Line, New York, New York - October, 2018
A Short Introduction to Macro Photography
Hey everybody! It’s been some time since I’ve written a post! Major apologies, I hope to be doing them a little less infrequently and with more purpose so I’m looking forward to your comments in the coming months.
I’m writing today to talk to you about something I’ve been very passionate about in the last year or so, but I haven’t had the time or the platform to bring it up. That something is macro photography.
You may be thinking, “What exactly is macro photography? :thinking-emoji:” Well, you’ll be disappointed to hear that I won’t be going over any definitions, specifics, or technicalities in this post. Instead, I just want to touch on a few things to help showcase my ideas about macro photography. Please understand, that with photography (and any art form for that matter), views on a particular style/medium will vary greatly between artists and creators, so please don’t take this as the end all, be all of macro. Now, with that brief disclaimer out of the way, let’s dig in!
Macro in a Nutshell (Literally?)
So, let’s go back to that original question you might have had; “What exactly is macro photography?” Well, to keep it brief and easy to digest, let’s just say that macro photography is when we take a photograph of something veeeeery tiny and magnify it many times using special equipment. In even shorter terms, we zoom in…A LOT.
Styles, Subjects, and Standing Still
If you take a moment to look up the terms “Macro Photography” on Google images (or your preferred image-lookup service), you will be treated with a smörgåsbord of the more popular styles and subjects of macro photography. Things like; insects, flowers, and water droplets dominate the commercial scene. This is not everything that macro photography is or should be, but it’s good be acquainted with what types of work people get paid for. At the end of this post, I’ll describe the type of macro photography I practice and go over some of the styles I personally prefer, but for now, let’s just stick to what’s really popular in the macro world.
So we’ve seen a few examples of the two biggies; insects and flowers. Why do these two dominate the macro genre? I can think of a few good reasons, but I think everybody enjoys them for different reasons. Personally, I don’t think insects typically elicit an aura of personality, but when they’re scaled up, edited, and made the focus of a beautifully composited photograph, we are treated to an inside look at a story set in a world we rarely ever get to see. We get to see textures and colors of the world around us that we pass by on an everyday basis. We get to look into the eyes of a spider on its web, waiting to catch its prey. We can watch a group of worker ants hauling chunks of food back to their anthill. We see droplets of fresh, morning dew, glistening on the back of a rhinoceros beetle. These are all picturesque, interesting subects and I genuinely think that they are so popular because people love to get glimpses of the hidden worlds and stories all around us.
Fun fact: That’s actually why my brand is called “Hidden City Photos.” When I go out shooting in New York City, especially with the intent to capture some macro photographs, I look for all of the hidden, easily missable stories scattered across the sidewalk.
Now, insects are all and good, but what about flowers? Sure, they’re beautiful, but is that it? Yes and no. I think that flowers are one of the biggest macro subjects because of similar reasons as insects; they’re beautiful and we often don’t get a chance to really stop and look at them. You know that old, cheesy saying, “You need to learn to stop and smell the flowers.”? Macro photography gives people that chance to stop and, while they can’t actually sniff the flowers, they can at least see all the beautiful texture, symmetry, and color that macro photography can bring out of even the most bland houseplants. Floral photography is also a bit impersonal, but makes beautiful decor, which is a great selling point for clients looking to buy prints to hang on their walls or office spaces. Keep that in mind as you’re shooting to help pick subjects and styles that will appeal to a larger audience of buyers.
There’s also something that I hadn’t brought up yet, but it applies to many aspects of macro photography, as well as art in general. People love nature. It’s in our nature to stand in awe of sweeping vistas and decorate ourselves in floral patterns. Our connection to nature is an important one, and exercising that connection in different ways is a key part of being who we are. Macro photography (and specifically with natural subjects) is just another way of expressing that connection. Take some time to plug in different keywords in your image search and browse around to see what other popular styles and subjects of macro shooting are. I think this is a great exercise to help develop your own taste and style because you will instinctively start picking out the specific pieces of photographs that you like and might want to bring into your own work.
Abstract Adventures
So, we’ve talked a bit about what macro is and what’s popular in the market right now, but I haven’t really spoken too much about the macro photography I do! I personally LOVE abstract and fine art photography. To be a bit more specific and down-to-earth, I love geometry, shapes, shadows, and interesting lighting. On a subject-level, I enjoy seeing architecture, urban scenes, and industrial textures. These are just a few of the things I try to keep an eye out for when I’m doing a day of shooting, but I think they’re the most important ones to watch for. There are subtler things that are easy to miss, but I think if you’ve got an eye on the lighting sitution and you’re constantly looking for new subjects, then you’ll be able to produce a wide variety of photographs you can take back home with you.
You can view a small, active portfolio here to see some samples of my own work.
My workflow usually involves five steps;
Scouting
Picking a location to work with for the day, as well as any specific subjects I might want to pay extra attention to.
Shooting
I usually approach each subject indvidually and work with it using various angles/viewpoints/etc. before moving on to the next.
Processing
This is the importing/metadata/flagging step, which I will be talking about at a future date when I talk about Lightroom and its various workflows.
Editing
This is very subjective and I approach every photograph differently, but generally I will go through all of the photos I’ve picked and adjust correctly for exposure/sharpness/composition before moving onto tones/moods/styles.
Producing
This is the final step where I actually prepare each edited photograph for release either by my website or onto my Instagram @HiddenCityPhotos. I have to consider cropping limits, photo groups, and more for each app/website/device I’ll be posting my image to.
Now, this is a very barebones outline of my general workflow (and I’m sure many photographers might agree or disagree about the order or specifics or even missing/alternative steps), but I hope it gives some insight into how I approach a photowalk and the editing sessions, thereafter.
Closing Thoughts
In summary, I hope I was able to give a little more insight into the world of macro photography and perhaps inspire someone else to “take the leap” and start having fun with macro styles. Thankfully, it’s fairly inexpensive to get started with the very basics, and while there are some caveats to shooting macro, specifically, I think it’s a fun way to explore your abstract and story-telling skills! You can test yourself against some difficult/unusual subjects in ways you wouldn’t have thought of before and you might even find yourself shooting your typical subjects differently as a result!
So good luck, and I hope to see you all around very soon! Perhaps, in a future post, I’ll start exploring some techniques I use when I’m out shooting my own macro photography.
Until next time, happy shooting!
James Z.