FOCUS STACKING for BEGINNERS

[@gregorsnell]

Hope everyone is doing well in Isolation. Stay sane and keep your head up!! Good time to work on editing no??

[@moritzio4.034]

I’ve taken a screenshot of that picture and edited it in B/W… i like That because of all the texture and the grey and darker sky

[@dennissteul5445]

Greg, you explained Focus Stacking', so that I could understand. I appreciate you going through it step by step, not leaving anything out assuming we will know on our own on left out steps (if that makes sense). Now if you could do the same in-depth explanation of 'Exposure Blending in Photoshop' I would be eternally beholding to you.

[@bayri009]

I think this is the best photo stacking tutorial I have seen yet. Thank you Greg!!

[@scottman895]

I love that intro with the toilet paper rolls rolling off the desk, lol! It is cool to see these tutorial-styled videos. It always gives us new ways to expand our horizons when it comes to photography or videography!

[@gregorsnell]

Thanks Scott!! Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@scottishwoodart]

Great tutorial, taken bit by bit, not jumping from one thing to another very quickly like so many others do and being ultra concise. Will subscribe in the hope that all other tutorials are as good as this one. Many thanks.

[@NellieWinter]

Very informative and nice distraction from our isolation routine 😉 And... you keep getting better looking in every video!

[@sujanrai9573]

I love your photography very much and i am big fan of your voice.It is awesome.

[@debbieshriner1308]

Thank you so much after watching this I think I can do this 😄👍 your teaching was the BEST!!!!!!👍👍👍👍

[@gregorsnell]

Glad it helped! You got this :)

[@grmrtnz]

Greg when doing focus tacking and panoramas, I make sure to have my camara on manual mode. So all my images have the same aperture and speed. And if they are in low light, I prefer to do manual focusing as well.

[@SamuelLetecheur]

Great tutorial ! Short, to the point and a beautiful image.

[@gregorsnell]

Sam!! Thanks man.

[@brianjennings2185]

Excellent tutorial video. Helped me do my first focus stack and I really appreciate the simplicity...and the outcome. Subscribed. You got me!

[@gregorsnell]

Thanks that's good to hear. Welcome on board!!

[@jackarigho617]

Never done photo stacking before, but this video has encouraged me to give it a go. So thanks a mill, Greg. 👍👍

[@debbieb9815]

Thanks for such a clear and easy to follow tutorial. Nice photo!

[@phynx2006]

Great tutorial 👍👍 stay safe guys

[@scotty4418]

great image and informative tutorial Greg. Hope you and Nellie are doing ok

[@allandavies1187]

Thanks Greg, Pure Magic!

[@travelwithparashrb]

Super Tutorial !

[@coolamit79]

As simple as it can be. Thanks Greg 👍

[@gregorsnell]

You bet. Cheers mate!

[@gregorsnell]

You bet. Cheers mate!

[@ocskaym]

Great video Greg, you made focus stacking look very simple!

[@gregorsnell]

I appreciate that! Cheers Marton!!

[@helenagustavsson5633]

You are a good teacher! Thanks for sharing!

[@robertemunds7750]

Best and easiest tutorial I've seen on focus stacking. Great, I will finally even try it! Great job!

[@jasonkennedy2045]

Great Tute mate... really simple and quick which is great! Thanks, Jase

[@gregorsnell]

Cheers mate!! Hope you're well.

[@jasonkennedy2045]

Doing okay mate... working from home for the foreseeable future which presents its own challenges but it could be a lot worse! Am in the pub now after a killer day so gonna enjoy a few beers 🍻 Cheers Jase

[@G0FUW]

Nicely done Gregg, I used to do it manually but I saw Mark Denney doing it with the auto align and auto blend and it really is very easy. Nice image too. Thanks for sharing.

[@donaldkelley5785]

Excellent !!

[@PaulHowcroft]

Great informative video Greg I learned a lot and I will now have a go at photo stacking. Thank you.

[@gregorsnell]

Great to hear man cheers!

[@matlynwood6225]

Thanks Greg this I think will help a lot. Not sure when I can try it with Landscape photography, but one I get something setup in my spare room for a studio I’ll find I can work on in quarantine. I’m sure anything I pick will be ok as I’m sure working it in Lightroom and Photoshop will be similar to what you have done in this great helpful video. Thank you Greg and be and stay safe in Germany during this worldwide scary time. Wish I could give 2 likes as this has been the best video I have seen on this topic because you like I am a beginner at focus stacking.

[@williamcharlesworth4617]

My development as a photographer is just at the state of learning layers and about to try stacking. Your tutorial was soooo timely. Great instruction. Will be going over and over it. You did a great job explaining the process. Thank you. Beautiful final image.

[@RickNP90X]

Great tutorial. I learned a lot with my private lesson in Hofn. I didn't have to write all the steps down, now that your video is out. Thanks!!!

[@gregorsnell]

Oh hell yeah!! It turned out good eh. I like the image. Now to find bigger and better comps.

[@CaseyJohnsonPhoto]

Nice and easy tutorial! I rarely if ever focus stack, but will start trying it now.

[@gregorsnell]

Cheers Casey!! I know I sometimes forget. It's mostly when I'm using the wide angle and have good foreground interest. The final results of well stacked images looks pretty cool though.

[@CaseyJohnsonPhoto]

@@gregorsnell I should have brought my 16-35 but rarely if ever use it, the 24-70 is so good. I needed it in Iceland many times. Oh well, packing light did not win out this time!

[@CarlosHernandez-kg8py]

Fantastic tutorial. Simple and effective. Keep safe

[@gregorsnell]

That's the idea. Cheers mate!!

[@lennyrushpic]

Thanks - very good job explaining FS...

[@2mcarp]

Thanks!

[@avibongo]

Great tutorial - I’ve seen a few KZbin videos on this but for me this was the best. If you have multiple images to stack then in Lightroom make the adjustments to the first image and then click on Previous for each image that follows. Then edit in Photoshop as layers and proceed as you describe.

[@bornforadventureie]

Amazing video Greg...Stay safe..

[@gregorsnell]

Thanks man, you too!

[@PTPhotography]

Nice tip on the geometric distortion function!

[@gregorsnell]

Glad it was helpful!

[@tomclemons344]

Well done. Thanks for sharing.

[@gregorsnell]

Thanks for watching Tom!

[@einarjakobgudjonsson6994]

Nice tutorial. Thank you!

[@gregorsnell]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@RichardFrenchPhotography]

Hey greg great tutorial, simply put across which is fantastic. When i focus stack i learnt of Tom of one of his videos where he Auto aligned and layer masked it and been doing it like that since but i will be trying your way out over the next few days.

[@stevebanks484]

Thanks Gregg - just trying focus stacking so very timely 👍

[@gregorsnell]

Nice!! You can do it! This process is super easy :)

[@blivieriphoto]

Interesting. Ive always seen tutorials using "auto" selected, not perspective. I may have to give that a go next time. Great video Greg!

[@mitzimckay7934]

Very helpful thank you.

[@DiarmuidODonovan]

I know how to do this already but always great watch your videos Greg, Keep up the awesome work buddy :)

[@gregorsnell]

Cheers mate. Trying to do things a little different and practice some tutorials.

[@TheNonsenseAdventures]

really good and simple tutorial! well done man!

[@JohnDrummondPhoto]

I personally prefer to "correct lens profile" in Lightroom"s Lens Correction panel, so I don't have to worry about distortion removal in Photoshop. That then allows me to select the "Auto" option for layer alignment. Once that's done, I can either "merge layers" or use layer masks and manually mask out the layers' respective defocused areas. Which proves, there's more than one way to skin a cat, if that's your idea of a good time. (Apologies to Groucho)

[@AstromanJB]

Nice one Greg

[@gregorsnell]

Cheers Jim!

[@sander5086]

Great video Greg, really helpful!! Only got Photoshop on my computer since 3 months, so I have a lot to learn!!

[@gregorsnell]

Glad it was helpful! Don't be overwhelmed by PS, you'll find how it works for your style soon enough.

[@PMCN53]

A good and straight forward focus stacking tutorial Greg. I use a similar process except I generally finish of in PS using layer masks etc. (now I know how to use them LOL). Also, I've generally used Auto align but I should try some of the other options to see if they can do it better. Cheers, 🇦🇺

[@RichardFrenchPhotography]

Phil this is the way i also do it, but i am going to try Greg's way, as the out come look great and quicker.

[@harryjamesroth]

Cheers Greg that made for an informative watch. Do you still feel that Iceland is worth a visit? I just worry that it's been shot to death now that's all, and if it may be better for me try somewhere else. (Not that we can go anywhere right now, but, you know, when this has all blown over!)

[@ChrisSmith-wz4cc]

Thanks Greg, Newbie here so nothing to add..

[@gregorsnell]

With time young grasshopper ;)

[@guykerr8111]

Thanks.

[@gregorsnell]

You're welcome :)

[@graemedarling2852]

Very well explained! Thank you Normally use a TSE lens but will give this a go

[@gregorsnell]

Graeme!! What up mate? Hope you're well in these trying times. Glad it was helpful bhud.

[@graemedarling2852]

@@gregorsnell working nights hardly seeing anyone!

[@graemedarling2852]

@@gregorsnell technique worked well used it for macro whilst we can't go out. Always been lightroom for me so good to learn a bit more in photoshop

[@mattcom2]

Nice. The “I’m a beginner” approach may not be exactly true, but it works well.

[@gregorsnell]

There is always new processes to learn though :)

[@wendynewing8834]

An excellent tutorial and nice location footage to cheer us all up at this grim time too. Thanks Greg.

[@jwp2166]

You're the best, have a wonderful personality, and do a great job. Question: Can I focus stack on Luminar 4? It's what I use. Glad to hear that you and Nellie are hanging out in Germany through this mess. Stay safe and keep up the good work. Love your stuff.

[@richardpowellTV]

Hi JW, stacking is not yet available in Luminar 4 but it's in the pipeline. They have been overwhelmed with requests for stacking and pano stitching to be added. I use Luminar 4 for all my editing, it's a great piece of kit...

[@jwp2166]

@@richardpowellTV Thanks

[@phillipkozis6823]

nice!

[@gabrielegrazioli8340]

Hi Greg, thanks for this very well done tutorial, I've a question: do I always have to shot in manual mode keeping the SAME aperture and time for correct focus stacking? What if I have too much difference in light between foreground and background? Thanks Gabriele

[@RussWeymouthPhotography]

Great video, did you have your camera set on full manual mode including focus? When auto blending layers in PS, it sometimes gets a bit funky, especially with woodland photography, I found that by de- selecting 'content aware fill transparent areas' fixes the problem.

[@gregorsnell]

I'm in full manual but not focus I still set that at auto and then just tap around the screen like an idiot ;) Yes woodland would be challenging without clear defining depth.

[@KGi4]

Greg, why dont you get 15-35mm f2.8 ? get rid of those adapters and your lens and camera body would be working much better :)

[@FelixCervantes]

You should try this with a good cinema lens and see if there is a difference since good cinema lenses do not breathe.

[@gregorsnell]

Yes agreed!! That would be nice.

[@lisakayakstoo]

How do you gage the proper number of images to take to have enough data to avoid focus gaps?

[@gregorsnell]

Depends on the scene and depth in your frame. I think the magic number is somewhere around 4.

[@peterwillstein198]

Greg Excellent tutorial. As of late, when I send the images from Lightroom to Photoshop, the images do not stack in photoshop and only one layer is shown. Does anyone know why this is happening? Peter

[@gregorsnell]

Could be something to do with your colour management profile or a non synchronized setting between lightroom and photoshop. Best practice is to search youtube for a possible solution. Good luck. You should find the answer online.

[@peterwillstein198]

Thanks Greg, I'll keep looking

[@davidv6803]

Greg, is there a big advantage to doing more than 3 images for focus stacking? I saw a video online where the photographer did 5-8 images and then focus stacked them.

[@gregorsnell]

Yeah I think there is. The more of the image that is in perfect focus the better. Especially if your camera can auto focus on the majority of the frame.

[@JohnDrummondPhoto]

The more points of interest from front to back, the more images needed. I've used up to six images, but most often three. With stacked macros, you need even more images because the closer the subject to the lens, the shallower the DOF for even small apertures.

[@alasdairmackenzie905]

In my experience 3 or 4 is usually enough for landscape. In macro you can need upwards of 30 images and that will really test your patience while photoshop attempts its magic !!! One thing to watch out for if you have a lot of images and don't flatten your completed image (and you do not have to if you might want to work all of the layers again) is the 4Gb limit for the TIFF file that photoshop will by default want to send back to Lightroom. To roughly calculate the size of the output TIFF file, take the sum of the RAW file sizes included as layers in the completed image and multiply by 11 - ie 30 images x 24Mb each x 11 = 7.9Gb, or way too big for a TIFF file.

[@JohnDrummondPhoto]

@@alasdairmackenzie905 that's interesting. I rarely do macro focus stacks, but that's good to know. Would saving the file as a PSD work in this scenario? Thanks.

[@DavidSenteno]

Do I get bonus points for watching both of these videos? I hope so. Stay healthy my friends. 😷🐼👍🏻❤️

[@gregorsnell]

Jajajaja. Yes.

[@suxxesphoto6419]

When you save in ps and then reedit in lr is it still a raw file? Or has the file type changed?

[@nialoconnellphotography]

Did you have any issue focusing with the filters on?. I always avoid long exposure focus stacking because it can be hit and miss with gaining focus. Cheers

[@gregorsnell]

I thought that might happen, and has happened in the past, but I guess in this case there wasn't enough of the water in frame to throw off the algorithm. I would likely try to avoid it too much in the future though. Trial and error is the best way to tell. Getting out in the field, finding the right compositions, and practicing as always.

[@nathaliewoodruff1496]

Do you use autofocus.?

[@matssandquist9258]

HI! Did you use F8 to all four photos?

[@gregorsnell]

I think so dude, yeah. Don't think I changed shutter or aperture. I would have stated that in the field likely.

[@LukeOrwin]

Hope your both doing well and surviving. Makes me cringe when people flatten the image. May mean more hard space but saving as PSD so you can go back to adjust anything, saves losing that option when flattened. Do you take it back into Photoshop to sharpen when you come to print? Stay Safe.