First Stack - unknown beetle

[mbcx4jrh]

Hi,

Been reading up on macro for a while, and played around reversing my 50mm in front of camera. This weekend I went out and bought a Sigma 150mm macro.
The image below is my first attempt at stacking. All criticism is welcome.
Issues I can see are:

1. Too dark from bottom - should have put a reflector under there
2. Some halo/ghosting around the legs - any advice?

Additionally: Any tips on "preparing" subjects for studio type photogaphy? This fella was being played with by the cats and on his last legs - so a bit of tape bound him to a pen to hold.

Thanks
Joe




Details:
Lighting:
Homemade softbox + sb600 above right TTL+3
sb600 through sheet of paper behind TTL
triggered from SU800 on camera

Macro:
Nikon D300 + Sigma 150mm f/2.8 at min focus distance, manual focus
Tripod + Phottix remote trigger

Stack of 17 images with varying focus by turning focus ring
Stacked using CombineZM

[sonyalpha]

I would say:

Very well done for a first stack:

You are right about the dark underside and the halo's around the legs were probably caused by the poor thing's struggles:

All I can advise.............is to practice continually:

Our resident ....In-House stacking experts will add to my basic thoughts:

sonyalpha

[Craig Gerard]

Welcome Joe,

Looks like an very encouraging start to me; you have captured nice detail with good clarity.

After the ordeal this creature went through prior to photographing it is still surprisingly 'clean'.

Regarding the "halos". Have you tried Zerene Stacker:
http://zerenesystems.com/stacker/
http://zerenesystems.com/stacker/docs/R ... cript.html

There is also a more recent release of CombineZM that you may find beneficial. It's called CombineZP:
http://www.hadleyweb.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/CZP/News.htm

Craig

[rjlittlefield]

This looks excellent, especially for an early effort.

In the image as posted, I'm not sure what you're talking about with "halo/ghosting" around the legs. Can you give us a crop or a pointer to show more precisely what you're looking at?

Ways to hold specimens have been discussed in the forum, but the discussions are scattered around and hard to find. I can't recall a good summary or something like a collection of links. For attaching the specimen to a mount, most of the techniques come down to either pins (usually specialized "insect pins" that are thin and tempered) or glues. Commonly used glues vary from white water-soluble stuff that can be redissolved to clean the specimen, to cyanoacrylates with accelerator, which is quick but pretty permanent (if it sticks at all, which it won't on some shiny cuticles). For positioning the specimen once it's attached to some mount, there are a host of approaches including clay, balsa, ball heads, split billiard balls, and some fancy mechanics called "goniometers".

What aspects did you find most troublesome in holding this specimen?

--Rik

[Craig Gerard]

x:26, y:590 and thereabouts.

Craig

[rjlittlefield]

x:26, y:590 and thereabouts.

In that case it would help to see some actual-pixel crops. At this reduced-for-posting size, I can't tell for sure what's going on. If I had to guess, I'd say subject movement. But seeing it at 100% would help a lot.

--Rik

[mbcx4jrh]

Yes, the location Craig pointed out. I don't *think* the legs moved (he was pretty much dead at this point) but it is possible. I guess I just have totell the software which image to use in that location.
Just downloaded zerene and going to give it a whirl.

Holding the beetle gave me trouble because I wanted it in a certain position and not moving. Options I can see are:
1 find dead insect
2 kill a live insect
3 cool down a live one in the fridge (and pray my wife doesn't find it)

Then I have to attach it to something to mount... Tried superglue but wouldn't stick, ended up insulation tape as it was quite large..

Is there any other options?

Thanks
Joe

[rjlittlefield]

I don't *think* the legs moved (he was pretty much dead at this point) but it is possible. I guess I just have totell the software which image to use in that location.
Just downloaded zerene and going to give it a whirl.

In Zerene Stacker, after you have run the stack, you can press-and-drag within the list of Input Files to play through all your frames as if they were a slideshow or movie, with the selected file serving like a timeline slider. If in addition you have "Show as adjusted" checked at the top of the Input Files panel, then what you're seeing is the images after alignment, exactly the way they will be stacked.

This trick of playing quickly through frames often works well to identify unexpected movement. It's pretty common for fresh specimens to "sag" while the stack is being shot.

Holding the beetle gave me trouble because I wanted it in a certain position and not moving. Options I can see are:
1 find dead insect
2 kill a live insect
3 cool down a live one in the fridge (and pray my wife doesn't find it)

Unfortunately, cooling usually isn't enough for inside work where the critter will warm up as you shoot. Outside on a cold morning it would work OK. Anesthetics work sometimes, like CO2. But big beetles like this are pretty tough.

I recommend to learn stacking first on static subjects -- dead insects, plants, rocks. Then move up to the live stuff if you have enough patience.

Tried superglue but wouldn't stick, ended up insulation tape as it was quite large..

Is there any other options?

For a large beetle like this, pinning from the backside or out-of-frame would probably be the best way to get it under control. Even so it's liable to rotate under its own weight, so you might have to glue the pin. I often use a holding platform with a 1/4" balsa face, mounted on a ballhead. The subject gets pinned around, to hold it in place without puncturing it, and the whole platform gets swiveled on the ballhead to set viewing angle.

For something big and glossy like this, tape seems like a good solution!

--Rik