The art of patience. I have "slabbed" a few times but have not often taken full advantage of the materials generated to assist in cloning. I'm just too impatient, though I expect to become more dedicated to producing better results through cloning as I learn to take the time to capture the best source images possible. Cloning (whether from slabbing outputs or from source images) is of course most effective when the source images are as good as possible. (This is a long way of saying a blend of "garbage in, garbage out" and "quality not quantity"). I've watched enough of your videos to appreciate your dedication to perfecting your craft, and am taking lessons in not compromising.
Thanks Ron, You are dead right. The image you use as a clone source must be sharp in the area you are retouching, but it doesn't have to be perfect or complete. You can use multiple source images and use the sharpest bits, and it only has to be sharper than the image being retouched! It is a good idea to step back every few minutes and look at the big picture. It is not unusual for me to get stuck in to an area and be focused so intently on fixing that eye, that I forget to sit back and look at the effect my work is having at 100%, instead of 400%. Good luck!
Excellent tutorial. I'm fairly new to Zerene having committed to a full licence. Been very impressed with Zerene so far but not ventured into slabbing or adjusting parameters yet. Your video has given me a lot to ponder. Thanks 👍
I'd like to prepare my insects for macrophotography. Do you use a stereomicroscope. I've watched you relaxing the specimens an pinning them. All the best from Colorado USA.. 🇺🇸😎
Amazing video, thanks Allan! Just one quick question: Is there any reason to export the slabs back to LR, other than having the ability to then retouch them a bit more before reloading them back into Zerene? Thanks!
Apparently not. I've seen request to add this feature on their forum all the way back to 2013 and still nothing which is very disapointing. They only work around is to manually select substack of pictures including overlapping while always selecting the very first photo of the stack. It's the only way the software is able to maintain a proper alignment
I am sure that there is. I have not looked at Helicon in a long time so I really don't know how they manage sub-stack processing. You can always do it manually, I still do when I want to vary the sub-stack depths. I will look into it and say something in the retouching video. Thanks!
Best tip in the video for me was the fact of corrections before the stack. Never thought of it. I allways, directly load the images into helicon. Then the processing. I think your method Allan will save a lot of work.
Hi Allan loving your channel. A quick question I notice that on your Lightroom setup you have a folder for a D850. I am interested to get your opinion on using the Focus Shift Shooting option for macro subjects with the D850? vs using the manual adjustment with a focus rail. I am slowly building up my rig for macro based on your channel and recommendations and have the following:- Nikon D850 Nikon 105 macro AFS Older Nikon 60mm macro NISI focusing rail NISI 77mm Close up lens Home made macro cage with Lab lifter Knog LED light for a Gopro 3 Flash speedlites mounted on Manfrotto super clamps and flash stands IKEA LED lights as you recommended Flash triggers NIkon wired camera remotes intervalometer, one manual and one intervalometer Cheers Ray
Thanks Ray! I think that focus shift shooting is fantastic for using in the field to shoot landscapes when hyperfocal coverage is not enough. It is also occasionally useful for field macro, if you have a tripod on hand. It is fantastic in the studio for still life, or product photography, even when you need really small steps (for a 24-70). But it is not a macro focus stacking device. It is best reserved for use with larger subjects, like handbags, hand grenades, and hands. There is a rule I like to stick to in the studio - if my subject is larger than the entrance pupil of whatever lens I am using, I never use traditional focus stacking. This is because of the issues with parallax, which change the outline of the larger subject as the camera moves closer. These should be stacked with the focus ring of the camera, keeping everything in position. And this is where the D850 can shine with the focus shift functionality. Use it on either 1 or 10 (I cannot remember what the shortest one is - but use that). That right there is the most useful piece of advice you have received since uncle Roger told you to lose the hippie haircut back in '62.
with magnification up to 10:1 its better to use a photograph lense (like laowa 25 mm and maybe some distance rings) instead of a microscope lens, because photograph lenses are designed to be sharp from center to edges, while microscope lenses are designed to be sharpest in the center and a great loss to the edges, because they are designed for microspcopes and when you use a microscope you just move the point of interest into the center supersharp and dont care about the edges. the microscope lenses are sharper in the center but the loss to the edges are bigger than using a photgrapher lense with maybe not so sharp center (like with the microscope lense) but still sharp and only a tiny loss to the edges. with higher magnification than 10:1 the microspcope lenses are best. that is my experience. so i dont recomend a 5x microscope lense ... i would recomend it for 10x and higher. and yes mitutoyo are the best when one can afford it, no doubt. IF you dont care about the edges because your insect is tiny enough to not fill the edges, the microscope lense is better (becasue the edges are only background or unsharp anyway)
Greetings good Sir, I confess I've only had the time to skim this latest video. I was looking for evidence of the evolution of your macro lighting cage that in a short email exchange a while back you mentioned you might improve - have you? And if so, I'd love to see it. Thanks!
Great question! The cage has been evolving, but progress was halted for a time ($) and has just resumed. I have also been in talks with a potential parts source and things are moving along. This is going to be a pretty big project and I just need to have all my ducks in a row before we start. Thanks Ken, it won't be much longer.
Allan......you were concerned about the slab files being out of order.........for whatever reason LR looks at the numbers in a peculiar way when importing. It reads the first numeral therefore it lists them 1, 10, 11, 12, 13 and then 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. Rik's Zerene Stacker is a little smarter than that.......when loading in to ZS the files are placed back in the proper sequential order...........
1, 10, 11, 2, 3... that's alphabetical order. It's better to name the files 01 02 03 04... then they will sort correctly. That's why the first picture in a camera might be DSC_0001 not DSC_1.
@@johnd7564 Thx for the advice. Respectfully tho, I'm not sure why it's better.........but the posting was not about what should be done. It was what I discovered when I was downloading images into LR and then dropping them into ZS.
@@Photosbytw Ahhh I didn't mean to advise, really, just explaining why an alphabetical sort goes into that funny order. I personally do like to use the zero-filled version (DSC_0001 etc.) so that all my tools including the operating system put the files in the same order, but I have no advice that YOU should do it, or any sense of indignation if you don't. :)
It is still off-putting to see a slab deck in LR that is arranged using the Martian Semidecimal System. So I rearrange then by file name which is how ZS would read then anyway. Someone at Adobe has something against OCD, ye reckon?
Another great in depth tutorial ! I am loving my MIT 5x …Jeff gave me great service .
Loved the tutorial thanks Allan. I am just getting started with Zyrene.
The art of patience. I have "slabbed" a few times but have not often taken full advantage of the materials generated to assist in cloning. I'm just too impatient, though I expect to become more dedicated to producing better results through cloning as I learn to take the time to capture the best source images possible.
Cloning (whether from slabbing outputs or from source images) is of course most effective when the source images are as good as possible.
(This is a long way of saying a blend of "garbage in, garbage out" and "quality not quantity").
I've watched enough of your videos to appreciate your dedication to perfecting your craft, and am taking lessons in not compromising.
Thanks Ron, You are dead right. The image you use as a clone source must be sharp in the area you are retouching, but it doesn't have to be perfect or complete. You can use multiple source images and use the sharpest bits, and it only has to be sharper than the image being retouched! It is a good idea to step back every few minutes and look at the big picture. It is not unusual for me to get stuck in to an area and be focused so intently on fixing that eye, that I forget to sit back and look at the effect my work is having at 100%, instead of 400%. Good luck!
Excellent tutorial. I'm fairly new to Zerene having committed to a full licence. Been very impressed with Zerene so far but not ventured into slabbing or adjusting parameters yet. Your video has given me a lot to ponder. Thanks 👍
It is the power and versatility of the retouching tools and the batch processing options that put ZS in a league of its own. You will love it.
I like to set a custom button to toggle in and out of crop mode. I don't shoot weddings though.
I'd like to prepare my insects for macrophotography. Do you use a stereomicroscope. I've watched you relaxing the specimens an pinning them. All the best from Colorado USA.. 🇺🇸😎
Amazing video, thanks Allan! Just one quick question:
Is there any reason to export the slabs back to LR, other than having the ability to then retouch them a bit more before reloading them back into Zerene? Thanks!
Amazing technic Alan. Thnx.v.m. I use Helicon, there must be something likewise in there?
Apparently not. I've seen request to add this feature on their forum all the way back to 2013 and still nothing which is very disapointing. They only work around is to manually select substack of pictures including overlapping while always selecting the very first photo of the stack. It's the only way the software is able to maintain a proper alignment
@@FullMetal179 thnx for your reply. I’m gonne try it with your tips.
I am sure that there is. I have not looked at Helicon in a long time so I really don't know how they manage sub-stack processing. You can always do it manually, I still do when I want to vary the sub-stack depths. I will look into it and say something in the retouching video. Thanks!
@@AllanWallsPhotography manualy was what i was thinking aswel. I am gonne try that out and get back to you. Thnx Allan.
Best tip in the video for me was the fact of corrections before the stack. Never thought of it. I allways, directly load the images into helicon. Then the processing. I think your method Allan will save a lot of work.
Hi Allan loving your channel. A quick question I notice that on your Lightroom setup you have a folder for a D850.
I am interested to get your opinion on using the Focus Shift Shooting option for macro subjects with the D850? vs using the manual adjustment with a focus rail.
I am slowly building up my rig for macro based on your channel and recommendations and have the following:-
Nikon D850
Nikon 105 macro AFS
Older Nikon 60mm macro
NISI focusing rail
NISI 77mm Close up lens
Home made macro cage with Lab lifter
Knog LED light for a Gopro
3 Flash speedlites mounted on Manfrotto super clamps and flash stands
IKEA LED lights as you recommended
Flash triggers
NIkon wired camera remotes intervalometer, one manual and one intervalometer
Cheers
Ray
Thanks Ray! I think that focus shift shooting is fantastic for using in the field to shoot landscapes when hyperfocal coverage is not enough. It is also occasionally useful for field macro, if you have a tripod on hand. It is fantastic in the studio for still life, or product photography, even when you need really small steps (for a 24-70). But it is not a macro focus stacking device. It is best reserved for use with larger subjects, like handbags, hand grenades, and hands. There is a rule I like to stick to in the studio - if my subject is larger than the entrance pupil of whatever lens I am using, I never use traditional focus stacking. This is because of the issues with parallax, which change the outline of the larger subject as the camera moves closer. These should be stacked with the focus ring of the camera, keeping everything in position. And this is where the D850 can shine with the focus shift functionality. Use it on either 1 or 10 (I cannot remember what the shortest one is - but use that). That right there is the most useful piece of advice you have received since uncle Roger told you to lose the hippie haircut back in '62.
@@AllanWallsPhotography Many thanks Allan look forward to your next video. Cheers Ray
with magnification up to 10:1 its better to use a photograph lense (like laowa 25 mm and maybe some distance rings) instead of a microscope lens, because photograph lenses are designed to be sharp from center to edges, while microscope lenses are designed to be sharpest in the center and a great loss to the edges, because they are designed for microspcopes and when you use a microscope you just move the point of interest into the center supersharp and dont care about the edges. the microscope lenses are sharper in the center but the loss to the edges are bigger than using a photgrapher lense with maybe not so sharp center (like with the microscope lense) but still sharp and only a tiny loss to the edges. with higher magnification than 10:1 the microspcope lenses are best. that is my experience. so i dont recomend a 5x microscope lense ... i would recomend it for 10x and higher. and yes mitutoyo are the best when one can afford it, no doubt. IF you dont care about the edges because your insect is tiny enough to not fill the edges, the microscope lense is better (becasue the edges are only background or unsharp anyway)
Most things you say are worth repeating 😉
Greetings good Sir, I confess I've only had the time to skim this latest video. I was looking for evidence of the evolution of your macro lighting cage that in a short email exchange a while back you mentioned you might improve - have you? And if so, I'd love to see it. Thanks!
Great question! The cage has been evolving, but progress was halted for a time ($) and has just resumed. I have also been in talks with a potential parts source and things are moving along. This is going to be a pretty big project and I just need to have all my ducks in a row before we start. Thanks Ken, it won't be much longer.
Allan......you were concerned about the slab files being out of order.........for whatever reason LR looks at the numbers in a peculiar way when importing. It reads the first numeral therefore it lists them 1, 10, 11, 12, 13 and then 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. Rik's Zerene Stacker is a little smarter than that.......when loading in to ZS the files are placed back in the proper sequential order...........
1, 10, 11, 2, 3... that's alphabetical order. It's better to name the files 01 02 03 04... then they will sort correctly. That's why the first picture in a camera might be DSC_0001 not DSC_1.
@@johnd7564 Thx for the advice. Respectfully tho, I'm not sure why it's better.........but the posting was not about what should be done. It was what I discovered when I was downloading images into LR and then dropping them into ZS.
@@Photosbytw Ahhh I didn't mean to advise, really, just explaining why an alphabetical sort goes into that funny order. I personally do like to use the zero-filled version (DSC_0001 etc.) so that all my tools including the operating system put the files in the same order, but I have no advice that YOU should do it, or any sense of indignation if you don't. :)
@@johnd7564 No problems here......:)
It is still off-putting to see a slab deck in LR that is arranged using the Martian Semidecimal System. So I rearrange then by file name which is how ZS would read then anyway. Someone at Adobe has something against OCD, ye reckon?